Looking for 20th century piece

[storyseller]

I'm looking for a 20th century piece for a competition i'm participating in..... It must be around 5 minutes, not too tonal (i.e. neoromantic) but not all the way atonal (i.e. bashing the keys) , and I would like to do sth not too common (i mean not scriabin or prokofiev etc.). It must also be kind of "flashy", u know to get the jury attention but also to have sth like a melody to keep them not bored.

My technique is quite professional so "difficulty"  is not a factor..... Any suggestions?

[gerryjay]

 what about a movement from hindemith's suite 1922?
 

[sharon_f]

One of the Ligeti Etudes? (Maybe too modern.)
A couple of movements from Liebermann's Gargoyles.
The Fuga from Barber's Sonata. (Maybe too well-known and neoromantic.)
Sancan Tocatta (Might be too short. It's only around 3 mins.)
Or one of Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus

[pianogeek_cz]

Possibly a movement from Janacek's Sonata I. X. 1905?
Maybe something of Britten's? I'm not familiar with his piano writings, though.

[ctrastevere]

Sorabji's "In The Hothouse" is a good one. Not too difficult, very impressionistic, and the harmonies and textures he creates are simply gorgeous. The melodies are not really recurrent, but they are quite lovely.

For something more challenging, I would strongly recommend Bowen's Toccata. It's not very long (about 3-5 minutes, depending on how fast you play it) but extremely fast and impressive. I've played it in competitions before and it's always served me well because the judges aren't familiar with it, but it comes across as being exceptionally difficult (when in fact it is, for the most part, quite comfortable to play).

[quantum]

Maybe some of Messiaen's bird music. 

Have you heard of Ann Southam?  She has a lot of cool sounding tonal stuff.  Difficult with regards to endurance, but very enjoyable to listen to. 

Andre Jolivet wrote some stuff I like. 

Kapustin?

[gerryjay]

 there are already two messiaen suggestions, but i have to add another that just ocurred to me: ile de feu (1 or 2).

[amanfang]

How about some Muczynski?

[pita bread]

How about some Muczynski?

noob rep.

[storyseller]

Thanks guys. I have already thought about some of those pieces - about others i havent ever heard they existed. Will look into these...... any more?

[indutrial]

Perhaps one of Skalkottas' 32 piano pieces would be appropriate. A number of them are around 4-5 minutes.

Frank Martin - Prelude no. 8 - Vivace

If you can acquire any of John White's music, I would recommend some of his short sonatas, such as the lovely #104, which makes me think of lively video game adventure music, or #109 which just rocks hard.

Perhaps a prelude or fugue (or both) from the books written by Henry Martin or Walter Hus. Both composers write in a pretty accessible free-tonal style and definitely have plenty of flash here and there.

Though you said you don't want atonal "bashing" I'd like to mention Denisov's Variations (1961) which is a bad-ass (and very difficult-sounding) piece that I'd definitely love to see more of in pianists' repertoires.

[pies]

a

[richard black]

Ronald Stevenson 'Beltane Bonfire'. It was written as a competition piece and it exactly matches your criteria.

[storyseller]

Thanks again. Still i can not find some of these in sheet music or just to listen to them.

Ronald Stevenson 'Beltane Bonfire', do you have a copy richard?

Dusapin?

John White?

Ann Southam?

[pies]

a

[quantum]

https://www.musiccentre.ca/apps/index.cfm?fuseaction=composer.FA_dsp_biography&authpeopleid=435&by=S

You would probably have to borrow from the library.

[point of grace]

shostakovich

[indutrial]

There is a recording of Dusapin's 4th etude on youtube, played by Ian Pace.

God-damn, he's good!!!

Pace's recording of the complete set of these + the concerto by Dusapin still has me spellbound.

Here's Etude no. 1, also brilliant...
part 1

part 2

[dan101]

Ernst von Dohnányi's rhapsody number three (C major). Its got a bit of everything!

[retrouvailles]

Ernst von Dohnányi's rhapsody number three (C major). Its got a bit of everything!

That is not 20th century in the sense we are looking for. It's late romantic.

[indutrial]

Thanks again. Still i can not find some of these in sheet music or just to listen to them.

Ronald Stevenson 'Beltane Bonfire', do you have a copy richard?

Dusapin?

John White?

Ann Southam?

Dusapin's etudes are not widely known, but they are very easy to track down. I bought a used copy of the entire score on Amazon for less than $15. It's printed by Eschig-Durand-Salabert and annotated by Ian Pace. Even if you don't play it out in public, it's a great thing to study.

John White's music is almost impossible to get a hold of, sadly, but you might have good luck if you can manage to contact him about it. He's not at all well-known, but there is one great disc with a bunch of his works on it.

[cygnusdei]

Perhaps a selection of Vine Bagatelles?

[etudes]

bowen Toccata
Nancarrow Tango?´
Hamelin - La Campanella

[slobone]

I love Webern's 3 variations. My impression is that they're not played as often as you might expect. If you play them at the same tempo as Glenn Gould, it's exactly 5 minutes.