question about features of a recital programme

[hyrst]

Hi
I am inexperienced in putting together a recital programme, but am needing to come up with something.  Would people please give me some advice?

Is it OK to design a short programme on one composer?  Chopin is my favourite composer, and I would like to design a programme on his music.  I know that it is recommended to build a programme on a variety of periods, composers, tonalities, tempos, etc so I don't know how the 'rules' work for a single composer - if it is acceptable to do this, even.  Does it apply that you use differnt tempos and keys?  Should a Ballade be scheduled with a Scherzo, a Nocturne with a Mazurka, etc?  Could a Nocturne be played with an Impromptu?  Am I explaining myself very well?  Is it better to finish with a piece in a major key rather than a minor, and/or a faster tempo rather than a slow?  Are there any particular combinations of Chopin's work that experience tells works well together?  Is it unrecommended to focus on a single composer?

Thank you for any advice - it will be greatly appreciated.  I want my recital to be enjoyed and sound professional to people who are not experienced musicians themselves.  The audience will include children and adults.

Thank you
Annah

[bench warmer]

Whew! Lots of questions!

I've been to all-Chopin recitals before and for me they were a treat.

Since you are playing for non-musicians and kids and you want people to enjoy the music, play what you love to play. There are no rules to break.

I would mix up the character of the pieces to span the various moods, tempi and dynamics of the works.  I would group them in their own subsets: 3-waltzes,  2-nocturnes, etc.  If you only play one of something you might make it a larger work like a Ballade or one the the larger Polonaises.

Me? I'd start with a bang & end with a bang and mix it up in-between.

Have fun w/it & good luck.

[gruffalo]

I think, yea you can do an all Chopin recital. however, seeing as there will be kids there, some Liszt and Debussy could do a lot of help ie. something from the Debussy Children's Corner suite, and some flashy Liszt. I think the less mature ears will get tired of Chopin.

Gruff

[lostinidlewonder]

There are no real rules as to what you choose to play for a recital, except you have to keep in mind you are there to entertain. It is "untraditional" to play single movements of larger works, so for example if you play a Chopin concerto as piano solo but only play the middle movement, that could be frowned upon. I know I got criticism from one newspaper when I played single movements of a selection of Beethoven Sonata's one concert, but most people didn't even realise there where multiple movements per sonata!

Critics can say your recital is "fragmented" if you choose pieces from here and there, so I think some kind of logical progression between your pieces is important. I think if you work out what you what to talk about you can knit logic into an otherwise musically fragmented program.

If you choose one composer it is usually very interesting to reveal the different periods in their life and how that changed their compositions I have done this for Beethoven and Scriabin whom have amazing development to their composing as the years go on. It is also usually really important that you know about that composers life and can present to the audience a window into that. Be able to tell interesting stories about their life, the extreme ups and downs of their life and how life effected their composition. It is almost like a rememberance if you choose only one composer.

[hyrst]

Thank you all for your very helpful responses.  Every one has given something significant that I will make good use of - this is fun, but a challenge.  I am really looking forward to playing, and I want my audience to enjoy it at least as much! 

Thank you again,
Annah

[gruffalo]

thats not a problem. When I play for young people, i feel that i have a duty to ensure that I make classical music enter their lives in the best way possible, whether they have listened to it much before or never. Even if they dont go straight away listening to lots of classical music, if i can store it in them in the best way possible so that they will appreciate it at some point in their life, then i am a happy man.

Gruff