Which Debussy to pick?

[abe]

Alright, here's the situation. My older brother's going to have a recital, and the following is the tentative program:

1. WTC I Cmin (maybe he shouldn't open with this one?)
2. Brahms op. 118 Intermezzo (a major)
3. Brahms op. 118 Ballade (gminor)
4. Mendelsshon Rondo Cappricioso
5. Beethoven Appasionata Sonata (only 1st mvmt)

------Intermission----------

6. A cello peice, probably Faure's "After a Dream" (he playing the cello part, not the piano accompaniment)
7. Debussy (either Clair de Lune of the Prelude of Pour le Piano.....which one?!)
8. Greig A minor (either first mvmnt, or second and third mvmt's)

So, my question is, which peice should he play to fill the 7th spot, of the two peices mentioned? While there is a lot of loud fast stuff in the program, Clare de Lune might be a nice balance, but yet it is so overplayed. On the other hand, Pour le piano is an exciting and fun peice but yet another turbulent peice, and might tire the audience (already its a long recital). What peice should it be?

Thank you for your replies.

[Nightscape]

Let the outrageous postings begin!

I'm sure someone here will belittle your two debussy choices and recommed something bigger, grander, and less overplayed.

But hey... I would go with "Clair de Lune".  Unless the audience is composed of fellow Piano Forum posters, I doubt anyone will care if it is overplayed or not.  And you already have thw WTC c min and appassionata, which are also "overplayed", whatever that means.

I'm going to take a wild guess.. but there are probably going to be old ladies in the audience, and they simple adore Clair de Lune.

BTW- your brother has a very nice program, and if he pulls it off, it will be something to remember for a while!

[Max]

I would play the Sarabande from Pour le Piano.

[Chrysalis]

I would try his 1st arabesque

[liszmaninopin]

Of the choices, I'd pick Claire de Lune-there's nothing wrong with playing familiar stuff once in a while.  However, I will suggest his Ballade-it's an absolutely beautiful piece of piano music.

[eViLben]

i'd suggest "jardins sous la pluie" =)

[Nightscape]

Why don't you try "'L'isle Joyeuse"?  That's one of the best piano pieces Debussy wrote.

[JK]

http://nightscape128wrote:

and recommed something bigger, grander, and less overplayed.

Why don't you try "'L'isle Joyeuse"?  That's one of the best piano pieces Debussy wrote.  

You were saying......

[Nightscape]

I was being sarcastic.... cause everybody started to name off random Debussy pieces...

[hewton]

Among your choices, I personally like Suite pour le piano, especially Toccata. Such an exciting piece! Are you supposed to play the entire Suite or just pick one of them? If possible, you can play Reflets dans l'eau, which is one of the masterpieces by Debussy. This is my personal favourite, too. I'm sure this will add some spice to your existing repertoire.

[Nightscape]

Reflets dans l'eau is a very beautiful piece.  But the other Images are also very deserving too.  Especially the second set, they are really quite something.  Have you considered learning "Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut"?

The Children's Corner is also very good- Golliwog's Cakewalk has a very funny Wagnerian joke in it.

Or mabye a Debussy etude?  Like "Pour les sonorites opposees", which has a very exotic sound to it.

Another really cool Debussy piece is "Masques", very rhythmic, yet a bit on the sad side.

Or, "D'un cahier d'esquisses" - if you listen closely, you'll hear fragments of melodies from L'isle Joyeuse in it.

I personally think that the 2nd Arabesque is just as good as the 1st Arabesque.  The Reverie is another piece that wouldn't be too hard to learn either.

If you're up for a bit more of a challenge, you could tackle one of the pieces in "Estampes" - "Soiree dans Grenade" is very interesting, like a little picture of Spanish life.

I think though, that that Debussy's most unique pieces are his Preludes for piano.  You could play the well known "La fille aux cheveux de lin" which has a very beautiful melody to it.  I really like "Des pas sur la neige"- there's something just a little unsettling, a little creepy about it.  In the second book, "Ondine" is a masterpiece, not as good as Ravel's version though, and if you really want to impress the audience, you could tackle "Feux d'artifice", which isn't quite as hard as it sounds.  When I first heard this piece, I though the title meant "Insanity" because it reminded me of a crazy mental patient - very erratic.  But actually, it just means "Fireworks", which is not so scary.

There are also a number of small standalone pieces Debussy wrote which are also like little gems waiting to be polished!  Like the "Ballade" or "La plus que lente".  I thought the title of the latter was pretty funny, "The slowest of them all", supposed to be a parody of cheesy, slow, french waltzes.

Hope it helps.

[felia]

well, how about Pagoda from Estampes?

[Chrysalis]

instead of clair de lune why not reverie?

[Max]

Or mabye a Debussy etude?  Like "Pour les sonorites opposees", which has a very exotic sound to it.

Debussy Etudes are a NIGHTMARE! I'm learning no.11, its pianistic, but very difficult.

I would recommend Poissons D'or, it's really nice (from Images Book 1).

[Max]

Among your choices, I personally like Suite pour le piano, especially Toccata. Such an exciting piece! Are you supposed to play the entire Suite or just pick one of them? If possible, you can play Reflets dans l'eau, which is one of the masterpieces by Debussy. This is my personal favourite, too. I'm sure this will add some spice to your existing repertoire.

It's my opinion that the Toccata from there is the hardest piece Debussy wrote. (though I haven't heard everything)