Piece for graduation

[pover]

Hey guys, I know this is my first post and that I should've introduced myself before getting into such specifics. Anyway here's a brief introduction... I'm 17 and I've been playing piano for what seems to be 2 years now. I'm self taught, but I started 2 years ago when my sister was taking piano lessons and she helped me with the basics. Prior to that, i played the guitar for around 3 years. Anyway..

I need to play a piece that's 3-5 minutes long for my graduation ceremony, which will be in june (i know, still a LONG way to go) but i wanna make sure i perfect whatever piece i choose for that event. I want the performance to be memorable and exciting.

To give you an idea on my current level, I can currently play:
Mozart k331, waldstein mvt 1, tempest mvt 3, moonlight sonta full, pathetique sonata full (not so good though), chopin nocturne 20 and op9 no2... beethoven op7 mvt1... those are just from the top of my head.

Anyway, what piece would you recommend me to play to give a really nice performance? I have almost 6 months to perfect whatever piece i choose, and I want it to be worth the effort. Remember that it has to be around 3-5 minutes long (I know, that sucks ). So.. Thanks in advance, and thanks in general for all the help i've gained from lurking around this forum

[cabbynum]

For some reason I doubt some of your repetoire...

But take that out and here are some fun pieces you could play.

Liszt  la Campanella
Liszt concert etude no.3
Liszt transcendental etude nos 1 2  3 8
Chopin any etude
Chopin most of the nocturnes fit that requirement
Chopin any prelude
Rachmaninoff all preludes except the B minor

Or a Bach piece, a fast one.

All of those should be mostly doable with a few exceptions of course.
But I personally would choose a nocturne or a rachmaninoff prelude for this situation.
If you wanna show off play an etude.

Or do the op.9 no.2, there's no way you're done perfecting it.
That's impossible.

[pover]

well, obviously not all of those are perfected in any way for i don't have a teacher to help me out with the polishing of the pieces, most of them are not concert level; just home playing level.
And why do you doubt most of repertoire? lol. i know the difficulty varies a lot between the pieces, but that's what happens when you're someone as eager as myself lol.

Anyway, i don't think i can finish la campanella up to the standard i want, otherwise i would've done the friska of hungarian rhapsody no.2 as it's recognizable and enjoyable. And it's not that i want something to show off with, but i don't want something like a nocturne which will probably bore people out. Remember that's it's a graduation ceremony, and it's FILLED with people around my age.

Anyway, thanks for your reply, and if u have any other ideas or suggestions post them please .

[timothy42b]

Alla turco

[cabbynum]

A lot of the nocturnes have some fun parts in them for both the performer and the audience.

The reason i doubt them is because those are some very challenging pieces, sure you may be able to stumble through them but I would hardly count that. Not trying to be mean, just saying i would play pieces more at my level if i were you.
I'm one to talk though, I just hit my two year mark and have some difficult pieces under my belt. Ill PM my full rep because here is not the place for that.

But okay back to suggestions, so its a graduation ceremony, you dont wanna do anything to heart wrenching. YOu also dont wanna pick anything too hard because you might not finish it by then.

Chopin waltzes, any of the major key ones
again the liszt concert etude would be an excellent choice. technically its not too bad. Musically its not easy but its not crazy either.

try this out

 

[cabbynum]

Alla turco

He has already learned it, the K.331

[timothy42b]

He has already learned it, the K.331

Doh!  Now I feel stupid. 

wait............googles it just to be 100% sure...........yup.  Hate it when that happens.

Seriously, this is not a recital nor for a classical audience.  It needs an easy to pull off crowd pleaser piece.  Remember the Joshua Bell fiasco?  Where he demonstrated his incompetence at busking?  He knew how to play classical violin at a high level, but he had no clue how to grab and please a subway crowd. 

If the OP could pull off Maple Leaf or some boogie woogie that would probably be better, or even Rimsky-Korsakov's Greatest Hit. 

[cabbynum]

If the OP could pull off Maple Leaf or some boogie woogie that would probably be better, or even Rimsky-Korsakov's Greatest Hit. 

... His only hit

Anyway, I think maple lea for some boogie woogie would work. But so would an upbeat classical piece.
Really anything that's not stupidly slow will work

[nocturnetr]

You have progressed pretty fast without a teacher. Would still be fast with a teacher. So did I.
As a tradition, I want and have to recommend you Prokofiev's Toccata.
I think a Chopin or a Liszt would work fine. Not all, but some of Rach's preludes would be good choices too.

