China Sichuan Earthquake Relief

As you may have realized, the recent posts of mine have been mostly funeral songs. They are dedicated for the victims of China Sichuan Earthquake disaster. May they rest in peace.

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For those who are looking to contribute to current aid efforts underway, you can now donate money to the Red Cross Society of China which has formed a disaster relief working group to be dispatched to the earthquake-stricken Wenchuan County in Sichuan.

They have also published an emergency relief hotline, along with bank account information to receive donations to assist their cause:

Account name: Red Cross Society of China
开户单位: 中国红十字会总会

For those who want to donate in RMB: you can send money to the RMB account at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China branch below:
人民币开户行: 中国工商银行 北京分行东四南支行
人民币账号: 0200001009014413252

For those who want to donate in foreign currency, you can send money to the foreign currency account at the CITIC Bank branch below:
外币开户行：中信银行酒仙桥支行
外币账号: 7112111482600000209

Hotline: (8610) 65139999
Online donations: Red Cross Society of China website: www.redcross.org.cn
Click the tab for online donations

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Since www.redcross.org.cn seems to be down by excessive amount of accesses. You can try American Red Cross too.
Website:www.redcross.org

Form for International Response Fund: https://american.redcross.org/site/Donation2?idb=1040189403&df_id=1094&1094.donation=form1

This form will lend funds to generally any of international disasters the organization supports.
If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster(such as the SiChuan Earthquake) please do so at the time of your donation by either contacting 1-800-HELP NOW or mailing your donation, with the designation, to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013.

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Another alternative way to donate from America is via Mercycorps.

Website: http://www.mercycorps.org/

Mad World

In 2003, composer Michael Andrews and singer Gary Jules found their piano-driven cover of the Tears for Fears' hit "Mad World", featured in the film as part of the end sequence, at the top of the UK music charts. The original score was composed by composer, Roland Orzabal, from the 80's band "Tears for Fears".

A slightly remixed part of the song was used in the David Fincher directed TV commercial for the 2006 Xbox 360 game Gears of War. The advertisement brought the song an increased level of popularity, propelling it to number one in downloads at the iTunes music store in late 2006. This song has also had a strong presence in Internet culture, as it has been used countless times for fan videos and trailers. The song was also used at the end of an episode of CSI, at the end of an episode of Jericho, and in Smallville.

Sheet Music
Midi File

Video:

The original clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZRib_aAQFQ

The Gary Jules clip:

Chopin's Op.28 No.1

Prelude No. 1 is a versatile and short piece. It may last only 30 seconds if played quickly.

Chopin wrote this piece on Majorca, Spain, whereas the music he played is weaved by two lines composed of majors and minors. All the minors are set to low and depressing tunes, while the majors are delighted and happy. The brief and subtle interaction of both signified the very essence of life and its many joys and sufferings.


Sheet Music
Midi File

Chopin's Op.28 No.4

Prelude No. 4 is one of the most famous pieces Chopin wrote (it was played at his funeral) it is relatively easy, with a melody in the right hand and harmonic chords in the left hand.


Sheet Music
Midi File

Parts of Mozart's Requiem

The Requiem Mass in D minor (K. 626) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composed in 1791. The requiem was Mozart's last composition, and is one of his most powerful and recognized works, not only for its music, but also for the debate over how much of the music Mozart managed to complete before his death, and how much was later composed by his student Franz Xaver Süssmayr.

Despite debate about how much of the music was Mozart's, the Requiem has taken a prominent place as one of Mozart's most important works.

This sheet music below is only a small portion of the work.

Midi File
Sheet Music

The Funeral Song of Minato, The Fourth Hokage

Minato Namikaze (波風 ミナト, Namikaze Minato?) was the Fourth Hokage (四代目火影, Yondaime Hokage?). He had a son, Naruto Uzumaki, with Kushina Uzumaki, whom they decided to name after the main character in one of his mentor Jiraiya's, books. Soon after Naruto's birth, Minato sealed the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox into his son's body. Doing so cost him his life. Before he died, he asked that the villagers of Konoha not to see Naruto for the monster within him but as a hero who saved the village, a request that was ignored by most. It is unclear as to whether Naruto is aware of his relationship with Minato, although the two share several traits that are often pointed out throughout the series.

