Show off pieces

[jehangircama]

ok, the mendelhssohn didn't work for me, too much work reqd. but the grieg op65 no.6 sounds like a lot of fun and repeats, so its more the kind of thing i think we're looking for. another piece which i managed to get into a reasonably good shape in only a couple of days was the haydn sonata in E major XVI/31 3rd mvt Presto. its short but quite fiery, and i liked lang lang's performance of it.

[tompilk]

Oops yeah, i ment Prokofiev :p

his secodnd concerto is also far from random... listen to it... there;s much more random than prokofiev! finnissey for example...
Tom

[invictious]

I'd opt to bump this thread up because I am also looking for similar pieces in similar difficulty

To gyzzzmo: I meant both Scriabin AND Prokofiev 

To verywellmister: I mean are you mad in an non offensive way, perhaps in a joking way, because it is just slightly challenging, the octaves are the easy part, the intro is difficult, well to me at least.

[nitrocan]

The best I can think of is Fantaisie Impromptu, its very nice and easy, and its DEFINITELY not 8+

[letters]

The best I can think of is Fantaisie Impromptu, its very nice and easy, and its DEFINITELY not 8+

er.. have you ever played it

[tompilk]

the funny rhythms are hard to get to begin with fantasy impromptu...
Tom

[damien]

chopin prelude op28 24

[nitrocan]

er.. have you ever played it

Yes, when I was 11 (seriously no kidding)

[jehangircama]

um.. the Fantasie Impromptu happens to be in the trinity ATCL Recital course, i guess more for the musicality than the technique part, though. even then you must be congratulated if you played it when you were 11, its not all that easy either.

[verywellmister]

To verywellmister: I mean are you mad in an non offensive way, perhaps in a joking way, because it is just slightly challenging, the octaves are the easy part, the intro is difficult, well to me at least.

i'm not offended 

it was a typo, i meant hr 7 and that is not easy either

hr 6 is hard.  i've sightread it. 

[invictious]

-

[nitrocan]

um.. the Fantasie Impromptu happens to be in the trinity ATCL Recital course, i guess more for the musicality than the technique part, though. even then you must be congratulated if you played it when you were 11, its not all that easy either.

I saw a kid playing it when he was 7 

[pianohenry]

The best I can think of is Fantaisie Impromptu, its very nice and easy, and its DEFINITELY not 8+

im not sure about that... at least, theres a huge difference playing it, and playing it well, like how ashkenazy plays it. so i think maybe the piece isnt 8+ in itself, but some people who were 8+ might still find it very difficult to play it without mistakes, and for it to actually sound good.

also chopin minute waltz is only about grade 6

- again same thing... notes are easy yes, but speedwise and such like, most gr 6 people would really have to work up to that speed... its like that with mozart a minor sonata - the alla turca, supposed to be gr 6/7 (i learnt it while i was doing my grade 4/5 - but i doubt i played it that well. cant really remember though ;p)

a VERY VERY Easy piece compared to all the other ones suggested would be C.P.E. Bach's  Solfeggietto in C Minor. Most people find that really impressive for some reason... they miss the fact that half the piece is repetition/imitation and that at most points only 1 hand is playing! (or 2 hands playing the 1 melody together)

also, try some schumann short pieces from kindersczenen? e.g.Hasche-Mann (no.3) and "Knight of the Hobby Horse" are very short but quite fun pieces and not that hard.

[jehangircama]

a VERY VERY Easy piece compared to all the other ones suggested would be C.P.E. Bach's  Solfeggietto in C Minor. Most people find that really impressive for some reason... they miss the fact that half the piece is repetition/imitation and that at most points only 1 hand is playing! (or 2 hands playing the 1 melody together)

yes, i really liked solfegietto when i first heard it and its really simple compared to any of the other pieces posted here.

how about some of the chopin waltzes (apart from the minute waltz)? the e minor posth. sounds very impressive but it can't be much higher than grade 8 level ( in fact i think it was in one of the grade 8 courses maybe royal)

[pianohenry]

chopin waltz no7 in c sharp minor - thats very nice, sort of showy but also interesting to listen to.

[a1]

Why DEBUSSY  works  not included ?
   i think Clair de lune  is the best piano piece in this world.  (statement)
       Do anyone agree?


Chinese (ping yin) 
 "de bu shi de yue guang ching rou you hao ting .wu ke fou reng de hao ge."

[kelly_kelly]

Why DEBUSSY  works  not included ?
   i think Clair de lune  is the best piano piece is this world.  (statement)
       Do anyone agree?

I actually can't stand it for some reason. And it's not showy 

Thanks for all the suggestions!

[a1]

  thank for your words.
    But I still admire Debussy piano works.

[steve jones]

What about Chopin's Etude Op 25 No 2 maybe?

