Easy dark and mysterious pieces

[Rez]

Hi all,

I returning to the piano after a LONG hiatus.  Recently I've (mostly) learned Bach's Invention #1 and Chopin's Prelude's #4 and 6--as an indication of technical level.

I'm looking for some easy pieces, levels 1-4.  Something dark, mysterious, uncluttered, somewhat dissonant, modern.  Pieces that come to mind in terms of the musical feel are Ravel's le gibet,  Chopin's Nocturnes, Schoenberg's Six Little Piano pieces, Satie's gymnopedie 1 and 2, I've seen the very helpful posts on Easiest and Greatest piano pieces and Beginners Repetoire.  I'm trying to narrow it down to a few pieces I can get under my fingers as quick adds to my repetoire. 

I'm not taking lessons, yet, so I don't have a teacher to ask.  Soon, I hope.  Part of why I lost interest way back when was due to the vapid sweetness of what I was learning, so I'm limiting my sweets.  I also took up the guitar, but that's another story.

[cognoscentus]

I would add to your list Ravel's La vallee des cloches and Oiseaux tristes from his Miroirs suite.  Also, Satie's six Gnossiennes.  Note that many editions only contain the first three - try to find all 6, as number 4 is especially good.

Good luck.

[DarkWind]

All the Ravel pieces mentioned in here are not easy. Not one bit.  Maybe the Miroirs won't cause a high amount of trouble, but Le Gibet! That work is insane, too much hand shifting and chord playing, and to give the right mood is damn near impossible. I would rather recommend a piece such as Liszt's Nuages Gris or the Threnodies from the Third Year of Pilgrimage.

[Brian Healey]

I second Darkwind with Nuages Gris by Liszt. The "easy-to-play-yet-dark-and-mysterious" factor on that piece is pretty high. Also maybe check out Debussy's Prelude No. 2 (from book 1) entitled "Voiles." It's very high on the mysterious factor, but some parts of it are not so easy. Another suggestion might be Luigi Dallapiccola's "Quaderno Musicale di Annalibra," which is a set of 12 (I think) short twelve-tone pieces, many of which are not very hard.


Peace,
Bri

[lenny]

try some scriabin preludes, some of the greatest short pieces in the whole literature

[Rez]

Thank you for these most excellent suggestions.  They are right on the mark.  I'd have never thought of Liszt as a source for an "easy" piece.  Now I know.  I'd never heard of Dallapiccola before, but this is exactly the kind of thing I was trying to find.  Finding the true gems among the twelve-tone pieces is not always so easy. I'll listen more closely to the pieces by Ravel, Satie and Scriabin to see which are manageable.  I'm a big fan of Scriabin and would like to learn something by him.

Thanks again.

[ujos3]

Charles Alkan's "Chanson de la folle au bord de la mer".

It is easy and it makes me freeze . It is really creepy. It causes horror. You can download the file from the Alkan's web.

[Brian Healey]

hey ujos3, do have a link for that? I wouldn't mind checking it out. I did a google search, but didn't find any Alkan pages that have scores. Thanks




Peace,
Bri

[bernhard]

hey ujos3, do have a link for that? I wouldn't mind checking it out. I did a google search, but didn't find any Alkan pages that have scores. Thanks




Peace,
Bri

https://piano.francais.free.fr/alkan/

Enjoy!

Best wishes,
Bernhard

[Brian Healey]

Thanks, Bernhard!

For anyone else looking for it, it's Op. 31, no. 8. I had a hard time finding it.


Peace,
Bri

[lenny]

Thank you for these most excellent suggestions.  They are right on the mark.  I'd have never thought of Liszt as a source for an "easy" piece.  Now I know.  I'd never heard of Dallapiccola before, but this is exactly the kind of thing I was trying to find.  Finding the true gems among the twelve-tone pieces is not always so easy. I'll listen more closely to the pieces by Ravel, Satie and Scriabin to see which are manageable.  I'm a big fan of Scriabin and would like to learn something by him.

Thanks again.

the best scriabin pieces to start with are the preludes - they cover his whole range of styles and are amazingly varied, and they are so short! you can learn one in a couple days easily if youre good.

[lenny]

Charles Alkan's "Chanson de la folle au bord de la mer".

It is easy and it makes me freeze . It is really creepy. It causes horror. You can download the file from the Alkan's web.

yes AMAZING PIECE!, so unique , and an amazing use of the lower register of the piano.

the title means - song of the insane woman by the sea/shore.

play it for an ex-girlfirend that you dislike!