Rafn

Nope, it doesn't work on Safari latest version (v3.0.4) on Leopard (10.5.2).

My favorite is the 2nd. The beginning of it is the breath of the earth.

I love P

I guess it really depends on how you define joyful. "joyful |ˈjoifəl| adjective feeling, expressing, or causing great pleasure and happiness : joyful music." -New Oxford American Dictionary. So if you were talking about effervescent music, than I would say that the aforementioned works would fit the category. But if you were really talking about music that caused great pleasure and happiness, then Mahler's 2nd would probably be spot on. Other works that really have that big "payoff" (to me) include: • Kabalevsky's 3rd Piano Concerto ("Youth" concerto) • Shostakovich's 2nd Piano Concerto • Rach's 2nd Piano Concerto • Prokofiev's 3rd Piano Concerto • Shostakovich's 9th Symphony I guess one really has to decide where to draw the thin line between pieces that you like and pieces that are joyful. But I say that those pieces fit the bill.

I actually have never seen a concert hall where the basement or backstage didn't have a real organ that could be wheeled out and then connected in some fashion.

This piece is awesome. If you get a chance, listen to Bernstein's interpretation--he really had a knack for 20th century pieces, and this is no exception. The finale (with the perpetual motion and everything) is absolutely incredible and the swell at the end with the wavey woodwinds and strings just leads up to the big three chords near the end. Shivers every time.

One of the symphony orchestras at my college played this next to a prelude of his [shostakovich's] in Eb and then Prokofiev piano concerto n.1 and Rimsky-Korsakov piano concerto in C# minor. Talk about an excellently Russian concert. My piano prof was the soloist for both the concerti and the symphony was awesome. After the second movement, you could hear everybody just gasping for breath.

I think it's usually easier to have 3 staves. Especially when there's some sort of pattern that you wouldn't have seen if the two staves had been combined (eg - if there's a descending line that you wouldn't have seen had the staves been mashed together). Also, when Prokofiev just decides to go to three staves for a little ping somewhere ... I could go either way on that, but it's easy to see that it's coming up when you haven't really practiced the music.

I like his eleventh.

Yes - but didn't people love Liszt?

Squat to none.

JESUS! Sorry :happy: Well, I don't really know what books you've read, but that's always a good start. Imagine a good book and take a particular scene from it. It doesn't have to be this big illustrative thing like Don Quixote, lol.

Oh my goodness. Why would anybody want to kill themselves trying to learn that :happy: I jest. But, honestly, I said the same thing when I heard the Barber piano sonata. Upon listening to it again, I liked it even more. And the next time, more. It's not one of my favorite pieces, but I can appreciate it for what it is and admire it's qualities. I think your piece has the same effect. Although a little more off of the tonal center, your piece reminded me a lot of the Prokofiev toccata (at least your faster second part did). What an experience if this was ever to be performed live! Always appreciate your compositions, Nikolas. EDIT: Also, this piece distinctly reminds me of the Stravinsky quote where he treated the piano like a percussive instrument, because that's exactly what it is.

Yeah. I think everybody that _does_ want to chat on an interface like that uses MSN/AIM to talk to each other. Otherwise, they just use the shoutbox. The chatroom is obsolete.

Nikolas - there have only been a few times where I've felt compelled to tell the composer what an excellent and brilliant piece of music they've made. This is one of those times. This is absolutely wonderful. I hope you don't take this as an insult, but it reminds me a lot of The Ring.