Piano Forum
Piano Board => Repertoire => Topic started by: alraydo on June 19, 2005, 05:38:19 AM
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I am constantly looking for short pieces [under 4 minutes] to play for church every Sunday. I have complete discretion over what I choose to play, so I usually mix it up with Bach, Billy Joel, Gershwin, Beatles, Tcherepnin, Debussy, and so on. It's easy enough to find appropriate popular music, but a lot of the classical I have is too long to play. It's a Unitarian church and they like their services to be no more than an hour, so that pretty much rules out Chopin/Beethoven/Brahms etc. I don't want to cut into the minister's sermon time.
Any suggestions on books of good shorter pieces?
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Hello again, ALRAYDO! I have the exact same problem, and I am solving it by playing shorter Chopin Nocturnes, Waltzes, Preludes, Etudes (Not the loud ones, otherwise I would break the church's small digital piano).
Usually I try not to play something loud and fast, except one time, I tried to play Chopin's Etude Op 10 No. 12 on the church's piano, and I had to stop, because the piano is very light and it almost turned over.
People at my church usually like short, popular classical music. The ones they ask me to play the most are: the champion, Chopin's Nocturne in C# minor, which I played about 20 times... his Waltz L'adieu, ands shorter pieces by Brahms (op 116 or 118).
I save the virtuosistic display for the competition, hehe... ;) Liszt...
Maybe one time I'll play Rachmaninoff's Prelude Op. 3 n. 4 in C # minor...
Anyway, that is my opinion, just play simple music by Brahms, Chopin, Beethoven, etc...
And if you are thinking about a "quick" challenge you can try Liszt's Transcedental Etude N. 1, the Prelude. It has technical showcase, and it is short...
Bach's Inventions and pieces from both English and French suites are also very good, most are short and with a very nice air.
The same case is found on Liszt's Canzone from Annees de Pelegrimage, Venezia and Napoli.
Maybe Mendelsohn's Songs Without Words, most of them are not too long.
There is a wide range of short music to choose from...
I hope this was helpful ;).
Sincerely,
Mario Barbosa.
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mendelssohn's songs without words
he wrote 49 of them, and each is short and to the point, they are highly melodical too (great melodies!)
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Agree with Hodi. Also take a look at Grieg's Lyric Pieces and Faure's Nocturnes.
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Try some Bach preludes and fugues, no way they're longer than four minutes...Try some Debussy preludes, I'm sure a lot of them are shorter than four minutes, I suggest Fille au Cheveux de Lin, sounds great and is quite short.
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Thanks so much! I've already played some of the Bach Preludes and Fugues and inventions, the Debussy Preludes, and Grieg's Lyric Pieces. I'll definitely look for Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words.
Barbosa --
I tried to play Chopin's Etude Op 10 No. 12 on the church's piano, and I had to stop, because the piano is very light and it almost turned over.
--I just got a great mental picture of that! ;D
Anyway, what I think I'm looking for is one book of a variety of different composers and styles. I've seen a couple but they look like they're geared toward the beginner [been playing for 22 years].