Necessary repertoire

[mrdaveux]

What do you think should be in all of us repertoire ? Are there pieces that one needs to learn and keep to demonstrate his pianistic seriousness ?

I know, musis is enjoyable, it should be about learning what you like etc. but don't you think that some pieces are inevitable for serious classical pianists ? Like "oh my god, you've never played a Beethoven sonata?"

Here is an approximate list of what I think should be our goal in the repertoire (considering that many here are not playing professionally but still are good pianists that can mantain a certain amount of music in a good shape) :

Bach : 10 preludes & fugues; Goldberg variations; 1 suite
Mozart : 5 sonatas, 1 concerto
Beethoven : 10 sonatas (from different periods), Diabelli variations, 1 concerto
Schubert : 2 sonatas; a couple of impromptus and moments musicaux; chamber music
Chopin : a lot of stuff (several polonaises, mazurkas, etudes, preludes etc.), 1 concerto
Schumann : 1 variation set, a couple of miscellaneous pieces
Brahms : a couple of pieces after the opus 70s; 3rd sonata, 2nd concerto; chamber music
Liszt : several pieces; sonata; 1 concerto
Grieg : several lyric pieces, concerto in A
Albeniz : several pieces from Iberia
Debussy : a couple of pieces; several preludes
Rachmaninoff : a couple of pieces; 1 concerto

OK, that's all I can think about right now (what have I forgotten?). I'm far from having all that stuff in my pocket, but hey, that's why music is a lifetime experience. And so many more other composers and pieces out there for enjoyment... we surely need several lifes to do justice to the piano.

Well, feel free to comment on the list (or add and substract to it, but remember, this is not a list of top hits or personal preferences, but a list of objective music for the pianist).

[pita bread]

Must you insist on people playing the same damn repertoire over and over?

[BoliverAllmon]

I agree everyone playing the same thing is boring.

[Rach3]

The problem here is the word "should". Get rid of that word, it doesn't apply here.

[g_s_223]

What competent pianists should ideally do is *learn* all the above repertoire, when they have the skills to do so, and this will give them a comprehensive technique. However, they should then drop most of it, and do instead other related but *different* works.

[kreso]

I agree that a pianists should play some most important pieces which are like a bread to us (Bach WTK, Beethoven sonatas, chopin and liszt studies).

I thnik you forot Scarlatti sonatas which I found very useful for developing tehnich and fingers (Rachmanionv said: If your 4th and 5th fingers dont work, PRACTICE SCARLATTI!!!)

[jamie_liszt]

i say 24 chopin etudes, also the bach preludes & fugues, and i think a pianist is expected to know some mozart sonatas.

i think the main pieces a pianist is expected to know has already been said in this topic.

[pianowelsh]

I have a hobby horse about 'competition/exam repertoire' BUT i do think it is important that pianists especially as they are developing play in every major style.  True they do need some famous pieces in their repertoire not for them, for their audiences because audiences tend to be very timid and like to come to what they know already. But we should be inventive in programming and actively seek out pieces which interest us and not slavishly work our way through a list of MUSTs.