There's only so much time

[argerich_smitten]

There is only so much time to become a well rounded and accomplished pianist.  The list of pieces that most pianists want to play is huge.  I'll share a small fraction of mine here

All chopin etudes/ballades/b-minor sonata
Beethoven 4th concerto, appasionata, hammerklavier, opus 111
Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit
Liszt:  mephisto walzt, second ballade (b-minor), hungarian rhapsodies 2, 6, 12, 14; all transcendental and paganini etudes, unsuspiro, totentanz, 1st concerto, b-minor sonata (of course)

the list could go on and on and on.  This really is just an extremely small portion of the pieces I feel the need to play, and I know I am not the only one who has an 'impossibly long' list of pieces to learn.  I think that this is  a serious problem...  There is so much great music out there, who has time to even listen to a reasonable portion of it?  This is even worse for composers, because nobody has the time to listen/play their music.  As time goes on, the pool of music grows larger.  How is everybody dealing with this?  There will adventually be a time where either modern day composers are given very little attention, or the behemoths of the past such as Bach and Beethoven fall away.  

Please share any thoughts you might have

[m1469]

Having too much repertoire to choose from is a better problem than not having enough and is something to be grateful for!

Only play what you truly love.  Even sticking with pieces you like, there will be too many.  Only what you love.

There will eventually be a time where either modern day composers are given very little attention, or the behemoths of the past such as Bach and Beethoven fall away.

How do you know?

This is also why we need a large body of "good" pianists and teachers, not just a select few.  What one person loves, another may not.  But, there will always be much to love about Bach, Beethoven, etc., and therefore, somebody will always love them.  Also, there will always be people out there looking for new pieces and hungering for something fresh off the press.  It is not up to just one person to play (or even know) all that was ever written, it is the job of the entire body of musicians.  Our job is to appreciate what we do as well as what others do.

We as pianists are in a wonderful position and get to be extremely choosey.   A bassoonist is not in quite the same situation.

Appreciate the people who choose the music they do, especially if it is not something you will choose.  Likewise, only choose to play the music that means the most to you and others will appreciate you for choosing it.  It's a good thing.

m1469

[Spatula]

It is (almost) humanly impossible to play EVERY single piece that was written in the age of history.

This is the very essence of what makes studying not just piano but pieces fun, because simply there is that freedom to choose and that freedom to explore a piece you'd never heard before.

It should be obvious but if we could play every single piece, then the raison d'etre wouldn't justify our appreciation of music.

Thats my 4 cents anyway (I'm gonna charge more now)

[Rob47]

Work on your sight reading! Play everything! Sit down and just go through the whole Beethoven Sonatas. Obviously reading Gaspard de La nuit is byno means easy.  But just keep reading all sorst of weird music! Read through that scriabin complete preludes and etudes book.  Liszt? Come on you can sight read anything by Liszt his patterns and runs all fit the hand so nicely it seems! And with more reading learning notes becomse easier and easier! Every time you practice, end by reading a bunch of different and diverse pieces.  There is only so much time and it is impossible to learn every piece for the piano repertoire but don't go down without a fight.

your friend
Rob