what constitutes a (fairly) comprehensive repertoire?

[ibbar]

I realize that the answer to this question is not at all straightforward, and is probably quite different from person to person.  However, in your experience, what would constitute a fairly typical, comprehensive standard repertoire for most concert pianists?

[lisztisforkids]

I would think a  good background in the music of Chopin, Liszt and Beethoven. With alternating flavors of Mozart, Scarlatti, Ravel, Brahms, or whatever.

I find it really fascinating that we have 'specialist' in this day and age. As in a Chopin specialist, or Glen Gould being a Bach specialist, and to some extent (in my opinion) Daniel Barenboim and Alfren Brendel being Beethoven specialist.

But then You have Pianist like Horowitz and Richter, that play everything under the sun.

[ramseytheii]

For comprehensive repertoire, I would say, many pieces from the Baroque - dances pieces, Scarlatti sonatas, or the more "intellectual" preludes and fugues; many Classical sonatas and variation sets especially from Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven; Romantic "pieces," usually some kind of poetic associations, like Schubert Impromptus, Chopin ballades, Brahms Intermezzi and caprricios and others, various Mendelssohn, Schumann, etc; Chopin Etudes occupy an individual place, you need to have many of those; Liszt himself also occupies an individual place and I recommend learning lots and lots of his music; Early 20th century music - French, Ravel and Debussy, if you like Saint-Saens also and others; Russian - Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Medtner, there are so many; German - Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern, many people don't learn it but you need music that represents the early 20th century.  Also more modernistic things, Messiaen is popular, or Ginastera, etc.  That is only solo.  For concertos, I would say many Classical concertos, not necessarily the Haydn ones, definitely learn one or two Bach concertos, and mostly Romantic concertos.  Learn early 20th century concertos such as Ravel, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Medtner, even some American works.
If you are looking to start building a repertoire, choose a Baroque pieces, choose a classical sonata, choose a Romantic "piece," choose an Etude, choose some Liszt, and choose something from the early 20th century, and your repertoire is comprehensive, if not modern.

Walter Ramsey

[soliloquy]

For a really strong standard rep, you'll probably need these:


Albeniz Triana and probably a couple more movements of Iberia Suite

Bach A couple French/English Suites
Bach 6+ Movements from WTK
Bach An overture and/or Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue

Bartok 1+ of the following: Sonata SZ. 81, Two Rumanian Danses Op. 8a, Out of Doors Suite, Three Etudes Op. 18, suite Op. 14
 
Beethoven most of these sonatas: Pathetique, Moonlight, Tempest, Op. 49 No. 2, Waldstein, Appassionata, Les Adieux, Hammerklavier, Opp. 109/110/111, and Eroica Variations

Brahms at least three of the following: Paganini Variations, Handel Variations, Sonatas Opp. 1, 2 and 5, Fantasiestucke Op. 116 and Waltzes Op. 39, Klavierstucke 117/118/119

Chopin Etudes Op. 10 and 25
Chopin Various Balladen/Scherzi/Polonaises, from most important to least important
PROBABLY want the Preludes Op. 28 also
Chopin Sonata No. 2 and/or No. 3

Debussy at least 3 Etudes and 6 Preludes; must have Feux d'Artifice, Bruyeres and/or Ce Qu'a vu le Vient d'Ouest
Debussy 2+ of the following: Estampes, Images I, Images II, Suite Bergamasque, Pour le Piano

Haydn 2+ Sonatas; should include C Major and/or B minor

Liszt good collection of Transcendental/Paganini/Concert Etudes, must have La Campanella
Any 6+ of the following: Sonata in B Minor, Apres un Lecture du Dante, Hungarian Rhapsodies 2/6/12/13, Spanish Rhapsody, Ballade No. 2, Tannhauser Overture, Reminiscences de Don Juan, Isolde's Liebestod, Polonaise No. 2, Mephisto Waltz No. 1, Liebestraume No. 3, large movements from Annees des Pelerinage/Harmonies Poetiques et Religiouse

Mozart 3+ Sonatas; K330 and/or K533 and/or K576 should be one
At least one set of Variations; K176 or K573 are my personal favorites

Prokofiev two of: Sonata No. 2/3/4/6/7/8/toccata

Rachmaninov Sonata No. 2 (1931)
Rachmaninov Nos. 1/2 from Cinc Morceux Op. 3
Rachmaninov Large Selection of Preludes Opp. 23/32 and Etudes Opp. 33/39
1+ of these: Corelli Variations, Moments Musicaux, Humoreskes Op. 10, Polka de W.R., Mendelssohn Scherzo, Sonata No. 1

