Russian composers 19th & 20th

[chechig]

Hello, I need advice! I'm looking for the nicest lower intermediate piece of a russian composer of this period. I'm having a look on Mykapar, Khachaturian, kabalevsky but is not easy to find their sheets. Can anyone make a suggestion? Thank you in advance.

[andreslr6]

spam

[chechig]

Andrés, Thank you for the suggestion, but is too difficult for me.

[andreslr6]

It sounds and looks a lot harder than what it is. If you can, try making a quick reading of it. I consider it at the same level of Czerny's op.740, or Bartok's Allegro Barbaro.

You can also find some easier transcriptions of his Sabre Dance. Or short pieces like this ones:
https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/10-Pieces-for-the-Young-Pianist/3165745#

I'm looking for the first one I played by him, but I can't remember the name.

Here it is, but this is a beginner piece, I was playing a Sonatina by Kuhlau and a little prelude by Bach with that piece:

Sheet music: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/Selected-Piano-Works/19291700

[chechig]

Thanks again Andrés, I have that album, but apart from two or three I think is too difficult. I'm trying the study

   but I dont' knwo if I have that level of skills

[andreslr6]

Yes you do, it's a good "first etude" if you haven't played any. Start playing it slow and accurately, don't worry about the speed until you have the choreography learned without any doubts. Do you have a teacher?

PS Nice detail putting the accent on my name , hablas español?

[chechig]

Muchas gracias Andrés, soy spanish, de San sebastián. Me encanta ese estudio, voy a intentar hacer lo que dices, es que soy una acelerada... Los primeros compases me salen decentemente, de momento despacio, of course. Un saludo

[chechig]

I forgot, no I dont' have a teacher, I'm self student, I'm re-learning because I love playing piano, but I had to postpone it when I was a child, but now I'm back! conoces el foro en español entre88teclas?

[andreslr6]

Ah bueno , no he leido las reglas de en que idioma escribir, but just in case... practice with metronome, try memorizing both hands separately, but just being able to play them separately while reading it is good, the point is to learn the piece in as many ways as possible.

Find a tempo where you can play clean, with no mistakes. When you feel you can play faster, start to do it gradually with the metronome in small sections of the piece, just a few bars, and play them at different speeds, increasing little by little; and when you can do that with all of the small sections, do the same but with bigger sections until you can do it with the whole piece. You'll notice that as bigger the sections get, the faster the tempos will be when you start practicing them. Just remember to always stay at a tempo where you play with no mistakes, if you leave the mistakes you'll learn them and will result in bad habits.

I hope this is useful for you

[chechig]

Wow! Thanks again, I find your advice very useful. I¡ll try my best, I'll Let you know.  I think you can write in no metter what lenguage, but the thing is that english is considered universal. ciao

[49410enrique]

this is an area i am particularly drawn too (really russian in general, but especially from about 1880-1940/50 ),

hmm though there is certainly some of the most difficult music in the literature in this time span and from these guys, there is also a surprisngly large amount of very approachable music from the intermediate grades and onwards

i would ask you to do some research on vladimir rebikov, his is not appreciated as much as i think he should (think late romantic with debussy-eque tendancies ).

some pieces are easy to find, some horrendously diffiuclt, i may be able to help you find some ifyou have some trouble, but he wrote a bunch so we would want to narrow it down sme first before i go search my arhives (somemay be in collections so  i may have to go through quite a few files). 

here's a just a couple right off the top of my head

more to come....

[49410enrique]

going back a bit (less modern/20th century), have a look at some of mussorgsky's works, though he is not exactly obscure, he is one of those that is very famous for only a tiny amount of his work.

some ideas (though not an exhaustive list of things at this techinica/musical level)

prob a bit more advanced thanyou want but just for 'completeness sake'

incredibly beautiful in particular!

[49410enrique]

this is such a funny piece. actually not too back technically, but will stretch you musically, one of those that is approachable from very early on but very appropriate for highly advanced musicians to really make it shine.

[chechig]

Well, first af all, thank you very much to you also Enrique, I appreciate it. Some of the music you've posted is wonderful, I love the teardrop, yesterday I had a look at the sheets but definitely is too difficult for me. let's say that I'm early intermediate, but very very early and I dont' have a teacher, so double difficulty. I laugh at the albums so called "for children", most of them are too much for me.  thank you anyway, I keep these suggestions in mind for the future.

[kujiraya]

In its entirety, Mussorgsky's "Pictures At An Exhibition" (the original composition for piano, not the various orchestrated versions) would most likely be too difficult for you right now, but I suspect there would be a movement here and there that you'd cope with quite well, eg, "The Old Castle".

[chechig]

Thank you Kujiyara, very nice piece. I made up my mind and I'mstarting to learn The teardrop. I think I can cope with that one, even though I have quite small hands and the left hand will have to work hard to reach all the notes.
Thanks again, you've been very helpful!