Repertoire

[tsunamirhino]

Hello there
I’m new here so please be nice! My son is 10 and looking for new repertoire. I played piano and very heavily classically trained so have a lifetime books and works at his disposal. He recently played Cuellar’s Toccata and loved playing it. It was flashy and showy (all you need to bring you to the piano at this age and impress your audience). He is looking for similar pieces - probably around the grade 5/6 mark but where he can just have some fun alongside his usual routines but something that will make his audiences go ‘wow’. Would be grateful for suggestions. Thanks ever so much, Nala

[iamdopeuarenope]

Chopin Waltz in C# Minor isn't super showy but it sounds nice (Around Level 6)

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Liszt Preludio might be a good long-term goal.

Posting a video of your son playing (with his consent of course) would help us to gauge what a good fit for him is a lot better, though.

Also, welcome to the forums!

[pianistavt]

Here's a few ideas:
- Kachaturian Sonatina
- Kachaturian Toccata
- Bartok Sonatina
- Bartok Rumanian Folk Dances
- Bartok Allegro Barbaro

[tsunamirhino]

Thanks so much for these suggestions - the Kachaturian Toccata is well known to me and used to be my 'party piece' back in the day, but the Sonatina was unfamiliar to me and would be fantastic.  The other constraint that we have at the moment is that he is not a comfortable reach with the octave so that does limit things a bit!

[liszt-and-the-galops]

The other constraint that we have at the moment is that he is not a comfortable reach with the octave so that does limit things a bit!

In that case, Preludio might not be a good idea; there are a few 9ths in there, which small hands will have immense difficulty in playing. As someone who can reach nearly an 11th, it's fairly easy for me. But if your son can barely reach an 8th, he might need to grow a bit more before he can reasonably play the etude. The alternative is arpeggiating the chords, but that's definitely not how it's meant to be played.
Hope this helps,
Liszt