Over-played repertoire

[michelshestak]

Can anyone give me some examples of really over-played pieces at an intermediate to advanced level?

[sharon_f]

Chopin's Fantasie-Impromptu may be one of the most overplayed pieces in the entire repertoire. And unfortunately it's usually played poorly too. But...when it's played as it should be it can be a revelation. I heard
Jon Nakamatsu play it as an encore a few years back and it was so beautifully played, not too fast, well-pedaled, the middle section not overly slow... well it seemed like I was hearing the piece for the first time.

[donjuan]

Can anyone give me some examples of really over-played pieces at an intermediate to advanced level?

Mozart Sonata in C
Beethoven Pathetique Sonata
Liszt Liebestraume No.3
Rachmaninoff Prelude in C# minor
Schubert- Impromptus Op. 90
Chopin - Heroic Polonaise, Military Polonaise, Waltz C# minor
Debussey- Claire de Lune, Dr. Gradus Ad Parnassum

and many, many....many..........(yawn)...more pieces I have heard Ad Nauseum..
donjuan

[dj]

sadly most of chopin's music is horrendously overplayed.....it's a shame that it would b played so much that people tire of it, because it is some of the greatest piano music ever written. *sigh*

[amanfang]

Beethoven - Fur Elise

This is one of the ones I hear at junior competitions ALL THE TIME and they all slaughter it!!!  

[super55james]

hi i think the most over played are beethovens moonlight and pathpquie sonatas and fur elise what ever happend to the appansonta

[f0bul0us]

pathpquie...appansonta

*Sgih*
Hree's smoehtnig cool you wno't laern aynhweer esle. As lnog as I keep the frist and lsat lteter of evrey wrod the smae, I can liraliterly hvae a fleid day wtih wahtveer geos in btweeen. Tihs is bcuasee our brain is so uesd to sieneg the wrod in its onrigal fmroat taht atfer sneieg the wrod so mnay tmeis we aotucatimly re-agrangre the ltetrs to hvae it mkae snece!

[Snappy Joe]

pirecsely!

[amanfang]

at least all the right letters were there when you mixed them up vs. picking random letters that may or may not belong...    

[f0bul0us]

LOL! It's so true, I'll never forget the time I saw someone type Rochmanoff.

Good times...

[puppetmaster]

Most definitely the moonlight sonata. Or rather any Beethoven sonatas. It seems like "the thing" to learn...

[donjuan]

*Sgih*
Hree's smoehtnig cool you wno't laern aynhweer esle. As lnog as I keep the frist and lsat lteter of evrey wrod the smae, I can liraliterly hvae a fleid day wtih wahtveer geos in btweeen. Tihs is bcuasee our brain is so uesd to sieneg the wrod in its onrigal fmroat taht atfer sneieg the wrod so mnay tmeis we aotucatimly re-agrangre the ltetrs to hvae it mkae snece!

oh my god, YOU"RE RIGHT!!!
dman!

[benji]

Shumann's Träumerei
Pachelbel's Canon in D

Hmm, that spelling trick is weird...

[larse]

I don't think all of beethovens sonatas are overplayed. I you think of it, there's alot of sonatas you've never even heard. And as the appassionata no longer is so popular, I would say Mondschein and Pathetique are the most overplayed. And of course Für Elise...

Chopin: Minute-Waltz, and the one coming after, the famous Polonaises(Ab and A), Revolutionary Etude, Raindrop Prelude(!!).. and Pherhaps the Ballad in Gm.

Mozart: Sonata in C, and the third mvt from Sonata in A(Rondo alla Turca)

There are alot more, for instance by Bach(Prelude in C(!!!), Cm, D, B, ++ WTC book1). The reason why they all are murdered, so to speak, i think is because they're all so beautiful that everyone plays them, and plays them too early. They are often keys of motivation for young pianists. You should'nt avoid playing them, just make sure you play them well and not murder them like all others.

And Taht Sepinlplg Tinhg Was Rteahr Cool As Wlel

[bernhard]

*Sgih*
Hree's smoehtnig cool you wno't laern aynhweer esle. As lnog as I keep the frist and lsat lteter of evrey wrod the smae, I can liraliterly hvae a fleid day wtih wahtveer geos in btweeen. Tihs is bcuasee our brain is so uesd to sieneg the wrod in its onrigal fmroat taht atfer sneieg the wrod so mnay tmeis we aotucatimly re-agrangre the ltetrs to hvae it mkae snece!