Or even (if you're feeling brave) the Op 31 Scherzo? I read though that the other day and didnt COMPLETELY crap myself, lol.

Chopin Prelude 24?

Liszt Liebestraum?

SJ

[bflatminor24]

Man, I hope you're pulling my chains.

Show off pieces? Man...these are NOT show off pieces AT ALL.

First of all, a "showpiece" implies emptiness, vacuity. There are some pieces with gargantuan difficulties that do not qualify as "show off pieces" because they are substantial and formidable bodies of piano literature, such as the Liszt B minor sonata, Alkan Symphony, Medtner Night Wind, Scriabin Sonata 7, etc.

If you are looking for a simple "showpiece" I might recommend a few. Note how NONE of them are by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schubert, Bach, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Medtner, Alkan, Saint-Saens, Henselt, etc...

Dohnanyi Concert Etude No. 6 in F minor "Cappriccio"
Liszt Feux Follets
Liszt La Campanella
Balakirev Islamey
Villalobos Rudepoêma

Notice how these pieces revolve around ostentatious virtuosity.

~Max~

[mephisto]

Man, I hope you're pulling my chains.

Show off pieces? Man...these are NOT show off pieces AT ALL.

First of all, a "showpiece" implies emptiness, vacuity. There are some pieces with gargantuan difficulties that do not qualify as "show off pieces" because they are substantial and formidable bodies of piano literature, such as the Liszt B minor sonata, Alkan Symphony, Medtner Night Wind, Scriabin Sonata 7, etc.

If you are looking for a simple "showpiece" I might recommend a few. Note how NONE of them are by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schubert, Bach, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Medtner, Alkan, Saint-Saens, Henselt, etc...

Dohnanyi Concert Etude No. 6 in F minor "Cappriccio"
Liszt Feux Follets
Liszt La Campanella
Balakirev Islamey
Villalobos Rudepoêma

Notice how these pieces revolve around ostentatious virtuosity.

~Max~

Is this post a joke?

It is as if you first say that everybody should be friends and then suddenly tells your mother to shut up

[bflatminor24]

Is this post a joke?

It is as if you first say that everybody should be friends and then suddenly tells your mother to shut up

What? I don't even know what you're trying to accuse me of.

Anyway, what I said is true. A "showpiece" is one usually written for the purpose of flaunting technique, and typically exclude pieces of great depth and difficulty as well.

I'm sure some of you can add to my abbreviated list.

~Max~

[mephisto]

And Villa Lobos'  Rudepoema falls into that category?

[verywellmister]

Phew, I thought you were mad or something 

But I find that the intro before the octaves to No.6 is the most difficult, the octaves are totally fine 

Octaves just arent my thing, so I found the ending harder.

 "de bu shi de yue guang ching rou you hao ting .wu ke fou reng de hao ge."

it does sound beautiful but I think there are many more beautiful pieces than that.

[brahmsian]

If you are looking for a simple "showpiece" I might recommend a few. Note how NONE of them are by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schubert, Bach, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Medtner, Alkan, Saint-Saens, Henselt, etc...

Why is it that a showpiece can't contain musical content? Take Alkan's works for instance-the Solo Concerto is an extremely technically demanding "showy" piece of music, yet it contains musical content to no end. Indeed there are "simple showpieces" like you state, however that doesn't neccesarily entail there aren't "complex" showpieces in which one can flaunt their techinique while playing some music in the process. 

One more to add to your simple showpiece list:
Alkan- Comme le Vent

[nanabush]

Isn't Rudepoema like 40+ pages? haha

[jre58591]

Isn't Rudepoema like 40+ pages? haha

yeah, of pure madness (except maybe the 1st page). this is definitely a good showpiece. and its definitely underplayed.

[a1]

    Liszt Liebestraum I think also very suitable just like Clair De Lune.
      I love Clair De Lune ,  love Clair De Lune ,  love Clair De Lune .

[tompilk]

yeah, of pure madness (except maybe the 1st page). this is definitely a good showpiece. and its definitely underplayed.

agreed. only recordings i know of are freire and hamelin (2)... both are absolutely mind blowing although the virtuosity does seem for the sake of it sometimes...
I think Yedidia's "Towards the Gardens of Heaven" is absolutely amazing - although I feel it is a copy of rudepoema in terms of length and sounds greated by repetetive clusters etc....
tom

[jre58591]

i think rudepoêma has been done a few times on the complete villa-lobos editions (obviously). i wouldnt bother with those, though. most people that do those complete editions are "surface" players that only play a work to play it. people that play selections, like freire and hamelin, understand the music beyond the notes. for rudepoêma, i dont imagine it getting much better than these two fine pianists.

also, about the yedidia piece, i wouldnt say that its a copy of rudepoêma. theyre two entirelly different pieces. both are very atmospheric and virtuosic, but yedidia's seems a bit more tonally oriented. also, the yedidia piece is a bit shorter. it is a wonderful piece, no doubt.

if only more people explored the modern piano repertoire. theres more out there than jsut bach, beethoven, chopin, liszt, et al, that is worth exploring and of high quality.