Prior to becoming Hokage, Minato was the sensei of Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha, and Rin. Minato is supposed to be the strongest of all the Hokages till and was called a "One in a decade Genius" by his sensei Jiraiya. His reputation is such that during the Third Ninja World War, flee-on-sight orders were given to enemy ninja by their superiors. This is a result of his Flying Thunder God Technique (飛雷神の術, Hiraishin no Jutsu), which allowed him to teleport anywhere without notice using a special seal. The technique earned him the title "Konoha's Yellow Flash". He also created the Rasengan, an incomplete technique he had intended to infuse with his own chakra nature. He was unable to do so before his death, but Naruto is able to accomplish this feat in later years.

Sheet Music
Midi File

The Funeral Song of Sarutobi, The Third Hokage

The song's name is 宁次之死

The Third Hokage's Bio

The Third Hokage (三代目火影, Sandaime Hokage?) is a former student of the First and Second Hokage. Because of his name, Sarutobi (猿飛), the Second Hokage called him "Monkey" (猿, Saru?). The Third was stated as being the "Strongest Hokage" in the first Naruto Databook. The Third was once called The Professor (プロフェッサー, Purofessā?) due to his vast knowledge of jutsu, purportedly knowing all the jutsu in Konoha. The Third was the sensei of Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade and the father of Asuma Sarutobi. He took a special interest in Orochimaru, whose natural talent would have made him a great Hokage. Though the Third wanted to give him this title upon his retirement from the position, Orochimaru's sole interest in the role of Hokage as a way to get power forced him to find an alternative. The Third passed on the title to Minato Namikaze, though was forced to reassume the position after Minato's death. During his second stint as Hokage, the Third discovered that Orochimaru had been kidnapping and experimenting on villagers of Konoha. The Third, unable to bring himself to harm his favorite student, allowed Orochimaru to flee the village. Years later, Orochimaru invades Konoha in an attempt to kill his former master. After struggling with the battle due to his old age the Third uses the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to try to seal away Orochimaru's soul, though the injuries he receives from the battle make it impossible. Doing what little he can and hoping to rectify his mistake of allowing Orochimaru to escape years earlier, the Third seals Orochimaru's arms to ensure that he will never again be able to use jutsu, a punishment for Orochimaru's obsession with power. With the village saved from Orochimaru, the Third dies with a smile on his face, death being the result of performing the sealing.

Sheet Music
Midi File

Update

Um, I just want to say thank you to all the people who sent so many kind comments, emails and requests to me. I am glad that my works have brought some joys and happiness in your life and hope you will continue to enjoy my blog.

However, I have to slow down the updates because of my heavy school works toward the end of this semester and, I am also working on some business project with a friend. I need to take this month off to really focus on these heavier things so I don't screw up the results.

In May, I will be free, and I will provide more frequent updates.

Again, thank you for all the support.

Franz Liszt: La Campanella

La Campanella ("The Handbell" or "The Little Bell") is a piano etude, also known as a study piece, written by virtuoso pianist and composer Franz Liszt as part of a series of six Grandes Etudes de Paganini ("Grand Paganini Etudes"), S. 141, composed in 1838, revised in 1851. As the name suggests, it is based on musical themes by Niccolò Paganini. The 'La Campanella' theme is borrowed from the final movement of Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 2 in B minor, a rondo in which the harmonics were reinforced in the ringing of a handbell.

Liszt had already used the theme for an earlier set of variations, Grande Fantaise de Bravoure sur "La Clochette" de Paganini in B minor for piano in 1831-32. He then revised the piece as Etudes d'Execution Transcendante d'apres Paganini ("Trancendental Etudes after Paganini") No. 3 in A-flat minor, S. 140—not to be confused with Études d'exécution transcendante S. 139. This revision actually contains not only the La Campanella theme from the 2nd Violin Concerto, but also the main theme from the rondo of Paganini's first violin concerto. The final version of Grandes Etudes de Paganini, which is the now most commonly published and recorded of the available variations, is written in the enharmonic key of G-sharp minor.

The etude is played at a brisk pace and studies right hand jumping between intervals larger than one octave, sometimes even stretching for two whole octaves within the time of a sixteenth note, at Allegretto tempo. As a whole, the etude can be practiced upon to increase dexterity and accuracy at large jumps on the piano, along with agility of the weaker fingers of the hand. The largest intervals reached by the right hand are fifteenths (two octaves) and sixteenths (two octaves and a second). Sixteenth notes are played between the two notes and the same note is played two octaves or two octaves and a second higher with no rest. No time is provided for the pianist to move the hand, thus forcing the pianist to avoid tension within the muscles. Fifteenth intervals are quite common in the beginning of the etude, while the sixteenth intervals appear twice, at around the thirtieth and thirty-second measures.


