Next Piece to Play

[petenaga]

Hey- I'm wondering what I should play in my next 2 recitals...
I'm looking for one longer piece (10-20 minutes). I it should be a very challenging piece. I've already played Islamey, 3 Mvmts de Petrushka, Gaspard de La Nuit, Reminisces de Don Juan, and many other challenging pieces. The second piece has to be under 7 minutes. I'm familiar with Chopin and Liszt etudes, along with Rachmaninoff Preludes, so pleae don't recommend any of those.
Thanks in advanced!
Peter

[austinarg]

89th key, is that you?

[theholygideons]

Why do they have to be challenging? anyways to name a few..

Carl Vine piano sonata 1?
Liszt's transcription of Tannhauser overture?
Liszt's Reminiscences de Norma?
Godowsky's symphonic metamorphosis on Die Flaudermaus/ Wine women and song

[classicalnhiphop]

you are probably a technician of the piano and nothing else...

[kitty on the keys]

Bach    English suite in G minor
Beethoven   Op. 111
Brahms     Handel Variations
Prokoviev     Sonata 7
Kasputin      Etudes
Leggiti        Etudes
Messian       Vingt reguards
Gershwin/Wild   Etudes from the Songbook

Kitty on the Keys

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Carl Vine piano sonata 1?

I love you...

Yeah, I second that.  Vine sonata 1 is freaking BADASS!!!

Your search is now over.  You're gonna play it.

[j_menz]

I love you...

Yeah, I second that.  Vine sonata 1 is freaking BADASS!!!

Your search is now over.  You're gonna play it.

What's wrong with his second?

[nanabush]

I'm rolling my eyes reading this.  You've played Petrushka, Gaspard, Don Juan, but in another thread you spelt 'repertoire' incorrectly, and you seem to be obsessed with over-the-top rep.

Catch a glimpse of the sky for once!  Cut out all the insane rep (that you are probably attempting, but likely will never post to the audition room).

Try some Scriabin Preludes, Some Grieg, Schumann, Mendelssohn (Rondo Capriccioso might work well), Shostakovich.  Debussy has some wicked pieces that you could probably sight read according to your rep.

I just don't buy it that you can play all those pieces haha!!  You are kidding yourself, and you are skipping a HUUUUUUUUGE portion of the piano rep in setting such a high floor for what is worth your time.

...

I'd suggest either Estampes or Suite Bergamasque by Debussy, Prelude and Fugue #1 by Shostakovich, ANY Scriabin, Mendelssohn (again anything!), Grieg Lyric Pieces (Wedding Day, Notturno, Lost Happiness), etc, etc.

Schumann Arabesque is awesome...

I didn't mean to sound mean  but the insanity-adrenaline attitude is something that about half of this forum has had at one point or another (I had this pretty much throughout all of high school)...

====

If you can play all those pieces though... you should check out the Liszt Transcription of the Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz.

[petenaga]

I'm rolling my eyes reading this.  You've played Petrushka, Gaspard, Don Juan, but in another thread you spelt 'repertoire' incorrectly, and you seem to be obsessed with over-the-top rep.

Yes, I have played those piece, altough I havent finished Scarbo. (fixed the spelling error)

Catch a glimpse of the sky for once!  Cut out all the insane rep (that you are probably attempting, but likely will never post to the audition room).

I've been working hard on those pieces, especially Don Juan, which took me an extremely long time to learn and longer to perfect... And the post seems kind of insulting. Yes I have played a few hard pieces, and am more than just attempted them... i feel very insulted by this comment

Try some Scriabin Preludes, Some Grieg, Schumann, Mendelssohn (Rondo Capriccioso might work well), Shostakovich.  Debussy has some wicked pieces that you could probably sight read according to your rep.

I'd suggest either Estampes or Suite Bergamasque by Debussy, Prelude and Fugue #1 by Shostakovich, ANY Scriabin, Mendelssohn (again anything!), Grieg Lyric Pieces (Wedding Day, Notturno, Lost Happiness), etc, etc.

Schumann Arabesque is awesome...

I didn't mean to sound mean  but the insanity-adrenaline attitude is something that about half of this forum has had at one point or another (I had this pretty much throughout all of high school)...

====

If you can play all those pieces though... you should check out the Liszt Transcription of the Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz.

I might have been harsh also, but i did feel very insulted... Thanx 4 the pieces tho. Symphonie Fantastique would take me a long time to learn and I'm working on Scarbo (which Ive been stuck on) I play in a lot of competitions resulting in me playind hard pieces. thanx again (but please dont say anything so mean  )

[nanabush]

My intention isn't to insult you; I am interested in what you were playing before these monster pieces?  It just seems as though you've skipped a huge step somewhere.  If your technique is coming up to those pieces you've listed, consider the musical viewpoint: go back to some easier rep where technique is out the window, and you can just express it in any way you want.