[ccnokes]

People are really easily impressed by just about anything you do on a piano. 

Play a Cmaj scale in octaves.

[phil13]

People are really easily impressed by just about anything you do on a piano. 

Play a Cmaj scale in octaves.

Not so much if those people actually know anything about the piano. 

Phil

[bflatminor24]

I agree. Maybe if you play for a high school audience or something, they'll be impressed by anything. But they don't know anything about music, let alone piano literature.


A good showpiece? Most of the Liszt Transcendental Etudes work. I'm doing 8 and 10, and those could qualify.

Max

[imbetter]

Chopin's Polonaise in Op.53, Chopin's first ballade.

[phil13]

Oh, I just thought of another that is not as technically difficult as some of the ones mentioned.

Spinner's Song, Op.67 No.4, by Mendelssohn.

Phil

[annoying_airhead]

Albumblatt, Op.66, Friedrich Grutzmacher

[infectedmushroom]

It is, indeed, quite easy to impress people who don't play the Piano. They look at your hands who play together and you produce a lovely sound... They're impressed! I mostly play something beautiful to impress people who don't play the Piano.


I think, to impress people who do play the Piano, is to play something wich is very difficult. Play a very difficult piece, with a lot of emotion. Pieces like Mazeppa, Chopin Prelude Op. 28 No. 16, Rach's Prelude Op. 23 No. 2, Chopin Etude Op. 25 No. 11 etc will do.

[a1]

  it is difficult to find a show off piece ..........

[thaicheow]

I actually can't stand it for some reason. And it's not showy 

Thanks for all the suggestions!

You should try Debussy's etudes. Fiendish. Good if you can pull them off. :-p

[pianowolfi]

If you play really well you can make a sort of show-off out of almost every good piece of music.

[pita bread]

agreed. only recordings i know of are freire and hamelin (2)... both are absolutely mind blowing although the virtuosity does seem for the sake of it sometimes...

There's also a recording by Szidon. PM me if you're interested.

[opus10no2]

A good showpiece? Most of the Liszt Transcendental Etudes work. I'm doing 8 and 10, and those could qualify.

Max

I don't agree with your concept of showpieces in general, but I have to draw the line with the TE10 in particular. I think it's profoundly beautiful and passionate.

[musicsdarkangel]

I found Op 44 Polonaise a lot more difficult musically than technically, particularly in the slow section.

It's not as hard as it sounds.

[bflatminor24]

I don't agree with your concept of showpieces in general, but I have to draw the line with the TE10 in particular. I think it's profoundly beautiful and passionate.

Being a showpiece does not demerit a work. The Transcendental Etudes, in general, would qualify under "showpieces."

~Max~

[jakev2.0]

Yeah, and how many are great pieces of music? Like two of 'em at most. 

[opus10no2]

Anyway, what I said is true. A "showpiece" is one usually written for the purpose of flaunting technique, and typically exclude pieces of great depth and difficulty as well.

The TEs don't fall into this.

And I think at least 3 or 4 of them are masterpieces, and the rest of them are just great music, no1 being the weakest.

[elevateme]

yeah i agree i dont think theyre supposed to be show pieces. mabye no 5 though 

[bflatminor24]

The TEs are etudes intended for performance. Indeed they are written to show off technique. Liszt wrote the first versions when he was only 15 and it was a good way to express his virtuosity. Schumann famously noted that only a handful of pianists were capable of playing them in their original version at the time. I think, given their length and their level of virtuosity as a whole, the TEs qualify under showpieces.

Typically, showpieces are more technique than musicality, but as you mentioned, several of them are masterpieces and transcend the typical showpiece.

~Max~

[bflatminor24]

I also wanted to mention that I think the greatest of the TEs are, in order:

Etude No. 10
Etude No. 11
Etude No. 12
Etude No. 8
Etude No. 5
Etude No. 4

Of course the other half of the etudes is great as well, but lack the emotional depth and passion that the above etudes have. I think Etude No. 6 is very emotional (specifically, morose) but I still don't think it is one of the greater etudes. I think it's kind of monotonous.

~Max~

[cloches_de_geneve]

One of the most effective show off pieces I know is Brahms' waltz nr. 6. If you play it well, you will leave an impression of great virtuosity within less than a minute. Waltz nr. 14 is also quite catchy.

Most Chopin etudes are breath-taking show off pieces if played well, especially 10/1, 10/4, 10/5, 10/8, 10/12, 25/8, 25/10, 25/11, 25/12.