Help me choose new repertoire

[jeanluc]

I know... another one of these! I swear mines a bit different.

So up until now my teacher has been choosing my pieces yet this semester he has let me!
To get an idea of where I'm at, I just completed Ginastera 'Argentinian dances' and Schuberts Sonata A major d664 (the shorter one lol) Took me about 2 months to get these to performance level. Pieces I've previously been playing where the Liszt Sonettos and the previous Semester was Haydn and tons and tons and tons of Bach prelude and fugues.

I'm really wanting a challenge this semester but completely stuck. I mainly listen to orchestral work and most of the reductions are too hard for me (pletnev).

I suggested Pictures at an exhibition which got shut down so that's my limit I guess. You could suggest pieces based on what I listen too which is all quite similar I think.

Pictures at an exhibition (bydlo/great gate of kiev)
Night on Bald/Bare? Mountain(which one is it even???) (Leibowitz)
Sebelius - Finlandia
Rach - Prelude 10 b minor
Chopin - Sonata B flat minor
Dante - sonata
Shostakovitch Piano sonata 1.

Just basically anything that has umphhhh.

[ale_ius]

oomph!
 

xoxo
Alee Marie.

[visitor]

oomph!
 

xoxo
Alee Marie.

+1
w/ this as encore!
plays like an etude, I have the score to this, and actually the way it's written and the knotty chords at speed it looks like an etude too lol

[cabbynum]

Liszt

Dante Sonata
B minor sonata
Transcendental etude (any of them)
Operatic transcription
Beethoven symphony transcription

Chopin
Barcarolle
Fantasy F minor
Sonata no.1
Any ballade

Beethoven
Op.31 no.1
Op.54
Op.57
Op.90
Op.101
Op.109
Op.111

Bach
Partitas

Alkan
Any of op.39 should be a challenge enough...
Op.33 (pick a single movement)

Ives
22 studies
Sonata no.1
Concord sonata movement 3

[visitor]

bomb diggity!

[ale_ius]

lots of ooomph!!!

[jeanluc]

Thanks for the replies!
Now I have so much to choose from.

I forgot to mention that this semester Im trying to stay away from bach/haydn/mozart/beethoven etc. Why? Because for the last couple years Ive been only playing this type of music.

That Eller & Adios Nonino is exactly what Im looking for. That only makes up 15 minutes and I need 30 though.

@Cabbynum im afraid most of the stuff you suggested was a bit too hard haha, I don't see myself playing Liszt's Verdi anytime soon. Im thinking about the fantasy in F minor

[cabbynum]

Fantasy In f minor is extremely challenging. It's beautiful and a wonderful piece. Go for it!
Some of the transcendental etudes are not impossible. I say go for one of those if you want a challenge

[jeanluc]

Yeah that fantasy does look challenging.  Still on the look out though for something as dark as that Rach prelude in b minor. Hmm.

[visitor]

Yeah that fantasy does look challenging.  Still on the look out though for something as dark as that Rach prelude in b minor. Hmm.

by far my favorite composition for our instrument beyond all others.
dark? check.
fantasy? check .

 
oh my gawd!! that second theme! sublime!!!!!

Alexander Scriabin's Fantaisie/Fantasy/Fantasie in B Minor, Op. 28, was written in 1900. This is a single sonata-form movement which bridges the gap between the Third Sonata and the Fourth Sonata. This is the only piece written in Scriabin's time as professor at the Moscow Conservatory.

The work is popular with Russian pianists but its existence was forgotten by the composer. When Leonid Sabaneyev started to play one of its themes on the piano in Scriabin's Moscow flat (now a museum), Scriabin called out from the next room "Who wrote that? It sounds familiar". "Your Fantaisie", was the reply. Scriabin said, "What Fantaisie?"

The virtuosic style is close to that of the Third Sonata. The brooding opening gives way to one of Scriabin's inspired second subjects which is sustained for twenty-six bars. Noticeable are the touches of the canonic treatment. The third theme is close in its massive confidence and chromatic harmony to the world of the Third Symphony. The recapitulation was later expanded and rescored. The emotional line rides on through a long coda, a device used later

[goldentone]

A captivating piece of history there.  Thanks for re-introducing this great work of Scriabin's, Visitor.  I have heard it and its percussive sounds before, but it has been awhile.  It can really move one to obey the piano's call.
 

[visitor]

A captivating piece of history there.  Thanks for re-introducing this great work of Scriabin's, Visitor.  I have heard it and its percussive sounds before, but it has been awhile.  It can really move one to obey the piano's call.
 

I'm glad my nod to the work helped you re-aquaint yourself with it! It is one of the few pieces in the 'fringe standard' that I do not tire of listening. I often refer to it as my  favorite "Scriabin Sonata"