I avoid pieces like Scarbo, Don Juan (for now hehe...) simply because i'll be too fixated on the technical difficulties that it'll sound very muddled if I ever do end up getting the notes down.  This is something I realized after spending 2-3 years trying to find 'the most challenging pieces' while I was still in high school.

I worked on some pretty difficult rep (for me) this year, but I decided this summer to go back to some shorter-scale pieces, even the first Arabesque by Debussy, some short Nocturnes by Chopin, just to enjoy myself and not feel like I'm trying to conquer this beast every time I sit at the piano.

I'm telling you, you will enjoy the heck out of this difficult rep if you can get past thinking firstly of the 'challenge' of the rep.

You should play some Beethoven too!  Have you played any of his Sonatas?  You should look at Op. 13, Op. 78, Op. 90, and maybe even one of the late ones... they all have 'challenging' moments, but there is so much expressive writing in these pieces that I think would be a vital complement to some Liszt (transcriptions, etudes, mephisto waltz, etc...).  I am not saying that Liszt isn't expressive, but people tend to gravitate towards his pieces as would a budding guitarist to the sweet (and crazy fast) solo in a song rather than just playing the whole damn thing.

Again, I don't mean to insult you, but if you do a quick search, there are TONS of posts like this one where people just ask for the hardest piece to play.  Inevitably, Sorabji is mentioned, and the thread closes 

So yes, I hope you take a look at the suggestions I'm giving you, and make use of the search on the forum.  I've been here since 2004, and there is an absurd amount of detailed information on pretty much all of the piano repertoire floating in the archives here.  I will still arbitrarily search a piece (for example:  Liszt 'Funerailles'), and see the amount of threads that mention it, that feature it, recordings people have made, etc.  Look for some rep that interests you (and challenge yourself to pick a slow piece!  You need to give your fingers a break haha), and just read up on it.  It's really enlightening seeing what other forum members experience working on this very same rep.

[petenaga]

My intention isn't to insult you; I am interested in what you were playing before these monster pieces?  It just seems as though you've skipped a huge step somewhere.  If your technique is coming up to those pieces you've listed, consider the musical viewpoint: go back to some easier rep where technique is out the window, and you can just express it in any way you want.

Of course I have struggled with those pieces, but after some practice the technical difficulties became easier

You should play some Beethoven too!  Have you played any of his Sonatas?  You should look at Op. 13, Op. 78, Op. 90, and maybe even one of the late ones... they all have 'challenging' moments, but there is so much expressive writing in these pieces that I think would be a vital complement to some Liszt (transcriptions, etudes, mephisto waltz, etc...).  I am not saying that Liszt isn't expressive, but people tend to gravitate towards his pieces as would a budding guitarist to the sweet (and crazy fast) solo in a song rather than just playing the whole damn thing.

I have played beethoven's sonatas les aideux and moonlight. I played 1 mvmt of pathetique. And as for the liszt etudes, I have played Gnomenreigen.

Again, I don't mean to insult you, but if you do a quick search, there are TONS of posts like this one where people just ask for the hardest piece to play.  Inevitably, Sorabji is mentioned, and the thread closes  

So yes, I hope you take a look at the suggestions I'm giving you, and make use of the search on the forum.  I've been here since 2004, and there is an absurd amount of detailed information on pretty much all of the piano repertoire floating in the archives here.  I will still arbitrarily search a piece (for example:  Liszt 'Funerailles'), and see the amount of threads that mention it, that feature it, recordings people have made, etc.  Look for some rep that interests you (and challenge yourself to pick a slow piece!  You need to give your fingers a break haha), and just read up on it.  It's really enlightening seeing what other forum members experience working on this very same rep.

Thank you! I'll look. Sorry about b4.

[ale_ius]

Kletzki - Fantasie, Op. 9
(write ala Brahms, sound like Skryjabin)

-Alee Marie

[blazekenny]

Anybody who has ever played Islamey is just a piano athlete, hence how only technicians with shitty sound have it recorded. Even Gilels stopped playing it when he started looking for music instead of fast playing

[awesom_o]

Anybody who has ever played Islamey is just a piano athlete, hence how only technicians with shitty sound have it recorded. Even Gilels stopped playing it when he started looking for music instead of fast playing

In order to be more than a virtuoso, first you must be a virtuoso.

[petenaga]

Anybody who has ever played Islamey is just a piano athlete, hence how only technicians with shitty sound have it recorded. Even Gilels stopped playing it when he started looking for music instead of fast playing

Are you calling Horowitz a technician with shitty sound 

That is being a stereotype!! Many great pianists have played that piece