What would you play for your senior recital?

[beethovenlover]

My senior recital is in a year and I need some ideas of what to play. I have to cover basically all time periods. Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks!

[imbetter]

it would help if we knew what you played but Imbetter the concert program master can throw in some ideas.

1. Bach English suite no.3 or partita no.4
2. Debussy estampes or bartok suite op.14
INTERMISSION
3. Beethoven sonata op.2 no.3
4. Chopin ballade no.4 or Liszt hungarian rhapsody no.12 or mephisto waltz
 
OR

1. Bach partita no.6 or 4 or 3rd English suite
2. Beethoven sonata op.54 in F major Or Haydn sonata HOB 44 or beethoven sonata op.90
INTERMISSION
3. Schumann Kresleriana
4. Chopin ballade no.1 or balakirev islamey

and now ill throw in one more useless idea

1. Beethoven sonatas op.14
2. agosti-stravinsky firebird suite
INTERMISSION
3. Bach partita no.6
4. Liszt Spanish Rhapsody

just some random ideas since i dont know what you play 

[amelialw]

you should give us an idea as to what you have been playing or learning lately so we really can help you

[pianistimo]

imbetter has some good ideas - although the suite opus 14 might be too easy.

ok.  start now.  practice until you are basically sick.  unless you get sick - you have not practiced enough.  if you are a beethoven lover - you'll have to play several things of beethoven.  try the waldstein unless you already have some other things under your belt and must concentrate on some modern works.

imo - barber goes well with beethoven.  try some of his works!  the nocturne or sonata.

check out unknown composers.  people love programs which have something they've never heard before.  check out the library and just sightread thru a bunch of stuff.

[richard weaver]

You've got a lot of nice suggestions for the program- I would add some entertaining odd number. I recently found a piece called Blackadder variations and fugue on iTunes- it ends with a very clever fugue combining the blackadder theme with the Don Giovanni theme by Mozart- Absolutely brilliant- but it sounds difficult.

[beethovenlover]

Well, I haven't been playing for very long, so some of your more difficult suggestions may not work. However, I'm a quick learner.

Last year I played:

Mozart Sonata K 280
Bach Prelude and Fugue BWV 861 No 16
Chopin Prelude Op 28 No 15
Ginaster Preludes Nos 3 and 6

Thanks for your suggestions!

[thalberg]

This was my senior recital:

Sonata in A Major--P.D. Paradies
Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel -- Brahms
Oiseaux Tristes
Jeux d'eau---Ravel
Preludes op. 23 no 5,4, then 2

[beethovenlover]

Thanks for the examples. Do you have any recordings of that recital or those pieces. Any advice? How did your recital turn out?

Thanks so much!

[thalberg]

My recital was great....one of the best I had played up to that point. 

Unfortunately, the recording turned out absolutely dreadful.  Whoever recorded it didn't know what they were doing and it was all hissing and warped like a record player on too slow a setting.

[beethovenlover]

Oh, that's terribly unfortunate. Did you find out who recorded it and swiftly kick them in the shins? I would have!

[lagin]

Well, if you want an example of a program, here's one I'm working on.  It might be a little too "romantic," but it definately covers all style periods if you count Schubert as Classical!  I would say to substitute something in the Schubert's place that is more "Classical," but the Schubert is the best piece!  It's long, pretty, relatively easy (you just need to work REALLY hard on having the last movement clean cause it's pretty fast, though I'm not playing it at tempo for my exam).  It's also not over played by any means.  My program runs about 43 minutes. 

Bach Prelude and Fugue in f sharp minor, book two.  (Nice romantic prelude and moderately slow fugue which is a nice warm up).

Schubert Sonata in A Major, D 664

Brahms waltzes, 3, 4, 9, 11, 12, 13 from op. 39 (You could pick any number from that opus).  I chose alternating fast and slow ones, starting with a slow one to give me a break from the sonata I just finished).

Rachmaninoff Prelude op. 23, no. 5 (not very original, but I HAD to play it, haha).

Chopin etude op. 10, no. 3 (well known, but a nice lyrical contrast after the Rach)

Bartok Roumanian Dance op. 8a, no. 1 (A MUST!  Very very not overplayed, and a wonderful spunky contrast to the whole program.  I love it.)

If you want recordings or videos of any/all of these pm me, but you can probably find most of them for free at Classicalarchives.com

It pretty much covers Baroque, a major sonata, Romantic, Early and Late 20th century.  I only need to cover those.  I don't know if you need impressionistic and whatnot as well.  I would recommend some Debussy in that case.

[thalberg]

Oh, that's terribly unfortunate. Did you find out who recorded it and swiftly kick them in the shins? I would have!

