Liszt Pieces Appropriate for Middle-Level Students

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I only have one student and have only had a couple before, a friend I have been giving regular lessons to.  He insists on learning a piece by Liszt.  I'm in the US, so I don't know where he'd fall in the ABRSM.  He is a very poor sight reader, but can learn pieces that are, in a way, beyond his level if they are fairly motivic and have a lot of repetitive aspects.  I don't want to give him whatever the "easiest" Liszt piece is, because that is boring and would not be satisfying for him.  Can anyone make a recommendation?  The pieces he's requested are well beyond his skill level (for instance, HR11), so I need to come up with an alternative.

Also, does anybody have a link to the ABRSM grading system?  Like, they have a list of pieces, right?  I am thinking maybe level 5 or 6, I'm really not sure how it works.

[chopin1993]

I do not have a link to the ABRSM grading system, as I really don´t understand the system myself.
But maybe your student could play Liszt's Arrangement of Chopin's Six Chants Polonais op.74 no. 2?
And what about Liszt's Consolations no.1 and no.4?
I know these are not the most exciting pieces, but they are "playable"!

Good luck!

Valerie

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I took a look at it; he would be more like level 7-8, as opposed to 5-6.  The Consolation No. 6 is a piece that had crossed my mind.  This is really my fault, to be honest; we also hang out a lot, and I have played a lot of Liszt and Alkan in front of him.

[chopin1993]

Haha, I see. I would get triggered by that too!
A very beautiful level 7 piece is Liszt's "Romance" in e minor.
Also you could take a look at his "Années de Pèlerinage" (Suisse or Italy). Some parts of it aren't that hard to play!
Consolation no. 6 isn't a bad idea either.

Valerie

[danhuyle]

Consolation No1,3.

Etude Op1 No4 (the cocoon of Mazeppa)

Develop his note reading skills and tell him the consequences for not learning it. I don't see anything bad about playing a lot of Liszt in front of a student. Hey at least you HAVE a motivated student who wants to commit to playing Liszt.

I used to be a student who wanted to play virtuoso Liszt and I had technical difficulties with it. And guess what? I never had a teacher teach me the Liszt pieces I wanted to learn aside from Etude Op1/4 TE1,9 and La Campanella. I wanted to play all those transcendental etudes and had to figure all by myself. I begged and begged, but still no help came.

Tell the student to FIGURE IT OUT HIMSELF. I didn't have a teacher show me how to learn virtuoso Liszt.

I was one of those students. Visit my blog and find out how to deal with that sort of student.

[cjp_piano]

If you are in the US, you need to be aware of The Achievement Program which is a collaboration between Carnegie and Royal Conservatory Canada. They have online syllabi which you can download for free:

https://www.theachievementprogram.org/program/piano-program-details

It has levels 1-10 as well as 2 prep levels and a diploma level, so really it's a 13 grade system!

As far as an "easier" Liszt piece? Doesn't really exist. Maybe you can figure out the STYLE that he likes and find a piece that fits.

[stoudemirestat]

Adding on to the previous recommendations...

En Reve is a good option.

It could also be fruitful to look through this video. It's a lot of lesser known Liszt. Some of the pieces are very difficult, some are not at all and will be manageable for him. There are  some good options there.

Here's the track listings, and whether I think they will be manageable for him in my limited knowledge.

00:00 - Alleluja, S.183/1 (1862) Not manageable.
03:40 - Ave Maria (d'Arcadelt) (1862) Probably manageable.
07:40 - Klavierstuck in E Major, S.192/1 (1865) Manageable.
10:04 - Klavierstuck in A flat Major, S.192/2 (1865) Probably manageable.
12:12 - Klavierstuck in F sharp Major, S.192/3 (1873) Manageable.
13:30 - Klavierstuck in F sharp Major, S.192/4 (1876) Manageable.
15:18 - RW: Venezia, S.201 (1883) Maybe manageable.
16:42 - Recueillement, S.204 (1877) Probably manageable.
19:12 - La cloche sonne, S.238 (1850?) Manageable.
21:02 - Hussitenlied, S.234 (1840) Not manageable.
27:49 - Vive Henry IV, S.239 (1870-80?) Probably not manageable.

29:18 *pause*

29:33 - Unstern: Sinistre, Disastro, S.208 (after 1880) Probably not manageable.
32:37 - Dem Andeken Petofis, S.195 (1877) Probably not manageable.
35:47 - Abschied. Russisches Volkslied, S.251 (1885) Probably manageable.
37:46 - Bénédiction et Serment de Benvenuto Cellini, S.396 (1852) Not manageable.
44:04 - Die Rose aus Zemire und Azor, S.571 [by Spohr] (1876) I don't think he wants to play a transcription?
48:15 - Die Rose [by Schubert], S.556/2 (1838) See above.
52:54 - Drei Stücke aus der heilige Elisabeth, S.498a - 1. Orchestral introduction (1857-62) Not manageable.

[stoudemirestat]

Ugh i'm sorry. I only just saw your second post, where you said he's more 7-8 rather than 5-6.

That being said, the En Reve is still one to consider, and you  might want to look at some of the other stuff.

Knowing he's more 7-8, I would consider the romance other posters suggested, as well as the third consolation.

Romance.

Some more to look into are...

2nd consolation.

3rd Hungarian Rhapsody.

Canzone Napolitana.

Hope I  could help.