I need some serious repertoire suggestions, Grade 10 RCM/Grade 8 ABRSM and lower

[mosis]

I sat down last night and I realized that if I were to give someone a list of piano pieces that I would like to learn, and I mean, really LOVE to learn, I could barely get that list above 20. It's not so much that I don't like many piano pieces (I've heard many nocturnes, waltzes, ballades, preludes, fugues, sonatas), but many of the ones I do love are far too difficult. I haven't heard many other pieces that are around this level (or below), and I would really like some other suggestions. I don't really like modern piano pieces (most of it is just noise to me), and I don't really know any composers besides the "big guys", like Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, and Bach. I just need some good, varied stuff to play, with different moods, styles, and techniques. It's always nice if it's not super popular either (everyone likes a change from the badly played Fantasie-Impromptu).

Thanks a bunch!

[Daniel_piano]

I'm sick of Fantasie-Impromptu too, and it seems that even Chopin as sick of it 

Coud you please list me all the pieces you've practiced/played so far?
Also, what kind of piece do you have on grade (difficult or very difficult)
Sorry, I have a completely different syllabus

"like Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, and Bach"

You can try: Sinding, Faure, McDowell, Villa-Lobos, Albeniz, Debussy, Diabelli, Telemann, Scarlatti, Saint-Saens, Mendelssohn, Grieg, Weber, Granados, Ravel, Poulenc and Prokofiev   

[bernhard]

Have a look here:

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,942.msg13370.html#msg13370
(Show off piece)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,1834.msg13883.html#msg13883
(beginner pieces)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,1864.msg14327.html#msg14327
(neglected pieces)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,1910.msg14856.html#msg14856
(impressionist repertory)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,1943.msg15389.html#msg15389
(Haunting Nocturnal pieces)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,1970.msg15762.html#msg15762
(easy sonatas)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2035.msg16633.html#msg16633
(Shostakovich preludes op. 34)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2314.msg19869.html#msg19869
(Schumann’s Album for the young)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2352.msg20235.html#msg20235
(uncommon repertory)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2363.msg20436.html#msg20436
(Barber piano pieces)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2372.msg20574.html#msg20574
(New music – Less than 7 minutes long)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2398.msg20989.html#msg20989
( Scarlatti sonatas and Prokofiev pieces of beginner/intermediate level).

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2562.msg22127.html#msg22127
(Suggestions for repertory for someone who has been playing for a year)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2851.msg24984.html#msg24984
(Introduction to romantic pieces)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2911.msg24991.html#msg24991
(grade 7 sonatas)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2980.msg26041.html#msg26041
(Soler)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,3266.msg28859.html#msg28859
(Café bar music)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,3322.msg29258.html#msg29258
(Baroque composers)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,3279.msg29259.html#msg29259
(Gershwin preludes)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,3381.msg30191.html#msg30191
(Villa Lobos)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,3721.msg33399.html#msg33399
(grade 4 – 6 repertory)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,3729.msg33455.html#msg33455
(Haydn sonatas).

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,3642.msg33581.html#msg33581
(neglected composers)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,3741.msg33719.html#msg33719
(Soler sonatas)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,3786.msg34321.html#msg34321
(grade 6 repertory)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,4094.msg38101.html#msg38101
(Liszt easy pieces)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,4140.msg38111.html#msg38111
(True repertory for total beginners)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,4227.msg39060.html#msg39060
(contemporary and modern pieces)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,4238.msg39061.html#msg39061
(easy show pieces)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,4371.msg40871.html#msg40871
(Mendelssohn favourites)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,4416.msg41105.html#msg41105
(nice slow romantic pieces for beginner)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2339.msg20064.html#msg20064
(Scarlatti sonatas).

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[Goldberg]

 

No one knows the forum quite like you do, Bernhard...

I don't think I can add much after that, but if I were you (Mosis) I wouldn't let the "difficulty" of a piece put you off wanting to learn it. I would list ALL of the pieces you like and want to learn regardless of difficulty. Then if you like, you can even have a "bit of fun" every now and then and start chipping away at the more difficult pieces just bit by bit and within a few years, you might have one of them ready to go!

As for finding "obscure" composers, one of the best things to do is go to a well-stocked CD store (in America/Houston they have "Borders"--I haven't seen one elsewhere but I suppose it doesn't mean they don't exist outside of America...anyway if you're in America it's a good store) and just spend a few hours looking around all the composers and seeing what catches your fancy. I like Borders in particular because they have systems with virtually every CD--minus the super obscure ones--in a database with 45-or-so second samples from each track.

What ends up happening when you get in the classical sections of the stores is you'll stand there, intimidated at first and not knowing where to start..then you begin brainstorming..."which composers have I heard about, but haven't *heard*? I've read a lot about Alkan on the forum but I've never actually heard his music..." and so forth...so you look for Alkan, play some of the CD...then another name pops in your head...and you get going that way. Eventually you'll start seeing things "out of the corner of your eye" in sections next to those you're looking at and before long, you've found a completely "new" composer that you absolutely love. That's how I found out about Durufle--well, I was looking for Donyanhi and found Durufle instead in the D section. But had I not spend an hour or so skimming through all the CD's, I never would have found Durufle's hauntingly beautiful Requiem Mass.


