Help Wanted - Trying to make a piano lover's Christmas

[hitmanray]

Hello All,

I am new to this forum and I'm hoping that some of the expertise on here may be able to help me make a very special Christmas for a piano lover.

I have recently started dating a girl who is a "concert level" pianist. We have been dating for 2 months and I have heard her play a few times and been somewhat impressed to say the least. She is at a very advanced level. I'm not sure how to describe it other than to mention she led a philharmonic orchestra at the age of 12. I get the impression that as she has grown older she has been able to find less time for her piano and I am looking to reinvigorate her passion for the instrument this Christmas.

I am looking to put together a book of sheet music with an accompanying CD of MP3's of the relevant pieces in the book. This seems to be fairly straight-forward as sheet music seems readily available on the net, and MP3's... well enough said. The problem I have is whilst I can search through the youtube archives and find pieces I like, I don't know if they are any good to play (my own piano experience stretches as far as "The Entertainer" - Right hand only!).

I have managed to sneakily extract a list of her favorite composers. I was hoping some of you may be able to recommend some pieces by these composers which not only sound beautiful, but that, as a high-level pianist, would be enjoyable and challenging to play.

Thanks in advance and all comments welcome. Please bare in mind I have no knowledge of the world of sonatas and symphonies and what not, so a bit of newbie explanation would help!! Also I know that I probably shouldn't even be posting in this forum, but I am sure you will appreciate the struggle I am going through!

Thanks again, and Merry Christmas one and all!

Phil

Clementi
Mendhelssohn
Diabelli
Brahms
Bach
Beethoven
Chopin
Schubert

[thalbergmad]

Also I know that I probably shouldn't even be posting in this forum, but I am sure you will appreciate the struggle I am going through!

Why not old chap and it is touching what you are doing.

The trouble is, that apart from Clementi and Diabelli the other composers are so well known, the chances are she might have already studied a reasonable amount of their works.

For Clementi, I have always loved the Op25 sonatas, but there are many other pleasing and challenging pieces. Diabelli is not a composer i have studied in depth and from what i recall, they are pretty bland.

For the well know composers, perhaps it might be a good idea to pick one of their lesser played works such as the Rondo Op.16 for Chopin.

Thal

[hitmanray]

Thal

Many thanks for the response and the suggestions. I checked out the suggestions you made last night and have put the following pieces on the final list:

Chopin - Rondo Op. 16
Clementi - Op. 25 No. 5

A couple of other thoughts, for Brahms I was thinking of the Hungarian Dance No. 5. Seems to be one of the more interesting pieces from the Hungarian Dances (one which I know), but I could be wrong on that. Also was looking at Moonlight Sonata to tick the Beethoven box. I am certain she has studied this as we have talked about it, however I think it is a beautiful piece and I do want to try and convey some of my own tastes as well. I have decided that she has probably previously studied a lot of what I would recognise and so am not going to worry too much about finding all new works.

This is turning out to be a lot harder than I first thought, but at least it gives me an excuse to listen to classical music at work, an incredibly calming experience and one I intend to continue into the New Year!

Thanks again for your input, and if you have any further suggestions please let me know.

Phil

[hitmanray]

OK slight change of plan. Going to drop Moonlight Sonata.

Pandora has thrown up Dvorak's Piano Suite in A Major, Op. 98: IV Andante. I know he's not on the list, but I am feeling brave, and a few surprises in there may be a good thing.

So here's the question, is it bad form to only provide a single movement of a piece? Would that be a major classical music etiquette faux pas?

Thanks again for any input!
Phil

[thalbergmad]

So here's the question, is it bad form to only provide a single movement of a piece? Would that be a major classical music etiquette faux pas?

It would be a bit like serving only the first course of a three course meal.

However, i often only learn a single movement of a piece before my attention is drawn towards something else. Too much beautiful music and not enough time.