Sheet File: lacampanella.pdf

Pictures at an Exhibition No.10: The Great Gate of Kiev (La grande porte de Kiev)

Pictures at an Exhibition (Russian: Картинки с выставки – Воспоминание о Викторе Гартмане, Kartínki s výstavki – Vospominániye o Víktore Gártmane, Pictures from an Exhibition – a Remembrance of Viktor Hartmann) is a famous suite of ten piano pieces composed by Modest Mussorgsky in 1874. It is generally acknowledged to be Mussorgsky’s greatest solo piano composition, and has become a showpiece for virtuoso pianists. It has also become known through various orchestrations and arrangements produced by other musicians and composers, with Ravel's arrangement being the most recorded and performed.

Mussorgsky composed the work in commemoration of his friend, the artist and architect Viktor Hartmann, who was only 39 when he suffered an aneurism and died in 1873. The working title for the suite was Hartmann:

"Hartmann is seething as Boris was. Sounds and ideas float in the air and my scribbling can hardly keep pace with them."
—Modest Mussorgsky, letter to Stasov

No. 10 "Богатырские ворота" (В стольном городе во Киеве) [Bogatïrskie vorota (v stol'nom gorode vo Kieve)] (Russian: The Bogatyr Gates (in the Capital in Kiev)): Key of E flat major, in 4/4 time. Bogatyrs are heroes that appear in Russian epics called bylinas. This movement is commonly translated as "The Great Gate of Kiev." The title is also sometimes rendered "The Heroes' Gate at Kiev." Stasov: "Hartmann's sketch was his design for city gates at Kiev in the ancient Russian massive style with a cupola shaped like a slavonic helmet." Hartmann made a sketch for a planned (but never built) monumental gate for Tsar Alexander II. This gate was to have commemorated the Tsar’s narrow escape from an assassination attempt on 1866 April 4. Hartmann felt that his design for the gate was the finest work he had yet done, and it won the competition for the gate’s design. The movement has the following form (roughly ABABCA):

1. Majestic
2. Solemn (piano)
3. Majestic (with descending and ascending 8th note scales)
4. Solemn (fortissimo)
5. Bells (with a final variation of the 'promenade' theme)
6. Majestic (half note triplets)
7. Coda

Sheet File : Lagrandeporte.pdf
Midi File: Lagrandeporte.mid

Nocturne No. 14 in F sharp minor, Op. 48, No. 2

Nocturne No.14 in F-sharp minor Op.48 No.2:

Composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1841, published in dedication to Mademoiselle Laure Duperré.

There are two things about the middle section :
1) it is in Db major
2) like the middle section of op.48 No.1, it is slower than the rest of the nocturne (molto piu lento), which is not the usual organization of a nocturne (slow-fast-slow)

The midi is generated based on a concert performance by Artur Rubinstein.


Midi File: NocturneNo14_fsharp_minor_op48-2.mid

Sheet File: NocturneNo14_fsharp_minor_op48-2.pdf

Pachelbel: Kanon

The piece played by the female lead in My Sassy Girl, the Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel from George Winston's album December.


Midi File: kanon.mid

Sheet File: kanon.pdf

Yiruma: Maybe

Concert version of Yiruma's Maybe.

Midi File: maybe.mid

Sheet File: maybe.pdf



What you might also like...

Yiruma: River flows in you
Yiruma: Kiss The Rain
Yiruma: Mika's Song
Yiruma: I'm just a ...
Yiruma: Falling

Greensleeves

Alas, my love, you do me wrong,
To cast me off discourteously.
For I have loved you well and long,
Delighting in your company.

Chorus:
Greensleeves was all my joy
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my lady greensleeves.

Your vows you've broken, like my heart,
Oh, why did you so enrapture me?
Now I remain in a world apart
But my heart remains in captivity.

chorus

I have been ready at your hand,
To grant whatever you would crave,
I have both wagered life and land,
Your love and good-will for to have.

chorus

If you intend thus to disdain,
It does the more enrapture me,
And even so, I still remain
A lover in captivity.

chorus

My men were clothed all in green,
And they did ever wait on thee;
All this was gallant to be seen,
And yet thou wouldst not love me.

chorus

Thou couldst desire no earthly thing,
but still thou hadst it readily.
Thy music still to play and sing;
And yet thou wouldst not love me.

chorus

Well, I will pray to God on high,
that thou my constancy mayst see,
And that yet once before I die,
Thou wilt vouchsafe to love me.

chorus

Ah, Greensleeves, now farewell, adieu,
To God I pray to prosper thee,
For I am still thy lover true,
Come once again and love me.



