30 by 30: Goal 1

Well, last week I posted 30 goals that I wished to accomplish by age 30, and this week, I actually got started on one of them! Namely...

"...5. Learn and memorize an hour's worth of piano classical music"

 Yikes! An hour? It's a tall order! But, I've done it once before. My senior recital to complete my Piano Performance degree was 50 minutes of memorized music. (Between entering and exciting stage, applause, seat adjustments, and variations in tempo, this is a typical time limit for "hour" long recitals... After all, no one just sits down and plays their music through without pausing!) This week I have tasked myself with picking out the repertoire for my "recital". After listening to countless YouTube renditions of pieces and pouring through the books I already own (I didn't really want to buy more), I have chosen the music! Here's the result! It looks like a lot of music (that's because it is!) and I am nervous about trying to conquer all of it, but I am super excited! 

In case any of you music-types (or non-music-types, I'm not gonna discriminate!) are interested in looking up the pieces or just want to know what I'm working on, here is my recital program:

Hanon, The Virtuoso Pianist (this is not a concert piece, but I am going to learn the entire book for technique purposes, and that's a pretty big undertaking, so I thought I would go ahead and include it.)

Haydn, Sonata No. 58 in C Major, Hob. XVI:48
      I. Andante con Espressione
      II. Rondo: Presto
Beethoven, Sonata No. 23 in F Major "Appassionata"
      I. Allegro assai
Liszt, 12 Etudes d'executiones transcendente, S. 139
      VII. Eroica
Debussy, Preludes for Piano, Book 1, L117
      X. La Cathedrale Engloutie (The Sunken Cathedral)
Mussourgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition
     I. La Promenade
     II. Gnomus
Poulenc, Trois Pieces pour Piano
      I. Pastorale
      II. Hymne
      III. Toccata
Scriabin, Etude in E Major, Op. 8, No. 5

Yeah, if it looks intense, that's because it is. Honestly, this program scares me to death! But it's really going to stretch me and challenge me, and I am super excited about it at the same time. If you are interested in listening to the music, I've put a Spotify playlist together with everything: Piano Recital Playlist  You should be able to open this and log in with a Facebook account or email and not have to download the program.

Let me know what you think! Do you like the music? How long do you think it will take me to complete it? Any tips from other musicians out there? I look forward to your comments!