Thal

[Bob]

She'll probably appreciate the thought.  That sounds like it could be tough to do really well.  For the print score, it depend which edition she wants.  And for the audio, which performers (and what quality of audio if she cares about that).

I would go for the audio and find well-known performers.  Any pieces by those composers.  If she's serious, she won't mind the major pieces and might like finding out about lesser-known pieces.  And if it's a major performer with a track records, you're probably safe. 

But with print music, she might be concerned about the edition.  (should be, anyway)  And if you get the wrong stuff, she's either getting poor information if she doesn't know better or she's not going to use the music.

I suppose you could be safe and buy a Henle edition of something.  Print music.  I don't think that could go wrong.

Or you could ask her what she wants and buy that.  Then you know she's getting what she wants.  And if she picks it out, there's less work on your end.

She'll appreciate the thought either way.  I would just wonder if she would find the gift useful, depending on where and what you get. 

You could also 'extract' her favorite performers. 

For orchestras, it's safe to pick something like Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, or Berlin Philharmonic.  They'll have a major conductor too most likely.  You're not getting garbage that way.  As opposed to someone who won their first concerto competition and is playing with a symphony in the middle of nowhere conducted by someone nobody ever heard of. 

On the print music side, there are different editions.  Things that have gone out of copyright are free to copy, but it depends which edition they are.  A hundred years ago a publisher may have tweaked music based on how they thought people were playing at that time, ie altering what the composer wrote a little.  Some editions are more researched about what the composer meant.  Some editions have extra marks and comments by performers.  Some editions are more like what the composer actually put on paper.  And in between, you've got maybe... the first edition with mistakes, a second edition corrected by the composer, a later edition that was edited based on performance practice of the time, an even later edition edited from a pervious edited edition, an edition based on the latest 21st century research on that composer and that work, etc.  And then the internet comes along and you can get a scanned version for free of something -- A serious person would want to know where that music comes from, if it's what the composer actually wrote (or meant to write) or if it's a highly edited version (ie garbage probably).

And if she's a serious performer, she won't want to take in garbage.  Garbage in, garbage out.  Through listening or through working a lot on a print version that isn't correct to begin with.  It's not good.

I see the thought though and it's a nice thought.  It's not bad to have a huge collection of music (quick and cheap) for getting ideas on things either.

[hitmanray]

Bob

Many thanks for the considered and informative response. I have found through my early forrays into online free sheet music there are a large number of versions available. Up to now I had thought I would go down the road of more notes must be better (apologies if you are cringing right now! ).

I will check out the Henle editions and see what I can get in the time I have. I have already had a look at a few places but it seems they are only available in hard copy form, in which case I may struggle to get them shipped in time. Do you know of a website where I could download good quality printable versions of the Henle editions? I don't have a problem with paying for the facility, just concerned about the timescale I have left myself with.

Regarding the audio quality, I am a bit of an Audiophile myself and only ever use lossless formats. I have a few music encoding programs and I'm hoping I can get hold of some lossless versions of the required pieces and then create a standard encoded music CD that can be used in any player. In terms of performers, this is another area of concern, however as a keen music lover I intend to simply search around for something I find pleasing and go for that. The only stumbling block could be if I manage to pick a performer that she has an issue with. If I can't find lossless versions of the necessary tracks I'm sure I can find some CDs on Amazon with the relevant tracks. CDs on Amazon are generally very cheap and arrive pretty quickly.

I'm hoping that after all the effort she will appreciate the thought, even if I don't get exactly the right things.

Thal

That's exactly what I thought. Following Bob's comment I have been looking at Henle editions, which I may well need to purchase large amounts of to the get the relevant movements of the pieces I am after. I think I will probably ensure I have al the relevant sheet music that I can give to her as a side thing, but just present the movements that appear on the CD in the "presentation" pack.

Many thanks for the advice. I have booked a day off this week to get this done. Wish me luck!

Phil

[thalbergmad]

I hope she is worth it

No man has ever made a greater effort

Thal