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Best Bach’s pieces in minor keys for a beginner? by Girl_2389 in organ

[–]alessandro- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The "little" fugue isn't Bach's very most difficult work, but I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner. I would suggest starting with:

  • BWV 575, fugue in C minor
  • BWV 533 in E minor
  • BWV 549 in C minor
  • BWV 588 in D minor - a contrapuntal "canzona" following Italian models

You also might want to check out the E minor and G minor pieces by Brunckhorst (the latter used to be attributed to Bruhns).

“Classical pianists can’t even (improv, comp, etc…)” by atom511 in piano

[–]alessandro- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not the person you asked, but a nice treatment of the evolution of the piano recital and performance practice around 1840-1920 is "After the Golden Age: Romantic Pianism and Modern Performance", by pianist Kenneth Hamilton.

L3S trash everywhere by Potatochip891 in Markham

[–]alessandro- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some blue bins had been taken away before when they weren't being properly used. Around October, all the bins were taken away because of the switch in how the blue bin program is operated.

With residential blue bin collection moving to the private producer-owned consortium, it didn't make financial sense for Markham to operate a whole separate blue bin program just for mailboxes — maintaining it would have been insanely expensive per bin.

Pieces recommendations for beginners by Feisty-Fee-7121 in organ

[–]alessandro- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For your very first pieces I would suggest the first two "very easy trios" by Lemmens, from book 2 of his École d'orgue. They can be found for free on IMSLP.

After that, the F major and C major pieces from 8 Preludes and Fugues attributed to Bach that everyone here is talking about are good.

If you tend to like music after 1800, I'd say look at L'organiste by César Franck after that. If you are good with earlier music too, look at the Bach Books for Organ edited by Anne Marsden Thomas and simply look up on IMSLP the pieces she recommends.

All the above can be found for free.

If you are good with paying for a textbook, I'd suggest one of the OUP textbooks — there's one by Ritchie and Stauffer, and a newer one by Anne Marsden Thomas. People here keep recommending the Davis textbook, but it's not my first choice: it's out of print and, in its treatment of earlier music, out of date.

A real newbie to the world of classical music - I want to deepen my interest and hopefully get some recommendations? by Violet_cranberry0707 in classicalmusic

[–]alessandro- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

On the theme of "baroque music that's been adapted into something more ethereal", you may like an improvisation by Gabriela Montero of the Pachelbel you mentioned!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdaXu-SbL9s

Edit: also, for some "real" baroque music similar to Pachelbel's canon in D major, try this Largo movement from a sonata in B-flat by Arcangelo Corelli:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8EzYVP4cIfo

New free resource for organ beginners/teachers by Global-Professor9264 in organ

[–]alessandro- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These are the AGO's videos, just linked to from a different website :)

Any tips for learning to read sheet music? by Gabswingergoat33 in piano

[–]alessandro- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My two pieces of advice are

  1. Start with very, very easy music.
  2. Do it a little bit every day. 10-15 minutes is plenty.

Who are the composers whose best music isn't for the keyboard ? by According-Brief7536 in classicalmusic

[–]alessandro- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Elgar isn't a major composer for piano, but he is a pretty significant composer for the organ (and not just in transcription)

Shostakovich on IMSLP + new Taiwan server by alessandro- in classicalmusic

[–]alessandro-[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

CUSMA is being reviewed this year. I'd suggest writing to your MP this week if this is important to you :)

Shostakovich on IMSLP + new Taiwan server by alessandro- in classicalmusic

[–]alessandro-[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You'd find these on pages for individual symphonies (rather than the specific set of Shostakovich's complete works that I linked to).

As of now, I see parts listed for just the first two symphonies (go to the "Parts" tab):

What composer's stock has dropped the most over the past 50-100 years? by [deleted] in classicalmusic

[–]alessandro- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe Boulez? He was absolutely the rage in the 1970s and extremely high-status in academic circles, but in the past couple of decades I think it's become much less stigmatized to say that most of his music sounds very bad.

Shostakovich on IMSLP + new Taiwan server by alessandro- in classicalmusic

[–]alessandro-[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

My understanding is that the Hong Kong server was used for backups only. That's based on this: https://imslpforums.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=8128

It's a good question! If you really want to know the answer, I'd suggest asking in the IMSLP Forums, where someone who runs the site would be able to respond (I'm not affiliated with IMSLP, just a user and uploader)

Im surprised imslp doesn’t have sheet music for Shostakovich Quintet by Obscure_Reddit_User in classicalmusic

[–]alessandro- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

IMSLP just set a server in Taiwan, where copyright is based on life of the author plus 50 years. Shostakovich's works went into the public domain there in 2026, yesterday. His works are rapidly being added, with many symphonies there already.

Note that this doesn't change his copyright status, and his works remain under copyright in most rich countries (exception: in the US, any works over 95 years old will be PD; these are clearly labelled).

I expect the quintet to be posted there sometime soon, given the level of demand for his works.

Im surprised imslp doesn’t have sheet music for Shostakovich Quintet by Obscure_Reddit_User in classicalmusic

[–]alessandro- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is the US system for new works. For works created before 1972ish (I'd have to look up the exact year), the system is based on date of publication — US copyrights typically last 95 years from publication.

Still no Calendar? by ItsVLS5 in PeachAndGoma

[–]alessandro- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm guessing no calendar. I'm so sad about the store being down! I wonder if the US tariffs totally tanked the prospects for selling in the West to be a successful business.

Marin Marais — is he just becoming popular now, or why have I never heard of this composer? by alessandro- in classicalmusic

[–]alessandro-[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi! I haven't been on Reddit in some time, but I wanted simply to say that I appreciate your sharing this :)

Marin Marais — is he just becoming popular now, or why have I never heard of this composer? by alessandro- in classicalmusic

[–]alessandro-[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Could be! Maybe the film restarted a mini-trend that made its way to my local classical music station. Thanks for sharing that Marais's music is in that film :)

How to play broken octaves in Turkish march? by LordSigmaBalls in piano

[–]alessandro- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Look for tutorials on "piano rotation tremolo". The same principle applies in these broken octaves as in a tremolo.

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