Need to find a XX century piece

[semicroma]

Hi, sorry for my poor english. I have to take piano exams in a year. I don't know how they work in your countries, but here you have to play (in addition to Bach, Scarlatti and several etudes) a classic Sonata, a romantic piece and a "modern" piece. I'm having troubles finding the modern piece, because every piece I like seems to be far too difficult and demanding for me. Everyone in this forum seems to love XX century music, so I was wondering if you can help me, please
Btw, I'm looking for something between 4 and 8 minutes, more or less.

[dogperson]

There is a thread in repertoire, 'which modern piece shlould I eliminate' on july 8th
Why don't you look at those? 

[semicroma]

There is a thread in repertoire, 'which modern piece shlould I eliminate' on july 8th
Why don't you look at those? 

Thanks for your answer, but that thread is about pieces written after 1940 and that's not exactly what I am looking for. I need pieces written in the first half of century.

[glennross]

I need pieces written in the first half of century.

I don't know what your level is, but look into the following composers:

Debussy, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Berg, Schoenberg, Sibelius, Hindemith, Ravel.

That's just to name a few.

BW,
Glenn

[semicroma]

Thanks for you help Glenn, could you give me some specific ideas? I really love Prokofiev op 4 n 4 or some of Rachmaninov's works, or Jeux d'eau by Ravel, but I don't think I'll be able to play any of them in the next 20 years ahaha; so I need something easier but still interesting. My teacher suggested Sonata 1 by Prokofiev, and I like it but I want to find out if there's something suitable for me that I like more.
About my level, I can play Jeux d'eau à la Villa d'Este by Liszt, and now I'm achieving Beethoven's Tempest and Chopin's ballade 1.

[glennross]

Allright, I'll give you the most specific advice I can. By the way, is it all right if the music is from just before the 20th century, or no? Here you go:

Alban Berg:

• Piano Sonata, Op. 1 (not too hard, though a bit awkward at some spots)

Maurice Ravel:

• Gaspard de la Nuit - Le Gibet (the other movements are much more difficult)
• Miroirs - 'Oiseaux tristes' and 'La Vallée des Chloches'. Maybe 'Noctuelles' and 'Un barque sur l'ocean'
• Le tombeau de Couperin - Toccata

Claude Debussy:

• Estampes - 'Jardins suis la pluie' and 'Pagodes'
• Images - 'Cloches à travers les feuilles' and 'Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut'. Maybe also 'Poisons d'or' but that one is more difficult. Also 'Reflets dans l'eau', 'Hommage à Rameau' and 'Mouvement'.
• Pour le piano - Prélude and Toccata
• Preludes - 'Le vent dans la plaine', 'Les collines d'Anacapri', 'Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest', 'La cathédrale engloutie', 'La danse de Puck', 'La puerta del vino', 'Les fées sont d'exquises danseuses', 'La terasse des audiences du clair de lune' and 'Feux d'artifice'
• Ballade
• L'isle joyeuse

Gabriel Faure

• Barcarolle in D-flat Major, op. 96

Sergei Rachmaninoff

• Morceaux de fantasie, op. 3 - No. 4 'Polichinelle'
• Preludes, op. 23 - Nos. 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7
• Preludes, op. 32 - Nos. 3, 5, 9, 10, 12

Look into Bartok as well. Hope this helps.

BW,
Glenn

[visitor]

you could pull this I. excerpt from Warren's suite (later orchestrated, but the piano ver is pre 1950)

the whole thing is groovy, if time allowed/allows I would try to include a couple of them to stay just shy of of your max time