Practice JOurnal 2

I have to be awake extremely early on Sunday mornings.  Yet, I can never be asleep at a decent hour on Saturday night.  I digress- 

Here I am, writing this.

I don't understand, perhaps it is the weather- I think I am getting adult acne- I had two spots on my face today- it could have possibly been because I am wearing Kiehl's night time miracle oils of Jesus  during the day time hours.

I'm obsessed with Dimitry Shishkin.  Look him up.  Easy on the eyes, and a master of the highest order on the keys.  Listening to him perform the Rachmaninoff Second Sonata, Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, Chopin Etude in C Major Op. 10, No. 1, et-cetera, I was sort of energized to also revisit some of these pieces.

Firstly- I practiced at 2:15 p.m. at Weatherly Heights Baptist Church, for a recital that I am playing tomorrow in collaboration with the Alabama Voices.  Should be a great show.  They're singing a piece by Jonathan Dove, and I am playing on it, along with the following:

Prayer
by Paul Halley
with Aleta Hunt, Piano

Outer Hebrides
by Paul Halley

Choral 3
by Cesar Franck

Toccata
by Marcel Lanquetuit

Reverie
by Wayne Oquin

The organ is a Schantz, and is a treat to play.  Looking forward to that- anyway- practiced the preceding pieces until about 6 p.m.

Henry didn't want to walk today- perhaps he wanted to ride in his stroller or in the car.  Nevertheless, I wasted the whole day doing house stuff, and practicing, so why not screw the pooch some more, and just practice some more, so, from about 7:30 p.m.-9 p.m.

Chopin:  Etude 1, Op. 10
Liszt:  Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
Lanquetuit:  Toccata (for organ, though corrected some notes)
Rachmaninoff:  Sonata 2, Second Movement
Chopin:  Concerto 1:  Movement 2
Grieg:  Concerto (Arranged for Solo Piano by Percy Grainger)
Rachmaninoff:  Concerto 2, Theme, et-cetera (Arranged for Solo Piano by Percy Grainger)
Liszt:  Mephisto Waltz 



Technically this is practice journal 5,000,000,000, though, last night I practiced the following:
Rachmaninoff:  Libeslied
Rachmaninoff:  Flight of the Bumblebee

Twill be interesting when I record some new things for fun, and to see or listen for snippets of techniques that I will borrow from all the classic repertoire that I am re-visiting, learning, and re-learning.  


I visited my friends, Jason and Caleb and gave them some of my first water-color paintings for Jason's birthday, and then I played the piano for everyone, including Phil Broome, this wine and restaurant genius from Charleston.  I played Judy Garland's "Lucky Day" and some Oscar Peterson (Hymn to Freedom, and Tenderly), and a bunch of other stuff.  Playing while on the wagon is certainly interesting, and rewarding when you have a good day, though, when it's a bad piano day, there's no comfort in that.

I think I want to venture into making my paintings available for purchase- might turn into a fun hobby!




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Above:  "The Garden of the Hesperides & Ladon, Protector of the Golden Apples" Christopher-Joel Carter, IV (2023) [watercolor]