Piece you recently "discovered" or heard for the 1st time, you are CRAZY about

[49410enrique]

Szymanowski Op 1 No 1. Oh dear sweet heavens, where were you this whole time!?!

*hits replay , replay again, replay again!

[perprocrastinate]

These are more like 'pieces I neglected before, but ACTUALLY discovered recently, I am CRAZY about'.

- Rachmaninoff Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor
- Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3 in D minor
- Chopin Ballades 2 and 4
- Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand

I'm afraid that if I listen to any one of these pieces too much, I will hate it. Why is my brain so cruel?

[vsrinivasa]

Faure's Nocturne No. 2. I just can't stop listening to it.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

These are more like 'pieces I neglected before, but ACTUALLY discovered recently, I am CRAZY about'.

- Rachmaninoff Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor
- Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3 in D minor
- Chopin Ballades 2 and 4
- Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand

I'm afraid that if I listen to any one of these pieces too much, I will hate it. Why is my brain so cruel?

Listen to Rachmaninoff's 1st sonata!!!

Except only listen to Valentina Lisitsa's.  I'm not saying that just because I'm in love with her, I'm saying that because it's the only good rendition.

[zezhyrule]

Bartok's 3rd Piano Concerto

It's not some completely unknown piece sure, but I was unfamiliar with it until a couple weeks ago. I love the first two, no idea why I never listened to the third. Anyway it is amazing stuff.

[rao217]

"Un Barque Sur L'Ocean" from Ravel's "Miroirs." I don't think any piece captures the expansiveness and the fluidity of the ocean quite as well as that piece. I sent it to one of my friends and she said "Wait the beginning sounded like...water." I had to agree.

[vsrinivasa]

"Un Barque Sur L'Ocean" from Ravel's "Miroirs." I don't think any piece captures the expansiveness and the fluidity of the ocean quite as well as that piece. I sent it to one of my friends and she said "Wait the beginning sounded like...water." I had to agree.

I really LOVE that piece. It's so beautiful and captures the gentle movement of water so well. Once I get recording equipment, I'll post my version of either it or Jeux d'Eau in the Audition Room.


Anyway, I really like Liszt's Aux Cypres de la Villa d'Este (both of them). When I first heard them, I hated them, but now I appreciate them much more.

[tranquille]

Szymanowski Op 1 No 1. Oh dear sweet heavens, where were you this whole time!?!

*hits replay , replay again, replay again!

I agree this is lovely!

[vsrinivasa]

I agree this is lovely!

I second that.

[mahlermaniac]

I have a couple, I'll mention one now and another later.

Ravel's piano works, performed by Pascal Roge. Really, in my book they are at their best at night. It was shortly after I had my baby girl this summer and I was having the usual sleepless nights with a newborn. While I was up with her, I'd play this album, and there was such a wonderful dreamlike, trance quality to the music.

[lisztrachmaninovfan]

These are more like 'pieces I neglected before, but ACTUALLY discovered recently, I am CRAZY about'.

- Rachmaninoff Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor
- Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 3 in D minor
- Chopin Ballades 2 and 4
- Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand

I'm afraid that if I listen to any one of these pieces too much, I will hate it. Why is my brain so cruel?

I still remember the first time I heard the Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand...I was actually waiting in a parking lot in front of a shopping center, and I hadn't previously listened to the work because I thought that I'd never want to learn it (all that left hand work, stupid reason huh?  ) But once I listened to about 2 months of it, I thought, "where have you been all my life?" 

Probably one of the most recent jewels that I've discovered is the Erkki Melartin Symphony No.3...I seem to be have this weird obsession with Finnish composers lately! Some others would be the Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No.11 "The Year 1905" and the Robert Schumann Introduction and Allegro Appasionato, Op.92...I can never get my mind off the extended harmony that Schumann uses here!