Sheet File: GreenSleeves.pdf
Midi File: GreenSleeves.mid

Yiruma: River flows in you

One of Yiruma's masterpiece, as melodic and introspective as ever.


Midi File: Riverflowsinyou.mid
Sheet File: Riverflowsinyou.pdf



What you might also like...

Yiruma: Kiss The Rain
Yiruma: Maybe
Yiruma: Mika's Song
Yiruma: I'm just a ...
Yiruma: Falling

Now you can also request for your favorite piano piece on Piano Room:
Piano Room Request Form

Yiruma: I'm just a ...

Midi File: Imjusta.mid


Sheet File: Imjusta.pdf


What you might also like...

Yiruma: River flows in you
Yiruma: Kiss The Rain
Yiruma: Maybe
Yiruma: Mika's Song
Yiruma: Falling

Yiruma: Falling

Midi File: Falling.mid
Sheet File: Falling.pdf



What you might also like...

Yiruma: River flows in you
Yiruma: Kiss The Rain
Yiruma: Maybe
Yiruma: Mika's Song
Yiruma: I'm just a ...

If You've Heard It Too by A Mei

如果你也听说 - 张惠妹

Sheet file: rgnyts.pdf

MIDI file: rgnyts.mid

China by Jay Chou (7 Variations)

青花瓷 - 周杰伦

Variation 1
qhc_1.mid
qhc_1.pdf


Variation 2
qhc_2.mid
qhc_2.pdf

Variation 3
qhc_3.mid
qhc_3.pdf

Variation 4
qhc_4.mid
qhc_4.pdf

Variation 5
qhc_5.mid
qhc_5.pdf

Variation 6 (Recommended)
qhc_6.mid
qhc_6.pdf

Variation 7 (Recommended)
qhc_7.mid
qhc_7.pdf



Video:

Étude Op. 10, No. 5 (Chopin)

Étude Op. 10, No. 5 in G-flat major, also known as the Black Key Étude, is a solo piano work composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1830. This work is characteristic for the arpeggios played with the right hand, almost exclusively on black keys except in measure 66, where Chopin wrote an F-natural, the only white key for the right hand throughout the entire piece.



The left hand plays the melody, with mostly chords and octaves, while the right hand accompanies with the fast triplets on black keys.

This piece is unbalanced in terms of structure, but as a romantic study, Chopin favored melodic interest over rigid structure. This étude can be divided into four parts, depending on interpretation. The first theme is introduced and expounded upon with some variation after its second repetition. The second theme is presented after two sweeping arpeggios covering half the length of the keyboard. It is short, lasting only 16 measures and is in the étude's dominant key, D-flat major. The first theme is immediately restated once, and begins developing into the coda. This development is where the only right-hand white key, F-natural, is played, in bar 66. Because this bar contains the only quarter notes in the right hand except for the last bar and it contains the previously unused F-natural, it sets up a cadence into the coda. The coda is a legato flourish in the tonic key, and ends in rapid octave passage in both hands, which is entirely staccato.

Some prominent performers, including Horowitz and Rosenthal, choose to perform the final octave passage glissando.

This étude's dynamics are more frequently notated than any other's. In the first 16 bars, Chopin indicates 14 dynamic changes, along with quick pedal fluctuations and various articulations. This does not necessarily mean dynamics should be emphasized any more than in another work, as Chopin wrote this light-hearted piece with distinct, but not heavy dynamics. These elements, coupled with the Vivace tempo, make up one of the more challenging Chopin études.

Sound File:
blackKeys.mid
Sheet File:
blackKeys.pdf

The Legend of 1900: The Crave

In the movie The Legend of 1900, the fictional Jelly Roll Morton, a New Orleans jazz fame comes aboard S.S Virginia to challenge 1900 to a piano duel. 1900 merely toys with the hot-tempered Morton, going so far as to play a note-for-note version of an original tune Morton just played---The Crave.


Sound File:
TheCrave.mid
Sheet File:
TheCrave.pdf

About The Movie

The Legend of 1900 (original title La Leggenda del Pianista sull'Oceano) is a 1998 film featuring Tim Roth and directed by the Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore. The film is inspired by a theatre monologue, Novecento, by Alessandro Baricco. The film begins with Max Tooney (Pruitt Taylor Vince) entering an antique shop just after World War II for the purpose of pawning his trumpet. He asks if he can play it one last time, and proceeds to play a piece that the shopkeeper (Peter Vaughan) recognizes from a broken record master he found inside a recently-acquired second-hand piano. He asks who had written and played the music, henceforth begins an unknown tale of a reincarnation of Amadeus.

