EXPERT Advice please

[amy]

Hello everyone. Would anyone be kind enough to tell me this:  If you could sum up (without having to take me through a 3 hour lecture) all the things i need to know or do to get a brief knowledge on standard repertoire ...regarding composers, their works.. etc etc.. please tell me,
and thank you.
-amy

[rachfan]

The quickest way is to skim the major composers and their works in what we call a "repertoire guide".  Some of the better known ones:

Ernest Hutcheson & Rudolph Ganz, The Literature of the Piano.

James Friskin and Irwin Freundlich, Music for the Piano.

Maurice Hinson, Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire.

All three guides are excellent, but organized differently and written in different styles.  Any one of them will give you the overview you are looking for.  There are also specialized repertoire guides such as for the concerto literature, chamber music, music for the left hand alone, etc.  Hope this helps.

[frederic]

Bach:
48 prelude and fugues "well-tempered clavier"
2-part inventions and 3 part inventions
The Little Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach
Partitas
Suites (french, english)

Scartlatti:
All the Keyboard Sonatas (He wrote 500, i think but mostly 1 movement works)

Haydn:
Sonatas

Mozart:
Sonatas, Fantasies , Rondos, sonatinas

Beethoven:
Sonatas, Bagatelles, Minuets and other dances, Micellaneous pieces like Rondo a Capriccio...

Chopin:

Preludes, Etudes, Impromptus, Sonatas, Waltzes, Mazurkas, Ballades, Scherzos, Polonaises, Nocturnes, basically everything...

Theres too much but these are just a few...

[amee]

I've got this book called Building A Classical CD Collection: the 350 Essential Works by Ted Libbey which I find very helpful.  It has the major composers, background information, and their most famous works.  

[amy]

thanks guys soo much. you were very informative and generous...
thank you.
i will take your advice and selections...

-amy

[Colette]

I would very highly recommend David Dubal's book The Essential Canon of Classical Music. It is quite thorough, but no so didactic that you want to fall asleep when reading it. It contains extensive commentary about every important composer for every period of music, and at the end of each chapter gives a list of the composers most important works and suggestions for  the best recordings to buy. There is a wealth of information here, for your literary knowledge and for your cd rack. Also, an essential book for any musician's library is Schonburg's The Lives of The Great Composers.

[frederic]

yes that reminds me, hinson wrote a book called great composers...

[amee]

You could also probably find lots of good information on the net