[illusionary]

I only properly listened to Prokofiev's Sonata no. 7 recently and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. I asked my teacher to play it but she kind of just went 'hmmmm...not yet....not yet'

[vansh]

As overplayed as they are, about 9 months ago it was Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody #2 (which I'm still in the process of learning because I don't spend nearly enough time on the piano), and currently it's Liszt's La Campanella. I was attracted to the HR2 by the more showy nature of the large leaps and interesting (though relatively brief) melody lines. For La Campanella, it's the challenge of playing it delicately without making it bangy (which is a trap that's easy to fall into due to the technical challenges). I think these pieces are actually pretty fun to learn.

[chicoscalco]

Guarnieri Ponteio No. 48. Breathtakingly  sad.

[theholygideons]

godamn mendelssohn's scottish sonata. I never knew such passion existed

[mjames]

syzmanowski

the polish underdog
screw you chopin

[visitor]

syzmanowski

the polish underdog
screw you chopin

Agreed.  I think he was born in the Ukraine but more of an honorary Polak.   Still. Total bad a$$.

[kakeithewolf]

Outside of piano pieces, the Dies Irę and the Te Deum.

As far as piano pieces go, I would say Rach 3, the Hammerklavier sonata, and the Torrent etude.

[j_menz]

Outside of piano pieces, the Dies Irę and the Te Deum.

Whose?

[kakeithewolf]

Whose?

The original Gregorian Chant for both.

The original version of the Dies Irę, from the thirteenth century. That's the easier of the two to answer.

Te Deum is a little more complicated. The most common version is a revised version with the lines "Salvum fac populum tuum" through "non confundar in aeternum" added (To figure out the line numbers, I'd have to check the Liber). But I actually prefer the original 4th century version, without the appended petitions.

[j_menz]

The original Gregorian Chant for both.

There are several gregorian chants for both.

There is an earlier (pre gregorian, pre Old Roman) chant for the Te Deum, which you might appreciate:

[kakeithewolf]

There are several gregorian chants for both.

There is an earlier (pre gregorian, pre Old Roman) chant for the Te Deum, which you might appreciate:

Well, first off, that video isn't accurate about when the chant was made. It's a 4th century chant, not a 5th century.

I checked where the chant I was referring to was in the Liber Usualis. It's the Te Deum Laudamus, page 1832 to the beginning of 1834, after which it goes into the petitions.

As for the Dies Irę, that would be page 1810-1813 of the Liber, the Sequence of the Requiem Mass.

[j_menz]

Well, first off, that video isn't accurate about when the chant was made. It's a 4th century chant, not a 5th century.

I think you are confusing the text with the setting. They are quite distinct.

[kakeithewolf]

I think you are confusing the text with the setting. They are quite distinct.

Fair point.

[j_menz]

Fair point.

These two texts are set in some of the greatest and most diverse musical forms ever. Take a look around, they will provide an interesting journey indeed.

Aside from the actual settings, Alkan's  Mort  uses the Dies Irae as a theme, and Sorabji wrote an extensive work around it (Sequentia cyclica sopra "Dies irae" ex Missa pro defunctis).

[kakeithewolf]

These two texts are set in some of the greatest and most diverse musical forms ever. Take a look around, they will provide an interesting journey indeed.

Aside from the actual settings, Alkan's  Mort  uses the Dies Irae as a theme, and Sorabji wrote an extensive work around it (Sequentia cyclica sopra "Dies irae" ex Missa pro defunctis).

I've actually wanted to listen to Sorabji's take on the Dies Irę for quite some time now, but I can't find a good recording of it.

[j_menz]

I've actually wanted to listen to Sorabji's take on the Dies Irę for quite some time now, but I can't find a good recording of it.

I'm not aware of any recording of it, actually. Jonathan Powell has performed it, but I don't think he's recorded it. Perhaps he or Alistair could advise.

[kakeithewolf]

I'm not aware of any recording of it, actually. Jonathan Powell has performed it, but I don't think he's recorded it. Perhaps he or Alistair could advise.

I've seen a fragment of it on YouTube (which is surprising, as usually anything by Sorabji is blitzed when it is on there). It was about 20 minutes worth. So, clearly, it has been recorded before, either partially or in entirety.

[lancekupiak]

This is great!

[kalirren]

My newest love is the Prokofiev Violin Sonata #2 / Flute Sonata.  As the accompanist.