Ravel Gaspard de la Nuit
Two+ of the following: Sonatine, Miroirs, Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Tombeau de Couperin, La Valse

Scarlatti at LEAST 5 Sonatas, including K141

Schubert 1 or 2 sonatas, at least one should be: D850, D894, D958, D959, D960
Possibly a set of Impromptus from Schubert also

Schumann 3+ of the following: Waldszenen, Kinderszenen, Fantasy Pieces, Carnaval, Kreisleriana, Symphonic Etudes, Davidsbundlertanze, Sonata No. 1, Sonata No. 3

Scriabin Strong set of preludes/etudes/mazurkas and/or Sonatas 4/5/7/9/10/Fantasy Op. 28/Vers la Flamme

And there will always be pieces like Pictures at an Exhibition, Trois Mouvements from Petrouchka, Chaconne BWV1004 etc. that are semi-common but not mandatory.


You're also going to want some modern repertoire.  Here are some of the more common pieces (you'll want 2-3 of these pieces):

Barber Sonata Op. 26
Berg Sonata Op. 1
Bowen Toccata
Corigliano Etude Fantasy
De Falla Fantasia Baetica
Ginastera 3 Argentian Dances
Ginastera Sonata No. 1
Hindemith Suite "1922"
Ligeti 3+ Etudes
Messiaen 1 or 2 Movements from Vignt Regards
Nancarrow Tango?
Rzewski North American Ballads Nos. 3/4
Schoenberg 6 Little Pieces
Tchaikovsky-Pletnev Concert Suite from the Ballet "Nutcracker"
Vine Sonata No. 1


There are also other romantic or early 20th century composers you might look into like Alkan, Godowsky, Medtner, Busoni, Shostakovich, Franck etc.  It would probably be a good idea to have at least one piece by one of those composers.


For Chamber works, these are the most common, but among them none are like, more important to have, than the others.  I would suggest having 2 Quartets and 2 Quintets at least:

Beethoven Quartet
Brahms Quartet Nos 1/2/3
Mozart Quartets K. 478 and K. 493
Schumann Quartet

Bartok Quintet
Brahms Quintet
Dvorak Quintet
Franck Quintet
Schubert Trout Quintet
Schumann Quintet
Shostakovich Quintet


For Concerti, you'll want a selection of Classical, Romantic and 20th Century, again, at least two of each.  Here are the most common ones:

Beethoven Concerti 1/2/3/4/5
Bartok Concerti 1/2
Chopin Concerti 1/2
Gershwin Concerto
Grieg Concerto No. 1
Liszt Concerti 1/2
Mendelssohn Concerto No. 1
Mozart Concerti 20/21/23/24/27
Prokofiev Concerti 2/3/5
Rachmaninov Concerti 2/3/Paganini Variations
Ravel Concerti Gmaj/Dmaj
Saint-Saens Concerti 2/4


Hope this helps.

[kriskicksass]

For a really strong standard rep, you'll probably need these:


Albeniz Triana and probably a couple more movements of Iberia Suite

Bach A couple French/English Suites
Bach 6+ Movements from WTK
Bach An overture and/or Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue

Bartok 1+ of the following: Sonata SZ. 81, Two Rumanian Danses Op. 8a, Out of Doors Suite, Three Etudes Op. 18, suite Op. 14
 
Beethoven most of these sonatas: Pathetique, Moonlight, Tempest, Op. 49 No. 2, Waldstein, Appassionata, Les Adieux, Hammerklavier, Opp. 109/110/111, and Eroica Variations

Brahms at least three of the following: Paganini Variations, Handel Variations, Sonatas Opp. 1, 2 and 5, Fantasiestucke Op. 116 and Waltzes Op. 39, Klavierstucke 117/118/119

Chopin Etudes Op. 10 and 25
Chopin Various Balladen/Scherzi/Polonaises, from most important to least important
PROBABLY want the Preludes Op. 28 also
Chopin Sonata No. 2 and/or No. 3

Debussy at least 3 Etudes and 6 Preludes; must have Feux d'Artifice, Bruyeres and/or Ce Qu'a vu le Vient d'Ouest
Debussy 2+ of the following: Estampes, Images I, Images II, Suite Bergamasque, Pour le Piano

Haydn 2+ Sonatas; should include C Major and/or B minor

Liszt good collection of Transcendental/Paganini/Concert Etudes, must have La Campanella
Any 6+ of the following: Sonata in B Minor, Apres un Lecture du Dante, Hungarian Rhapsodies 2/6/12/13, Spanish Rhapsody, Ballade No. 2, Tannhauser Overture, Reminiscences de Don Juan, Isolde's Liebestod, Polonaise No. 2, Mephisto Waltz No. 1, Liebestraume No. 3, large movements from Annees des Pelerinage/Harmonies Poetiques et Religiouse