Ooohh, I was hopping mad!!  But it was a small college with a bad music program, and they didn't value recordings too much.  I think I did find out who did it.....it was some lazy sort of resentful guy whom I normally avoided.  I can't quite remember what the outcome was, it was so long ago.

[beethovenlover]

Thanks lagin for your input...I will definitely check those out. I think I will probably play that Bartok, for the rest I don't know yet. I have at least a year to figure it all out and probably more depending on how things go. Also, I will have to consult my teacher. She usually lets me pick my pieces...but only if they're the ones she wants me to play haha!

Appreciate all the responses!

[burstroman]

I like your second possibility, but play the Chopin 1st ballade, rather than Islamey.  The ballade has far more value musically. (In my opinion).

[jlh]

Here's what I played for my senior recital:

JS Bach
P & F in E (Book I)

Beethoven
Sonata in D, Op. 10, No. 3

Prokofiev
Toccata, Op. 11

--- Intermission ---

Liszt
Un Sospiro

Chopin
Ballade in F Major, Op. 38

Rachmaninoff
Etude-tableaux Op. 33, No. 6 in E flat
Prelude Op. 32, No. 12 in G sharp minor
Etude-tableaux Op. 39, No. 9 in D

[beethovenlover]

How long was your senior recital jlh?

[jlh]

How long was your senior recital jlh?

With the intermission, about 76 mins...

[beethovenlover]

Okay, thank you.

[etudes]

Bach Busoni Organ prelude and fugue in D Major BWV532
Beethoven op.101
intermission
Rachmaninoff 2nd Sonata
Liszt Don juan Fantasy
Liszt Sonata in B minor
encore Rudepoema
would be the program i wanna put it up

[imbetter]

Bach Busoni Organ prelude and fugue in D Major BWV532
Beethoven op.101
intermission
Rachmaninoff 2nd Sonata
Liszt Don juan Fantasy
Liszt Sonata in B minor
encore Rudepoema
would be the program i wanna put it up

oh yea, and i played
bach partita no3
beethoven sonata op101
schumann toccata
and ravel gaspard de la nuit








haha i wish

[quantum]

Here was my senior recital.  Mind you I didn't really need to follow the all styles rule. 


Schubert - Klavierstucke D. 946/1

Beethoven - Appassionata

Scriabin - Sonata No. 5

Scriabin - 2 Morceaux Op. 57

Chopin - Nocturne Op. 48/1

Chopin - Polonaise Op. 53

(Encore) Bach / Hess - Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring


Requirement in the course description was 1 hour.  My program was about 72 mins without intermission. 

[beethovenlover]

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions, and approx. times...very helpful

[jamie0168]

I can tell you what I'm working on for my SR. I'm playing Prokofiev Sonata II, Brahms Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Beethoven Sonata op. 90, two Scarlatti Sonatas (can't remember numbers, but they're in Bb major), and a Beethoven Concerto IV, mvmt. 1 with a second piano. I might play Jeux D'eau by Ravel as an encore.

[dbrainiak914]

Mine:

Schumann Romance Op. 28 No. 2
Beethoven Op. 22
Chopin Ballade Op. 38
---
Griffes The White Peacock
Kabalevsky Sonata No. 3

[lohshuhan]

my programme for my recital in april was

Brahms opus 116 no 6
Beethoven Opus 81a,
Bach/Kempff Sicialliano,  and Jesu, the joy of man's desiring

not very challenging, but i decided that it was better to enjoy myself playing music i enjoyed rather than get stuck with virtuosic pieces... 

[pianochick93]

I'm not a very advanced pianist, but at the moment I am learning Claire De Lune from Suite Bergamasque by Debussy, Prelude Op. 3 No. 2 by Rachmaninov, Fantasie in D minor by Mozart, and the Erlking by Schubert.

They probably wouldn't be hard enough but I'm finding the Rachmaninov prelude pretty challenging.

[dnephi]

It's in pieces (no pun intended ),

but:

Bach-Liszt Prelude and Fugue in A minor

Haydn Sonata in F Major, HBK XVI:23

Schumann Op. 12, #s 2-4

Debussy Preludes, Bk 1: Le Cathedrale Engloutie, considering perhaps an etude

Big Romantic Piece

Chopin Etudes

Encore: Schumann: Von Fremden Und Landern

[amelialw]

well this is what i'll be playing for my ARCT Performer's recital exam next year in June:

Bach-Partita No.2 in c minor (Sinfonia)
Beethoven-Sonata in A major Op.2 No.2
Mendelssohn-Rondo Cappriccioso
List D- no idea?? i've been working in Rachmaninoff Prelude Op.32 No.12 but i'm practically done with it
List E-4 of Prokofiev's Visions Fugatives
Concert Etude- learning Op.10 No.5 and 8, might be learning another one for my exam