Have a look at reply # 4 in this thread:

https://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=stud;action=display;num=1071914342



Bset wishes,
Bnrherad.

[alvaro_galvez]

Balade for Adeline by Richard Claydermann.

And although pretty easy it has a hard techical arpeggio progression in the middle of the piece that almost EVERY time Ive heard it played is killed violently.

[amanfang]

I know someone has already mentioned Chopin, but specifically, several of the preludes.  The A major is played a lot, as is E minor.  I do like the preludes a lot.  The D-flat is also played a lot, and if not taught proper voicing, the "Raindrop" prelude will quickly turn into the "Chinese-water-torture" prelude.

[DarkWind]

*Sgih*
Hree's smoehtnig cool you wno't laern aynhweer esle. As lnog as I keep the frist and lsat lteter of evrey wrod the smae, I can liraliterly hvae a fleid day wtih wahtveer geos in btweeen. Tihs is bcuasee our brain is so uesd to sieneg the wrod in its onrigal fmroat taht atfer sneieg the wrod so mnay tmeis we aotucatimly re-agrangre the ltetrs to hvae it mkae snece!

Thats not something I won't learn anywhere else. Hell, in fact its the opposite. I've heard it just about every single place I turn. In fact, it is becoming extremely irritating. Or should i say "iraritanig"?

[abe]

Darkwind, I have to say I'm on your side about the letter re-arranging thing. I've seen elsewhere too, and it doesn't even work all the time. I wouldn't have known what "iraritanig" was if you hadn't said "irritating" just a couple of words before. I mean COME ON, its a PNIAO FRUOM!

[donjuan]

ixnay, uckingfay...
sounds kind of like comme le vent is back in town, doesnt it, Christian?....

[Logar1]

The most over-played piece is absolutely Fur Elise by Beethoven... no doubt about that.

[Shagdac]

I've heard Claire de Lune played very frequently. I know alot of pianist don't care for it and jokingly refer to it as
"Clear the Room", but it is overplayed at recitals. At least the ones I've been to.

S

[faulty_damper]

*Sgih*
Hree's smoehtnig cool you wno't laern aynhweer esle. As lnog as I keep the frist and lsat lteter of evrey wrod the smae, I can liraliterly hvae a fleid day wtih wahtveer geos in btweeen. Tihs is bcuasee our brain is so uesd to sieneg the wrod in its onrigal fmroat taht atfer sneieg the wrod so mnay tmeis we aotucatimly re-agrangre the ltetrs to hvae it mkae snece!

Unless English is not your native language.  It won't make sense to non-native English speakers.

[larse]

Well...yes it does. I'm Norwegian and reads perfectly...

[heldig]

Not only are 'Fur Elise' and the 'Moonlight Sonata' overplayed - often badly; they aren't even given their correct names!

[cziffra]

anyone for Thaikovsky's 1st piano concerto?  i actually hate this piece, it is that overplayed.  sad thing is, with all of these overplayed pieces, i'm wondering if you cang etaway with not ever learning them.  is it ESSENTIAL to a pianists career to play this limited list of "favourites?"  even hamelin  plays some of them

LOL! It's so true, I'll never forget the time I saw someone type Rochmanoff.

Good times...

you thought that was bad!  one day i played the op3:1 elegie and the presenter announced it as a piece by...no joke:
Rockymannynoll
!!!???
and then there was the time i played the
"Praeloodium oond Foogoo by Batch"
i SWEAR to you i am not kidding.

[belvoce]

Now that's funny!

[ChiarinaWieck]

The reason many of these pieces are over played is because they are also some of the greatest pieces written. The fact that a piece has been played by many students and performers should not have an impact on someones decision to study it. Deciding to perform it another matter.
If you want something new write it yourself.

[heldig]

The reason many of these pieces are over played is because they are also some of the greatest pieces written.  

  There are many great pieces of music that are rarely played, if ever. I suspect that the popularity of some pieces is related more to the comfort of familiarity.
  The works chosen for many examination systems also tend to establish ideas about what is 'good' music.
How teachers can listen to the same pieces day in, day out, year in, year out

[heldig]

The reason many of these pieces are over played is because they are also some of the greatest pieces written.  

  There are many great pieces of music that are rarely played, if ever. I suspect that the popularity of some pieces is related more to the comfort of familiarity.
  The work chosen for many examination systems also tends to establish ideas about music, and the same repertoire is often taught over and over again. How some teachers can listen to the same pieces day in, day out; year in, year out, is beyond me.
   However, ideas can and do change. It is possible to look beyond the square and find some wonderful music to play and perform. Rather than playing 'the' best known piece by a composer, why not look at some of their other work - after all, if they can write one memorable piece they have probably written others. For example, I can't imagine why anyone would want to play Clair de Lune when they could play Estampes.
No accounting for taste is there!

