Recommendation(s) for some light, flashy solo pieces?

[scriabinophile]

This winter I'll be taking part in a piano gala. It won't be a "serious repertoire" event.  I've been reading through things such as Gottschalk's and Zez Confrey's works looking for just the right piece for the program, but I still haven't found it.

Does anyone have some suggestions for pieces that would be under say 6 minutes, preferably with some flashy piano writing and possibly a touch of humor?

 

[lostinidlewonder]

[visitor]

if by 'not serious rep' you mean not really worth playing or listening to, then anything by Bob Schumann will do.

for something that can actually be pleasant for the listener,
Doucet maybe?

or string some of these types of diddies?

 

-especially love the blues scale injected into this work

[philolog]

I realize my comment is "off topic," and when it comes to matters of taste, it's all a mystery, but from my own perspective, I can't understand the gratuitously dismissive attitude towards Schumann's works that several people on the forum proclaim. Perhaps everything he wrote isn't of the highest caliber, but to my mind, that's true of Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt....need I go on? I'm more readily sympathetic to Thal's disdainful attitude towards "plinkers," but his hatred of Schumann, recalled by Visitor's remarks, leaves me shaking my head in puzzlement. Well, to repeat myself and the old cliche, "there's no accounting for taste." In the end, I suppose what I find most reprehensible about the anti-Schumann stance is that people who might enjoy him will be discouraged from doing so based on the comments of their supposedly knowledgeable peers...

[liszt1022]

I just performed Gottschalk's Souvenirs d'Andalousie and The Banjo. They were very well received! So I would recommend them. The Banjo is easier. The ending is as flashy as you can get.
In the interest of full disclosure, I played Andalousie as written but I did modify some big leaps in The Banjo in the interest of security.

//

Re: Schumann
I don't like his music that much. But Schumann didn't like Liszt's music that much. So maybe I'm biased.
I also know there's a difference between "bad music" and "music I don't like." I don't know if Schumann's music is objectively good or bad, just that he doesn't do it for me.

[thalbergmad]

In the end, I suppose what I find most reprehensible about the anti-Schumann stance is that people who might enjoy him will be discouraged from doing so based on the comments of their supposedly knowledgeable peers...

It is perhaps not a case of knowledgeable peers, but more likely widely experienced peers.

I have never liked Schumann, but as I experience the works of his lesser know contemporaries, I get angry at his place as an important figure in the romantic movement. He is about as important to the romantic movement as my cat was to the French Impressionists. His music I find stiff, melodically banal, totally lacking in any flair and as interesting as painting a fence. If the romantic movement was a car, it would be a Ferrari, but Schumann is a BMW. Efficient, but with as much design quality as a lunch box.

I reserve most of my venom for his appallingly dreary Piano Concerto that was played again this afternoon on Radio 3. This music is horseshit of the worst kind and anyone that thinks it is a masterpiece cannot possibly have heard Rufinatscha, Gernsheim, Henselt Dretschock or Draeseke.

End of rant.

[amytsuda]

I can't help jumping in about Schumann. I am not like well-trained peers of yours, so I am not qualified to comment on his piano solo pieces, except I find them very awkward and impossible to connect for an amateur like myself (I find Chopin ballades easier than his Kinderszene even!).

But my husband is a tenor and he loves Schumann's lieder. He sang Dichterliebe and Liederkreis in public, and I think they are incredible compositions. Even a simple song like Du Bist wie eine Blume can bring you tears. His piano accompaniment flows much better when you have a singer on top and feels a lot more natural. (I only help him practice, but I can tell) In this form, I think he is a master, and that's how he is recognized I think. I would not bash Schumann so much. 

[j_menz]

In the end, I suppose what I find most reprehensible about the anti-Schumann stance is that people who might enjoy him will be discouraged from doing so based on the comments of their supposedly knowledgeable peers...

Anyone who is prepared to abrogate their taste and judgment to someone else, no matter how learned or experienced, is asking for trouble anyway.

[visitor]

[coda_colossale]

I reserve most of my venom for his appallingly dreary Piano Concerto that was played again this afternoon on Radio 3. This music is horseshit of the worst kind.

So, what do you think about Grieg Concerto?

[thalbergmad]

The Grieg is barely preferable to the Schumann. The eternal popularity of the two pieces are one of the great mysteries of the World of Piano.