Art Tatum: Tea for Two

One of the greatest improvisers in jazz history, Art Tatum also set the standard for technical dexterity with his classic 1933 recording of "Tea for Two." Nearly blind, Tatum's artistic vision and ability made him an icon of jazz piano, a musician whose impact will be felt for generations to come.

Sound File:
ArtTatum-TeaforTwo.mid

Sheet File:
ArtTatum-TeaforTwo.pdf

About the Composer:

Arthur Tatum Jr. (October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso. The jazz pianist and educator Kenny Barron has commented that "I have every record [Tatum] ever made — and I try never to listen to them … If I did, I'd throw up my hands and give up!" Jean Cocteau dubbed Tatum "a crazed Chopin." Count Basie called him the eighth wonder of the world. Legend has it that classical pianist Vladimir Horowitz was so awed by Tatum's wizardry that it brought him to tears; he also is to have said that it was fortunate for classical pianists that Tatum did not choose to pursue a classical career. In 1993, an MIT student invented a term that is now in common usage in the field of computational musicology: The Tatum. It means "the smallest perceptual time unit in music."

Yiruma: Kiss The Rain

Yiruma's Kiss The Rain is the theme music for Korean Drama "A Moment To Remember". The musical score echoes with the drama's recurring stance on love: “Love is but memory, left with nothing else”. Before we all forget, let's seal this piece of memory.


Sound File:KisstheRain.mid

Sheet File:KisstheRain.pdf




About The Composer:

Yiruma, (born 15 Feb 1978, Seoul, Korea) is a South Korean piano music composer. He is well known throughout the world, and his albums are sold all over the United States and Europe, as well as Asia. His most famous pieces include "Kiss the Rain", "May Be" and "River Flows in You" (First Love).




What you might also like...

Yiruma: River flows in you
Yiruma: Maybe
Yiruma: Mika's Song
Yiruma: I'm just a ...
Yiruma: Falling



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Mendelssohn's Adagio non troppo

Mendelssohn's Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words), eight cycles each containing six lyric pieces (2 published posthumously), remain his most famous solo piano compositions. This piece is Op.3 No.3 in E: Adagio non troppo:


Sound File:
Adagionontroppo.mid

Sheet File:
Adagionontroppo.pdf

Final Fantasy I : Matoya's Cave

Matoya is the background music for Matoya's Cave in Final Fantasy I.

Sound File:
FF1Matoya.mid

Sheet File:
FF1Matoya.pdf

About Matoya's Cave



Matoya's Cave is a location in the original Final Fantasy. A cave found north of Coneria, an old witch named Matoya lives here. After defeating Astos you receive Matoya's missing eye. Matoya rewards you with a Jolt Potion for finding her eye, then decided your party are too ugly to keep around.

A Jazz Variation For Für Elise

For Elise" is the popular name of the "Bagatelle in A minor", WoO 59, a piece of music for solo piano by Ludwig van Beethoven, written approximately in 1810. Here is a jazz variation of this classic piece:

Sound File:
furElise-Jazz.mid

Sheet File:
furElise-Jazz.pdf


Additional Note:

The posted transcription is a published work called "The Furry Lisa" composed by George Schneider in 1972 and awarded a US copyright in 1975. A more accurate and official transcription can be purchased from the composer:

George Schneider
Somerset Music
5603 North Chase Court
Midlothian, VA 23112
email: lolopoppiano@yahoo.com

Tristan und Isolde: Prelude

The score of Tristan und Isolde has often been cited as a landmark in the development of Western music. In this score Wagner uses a remarkable range of orchestral colour, harmony and polyphony and does so with a freedom rarely found in his earlier operas. The very first chord in the piece is the so-called Tristan chord, often taken to be of great significance in the move away from traditional tonal harmony since it encompasses not one but two dissonances:


Sample Music Files:

Opera: Tristan und Isolde
Movement: Vorspiel
Ensemble: Fulda Symphonic Orchestra
Richard_Wagner_-_Tristan_und_Isolde_-_Vorspiel.ogg

Prelude to "Tristan und Isolde"
Wagner-TristanundIsolde.mid

Piano Sheet:
Wagner-TristanundIsolde.pdf