Russian piece.

[joaosousa]

Hey,

I would love to play a Russian piece .. (I love the sound of Prokofiev's toccata, Prokofiev's and Rach's concerto no.3)

I'm currently playing Beethoven's sonata no. 6 (op. 10 n. 2), Bach sinfonia 10 (BWV 796) and starting Chopin's Polonaise op. 40 no. 2. Any suggestions ?

Thank you.

[diomedes]

Some russian stuff from your background might be a bit demanding but give it a go:
Rachmaninov g minor or c minor Etude tableau from op.33, E flat prelude or g minor prelude, anything from Op.3, Moment musical in b minor or b flat minor.
Prokofiev Romeo and Juliette Montagues&Calpulets or Masques.
Scriabin f sharp minor nocturne (not well known but appealing), f sharp etude or b flat etude from op.8

That should probably be reasonable enough options

[joaosousa]

Thank you !

[diomedes]

Happy to help. Or the beloved Scriabin Op.2 etude in c sharp. Fairly russian to be sure.

Now, go get practicing. There's always more russian piano music to learn after that. The purpose of life is to play it all.

[joaosousa]

Thank you again,  really apreciate your help. 

[j_menz]

There is a truly vast amount of Russian piano music. Some of it is easier to find than others, which sometimes colours our view of it.


Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Glinka, Cui, Catoire, Liadov, Mussorgsky, Balakirev, Bortkiewicz, Stanchinsky, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovitch, Kapustin, Ustvolskaya, Feinberg, Shchedrin, Medtner, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Alexandrov....... All well worth playing among squillion of others.

To start, try Tchaikovsky's Seasons, Liadov Preludes, Shostakovich Three Fantastic Dances (in addition to other suggestions above). Then get one of the collections of Russian Piano Music available to expand your horizons.

[joaosousa]

M

[joaosousa]

To start

So you think I can play those pieces already ?

[diomedes]

The Shostakovich dances is a good suggestion.

Yup those he mentioned are good alternatives. Stuff like Liadov is generally unknown. Even I wouldn't be able to recognize a single one of his pieces.
 You should casually browse Prokofiev, he wrote a lot of smaller ish stuff. None of it is known to me but there's a great deal. And browse Shostakovich preludes and fugues.  He wrote a set of 24 preludes that has very approachable material, exactly at your level.
As for the other stuff he mentioned, well Medtner is the soul of the piano, but it generally requires the highest level of pianism. Same with Feinberg. Leave that for later. Remember, the meaning of life is to play all the Russian piano music. We'll get there one day. We might be a hundred and one years old by then but our purpose will have been achieved. Nothing else matters, not even death.

[j_menz]

So you think I can play those pieces already ?

Some of them, at least. Only one way to find out for sure.

play all the Russian piano music. We'll get there one day. We might be a hundred and one years old by then

Methinks you somewhat underestimate the size of the repertoire. You just might scrape through if you could sightread it (and find it), but if you can sightread much of it you're a better reader than me, gunga din.

[diomedes]

Methinks you somewhat underestimate the size of the repertoire.

Difficult to say. Only one way to find out. Life is overflowing with purpose, at the very least.

[joaosousa]

The Shostakovich dances is a good suggestion.

And browse Shostakovich preludes and fugues.  He wrote a set of 24 preludes that has very approachable material, exactly at your level.

I already listened to all of them, and played one...

[imaginatorium]

Most of the answer has been given already, but no-one has mentioned the obvious fact about scores. I think the most valuable score I ever bought was the Dover Scriabin Preludes and Studies, in 1970-something ($4.00 on the cover)... but now you just type "IMSLP Scriabin 11" into google, and you have a PDF of the wonderful set of 24 preludes. Or "IMSLP Lyadov 57" and you have his "Three pieces". Some of the preludes and the Lyadov are not technically difficult at all, and wonderful stuff to explore. I think it helps to learn to read Cyrillic (takes a couple of days to get the basics worked out), then you can also look for scores in Russian, with the composer's name from the Wikipedia entry and ноты  which means "score". Good luck -- you have the rest of your life to get through it all.

[diomedes]

Dover Scriabin Preludes and Studies,

Indeed. It also occurred to me in particular the Shostakovich Preludesop.34 the ones in d minor and e flat minor have a great deal of character. Although the entire set does too, incredible compositons, but those stand out a lot to me.

[joaosousa]

Indeed. It also occurred to me in particular the Shostakovich Preludesop.34 the ones in d minor and e flat minor have a great deal of character. Although the entire set does too, incredible compositons, but those stand out a lot to me.

thank you

[diomedes]

Scriabin f sharp minor nocturne (not well known but appealing)

Had my book of Scriabin works yesterday and i noticed that the f sharp nocture is not what i thought it was. I actually don't know it at all. There's an Impromptu in f sharp that he wrote (it sounds like a nocturne) which i was thinking of in particular. Again, unusually attractive on a surface level, I'd recommend it.

[joaosousa]

Had my book of Scriabin works yesterday and i noticed that the f sharp nocture is not what i thought it was. I actually don't know it at all. There's an Impromptu in f sharp that he wrote (it sounds like a nocturne) which i was thinking of in particular. Again, unusually attractive on a surface level, I'd recommend it.

I'll check it out!!

[joaosousa]

Had my book of Scriabin works yesterday and i noticed that the f sharp nocture is not what i thought it was. I actually don't know it at all. There's an Impromptu in f sharp that he wrote (it sounds like a nocturne) which i was thinking of in particular. Again, unusually attractive on a surface level, I'd recommend it.

Sorry to bother but there are several impromptus that he wrote in f sharp, could you specify?

[diomedes]

Worthless Scriabin scholar i am, thank you for being so attentive. In fact, it's not even in f sharp minor. The one i'm thinking of is the b minor Op.12, i had someone learn it a few years ago. It's reminiscent of Chopin Op.48 in c minor + traces of Scriabins concerto yet to come at op.20.

Not too long, has memorable moments that might give you the Russian feeling you're after.

[joaosousa]

Worthless Scriabin scholar i am, thank you for being so attentive. In fact, it's not even in f sharp minor. The one i'm thinking of is the b minor Op.12, i had someone learn it a few years ago. It's reminiscent of Chopin Op.48 in c minor + traces of Scriabins concerto yet to come at op.20.

Not too long, has memorable moments that might give you the Russian feeling you're after.

Now I can check it out! Really appreciate your help!