I have been listening obsessively to these pieces for days now... don't know quite what it is, but I'm so taken with them.... I absolutely can't wait for the music to arrive so I can start learning them...

Anyone played them/learning them (on any instrument)/like them?

Delighted to hear it! Will be ordering them soon!

I will have to stick to playing them on ONE instrument for a while, or my bank balance will be really unhealthy - but looking forward to hearing how you get on...

Hey Sarah, have you seen the piano parts? Are they difficult? We could always do a virtual duet if they're not too hard.

Hello Sarah,
As you may have seen on one of my posts on the woodwind forum. I have played the second one on the oboe and am learning the first one at the moment. I find the first one much easier than the second, although breathing is a bit of a problem. When properly played it just flows along seemingly with no pause for breath. I found the middle section of the second one quite tricky for a variety of technical reasons which may not be the same on the flute. However, when someone else is playing it, I think I like the second one best.

[/quote Boo Radley]
Hey Sarah, have you seen the piano parts? Are they difficult? We could always do a virtual duet if they're not too hard.
[/quote]

Hello Boo
I have the piano part and have looked at it (played it through), mainly to see how it fitted with the oboe. I couldn't sight read them straight off (or at least not without missing notes out) but they are not fiendishly difficult. (If you let me know what you mean by "difficult" I can give a more precise answer, the first is in A minor and the second in A major so the keys are not a problem). I don't know what you mean by "virtual duet" either but I'm not sure that this would be very easy.

Hi Keri, when I said virtual duet, I menat Sarah and I seperately recording the parts then mixing them together to put on www.forumrecordings.co.uk, the website run by yetanotherpianist for forum users. This has been done successfully a number of times.

The keys sound nice and friendly ( ), I am about grade 6 standard on the piano so do you think it would take long to learn the accompaniment well?

Boo, I've only seen the first page of the piano accomp and I'm no pianist, so I've no idea, but it would be worth a try when I have the music I'll have a look

kerioboe: yes, there are lots of long flowing phrases aren't there? Lovely though. The 2nd one (to listen to anyway) seems very passionate and exciting! And yes - the thread where you and Toni talked about them was when I came across them for the first time...

ooh I think I may have played one of these. My teacher lent me a book of 'Drei Romanzen' before I started on my G8 pieces. I never got to polish them off though... *sigh* Actually...I'm not entirely sure they are the ones you're talking about *will go check*

Hello Boo,
I've just had another look at the accompaniment and at my old grade 6 pieces and I think the Romances are probably a bit above grade 6. (That said I did my grade 6 over twenty years ago and things might have changed since). They have a lot of chords in them and it is a piano part in its own right. By that I mean that at times the melody is one of the notes in the chord in the right hand so if you are going to play it properly, you are obviously going to want to bring the melody out and this is where the real difficulty lies.

Probably Oboist who plays both instruments could give you a better idea of their real difficulty. Or, for that matter, any of the people who regularly accompany others as they are standard oboe repertoire and I am sure they will have played at least the first one at some stage.

About the virtual duet, I am no technician but the pieces have lots of rubato and so I wondered how you manage to fit things together if you are not actually playing together. Also in the first one the piano starts first so I was puzzled as to how Sarah knew when to start playing if she couldn't hear the piano.

Sarah, have you already ordered them? If not, try looking on e-bay under oboe. They regularly come up and often very cheaply.

YAP and others have done amazing jobs when putting together several independently recorded parts, kerioboe - so while I definitely think it'd be a challenge, well, we'll see! Yes, I ordered the music already - I couldn't wait. Didn't think to look on ebay, d'oh! Never mind. I was ordering some things I needed too, so at least the postage was all together


I guess they may have been arranged for piano solo - I've no idea! - gorgeous pieces - definitely worth having a look at

I keep meaning to ask - does anyone know what Einfach innig actually means?

I must look it up, but thought someone might know

I'd love to be able to play them but I've got no chance!

Einfach = simple, innig = heartfealt.

(AP trying to look clever pretending she knew that and didn't just look it up )

- you shouldn't have said, you'd have impressed us all

Thanks saves me trying to find out with my mangled brain! (it's not firing on all cylinders today at all )

Hi Keri,

I do play Nyman's 'The Heart Asks Pleasure First' and Mendelssohn's Spring Song both of which have quite a lot of melody-above-harmony in the right hand so that shouldn't pose too many problems. If I recorded the piano part first then Sarah could record on top of that so we are in sync. Either way I should be getting the romances for viola and piano within the next month so I'm sure I'll see then. Thanks for your help.

With my current set up I can't actually do that - because I can't make the piano loud enough to record over! Oh well. Don't have the music yet and will have to kick this cold and, ahem, actually learn one of them - but we can have a go anyway, it'll be fun

I look forward to hearing the end result.

Did you ever get these in the end Sarah? I've ordered them off musicroom and they should be arriving in a fortnight!

I only just saw this, Boo!

I haven't ordered the viola version - LOVING the flute one though!