RobertCunninghamsMusic

Performing Frühling (German for "Spring") by Gerald Wilhelm Braden on March 22 for the Phoenix Piano Club, which we hosted that afternoon. Braden is a contemporary composer who was born in Vienna but came to the United States as a teenager. He feels a deep connection with the classical and early Romantic traditions of his Austrian homeland, and his music, like my own, is tonal and relatively traditional. Prior to this Piano Club performance, I had recorded Frühling in late February and made two slightly different videos from that performance. One of them can now be viewed on my channel (RobertCunninghamsMusic), and the other on Braden's own channel, which is rather large (31K subscribers).

LINKS:
Frühling on my channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdpLkjvcOT0
Frühling on Braden's channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEw1yPJbDlA

The soundtrack from my November 8 recording of Chopin's Nocturne in E Minor (Op. 72, No. 1) has now been added to SoundCloud, where you can listen to it or download it in a high-quality .wav format. Chopin wrote this beautiful nocturne when he was only about 16, but it was not published until after his death.

Chopin, Nocturne in E Minor, Op. 72, No. 1 Frédéric Chopin's Nocturne in E Minor, Op. 72, No. 1. Recorded by Robert Cunningham on November 8, 2025. See also: Robert Cunningham's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/RobertCunninghamsMu

In 2013-2016 I recorded all of my Nine Preludes for Piano Solo, one prelude at a time. But this set of nine preludes was originally conceived as an artistic whole, with certain symmetries across the set and with a unifing key scheme. In fact, when I first starting performing these preludes in concerts decades ago, I played all nine in order. April's VIDEO OF THE MONTH collects these preludes in order and presents them with the score. This video is particularly useful for illuminating the key scheme of the set: The tonal center starts at E-flat for Prelude No. 1, then ascends two whole steps, descends a half step, ascends two whole steps, descends a half step, and so on until the pattern returns to E-flat in Prelude No. 9. The odd-numbered preludes are in minor and the even-numbered ones are in major, with the exception of Prelude No. 9, which is in major mode to contrast with the opening prelude which shares the same tonal center. In this video, the pattern is made clear by a graphic that is displayed just before the start of each prelude, showing how it fits into the overall scheme.

There are also other symmetries that can be observed when the set is heard as a whole, as described in this blog article: https://robertcunninghamsmusic.com/structure-of-the-nine-preludes/.

Nine Preludes for Piano Solo (complete, with score) by Robert Cunningham The complete Nine Preludes for Piano Solo, with score, recorded by composer Robert Cunningham over 2013-2016. Includes visuals illustrating the key scheme.T...

I am pleased to announce that the soundtrack from my November 8 recording of Edward MacDowell's "To a Wild Rose" is now on SoundCloud, where you can listen to it or download it in a high-quality .wav format. MacDowell (1860-1908) was an American composer-pianist of the late Romantic period. He had a custom of composing short pieces early in the morning and then tossing them in the fireplace. In this case, apparently, the piece landed outside the fireplace and was later rescued by his wife. "To a Wild Rose" eventually became the opening movement of his Woodland Sketches (Op. 51), and the short, simple, and beautiful melody became quite popular. It was even adapted into a song by Elvis Presley. :)

MacDowell, To a Wild Rose (Op. 51, No. 1) Edward MacDowell's "To a Wild Rose," from Woodland Sketches, Op. 51, No. 1. Recorded by Robert Cunningham on November 8, 2025. See also: Robert Cunningham's YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/Rober