How many pieces do you know by memory?

[thierry13]

Then, we cannot consider Richter as a pianist because he used to play with sheet music alla time ?

Indeed 

[pseudopianist]

Chopin:

Fantasie Impromptu
Etude 25/5

Liszt:
First TE

Bach:

Prelude in C major WTC Book 1

I know all of my pieces from memory when playing them but these are the only pieces I could play right now since I have forgot the rest.

[hazypurple21]

Hans von Bullow (pianist extraordinaire, son-in-law of Liszt - until Cosima left him for Wagner):

"No pianist can be considered an artist unless he or she can play at least two hundred pieces by heart."

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

Who cares what he thinks. He edited the Beethoven sonatas for Schirmer.

[Bouter Boogie]

Depends.. In 6 months I'd probably know all pieces that 'm playing by memory. Currently just 3

Hey! Don't blame me, it's still holiday

[janne p.]

Currently (with notes, dynamics, atriculations etc.; completely, that is) :

Bach - 6th French suite (allemande, courante, sarabande, gigue), 2-part invention in A minor
Beethoven - Pathétique (whole), Moonlight 1st mvmnt
Brahms - Rhapsody in G minor
Chopin - 10/12, 25/1, 25/12, C minor prelude
Debussy - Arabesque no. 1
Khachaturian - Toccata
Merikanto - Valse lente
Mozart - Sonata facile 1st mvmnt
Rachmaninoff - 3/2, 23/3
Schumann - Kinderszenen no. 6

...so 21. Those are the ones I remembered remembering, anyway :-P

[phil13]

Okay, here's what I got:

Bach/Busoni Chorale Prelude No.2 'Sleepers, Wake'
Bach Arioso
Bach Italian Concerto mvt. I
Beethoven Sonata Op.27 No.2 'Moonlight' all
Beethoven Sonata Op.13 'Pathetique' mvts. II, III (working on I)
Chopin Military Polonaise Op.40 No.1
Chopin Nocturne Op.37 No.1 in G minor
Chopin Nocturne Op.72 No.1 in E minor
Chopin Nocturne Op. posth. in C# minor
Chopin Mazurka Op.6 No.2 in C# minor
Chopin Mazurka Op.17 No.4 in A minor
Chopin Prelude Op.28 No.15 'Raindrop' (and the 3 simple preludes)
Chopin Valse Op.34 No.2 in A minor
Debussy 'Sunken Cathedral'
Debussy 'Clair de lune'
Debussy 'The Girl with the Flaxen Hair'
Grieg Notturno Op.54 No.4 in C major
Liszt Sonnetto del Petrarca No.104 in E major
Scriabin Etude Op.2 No.1 in C# minor

And of course, there's my own compositions:

Sonata No.1 in F minor
Polonaise No.1 in C# minor
5 Modal Preludes
Octatonic Experiment

and my pride and joy, Sonata in D major for Piano and Violin.

Phil

[mlsmithz]

It makes for pretty dismal reading, but since my formal instruction in piano dwindled to nothing in late 1999 it's sort of par for the course - and I can't always churn these pieces out from memory, but on a good day they fall under finger nicely:

Bach: WTC Book I, Prelude and Fugue No.3 in C-sharp major, Prelude No.14 in F-sharp minor; English Suite No.2 in A minor, Prelude; Two-Part Invention No.4 in D minor
Rameau: Suite de clavecin No.2 in E minor, Musette en Rondeau
Haydn: Sonata No.4 in D major, first movement
Mozart: Sonata No.15 K.545, first movement
Beethoven: Sonata No.7 in D major Op.10 No.3, first movement; Sonata No.13 in E-flat major Op.27 No.1, fourth movement; 'Pastoral' Sonata, first and second movements; Sonata No.18 in E-flat major Op.31 No.3, first movement; 'Waldstein' Sonata, first movement
Schubert: Impromptu Op.90 No.2 in E-flat major
Chopin: Etude Op.25 No.3 in F major; Prelude Op.28 No.20 in C minor; Polonaise Op.40 No.1 in A major; Polonaise Op.40 No.2 in C minor
Liszt: Transcendental Etude No.1 in C major, 'Preludio'
Brahms: Romanze in F major Op.118 No.5
Debussy: Suite bergamasque, Prelude and Menuet
Shostakovich: Op.87 Preludes and Fugues, Prelude No.5 in D major, Prelude No.9 in E major, Prelude No.18 in F minor

At least that's all I can name offhand.  Better than nothing (marginally), I suppose.