Mozart 3+ Sonatas; K330 and/or K533 and/or K576 should be one
At least one set of Variations; K176 or K573 are my personal favorites

Prokofiev two of: Sonata No. 2/3/4/6/7/8/toccata

Rachmaninov Sonata No. 2 (1931)
Rachmaninov Nos. 1/2 from Cinc Morceux Op. 3
Rachmaninov Large Selection of Preludes Opp. 23/32 and Etudes Opp. 33/39
1+ of these: Corelli Variations, Moments Musicaux, Humoreskes Op. 10, Polka de W.R., Mendelssohn Scherzo, Sonata No. 1

Ravel Gaspard de la Nuit
Two+ of the following: Sonatine, Miroirs, Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Tombeau de Couperin, La Valse

Scarlatti at LEAST 5 Sonatas, including K141

Schubert 1 or 2 sonatas, at least one should be: D850, D894, D958, D959, D960
Possibly a set of Impromptus from Schubert also

Schumann 3+ of the following: Waldszenen, Kinderszenen, Fantasy Pieces, Carnaval, Kreisleriana, Symphonic Etudes, Davidsbundlertanze, Sonata No. 1, Sonata No. 3

Scriabin Strong set of preludes/etudes/mazurkas and/or Sonatas 4/5/7/9/10/Fantasy Op. 28/Vers la Flamme

And there will always be pieces like Pictures at an Exhibition, Trois Mouvements from Petrouchka, Chaconne BWV1004 etc. that are semi-common but not mandatory.


You're also going to want some modern repertoire.  Here are some of the more common pieces (you'll want 2-3 of these pieces):

Barber Sonata Op. 26
Berg Sonata Op. 1
Bowen Toccata
Corigliano Etude Fantasy
De Falla Fantasia Baetica
Ginastera 3 Argentian Dances
Ginastera Sonata No. 1
Hindemith Suite "1922"
Ligeti 3+ Etudes
Messiaen 1 or 2 Movements from Vignt Regards
Nancarrow Tango?
Rzewski North American Ballads Nos. 3/4
Schoenberg 6 Little Pieces
Tchaikovsky-Pletnev Concert Suite from the Ballet "Nutcracker"
Vine Sonata No. 1


There are also other romantic or early 20th century composers you might look into like Alkan, Godowsky, Medtner, Busoni, Shostakovich, Franck etc.  It would probably be a good idea to have at least one piece by one of those composers.


For Chamber works, these are the most common, but among them none are like, more important to have, than the others.  I would suggest having 2 Quartets and 2 Quintets at least:

Beethoven Quartet
Brahms Quartet Nos 1/2/3
Mozart Quartets K. 478 and K. 493
Schumann Quartet

Bartok Quintet
Brahms Quintet
Dvorak Quintet
Franck Quintet
Schubert Trout Quintet
Schumann Quintet
Shostakovich Quintet


For Concerti, you'll want a selection of Classical, Romantic and 20th Century, again, at least two of each.  Here are the most common ones:

Beethoven Concerti 1/2/3/4/5
Bartok Concerti 1/2
Chopin Concerti 1/2
Gershwin Concerto
Grieg Concerto No. 1
Liszt Concerti 1/2
Mendelssohn Concerto No. 1
Mozart Concerti 20/21/23/24/27
Prokofiev Concerti 2/3/5
Rachmaninov Concerti 2/3/Paganini Variations
Ravel Concerti Gmaj/Dmaj
Saint-Saens Concerti 2/4


Hope this helps.

That isn't a comprehensive repertoire...that is the piano repertoire. I doubt that any amateurs/many low-level professionals have a rep that big.

[mike_lang]

For a really strong standard rep, you'll probably need these:


Albeniz Triana and probably a couple more movements of Iberia Suite

Bach A couple French/English Suites
Bach 6+ Movements from WTK
Bach An overture and/or Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue

Bartok 1+ of the following: Sonata SZ. 81, Two Rumanian Danses Op. 8a, Out of Doors Suite, Three Etudes Op. 18, suite Op. 14
 
Beethoven most of these sonatas: Pathetique, Moonlight, Tempest, Op. 49 No. 2, Waldstein, Appassionata, Les Adieux, Hammerklavier, Opp. 109/110/111, and Eroica Variations

Brahms at least three of the following: Paganini Variations, Handel Variations, Sonatas Opp. 1, 2 and 5, Fantasiestucke Op. 116 and Waltzes Op. 39, Klavierstucke 117/118/119