Thal

[mjames]

There are actually some interesting, and beautiful passages in the Grieg, but I admit, it's a little bit way too repetitive. You have to admit, parts of that 3rd movement can really make you dance. As for the Schumann, no matter how many times I listen to it, the only thing I can remember is the opening theme. The rest of the entire concerto is SO forgettable. I'm also curious as to how this got so popular. No doubt, Schumann has written far more interesting works for solo piano and I'm just flabbergasted that his concerti are the most popular of his works. One other thing, the symphonies, OMG, the symphonies are SO boring. I still cant see what Brahms saw in Schumann. It's like okay, theres an interesting theme here and there and then boom, everything else is forgettable. Like Amy said, his Lieder is wonderful and his collection of small pieces for piano (papillons, Op. 15, the different sets of variations he composed) etc are very beautiful. Now his large scale works, I'm always falling asleep....sorry Robert but I just cant.

[mjames]

I should probably respect the thread and contribute before I sht talk other composers.

In honor of thalbergmad, I present to you one of my fav pieces by thalberg. It's fun, has that beautiful and luscious piano technique/language that we all love.

[justanamateur]

This winter I'll be taking part in a piano gala. It won't be a "serious repertoire" event.  I've been reading through things such as Gottschalk's and Zez Confrey's works looking for just the right piece for the program, but I still haven't found it.

Does anyone have some suggestions for pieces that would be under say 6 minutes, preferably with some flashy piano writing and possibly a touch of humor?

 

Beethoven - Rondo e Capriccioso (spl.) 'Rage Over a Lost Penny' (slightly longer)
Mendelssohn - Rondo Capriccioso (spl.)
Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody No 4, Grand galop chromatique and feux follets (if your technique is awesome enough)
Alkan - Some of the caprices (trois improvisations dans le style brilliant)
Prokofiev - Sarcasms
Bartók - some pieces from Mikrokosmos, like the free variations, chromatic inventions...
Chopin - 'Butterfly' etude op 25 no 9, waltz op 18, op 34 no 3

[scriabinophile]

Thanks for all the great suggestions.  I've got lots to ponder.

[theholygideons]

What about the Alkan Toccata op.76 no.3, the Alkan etude op.39 no.1, or lyapunov's prelude op.6 no.7?

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Anton Rubinstein Ruins of Athens arrangement

a myriad of Strauss transcriptions, of which Die Fledermaus might be the most famous. (Neither the Schulz-Evler nor the Cziffra Blue Danube fit into six minutes, and additionally they are far from easy!) Here's the Pizzicato-Polka

Fazil Say jazz Ronda alla turca (significantly easier than the Volodos paraphrase, btw)

Thalberg variations on Moses' prayer (I've played this a good few times to close recitals - it's essentially the second half of the Moses Fantasy and works fine on its own - here's a terrific performance by Marco Falossi)

[justanamateur]

What about the Alkan Toccata op.76 no.3, the Alkan etude op.39 no.1, or lyapunov's prelude op.6 no.7?

There's some good early Alkan too - Opp 2-4, Le chemin de fer, Le Preux etc. That was before the guy was struck by genius and wrote stuff like a concerto for piano solo...

[visitor]

[theholygideons]

There's some good early Alkan too - Opp 2-4, Le chemin de fer, Le Preux etc. That was before the guy was struck by genius and wrote stuff like a concerto for piano solo...

yes, i agree.  but the op says he wants light pieces.. neither choo choo train nor the headless knight are insubstantial in their texture, even though choo choo train and headless knight are fantastic show pieces to play.

[visitor]

[visitor]

love this!

[dumkagal]

Albeniz's "Seguidilla" will do the trick.

[eusebius12]

It is perhaps not a case of knowledgeable peers, but more likely widely experienced peers.

I agree, certainly not knowledgeable. Indeed, profoundly ignorant. I shouldn't be so harsh I guess, one needs a profound artistic sensibility to fully grasp the depths of a work like Kreisleriana or the Fantasy in C. If one thinks that Thalberg is of equal artistic stature to Schumann, then one certainly could not be described as in any way knowledgeable or to have taste of any particular merit.

In regards to the symphonies, these are major works, breaking new ground, the greatest of the 1840s and 1850s. As with so much of Schumann they have been misunderstood, maligned, misinterpreted. But never unperformed. Because they are core repertory, as are the piano works. There are many worth little 19th century composers, but Schumann was the titan that so many of these minor figures sought shade under. Draeseke and Dreyschock? Please. The soul unbounded will obviously seek its kin, thus it holds true that the mediocre minds and souls also find their true level.