'impressive' pieces

[Sekoul]

what exactly impresses the avarage person who doesnt play piano? i know for a fact that lizst's and rach's most difficult pieces don't even come close to moonlight sonata 3rd mov. in fact, as far as i know from experience, i would say this is one of the most impressive pieces out there?! i know its a stupid question but i was just curious, lol

does anybody know any easy pieces that sound extremely hard?

[Saturn]

See this thread:

https://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=repo;action=display;num=1055250049

- Saturn

[Shagdac]

It's a lovely piece Sekoul, but I wouldn't necessary agree that it takes the cake over some of the most difficult Rach and Liszt pieces. I think what you'll find, and I could certainly be wrong,,,but I think that most individuals who do NOT play the piano will be impressed mostly by pieces that are more popular, that they have heard before and can recognize. Most people (who don't play) would rather goo-gah over Fur Elise or the "Entertainer" than hear a rarely played Mozart Sonata or something not well know by Bach.

Haven't you found this to be true? The thread which Saturn supplied should offer many suggestions.

S

[Motrax]

Well, you won't really impress people with pieces they know.

I've had people come up to me a number of times and ask me how I "move my fingers so fast." Based on this, I would say Flight of the Bumblebee could be extremely impressive.

Also, pieces with lots of bass notes and pedaling and general noise will be impressive. Revolutionary Etude, Moonlight 3rd mvmt., and Rach 3's cadenza (the longer one) come to mind at the moment.

[Irock1ce]

Play the waldstein at 200-250 instead of 126-152... thats what i did cause i was nervous and it sure as hell impressed the audience! Just a warning though: it does hurt ur hand and u may end up missing a lot of notes and pros may think ur an idiot for ruining a piece like that. Just from my own experience.  

[donjuan]

i know for a fact that lizst's and rach's most difficult pieces don't even come close to moonlight sonata 3rd mov.

:oare you kidding?    Beethoven, unlike Liszt,was no showoff, therefore, his music isnt very.....er...showoffy.  The third movement of the moonlight sonata is dramatic alright, but like Beethoven always is, it repeats- something shallow listeners find boring.  I would play some Liszt with heavy chords and tons of Strepitoso to impress that kind of audience.

[f0bul0us]

:oare you kidding?    Beethoven, unlike Liszt,was no showoff, therefore, his music isnt very.....er...showoffy.  The third movement of the moonlight sonata is dramatic alright, but like Beethoven always is, it repeats- something shallow listeners find boring.  I would play some Liszt with heavy chords and tons of Strepitoso to impress that kind of audience.

Hence the title, YaBB Newbie. Hahaha, he'll learn  

[in_love_with_liszt]

Umm....my question is why the heck would anyone's goal as a pianist be to impress people who know nothing about piano, and music in general? My god don't tell me pianism has sunk as low as pop music now....

[donjuan]

Umm....my question is why the heck would anyone's goal as a pianist be to impress people who know nothing about piano, and music in general? My god don't tell me pianism has sunk as low as pop music now....

pop music just happens to be popular now, just as Liszt was popular back in 1840.  Liszt composed his opera transcriptions with the intention of impressing the least educated kind of audience.  He chose popular melodies from the operas many people watched and listened to, Like Mozart's Don Giovanni, or Bellini's I Puritani.  So you see, your favorite and my favorite composer would not have left such a legacy if it werent for non musical audiences.  I would compare today's listeners of pop music to the listeners of Liszt's Opera Transcriptions long ago.  (although I tend to resent today's listeners MUCH MUCH more, but that is another story..)  But, I do understand where you are coming from.
donjuan  

[in_love_with_liszt]

Well I suppose I did have a bit of a spasm back there, however much of Liszt's music is actually difficult, or to speak in more appropriate terms, complex. True, I'm sure to the un-music folk Liszt sounds impressive, but to the educated it is simply genius. The goal of any musician should ultimately not be impressing an audience, but rather improving yourself. Although I never knew Liszt, and he very well may have had a goal to impress, but it's hard to beleive that the beautiful "Chasse Neige" required no work on his part, and a desire to improve. Don't get me wrong, I'm not disagreeing with you,  rather voicing my own opinion about the regard a musician should hold themself.

[Tash]

well from past experience of performing at my school where i encouraged my non-musical friends to come to our concerts (some were quite unenthused) and basically anything that's really fast that makes your fingers look like they belong to superman will freak them out, particularly if it's loud massive chords so you're just bashing the hell out of the piano- poor piano but the unknowledgable audience loves it! like even if it's really quite easy, provided it's fast they will think it's brilliant. giant leaps and dissonance is good too

[Motrax]

Interestingly, of the concert I gave a little while ago (about 40 or 50 non-classical music listeners), the two favorites were Rachy's 5th Prelude in G minor, and Chopin's Nocturne Op. 37 No. 1 in G minor. Yes, people actually did enjoy the Chopin!

I think setting has a lot to do with it too. During lunch during school hours, I doubt anyone non-classically oriented would appreciate a Chopin Nocturne. But at 7:30 in the evening, when the room is silent except for the piano, it's completely different. People feel more at ease to allow the music to take control, especially at a concert where it is acceptable to enjoy something slow as well as something fast.