Impressionistic Music Advice

[agressiv]

Hello, I'll try to give the cliff notes of myself to solicit some music selection advice.

• I was a percussion major who dabbled with piano.
• I have been taking weekly piano lessons for the last few months.
• I played Bach's Prelude in C and just recently did the 1st movement of Moonlight Sonata
• I love Debussy and anything more contemporary
• Serialism probably wouldn't be my first choice though (but most of that is very difficult anyways)
• I generally don't like Classical era or even much Romantic music
• I don't ever want to play a simplified version of a piece - originals only
• I'd love to play Debussy's Claire de Lune or First Arabesque but they are a bit beyond my skill level.

Anyone have any recommendations that would be in the style of Debussy or newer but aren't quite as complicated?  I might end up doing Claire de Lune if I can't come up with anything but it will take me a LONG time   Just wondering if anyone has any other suggestions that are a tad easier.

Feel free to ask any questions.  I do like some Romantic (such as the Moonlight Sonata, and even some Chopin - but most Chopin is way too difficult)  I'm asking my teacher as well but figured I'd try to pick multiple brains.

Thanks much! 
Greg

[ionian_tinnear]

Maybe some Faure' ?

[agressiv]

I do like Fauré, and checked out some of his works.  Some of his Nocturnes, Barcorolle's etc, but all were WAY beyond my level, I felt Debussy would be easier -

Unless anyone can think of pieces that would work?  Still, I will do more digging, thanks for the lead

Greg

[pianowolfi]

Why not try a bit of Satie? His Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes? I think they are very subtle and precious pieces, and not very hard.

[bbush]

Greetings!

I know you said you don't like Classical/Romantic music much, but I think it would be very difficult to START learning piano by playing only Impressionistic pieces.  So, to get you going, to get your fingers moving with more control, and to get your piano music reading skills up and running (especially the all-important-to-Impressionism skill of phrasing) while still playing very musical pieces, I suggest you check out some of Friedrich Burgmuller's easier works.

In Piano Street's archives are the Burgmuller pieces I recommend trying, all from his Opus 100:  Nos. 3, 4, 5, 7, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, and 22.  These are the pieces that either have parts similar to what you'll need to be able to play and master Impressionistic music or are themselves somewhat evocative of Impressionism, especially his No. 21.

If you like these, you can go on to some of his more challenging Opus 109 works.

Best Wishes!
Bruce

[agressiv]

Ironic, my teacher is having me work on a Burgmuller piece from Opus 100, (No 15 - Ballade) but musically it doesn't do much for me (and actually makes me not want to practice it much).  However, #21 is in a similar rhythmical style to the first Debussy Arabesque; maybe I'll give that a try instead.

I'm not pinned on impressionistic music; just that timeframe or newer.  I know Bartok had lots of works for younger performers while being in a somewhat more contemporary style musically, (Mikrokosmos comes to mind) but I don't want to start blindly buying works like that since they still seem to be copyrighted.

I will check out the Satie pieces; those do seem a tad simpler!

I know many of you will say "you need to put in the time", and yes, that might end up being the case, but if there is a more "contemporary" version of Burgmuller, I'm all ears.

Thanks again everyone!

Greg

[nanabush]

Is #21 'harmony of the angels'?  If so, that's an awesome piece and I did that for an exam a while back!  Brings back memories.

A lot of the suggestions on this forum will list pieces that are WAY too difficult.  Some people refer to the Debussy Arabesques as 'beginner' or 'easy'... don't let that get to you 

The 'Reverie' by Debussy is a good one, a little bit more accessible than Claire de Lune IMO.

There isn't too much impressionist stuff that's at the level of the Burgmuller Ballade (with the C minor triads at the beginning?).  Most of the stuff that pops into my mind is a few levels above (Debussy 'Children's Corner' for example)

Maybe the 'Notturno' by Grieg from Lyric Pieces.  More romantic, but still a great piece with some sweeeeeeeet harmonies.