Piano Lessons with Craig

Here's a real charmer. I liked it enough to play it at my students' recital on the 18th. Enjoy!

Scarlatti, K 25 in F Sharp Minor Scarlatti was a master of motivic writing. Notice the little rhythm that he places at the end of many of the phrases (two 32nd notes to a 16th note). He does...

Here's K. 22. I hope you'll enjoy it!

Scarlatti, K 22 in C Minor In K. 21, Scarlatti raised the ante of hand crossing, writing large sections using the technique. In K. 22, Scarlatti takes it to the next level! The differe...

This was a toughie. Such incredible keyboard writing! I love how it never lets up for a moment. Enjoy!

Scarlatti, K 18 in D Minor Four minutes of unrelenting intensity! I'd like to dedicate this recording to my friend, Patrick Norris, who asked me a couple of months ago if I was familia...

Here's a new one from Friday morning. Enjoy!

Scarlatti, K 20 in E Major Such a enjoyable, challenging piece! At the beginning, Scarlatti clearly wants you to trill the top note of several right hand interval (3rds and 6ths), but ...

I hope you'll enjoy this charming dance from Scarlatti, K. 17.

Scarlatti, K 17 in F Major Fun fact: I was getting worse, not better, the more I practiced the descending triplet figures at the end of each section. The intent was obvious - play this...

K. 16 ready for you listening pleasure. Enjoy!

Scarlatti, K 16 in B Flat Major The variety of these sonatas is breathtaking. Here we have an upbeat excursion into B flat major, with trill for days (I followed Scott Ross' example and omi...

This 4-voice Fugue was a great challenge. I started working on it 5 months ago, in order to give myself an extra month to prepare. It's densely written and stretches to 6 pages, as opposed to the usual two pages of most of the other Fugues. I hope you enjoy all 5 minutes of it!

Bach Well Tempered Clavier, Part 1, Fugue no 20 in A minor, BWV 865 "This Fugue is sprawling in terms of the amount of material in the subject, the number of entries of the subject, and its length. The A minor Fugue has 37 en...

Here's the 1st mvmt of the Moonlight. The nickname came 5 years after Beethoven's death, when a music critic, Ludwig Rellstab, said that the piece reminded him of an evening excursion on Lake Lucerne by the light of the moon.

Beethoven Sonata No 14 in C Sharp Minor, Op 27, no 2, Adagio sostenuto "Beethoven always sounds good." - Ivan Y (age 9), who arrived for his lesson while I was playing this piece"The "Moonlight" Sonata is not only the most famou...

Here's the charming Allegretto from the famous Moonlight Sonata. Enjoy!

Beethoven Sonata No 14 in C Sharp Minor, Op 27, no 2, Allegretto "A little flower between two abysses." - Franz Liszt"Its grace displays a melancholy poetry." - Charles Rosen, Beethoven scholar and pianist

I jumped ahead and learned the next Prelude (no. 21) while continuing to memorize the long 6 page Fugue in a minor (no. 20). Playing this is lots of fun - everyone plays it so fast!

Bach, Well Tempered Clavier, Part 1, Prelude no 21 in B Flat Major, BWV 866 "Bach gives us a taste of his scintillating improvisatory art in a fantasy-like prelude that flies over the keyboard with breathtaking energy." - Scott Fogle...

Here's the 3rd movement from the Op. 27, no. 1 Sonata (No. 13). Is it a movement in it's own right, or an introduction to the extended 4th movement? You be the judge! One thing's for sure - Beethoven didn't write Adagio movements that only last 3 minutes. Also, we'll hear this music again, at the very end of the Sonata. Oh, and the Adagio doesn't end on the tonic, either.

Beethoven Sonata No 13 in E Flat Major, Op 27, no 1, Adagio con espressione "In this Sonata, Op. 27, no. 1, there is not a single movement in sonata form. This starts like an Adagio on a large scale, but we will see that it's not eve...