So, in short, it just takes an open mind and a lot of experimentation. Sometimes it comes down to closing your eyes and picking a CD completely at random...just as long as you expose yourself to something new. Eventually, you'll find some great pieces that you originally knew nothing about and that you want to play.

To start you out a little, I'll through out a few names: Alkan, Busoni, Godowsky, Couperin, Gibbons, Byrd (the last three are from Baroque or earlier), Mahler (not too obscure but definitely worth it), Scriabin, Glazunov, Balakirev (look beyond Islamey!! Find his mazurkas and concerto), Donyhani (if you can spell that right you're on track...I don't think that sp is correct), Ornstein, Schoenberg, Webern, Moszkowski (true gems), Haydn (more neglected than most think), Liszt (same as Haydn), Bolcom, John Field (remember: he didn't JUST write nocturnes), etc. etc.

None of those are *too* obscure but they're all definitely worth looking into.

Also investigate pianists you've heard about but never gotten around to listening to. Sometimes, you'll not only be surprised by the pianist (good or bad) but you'll consequently be exposed to tremendous music that you'd never thought of before--or at least, you'll hear music played in ways you never thought it could be played and end up liking stuff you didn't before, etc.

I'd personally recommend trying any pianist that remotely interests you in any way but maybe you could try looking specifically for: Horowitz (a "duh" moment--but, really, dig into his CD output for some great performances), Andras Schiff, Glenn Gould (definitely look beyond the standard Goldberg Variations), Georges Cziffra, Marc-Andre Hamelin, Yudni Li, Arcadi Volodos, Kapell, Brendel, Goode, Kuerti, Moiseiwitsch, Argerich, Zimmerman, O'Conor, Firth, Pogorelich...you get the idea.

Anyway, I hope that starts you off. Just buying those recordings and slowly expanding your knowledge of the literature is great (I try and aim for "a new CD a month" just as a bit of a goal). From then on, you'll have a greater understanding of what's available and you can decide from there what you want to play and what you can play, etc. etc.

[mosis]

Goodness....

I made that topic with just a few pieces that I wanted to learn. After reading those topics and searching around on Amazon music, I now have so much music, I don't know what to do with it all!

I have a bad habit of skipping over major key pieces, that I really need to break.

Now, alongside all the Bach and Chopin and Beethoven I already wanted to learn, I have a ton of Scarlatti (and othe Baroque keyboard, like Soler, Couperin), Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words are incredibly beautiful and have my personality written all over them, and it just starts there! I haven't looked at much Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Satie, or anything of that sort. Don't know much Haydn at all....

Man, it may take me quite some time to listen to enough stuff to formulate a good 100+ piece list. :/

Thank you very much, Bernhard and Goldberg. You've opened up some paths on my search.

Oh, and Goldberg, I noticed you mentioned "Kuerti" in the list of pianists you were recommending. I am seeing him perfrom Hammerklavier, Waldstein, and 27/1, on the 16th.

[Goldberg]

Ah, tremendous! Kuerti's really one of the best to see for Beethoven. I once caught a *free* concert of his at Rice University that consisted of: Op. 27 no. 1, Op. 10 no. 3, Op. 110, and Op. 57. I've also seen him play the 3rd Beethoven concerto with the Houston Symphony. He's excellent all around!

Btw, speaking about Amazon, I just remembered how helpful that can be as well. Start looking for things you know about and get some CD's out there. You can have familiar pieces in your search but there will obviously be CD's that you haven't heard before. Well, click on them and then search for the artists separately to find out a little more about them and get a huge other list of their CDs...or you can look at the "also recommended" section that Amazon gives you (or is it "customers who bought this also bought..."?)--that's a wonderful tool for finding stuff that you've never even dreamed about.

In fact, here's what I'll suggest first: type in "Rzewski" as your search and find either Hamelin's or Drury's CD of the "The People United" Variations (also look into that music specifically because it's mind blowing). Either one of those will have obscure ramifications listed in that "Also recommended" area and before long you'll have covered wide territory. Within minutes you'll possibly have discovered 5 or 6 composers/pianists you've never even heard of!

Also do the same for "Henselt's Concerto" and then find a disc from Hyperion called something like "The Romantic Piano Concerto" (there's a 20 disc set...or something like that). The series contains many obscure but *wonderful* piano concertos from, well, the Romantic age. Henselt's is one of the best but any of those discs are well worth it.

Oh, and one more pianist to add to the list: Michael Ponti. You'll find him if you look for that Hyperion series.

Oops, I think I'm getting a bit carried away lol...well, that's just a way you can get started. Eventually you'll narrow your findings down to one or two CD's that you "have" to have and you can make your purchase and then hold off on some of the others while your interest and curiosity grows.

Ok, I should stop now...I hope this helps.