Chopin Etudes Op. 10 and 25
Chopin Various Balladen/Scherzi/Polonaises, from most important to least important
PROBABLY want the Preludes Op. 28 also
Chopin Sonata No. 2 and/or No. 3

Debussy at least 3 Etudes and 6 Preludes; must have Feux d'Artifice, Bruyeres and/or Ce Qu'a vu le Vient d'Ouest
Debussy 2+ of the following: Estampes, Images I, Images II, Suite Bergamasque, Pour le Piano

Haydn 2+ Sonatas; should include C Major and/or B minor

Liszt good collection of Transcendental/Paganini/Concert Etudes, must have La Campanella
Any 6+ of the following: Sonata in B Minor, Apres un Lecture du Dante, Hungarian Rhapsodies 2/6/12/13, Spanish Rhapsody, Ballade No. 2, Tannhauser Overture, Reminiscences de Don Juan, Isolde's Liebestod, Polonaise No. 2, Mephisto Waltz No. 1, Liebestraume No. 3, large movements from Annees des Pelerinage/Harmonies Poetiques et Religiouse

Mozart 3+ Sonatas; K330 and/or K533 and/or K576 should be one
At least one set of Variations; K176 or K573 are my personal favorites

Prokofiev two of: Sonata No. 2/3/4/6/7/8/toccata

Rachmaninov Sonata No. 2 (1931)
Rachmaninov Nos. 1/2 from Cinc Morceux Op. 3
Rachmaninov Large Selection of Preludes Opp. 23/32 and Etudes Opp. 33/39
1+ of these: Corelli Variations, Moments Musicaux, Humoreskes Op. 10, Polka de W.R., Mendelssohn Scherzo, Sonata No. 1

Ravel Gaspard de la Nuit
Two+ of the following: Sonatine, Miroirs, Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Tombeau de Couperin, La Valse

Scarlatti at LEAST 5 Sonatas, including K141

Schubert 1 or 2 sonatas, at least one should be: D850, D894, D958, D959, D960
Possibly a set of Impromptus from Schubert also

Schumann 3+ of the following: Waldszenen, Kinderszenen, Fantasy Pieces, Carnaval, Kreisleriana, Symphonic Etudes, Davidsbundlertanze, Sonata No. 1, Sonata No. 3

Scriabin Strong set of preludes/etudes/mazurkas and/or Sonatas 4/5/7/9/10/Fantasy Op. 28/Vers la Flamme

And there will always be pieces like Pictures at an Exhibition, Trois Mouvements from Petrouchka, Chaconne BWV1004 etc. that are semi-common but not mandatory.


You're also going to want some modern repertoire.  Here are some of the more common pieces (you'll want 2-3 of these pieces):

Barber Sonata Op. 26
Berg Sonata Op. 1
Bowen Toccata
Corigliano Etude Fantasy
De Falla Fantasia Baetica
Ginastera 3 Argentian Dances
Ginastera Sonata No. 1
Hindemith Suite "1922"
Ligeti 3+ Etudes
Messiaen 1 or 2 Movements from Vignt Regards
Nancarrow Tango?
Rzewski North American Ballads Nos. 3/4
Schoenberg 6 Little Pieces
Tchaikovsky-Pletnev Concert Suite from the Ballet "Nutcracker"
Vine Sonata No. 1


There are also other romantic or early 20th century composers you might look into like Alkan, Godowsky, Medtner, Busoni, Shostakovich, Franck etc.  It would probably be a good idea to have at least one piece by one of those composers.


For Chamber works, these are the most common, but among them none are like, more important to have, than the others.  I would suggest having 2 Quartets and 2 Quintets at least:

Beethoven Quartet
Brahms Quartet Nos 1/2/3
Mozart Quartets K. 478 and K. 493
Schumann Quartet

Bartok Quintet
Brahms Quintet
Dvorak Quintet
Franck Quintet
Schubert Trout Quintet
Schumann Quintet
Shostakovich Quintet


For Concerti, you'll want a selection of Classical, Romantic and 20th Century, again, at least two of each.  Here are the most common ones:

Beethoven Concerti 1/2/3/4/5
Bartok Concerti 1/2
Chopin Concerti 1/2
Gershwin Concerto
Grieg Concerto No. 1
Liszt Concerti 1/2
Mendelssohn Concerto No. 1
Mozart Concerti 20/21/23/24/27
Prokofiev Concerti 2/3/5
Rachmaninov Concerti 2/3/Paganini Variations
Ravel Concerti Gmaj/Dmaj
Saint-Saens Concerti 2/4


Hope this helps.

I suppose if Hell were a piano competition, this would be the preliminary round.