Rachmaninoff- Prelude Op. 23 No. 5 in G minor
Rachmaninoff- Prelude Op. 32 No. 12 in G# minor
Rachmaninoff- Prelude Op. 23 No. 7 in C minor
Rachmaninoff- Prelude Op. 3 No. 2 in C# minor
Liszt- La Campanella
Chopin- All preludes, etudes, waltzes, especially those written in major keys, mazurkas, nocturnes, and maybe scherzos no. 1 and 2.
Beethoven- Tempest 3rd movement, Moonlight 1st or 3rd movements, appasionata 3rd movement (difficult) (and although I don't like only one movement of a piece being heard)
Mozart Fantasy in C minor (not really good for a show off and not a crowd pleaser either)

[timothy42b]

... His only hit

Say what? 

Flight of the Bumblebee is NOT his only hit!

There's also..................ah...............there's also...........................

okay, it IS his only hit. 

[pover]

wow guys those are a lot of suggestions thanks a lot! I'll have to look deeper into them as i'm not familiar with most of them. And cabbynum you're right, i used to attempt those difficult pieces earlier one when i thought that's all i wanted to do, but now i usually play nocturnes and pieces that are closer to my level.
I think the maple leaf rag would be a nice choice.. i'll have to get familiar with chopin's waltzes and rach's preludes first before making a decision. Anyway, sorry this is a short reply but i really have to go now, i'll write a more detailed opinion-post thingy tomorrow after i've heard more pieces you guys suggested. Again, thanks, and if you can keep me coming, don't hesitate

Edit: I meant The entertainer, not maple leaf rag and also, chopin's valse op 18 is awesome, but i'm not sure i'll be able to play it perfectly, it seems to have several similar difficulties like the ones in HR2. As for the rach preludes, i'm still looking through them.

[j_menz]

Say what? 

Flight of the Bumblebee is NOT his only hit!

There's also..................ah...............there's also...........................

okay, it IS his only hit. 

Scheherazade, Cappriccio Espagnol,  Russian Easter Festival Overture......

And his reworking of Night on Bald Mountain got a bit of a run in Fantasia (albeit tinkered with by Stokowski)

Flight of the Bumblebee, incidentally, is a small part of a complete opera (The Tale of Tsar Tsaltan), one of more than a dozen he wrote and which are still getting the odd airing.

[timothy42b]

Scheherazade, Cappriccio Espagnol,  Russian Easter Festival Overture......

And his reworking of Night on Bald Mountain got a bit of a run in Fantasia (albeit tinkered with by Stokowski)

Flight of the Bumblebee, incidentally, is a small part of a complete opera (The Tale of Tsar Tsaltan), one of more than a dozen he wrote and which are still getting the odd airing.

Yes, I was going for humor;

I've performed his Concerto for Trombone and Band, and it's a nice showy Russian styled brass piece;

[cabbynum]

Scheherazade, Cappriccio Espagnol,  Russian Easter Festival Overture......

And his reworking of Night on Bald Mountain got a bit of a run in Fantasia (albeit tinkered with by Stokowski)

Flight of the Bumblebee, incidentally, is a small part of a complete opera (The Tale of Tsar Tsaltan), one of more than a dozen he wrote and which are still getting the odd airing.

I am ignorant on his music.
Funny you should mention the capriccio espagnol.
I went to a concert tonight at a local music school, the program was
Overture to marriage of figaro
Then the Capriccio Espagnol
Then rach 2

[pover]

well, do you guys have any more specific suggestions? my week-long holiday starts on sunday, and I wanna make good use of that time to start on my new piece. what are your top 4 piece suggestions for this event? thanks.

[theholygideons]

Be a man, say al'kan, and play Le chemin de fer,
chugga chugga choo choo....

[thesixthsensemusic]

I have a suggestion: Beethoven's 1st piano sonata, op. 2-1 IV. movement: prestissimo.

It will be well within your abilities and sounds a lot harder than it actually is, but it's still a very powerful piece of music too, so I would regard it as a good 'value for practice time spent'.

[cabbynum]

The Chopin valse that I posted would be great

Chopin etude op.10 no.3

Rachmaninoff prelude in g minor

Chopin mazurka op.7 no.1

I ranked them in order of my number one choice if I were doing this. Down to the 4th