need repertoire suggestons for a teen boy

[pianowoman]

I need appropriate repertoire ideas for teaching a 15yo boy who is very serious about good piano literature.  He has just come into his own as far as being able to handle the great classics.  eg - he has been working on the Beethoven Pathetique for the last few months and handling it well.  This is his first ~big~ piece after intermediate type stuff.  Please give me some repertoire suggestions. 

thanks!

[jinfiesto]

It would help if we knew his particular strengths and shortcomings. I would really just assign him pieces of equivalent difficulty to the pathetique that address his musical and technical fallibility.

[cellodude]

A general rule for students would be to give him/er one or two pieces at the level where he/she is now (that would address the breadth issue) and one piece that is beyond him/her (this would address the depth issue).

A student should always be learning 2 or 3 pieces at the same time anyway. In fact the piece that is beyond the student could be used to discover his/her weaknesses. That would give you material to work on.

After conquering the difficult piece the student would have moved up one notch. He/she then plays pieces at that level for breadth and then one difficult piece to grow. This is repeated until the final goal is reached.

Hope that makes sense.

DL

[kyliec]

Hi
What about the Montagues and Capulets from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet piano transcription - nice bang-y piece, lots of excitement which might sustain interest. I believe it is around the same level as Pathetique difficulty-wise
Kylie

[kitty on the keys]

How about these:

Bach   Fantasy in c minor
          Gigue from 5th French Suite

Schubert    Impromptu in Eb

Debussy  Minstels (Preludes Bk. 1)

Turina     Sacra Monte

Kabalevsky   Preludes

Kennon

[kitty on the keys]

Kennen   3 Preludes

Ibert       Histoires

Hope this is a start for you.

Kitty on the Keys

[communist]

Rachmaninoff three nocturnes op.posth


Debussy preludes, arabesques and la plus que lent

[mike_lang]

Why not some standard rep?  What composers has he played so far?

Bach inventions or WTC; Haydn sonatas; Chopin études, nocturnes, ballades, scherzi; Debussy Images or preludes; Ravel Sonatine; Liszt ballade or études; Schubert impromptus or moments musicaux; Rachmaninoff preludes....to begin with.

I think it would be good to introduce him to some of the great well-known works from up-close...it is not necessary to search for only "underplayed gems" at this point.

[imbetter]

bach-well tempered clavier or a french suite, beethoven haydn or mozart sonata, mendelssohn rondo capriccioso or scherzo a capriccio, brahms rhapsodies op.79, debussy preludes


just some thoughts

[pianisten1989]

Bach is always geat to play.. So I would suggest some bach.

[gerryjay]

hi, pianowoman!

although i agree with most of the suggestions above, i'll repost some of them to organize myself in a better way ().

given the fact that your student can handle beethoven's opus 13, there is a huge, really massive amount of repertory that he can play. my main suggestion would be to provide him some recordings of interesting selections. don't be ashame of using battle-horses and overplayed repertory in general: other people played that, he didn't. so, here are some general suggestions: pick what you like the most and/or (given your knowledge of the boy's taste) what is more interesting to him.

- byrd: selections from my ladies nevell booke (my "intelectual" students often like it);
- bach: a pair of suites/partitas and selections from the wtc;
- mozart: sonata k 332; fantasia k 397; adagio k 510;
- haydn: a bunch of sonatas; variations hob xvii:6 (f minor);
- beethoven: bagatelles, variations woo 80, sonata opus 2/1;
- schubert: impromptus d 899;
- chopin (what a big list...): etude opus 10/12, a nocturne from opus 9, a pair of preludes (excluding the killer ones: 16, 24 and the like);
- liszt: something from anees de pelegrinage (by no means the dante sonata  );
- brahms: rhapsody opus 79/2, a ballad from opus 10.
- debussy: preludes from book 1 (excluding 3, 5, 7 and 11);
- ravel: sonatine;
- schoenberg: one of the klavierstücke opus 11 (to celebrate its 100th), all opus 19;
- bartok: bagatelles, mikrokosmos volume 6 (most anything but the great suites);
- prokofiev: something from the opus 75, sonata 1 (also to celebrate its 100th);
- shostakovich: a pair of preludes from opus 34;
- ginastera: some of the danzas argentinas (the third is way harder than the other two);
- messiaen: regard de l'etoile;
- janacek: in the mists.

you can also look at some list of repertory by the ABRSM or the like (DipABRSM, for instance). that makes me think of another list: what he shouldn't play at the time.
- bach: the second partita, the trickest wtc (b minor from both book, a minor from book 1, etc);
- beethoven: sonatas from opus 31, 81a, 53, 57, and the last five;
- chopin: ballads and scherzi (more complex works in general: etudes opus 10/4 or opus 25/11, nocturne opus 48/1, preludes 16 and 24);
- liszt: etudes in general;
- ravel: mostly anything (). seriously, that is not the time to tackle miroirs or gaspard or anything such as those pieces, for that matter;
- prokofiev: sonatas other than the first.

well, there are many other works that he shouldn't play, but those are the works that every pupil normally is eager to put the hands on. playing the pathetique opens a whole world to be explored, but it has its boundaries. it's up to you to provide them.

best wishes!

[pianowoman]

Hi everyone!  Thanks for all the great suggestions!   Looks like we're set for years to come!  Anyway, we settled on a Bach WTC, the Mendelssohn Rondo Capriccioso and a Haydn Sonata - for now. 

My own piano ~upbringing~ was very disjointed and hodge podge. So I asked my question because I was wondereing if anyone has a particular ~order~ of pieces in which they teach at this level. 

Thanks again for all your time and in put.  (still open for any other thoughts or suggestions.)