[stevie]

Chopin:

Fantasie Impromptu
Etude 25/5

Liszt:
First TE

Bach:

Prelude in C major WTC Book 1

I know all of my pieces from memory when playing them but these are the only pieces I could play right now since I have forgot the rest.

your playing is very technically impressive, but your hair leaves much to be desired

[quantum]

As a personal rule for solo piano pieces - If I haven't memorized it, I shouldn't be performing it. 

Pieces playable at a moment's notice:

Albinez: Asturias
Bach: 2 part Invention No. 4; Minuet in G major
Bach/Hess: Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
Beethoven: Fur Elise
Brahms: Intermezzos 118/2, 118/6
Chopin: Fantasie Impromptu; Etude Op 25/1; Nocturne Op. 48/1
Scriabin: Etudes 2/1, 8/12; Poemes 32/1, 32/2
Improvisation on a theme or mood of the listener's choice. 

Pieces that can be resurrected quickly usually within a few days:

Bartok: Roumanian Folk dances
Beethoven: Sonatas Op.27/2 (complete), 57 (complete)

Chopin: Ballade #1; Scherzo #1; Nocturnes 9/1, 9/2, 27/1, 27/2; Preludes 23/4, 28/7, 28/20, 28/22; Polonaises 26/1, 40/1, 53; Waltzes 64/1, 64/2, E-minor (posth.), A-minor (posth.); Etude 25/10

Debussy: Dr. Gradus ad parnassum; Prelude "collines d'Anacapri"
Ginastera: Sonata No.1 - mvt. 1
Louie: I leap through the sky with stars
Schubert: Klavierstucke D. 946/1
Scriabin: 2 Morceaux Op. 57


Pieces that need a little more work to get back in performable memorized state:

Bach: Partita No.2 (Sinfonia, Allemande, Courante)
Beethoven: Sonatas Op.10/3 (mvt 1, 2, 3), op.28 (mvt. 1 and 2)
Chopin: Etudes Op.10/3, 10/5, Mazurka 33/4
Scriabin: Sonata #5
... and a whole bunch of other pieces I am probably leaving out as of this writing. 


Composing that list was a good excercise.  There are a whole bunch of pieces I haven't played in such a long time. 

[mozoot]

Fur Elise by Beethoven and Minuet in G.

[perfect_pitch]

Every single piece i have ever played or sight-read. I don't know why. I can remember things just by hearing them once (probably because of my perfect pitch) and I'll remember them forever (literally).

having said that, I can barely remember anyones name, when asked to remember.

Weird how the human mind works.

[jeremyjchilds]

I remember about 10 songs at this time, but that includes complete sonatas...

[Bouter Boogie]

Okay, I'll name them like everyone else:

Shchedrin: A La Albéniz
Moszkowski: Etude op. 72 no. 2
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody no. 10

More coming up soon

[stevie]

Every single piece i have ever played or sight-read. I don't know why. I can remember things just by hearing them once (probably because of my perfect pitch) and I'll remember them forever (literally).

having said that, I can barely remember anyones name, when asked to remember.

Weird how the human mind works.

i find this hard to believe, you mean you can memorise pieces instantly and completely after just one reading?

this level of talent is extremely rare.

[goansongo]

I know one piece.  And it's not even a classical piece.

[perfect_pitch]

i find this hard to believe, you mean you can memorise pieces instantly and completely after just one reading?

this level of talent is extremely rare.

I know it sounds a bit bull-sh*t-ish.... but every since I was 5, i have heard things and just instantly can pick out the notes, the voices... I was born with Perfect pitch.

I can barely remember any of my uni collegues names or barely remember facts or anything like that, but if theres one thing i know, i can listen to music and transcribe it perfectly. I don't know how I do it, I just can. It's like - how do you breathe??

You don't know, it just happens.

[lisztwasgod]

keep in mind i have put almost a decade into maintaining and buildng my repertoire....

the entire set of liszt piano works except for dante sonata (still working on it) and the deux legendes from his original works (ie: sonata in b minor, all of his transcriptions, his years of pilgrimage (finally) and his orchestral works with piano accompaniment)

the chopin ballades

prokoffiev sonatas (i finally finished two) except for no. 7 and the toccata (op. 11)

rachmaninoff's set of the opus 25 and 32 preludes; his first concerto

horowitz encores carmen and stars and stripes forever

(I know im pretty one-sided in Liszt, but it IS my favorite and he IS the base of my degree...so, yes, im kind of bias)

[da jake]

Bach - Prelude and Fugue C minor book
Bach - Prelude 2nd English Suite
Chopin - E minor Posth Waltz
Chopin -  first 7 pages of G minor Ballade

Heh.

[Waldszenen]

ZERO

I haven't ever committed a single piece to memory and I have no intention of ever doing so.

[brewtality]

ZERO

I haven't ever committed a single piece to memory and I have no intention of ever doing so.

