today is the first day that i'm not waiting about expectantly for a phone call and that is because my favourite phone caller is at field camp for a week. fortunately i have iris (who's also missing her paul) to keep me company and we have built a great solidarity and an Operation Occupy Ourselves.

and so, as part of the Operation, i have started practicing the piano again. just now i conquerered the first page of schubert's impromptu in g flat major and sight read the next two. i think that this impromptu is one of those truly magical pieces which really capture and uplift you. the first time i heard it i had goosebumps and my heart started beating insanely fast. then when i actually took a look at the score and realised what the right hand needed to play i got majorly put off, as is usually the case. and so today i am quite pleased with myself because i've finally managed to balance the melody and the chords, and i must say it sounds pretty good! not quite as magical as the recording i listened to, and i still have 5 pages more to go, but i'm getting there alright...

oh and take a look at this list which the BBC compiled in 2004 from over 1000 Australian voters- in red are the ones which i really like and in green are the ones which i think suck:

The Classic 100 Piano Countdown


Beethoven Moonlight Sonata (Piano Sonata No.14 in C-sharp minor Op.27/2) ok it IS nice but no.1???
Bach Goldberg Variations
Debussy Clair de Lune from Suite Bergamasque
Satie Gymnopedie No.1
Beethoven Pathétique Sonata (Piano Sonata No.8 in C minor Op.13)
Schubert Impromptu No.3 in G flat major D.899/Op.90 so i have good taste after all!!
Traditional Chopsticks
Bach The Well Tempered Clavier
Schubert Piano Sonata No 21 in B flat Major D960
Beethoven Appassionata Sonata (Piano Sonata No.23 in F minor Op.57)
Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition
Beethoven Waldstein Sonata (Piano Sonata No.21 in C major Op.53)
Chopin Fantaisie-Impromptu in C sharp minor Op. 66
Schubert Fantasia for Piano Four Hands in F Minor, D940 Op. 103
Beethoven Für Elise ELEVATOR MUSIC!
Chopin Polonaise in A Flat, Op. 53 "Heroic"
Schumann Träumerei from Kinderszenen Op. 15
Chopin Nocturne No. 2 in E flat, Op. 9 No. 2
Grieg Wedding Day at Troldhaugen
Chopin Ballade No 1 in G minor Op 23
Mozart Piano Sonata No 11 in A major K. 331
Schubert Fantasy in C "The Wanderer Fantasy" D760
Sinding Rustle of Spring
Bach/Hess Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring
Schubert Impromptu No.4 in A flat major D.899/Op.90
Beethoven Sonata No.32 in C minor Op. 111
Debussy Prelude No. 8 La fille aux cheveux de lin
Liszt Piano Sonata in B minor (G.178)
Chopin Etude Op.10 No. 3 in E
Liszt Étude de Paganini No.3 in G sharp minor 'La campanella'
Jarrett Koln Concert
Brahms Intermezzo Op. 118 No. 2 in A major
Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp Minor
Rachmaninov Prelude in C sharp Minor Op.3 No.2
Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 12 in C minor "Revolutionary"
Liszt Liebestraum No. 3 in A-flat (S 541 / III)
Liszt Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude from Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses
Schumann/Liszt Dedication (Widmung) S.566
Beethoven Hammerklavier Sonata (Piano Sonata No.29 in B-flat Op.106)
Cage 4'33" i didn't know silence counted as a song???
Debussy Prelude No. 10 La cathédrale engloutie
Mozart Piano Sonata No. 13 in C, K 545 (Sonata Facile)
Schumann Carnaval Op.9
Schumann From foreign lands and people from Kinderszenen Op 15
Chopin Polonaise in A major Op. 40 No. 1 "Military"
Nyman The Heart Asks Pleasure First from "The Piano"
Chopin Prelude No. 15 in D-flat "Raindrop"
Rachmaninov Prelude in G Minor Op 23 No 5
Joplin The Entertainer
Schubert Impromptu No.3 in B flat D935/Op.142
Beethoven Tempest Sonata (Piano Sonata in D minor Op.31/2)
Chopin Ballade No. 4 in F minor Op.52
Chopin Nocturne No. 1 in B flat minor, op.9 No 1
Liszt Consolation No. 3 in D-flat major (Lento placido)
Ravel Pavane pour une infante defunte
Chopin Berceuse in Db major, Opus 57
Satie Gnossienne No.1
Bach/Busoni Chaconne in D minor (from Partita No 2 for Solo Violin, BWV 1004)
Chopin Nocturne No. 8 in D flat, Op. 27 No. 2
Chopin Piano Sonata No.2 in B flat minor, Op. 35
Ravel Gaspard de la Nuit
Beethoven Piano Sonata No.30 in E major Op. 109
Granados The Maiden and the Nightingale from Goyescas
Liszt Concert Etude No.3 in D Flat Major "Un sospiro"
Sculthorpe Left Bank Waltz
Bach Italian Concerto
Blake Walking in the Air
Chopin Nocturne No. 13 in C, Op 48 No.1
Satie Gymnopedie No.3
Schubert Impromptu No.2 in E flat D.899/Op.90
Brahms Handel Variations Op. 24
Chopin Nocturne No.20 in C sharp minor, Op. posth
Shostakovich 24 Preludes and Fugues
Mozart Fantasia in D minor K397
Schumann Fantasie in C Major, Op.17
Tchaikovsky The Seasons especially especially June, Barcarolle
Chopin Barcarolle in F sharp Op. 60
Chopin Etude Op. 25 No. 1 in A Flat Major
Debussy Arabesque No. 1
Messiaen Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jésus
Beethoven Piano Sonata No.31 in A-flat Op.110
Chopin Piano Sonata No.3, Op. 58
Mozart Variations on 'ah vous dirai-je Maman' K265
Ravel Le Tombeau de Couperin
Beethoven Diabelli Variations
Beethoven Les Adieux Sonata (Piano Sonata No.26 in E-flat Op.81a)
Chopin Prelude No.4 in E minor Op.28 No.4
Brahms Rhapsody in G minor Op.79 No.2
Joplin Solace
Schubert/Liszt Standchen (No. 4 from Schwanengesang, D 957)
Brahms Waltz in A-Flat, Op.39 No.15
Chopin Andante Spianato in G, Op.22
Schubert Moments Musicaux Op.94 D780
Grainger Handel in the Strand
Liszt Paraphrase on themes from Verdi's Rigoletto
Albéniz Iberia
Schubert Impromptu No.2 in A flat D935/Op.142
Ravel Sonatine (1905)
Schumann Arabesque in C Op.18
Pärt Für Alina