Recommendations at Grade 7 level: currently mainly Bach and Chopin

[a11msp]

Hi everyone,

I'd very much appreciate suggestions of reasonably short pieces to practice. I would currently place myself somewhere around Grade 7 (I was better than that at music school back in Russia, but that was long time ago).

Things that I like a lot and that currently work reasonably well for me (by my own, rather modest standards ) include:

- Bach Partitas no 1 (full) and no 2 (currently just the Sinfonia).
- Chopin Waltz in C# minor op 64 no 2, Nocturne in Eb major op 9 no 2.
- Skryabin Mazurka op 3 no 6.
- Beethoven Sonata no 6, 2nd movement (I used to play the first movement of this sonata too, as well as that of Sonata no 5, but wasn't excited about playing them too much).

I have recently spent a lot of time practicing Rachmaninoff's prelude op 23 no 5, and have got it working to some extent, but it feels like my hands are too small to play some parts of it properly (I'm sure it's manageable, I just don't have the technique).

Any suggestions welcome - thanks a lot!

[symphonicdance]

Current syllabus of UK Grade 7 Exam...  These pieces are not very long.

List A
1 Glinka Fugue in A minor
2 Handel Sonatina in D minor, HWV 581
3 Mozart Allegro: 1st movt from Sonata in G, K. 283
4 J. S. Bach Allemande: 1st movt from French Suite No. 6 in E, BWV 817
5 J. S. Bach, trans. Alkan Siciliano (from BWV 1031)
6 D. Scarlatti Sonata in A, Kp. 182 (L. 139)

List B
1 Mingxin Du and Zuqiang Wu Shui Cao Wu (The Dance of Watergrass): 3rd movt from
The Mermaid Suite
2 MacDowell By a Meadow Brook: No. 9 from Woodland Sketches, Op. 51
3 Palmgren Kevätyö (Night in May): No. 4 from Toukokuu, Op. 27
4 Cui Waltz, Op. 31 No. 2
5 Liszt No. 2: from Four Short Piano Pieces, S. 192
6 Mendelssohn Gondellied (Allegretto non troppo, U 136)

List C
1 Sylvie Bodorová Carousel
2 Debussy Canope: No. 10 from Préludes, Book 2
3 Shostakovich Prelude in Db: No. 15 from 24 Preludes, Op. 34
4 Dichler Toccata-Etüde
5 M. Gould China Blue: No. 3 from Pieces of China
6 Peter Sculthorpe 1st movt: from Sonatina

[mjames]

chopin nocturnes basically, theyre all accessible...

Since you worked on Chopin's op.64no.2, why not work on no. 1 and no. 3 as well? You'll have an entire set!

Scriabin preludes- most around the grade 6-grade 8 level, only a few select virtousic/really hard. there's a lot to choose from, he wrote over 70 preludes i think.

Scriabin poemes op. 32

Scriabin Op. 45, 51

Medtner - 3 Arabesques (the Idyll, and tragedy fragment in a minor are great works of art)

Liadov - since you like chopin, and valses...I introduce you Chopin's long lost son..:liadov. he has a few "Chopinesque" pieces like the op. 9 waltz, op. 24 bercuese, and some really sweet preludes op. 46 and a beautiful canzonetta.

Stanchinsky - wrote some wonderful miniatures titled "12 sketches" and again, a lot of them are technically accessible but musically challenging imo.

MORE CHOPIN - His impromptus, op. 63 mazurkas (i love no. 2 and no.3), op. 50 no.2 (short and sweet), op. 41 no. 2 in eminor..also short and sweet.

[a11msp]

Thanks a lot for suggestions!

symphonicdance - I wasn't aware of this year's grade 7 list, so I'll check it out.
mjames  - thanks for the new names! I was aware of Liadov, but it was exciting to discover Medtner and especially Stanchinsky.