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Music

I play the cello. I am privileged to have climbed some of the more majestic pillars of the Western classical canon, mostly with Sylvia Biscoveanu, William Wang, Katherine Young, and other members of the MIT Chamber Music Society.

Todo/wish list:

  1. Schubert - Arpeggione Sonata
  2. Brahms - Cello Sonata #2
  3. Beethoven - String Quartet #15
  4. Schubert - Cello Quintet
  5. Schubert - String Quartet #13,14,15
  6. Mendelssohn - Piano Trio #1
  7. Mendelssohn - String Quartet #2
  8. Shostakovich - String Quartet #8
  9. Elgar - Piano Quintet
  10. Brahms - String Sextet #1, #2
  11. Borodin - String Quartet #2
  12. Dvorak - String Quartet #12
  13. Smetana - Piano Trio #1

Completed

I've worked through these in some detail and would recommend them.
  1. Rachmaninoff - Sonata for Cello and Piano (what an epic journey -- thanks to the indomitable William Wang for learning this!)
  2. Smetana - String Quartet #1 (the second movement is such a treat)
  3. Kodaly - Duo for Violin and Cello (this grew on me the more I played it)
  4. Tchaikovsky - Piano Trio #1 (quite a marathon, and maybe my favorite chamber piece of all time)
  5. Brahms - Piano Quartet #1 (of particular note is Schoenberg's colorful orchestral arrangement)
  6. Mendelssohn - Octet #1 (played this on the MBTA with 6 other people once)
  7. Schumann - Piano Quintet #1 (a COVID project? I guess?)
  8. Schubert - Piano Trio #2 (note the famous theme in the second movement, which is based on a haunting Finnish folk song)
  9. Shostakovich - Piano Trio #2 (still scared of the opening cello solo)
  10. Schumann - Piano Quartet #1 (second movement is the best)
  11. Beethoven - Piano Trio (Archduke) #7 (third movement is the best)
  12. Brahms - Piano Quintet #1 (The piano/cello/violin mini-trio in Mvt. 2 is sublime)
  13. Mendelssohn - Piano Trio #2 (Buy a new C string for this)
  14. Martinu - Piano Trio #1 (weirdly catchy but anxiety inducing)