Tchaikovsky

[fuel925]

Never played any Tchaikovsky, could someone recommend any of his solo piano pieces, around grades 4, 5 or 6 difficulty if possible

[burstroman]

The "Months" is a great suite. Not difficult. Each month is depicted admirably.

[apion]

In comparison to the other greats, Tchaikovsky is really lacking in the solo piano department, IMO. 

[_steinway_]

The "Months" is a great suite. Not difficult. Each month is depicted admirably.

Don't you mean "The Seasons" ? Yeh - they are great! The different months depict the different seasons and moods etc. They all have their each and own colour and style. I would recommend April, October and November But all 12 are really good!

[lisztisforkids]

What about his piano sonata? I have never heard it, but I saw the sheet music for it and it looks HUGE.

[basta]

Hi,
If I would make my choice,that would be OCTOBER  (Seasons) and DANCE OF THE FLOWERS
from Suite Nutcracker.
Recently heard Dance played with 4 hands,that is amazing.
To add Sentimental Waltz  or Piano solo  from Swan Lake.

[frederic]

No, the Sonata is a silly suggestion. I'm assuming you are talking about the G major. I would not agree that Tchaikovsky is lacking in piano solo repertoire. They expand to four volumes. You can't really call that lacking can you?
"The Seasons" or "The Months" is a good suggestion but not all of the pieces are equally good. I would reccomend August, October and November. June if you want something a little bit more familiar. Another one of my favourites is his Romance in F minor.

[pianalex]

'dumka' is quite good, and nicely laid out for the hands somehow..

[piano113]

Hi,

I need to get the piano notes of Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto no 1 but the file won't open

HELP PLEASE!!!

[slow_concert_pianist]

What about his piano sonata? I have never heard it, but I saw the sheet music for it and it looks HUGE.

Sonata-s. There were three last I counted!

[furtwaengler]

Sonata-s. There were three last I counted!

What am I missing? I know the grand G major and the C-sharp minor, both of which I love. What is the third?

[lontano]

What about his piano sonata? I have never heard it, but I saw the sheet music for it and it looks HUGE.

If you are referring to the "Grand Sonata", op.37, I find it rather perfunctory and nationalistic, particularly with the first movement, which is full of impetuous chords "on the march". After that there are some nice sections that divert away from the 1st movement; the 2nd movement is, at times sole-full with hints of the 1st Piano Concerto. The 3rd movement is more of a scherzo than the score suggests, basically a quick moderato.  The short finale is, to me, the most interesting, and requires the most virtuosic skills. Again it incorporates pianistic technique on the level of the 1st Concerto. Overall though, I've never found this sonata to be all that attractive, either for the pianist pondering the learning of it, or the general appreciation of an imaginary audience.

While Tchaikovsky did write some decent solo piano works, it appears to me that the shorter works, as in "The Seasons" (mentioned by others here), tend to be more rewarding on all grounds. Personally I believe he was destined to compose orchestral music with wonderful imagination, and much of the non-orchestral works tend to struggle on their own, for better or worse.

My parents were Classical Romantics, and that's the sort of music I inherited as a child, and while I've embraced far distant "musics" over the years, I continue to appreciate much of Tchaikovsky works. Many people consider it inferior, along with his "successor" Rachmaninoff, but regardless of one's own preferences, just consider the "popular impact" these late 19th - early 20th century composers have had on maintaining a public interest in Classical Music in general. Without a "ground base" of devotes of the most popular classical works, intertwined with "new" (lesser known, yet well deserving of public performance) works, the strength of the platform that much of Classical Music stands on could crumble, and that would be a shameful disaster I hope never to see.

Lontano

[point of grace]

The "Months" is a great suite. Not difficult. Each month is depicted admirably.

opus number??

[lontano]

opus number??

It's "The Seasons", and it is easy enough to find the opus number with a little tool called Google. It's op. 37a.

Find it here: https://imslp.org/wiki/The_Seasons,_Op.37a_%28Tchaikovsky,_Pyotr_Ilyich%29

[reginald]

i just "finished" studying the romance in f . once i mastered the techniques in the fast part, this piece
gave me the feeling it should and can be performed in many totally different ways. this piece is real big fun to play and everyone seems to like listening to it.

[pianopro181]

The "Months" is a great suite. Not difficult. Each month is depicted admirably.

I know this is a very old post but I felt like I needed to say that if you honestly believe the Seasons or ‘Months’ isn’t difficult you understand very little about piano playing. No world class concert pianist would ever agree with that statement. They’re incredibly expressive and full of nuances and many of them are listed under ABRSM as grade 9+ for precisely those reasons.

[kosulin]

Op.40 has few very nice pieces of intermediate grades.
Op. 37 (Seasons) is very nice but is more advanced IMO.
Op. 39 offers both easy and intermediate pieces with nice melodic lines.
If you like music from Nutcracker, there is an author transcription for piano 2 hands. Some scenes should be accessible.
Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty were transcribed for 2 hands by Ziloti and Kashkina, but are too advanced IMO.