You haven't even unintentionally memorised a piece? I don't actively memorise pieces either purely because I'm lazy but I've memorised the following pieces just from playing them many times:

Mendelsohnn: Rondo Capriccioso
Sousa-Horowitz: the stars and stripes forever
Beethoven: Appassionata 3rd movement
Chopin: Heroic Polonaise

[Waldszenen]

Nah, even unintentionally I can only play a maximum of 75% of it.

[paris]

here are pieces which i know by memory, then pieces which i've memorized, but they aren't for performance yet, and pieces what i've memorized and currently working on

BEETHOVEN: Sonata op.10 n.2
                                 op.7
                                 op.13
                                 op.31 n.2
                                 op.49 n.1
                    Varioations on Waldstein theme(4 hands)
BACH: Prelude&Fugue E major  (WTC I)
                                    g minor  (WTC I)
LISZT: Hungarian rhapsody n.8
           La Campanella
RACHMANINOFF: Etudes tableaux op.33 E flat major
                           Italian polka (for 2 pianos)
DEBUSSY: Jardins sous la pluie
BRAHMS: Intermezzi op.117
CHOPIN: Polonaise G flat major
               Polonaise op.44
               Etudes op.10/1,9
                           op.25/1
               Nocturne op.55/1
               Waltz op.posth a minor
                         op.69 n.1
               Trois Eccosaises
SCHUBERT: Sonata DV664 A major
MOZART: Piano Concerto KV414
               Sonata KV 331
BIZET: Carmen-arranged for 8 hands , funniest piece i've ever played (tones of tremolos, glissandi and other acrobatics with main carmen thema) 




               


                                 

[la_leggierezza]

scarlatti - sonatas no 3 and no15 (ed ricordi)
moszkowsky - etude op 72 no 6
chopin - etudes op 25 no 1 no 2 no 7 no12
              etudes op 10 no1 no 9 no 12
bach - WTC book 1 - P&F no 5 no 6 no 9 no21
beethoven - sonatas (complete) op27 no 2 (moonlight) and op 10 no1
mozart - sonatas (complete) Kv 545 (that one is easy) and Kv 333
chopin- nocturnes op 27 no1, no2 and posth c#m
             waltzes op 69 no1, op 64 no1 and op 70 no1
Bartok - Romanian folk dances
Albeniz- rumores de la caleta
Debussy - the little noir, arabesque no 1

I hope I havent forgott anything!  Well, some of this pieces I have played years ago but I still know them by memory because I play them sometimes just for manteinance and because I like them (albeniz, debussy, mozart chopin waltzes). I think that once u learn a piece by memory u´ll never forgett it anymore bucause u really LEARNED it  even if u don t play it every single day. The others pieces I have just finished playing:I have played them in my final piano exam. so they are very fresh. 

[bernhard]

I hope I havent forgott anything! 

 

[lisztener]

Hi everyone
 These are pieces that i can play at the moment:

Prelude 'Raindrop' - Chopin
Prelude in C - Bach
Gnossienne nr 3 - Satie
Gymnopedie nr 1 - Satie
Nocturne op 9 nr 1 - Chopin

Although I have some tiny details to finish on the nocturne...

Hmm that doesn't make to much im afraid 

[trunks]

Recent additions to my memorized repertoire:

CHOPIN:
Etude in G# minor, Op.25 No.6 (Thirds)

LISZT:
Etude d'execution Transcendante No.5 (Feux Follets)

RACHMANINOFF:
Polichinelle Op.3 No.4

VILLA-LOBOS:
A Prole do Bebe Volume 1 No.5 (Wooden Doll - The Black Girl)

[lostinidlewonder]

If I include pieces which I have memorised through teaching my beginner/intermediate students I would probably be here all day trying to write them down lol. There are SOOOOOOOoooooooooooo many small pieces to start learning the piano out there.

My main list includes;
Bach(WTC, Goldberg Variations), Beethoven (Sonata), Chopin(Etude, Nocturne, Polonaise, Prelude, Waltz), Debussy(Prelude, Etude, standard favorites), Liszt (Etude, Mephisto Waltz, Hungarian Rhapsody), Rachmaninov(Etudes, Preludes, Moments Musicaux), Ravel (Jeux J'eau, Gaspard de la nuit, Menuet Antique, Miroirs, Pavane pour une infante defunte, Sonatine, Tombeau de Couperin), Scriabin (Etudes, Preludes, Sonata).

These are the main pieces I have been developing my playing around for the past 15 years. Although I do experiement with other composers but I don't place focused consistient effort on them. I don't aim to memorise every single pieces in some of the volumes above just the ones I like sound wise and the ones which explore interesting physical playing ideas which doesn't really leave too many untouched.