Help with next repertoire choices

[cey444]

Hi everyone,

So I'm going round in circles trying to determine what my next repertoire choices are going to be, my teacher has made some suggestions and I am currently learning the first movement of Beethoven Op.109. However, I am not at the right level to be able to play the whole sonata and would like to present my teacher which some of my own choices. He constantly says that I should play something I love, and whilst there are many pieces that I love, I feel that I am playing the same styles/composers over again.

A brief background about me, I've been playing for around 15 years (not to an amazingly high standard mind you). Passed by Diploma from ABRSM last year. Have done an undergrad in Music and am doing a Masters. (Musicology but with a performance element) I would like to prepare for LRSM very soon, but lets see!

Repertoire list for the past 3 1/2 years: (not in order)

Brahms Intermezzo in A Op. 118 No. 2
Brahms Op 79 No 2 Rhapsody
Debussy Prelude No. 10 (Cathedrale Engloutie)
Debussy Pagodes from Estampes
Debussy Soiree dans la grenada from Estampes
Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 3
Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 9
Chopin Ballade No. 3
Haydn Sonata in E flat No. 49
Mozart Twinkle Variations
Bach Prelude and Fugue in F Minor Book 1
Howard Blake Toccatina
Howard Blake Chaconne
Schubert Impromptu Op 90 No 2
Ravel Sonatine
Beethoven Sonata Op. 27 No. 2 C Sharp (Moonlight)
Beethoven Sonata Op. 32 No. 2 (Tempest)
Beethoven Sonata Op. 90
Various Chopin Nocturnes, Preludes and Mazurka's.
Probably some other bits and pieces I can't remember.


That's basically it I think, my most recent was the Chopin Ballade and Beethoven Tempest - both of which I found tricky. As I said, I am currently learning the first movement of Beethoven 109.
My comfort zone is Debussy; my love is Chopin.

Suggestions please 

[david456103]

i think now would be a good time to try something by liszt...perhaps un sospiro?
if you want to stick with chopin, i think you could handle any of the first 3 scherzos, or maybe the 1st ballade if you work hard. if you want something more exciting, try polonaise op. 53
for debussy, i recommend l isle joyeuse

[asiantraveller101]

Explore contemporary pieces and late 20th C. Countless attractive pieces out there to choose from. They are missing from your repertoire. Just to jump start your research, try Ligeti, Bolcom, Muczyinski, Lieberman, Martin, Copland, etc. Their music is more accessible, as opposed to Berio, Messiaen, Fernyhough, and others. Have fun! 

[j_menz]

Explore contemporary pieces and late 20th C. Countless attractive pieces out there to choose from. They are missing from your repertoire. Just to jump start your research, try Ligeti, Bolcom, Muczyinski, Lieberman, Martin, Copland, etc. Their music is more accessible, as opposed to Berio, Messiaen, Fernyhough, and others. Have fun! 

Agreed, but also add some baroque - Bach and Handel!

[cey444]

Thank you! Some very good suggestions. I will choose a Bach p&f, something contemporary and perhaps a Chopin scherzo 

[phenomenon]

If I may, a few more very general recommendations from what I would consider 'essential repertoire':

At least one Rachmaninoff Prelude (too iconic to ignore)
At least one Bach Invention (likewise)
At least one Scriabin piece (try Impromptu 12/2 or Etude 8/11 for perhaps a 'Chopinesque' feel)
At least one Joplin, Lamb, or Botsford Rag (a very important chapter of piano history)
At least one Scarlatti Sonata (a vast and varied library to choose from)
At least one Liszt piece (the pianist's pianist, perhaps...)

Other ideas, perhaps less "essential"

Something by Grieg and/or Tchaikovsky
Something by Shostakovich and/or Prokofiev
Something by Schumann
A Mozart sonata
A Clementi sonata (or sonatina....easy, fun, and lyrical)