[ChiarinaWieck]

Very good arguement.(above)
I just believe that a musician shouldn't be discourged from learning something that is well known. It is amazing when someone can take a well known work and give it new life.

[donjuan]

its amazing because it hardly ever happens.

[cziffra]

The fact that a piece has been played by many students and performers should not have an impact on someones decision to study it. Deciding to perform it another matter.
If you want something new write it yourself.

I just believe that a musician shouldn't be discourged from learning something that is well known.  

well said!  and, by the same token, they should also not be discouraged from learning music that is extremely obscure and unknown, (so long as it is good, opf course)

[maxy]

pretty much all the "well known" rep is overplayed.  There are only 32 Beethoven sonatas, 27 Chopin studies and 48 Bach P&F... All pianists and most students will at some point tackle some of these...

In the past 4 years, I've heard the Pictures (Moussorgsky), the Waldstein and op. 57 (Beethoven), Images and Estampes (Debussy), even Schuman's Fantasy, more often than Fantaisie Impromptu, Moonlight and Pathetic sonata.

But I will say I find the Schubert Impromptus very much overplayed...  Also the Fauré nocturnes, but that seems to be a local "thing" .

[Etude]

one day i played the op3:1 elegie and the presenter announced it as a piece by...no joke:
Rockymannynoll
!!!???
and then there was the time i played the
"Praeloodium oond Foogoo by Batch"
i SWEAR to you i am not kidding.

I once performed Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2 by F. Lits.   

[gkatele]

Having spent about an hour at a piano dealer's in shopping for a new instrument, as I was walking out, I thanked the staff for their time and efforts.

They said, "No, thank YOU for not playing Für Elise! If you had played that we would have thrown you out.



George

[Troldhaugen]

It's kinda sad to see Fur Elise ditched by everyone on this forum. I know it's THE most overplayed piano work in history...but if you just try to appreciate the music itself rather than how often it's been played..oh well...many of the pieces in my repertiore are overplayed too..but...I DON"T CARE!!!...I just play whatever I love to play. If something I want to play happens to be overdone, fine! I'll just play it.       

[SteinwayTony]

It's kinda sad to see Fur Elise ditched by everyone on this forum. I know it's THE most overplayed piano work in history...but if you just try to appreciate the music itself rather than how often it's been played..oh well...many of the pieces in my repertiore are overplayed too..but...I DON"T CARE!!!...I just play whatever I love to play. If something I want to play happens to be overdone, fine! I'll just play it.       

I "ditch" it for two reasons.  The first is the obvious...everybody and his brother, and his brother's dog, has to play it.  I myself did not, but I admit it wasn't because I was as stoic as I am now, it's probably because I just never got around to it.

And the second reason is that it is very simplistic.  It's just a Bagatelle, and I think many of Beethoven's other Bagatelles are musically stronger.  I could write out the chords in five seconds.  It's just not the emotionally uplifting piece it's made out to be.

[Troldhaugen]

I agree. It' just seems everyone cannot even stand the word "Fur Elise". Whenever they hear the word, their initial reaction is total abomination. I still play it from time to time just for a sentimental reason.

[dinosaurtales]

*Sgih*
Hree's smoehtnig cool you wno't laern aynhweer esle. As lnog as I keep the frist and lsat lteter of evrey wrod the smae, I can liraliterly hvae a fleid day wtih wahtveer geos in btweeen. Tihs is bcuasee our brain is so uesd to sieneg the wrod in its onrigal fmroat taht atfer sneieg the wrod so mnay tmeis we aotucatimly re-agrangre the ltetrs to hvae it mkae snece!

ROTFLMAO!  That's one of the best posts I've seen yet!

[Rockitman]

"Having spent about an hour at a piano dealer's in shopping for a new instrument, as I was walking out, I thanked the staff for their time and efforts.

They said, "No, thank YOU for not playing Für Elise! If you had played that we would have thrown you out."


HAHA!!  That reminds of the scene in Wayne's World, where there is a sign next to the guitars in the music store  "NO STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN"

[SteinwayTony]

ROTFLMAO!  That's one of the best posts I've seen yet!

The really sad thing is, I'm pretty sure that was the result of an Oxford study that took a long time and a lot of money.