Last piece on piano

[2hottohandel]

If you knew that you could only play one piece on piano before closing the lid forever and never playing again, what would that piece be?

For me it would probably Chopin Op 9 no 1 nocturne because of that final cascading ending fading out with a chord. But, If I wanted to go out with a bang, I would do an avant-garde piece that called for blowing up the piano (I wouldn't play it on a real piano though, just a keyboard that has Fur Elise as the demo piece)

[j_tour]

But, If I wanted to go out with a bang, I would do an avant-garde piece that called for blowing up the piano (I wouldn't play it on a real piano though, just a keyboard that has Fur Elise as the demo piece)

Yeah, I'd probably dump the whole thing off a pier into a fast-moving, deep river.

Not because I hate the piano, really:  it just seems more final and satisfying.

Just don't ask me about ex-girlfriends, OK? 

/*Late edit:  like below mentioned, the Op. 111 of Beethoven would be my choice as well.  If one had to.  But, honestly, I'd prefer to let the whole thing drop rather than have my inept performance be my last testament. 

I think there's an unpublished portion of Dante's Purgatory where the circle of slothful people not only run around breathlessly but are also chasing Beethoven.*/

[lelle]

Assuming I could do a rendition that did justice to how I hear it in my head, it would be Chopin's 4th ballade, no question.

[getsiegs]

Also assuming I'll ever learn to play it well, my choice would by Rach 3 (especially the last movement).

[themeandvariation]

"I Wish"  on clavinet.
(or Cage's 4'33" - if it is an odd numbered day)

[brogers70]

If I could play it, Beethoven Opus 111.

[ranjit]

Not quite what the question asked for, but this reminded me of this incident from Cziffra's memoirs, where he performed the Bartok concerto just as the Hungarian Revolution was beginning.

As he wrote of the event in his memoirs, "The great day arrived and the concert was a triumph of some portent. The audience was a cross-section of a people weary of the excesses of a regime whose victorious army had, after eleven years, still not returned home. Despite its stupefying complexity, the music is perfectly structured, which enabled me to surpass myself so that it seemed like molten lava to the audience. Some two thousand people, normally so disciplined, rushed from the hall singing the National Anthem, ripping down, as they ran along the nearby streets and avenues, anything bearing emblems other than the national flag. There was an uprising and the government (responsible for an even worse police state than the one they had copied) fled to a new refuge. The frontier half opened. While people rushed into the breach in tens of thousands, the revolt was rapidly put down and a new regime did its best to gloss it over as a mere passing error. Time was running out: the breaches in the demarcation line were being closed. This time, I chose exile of my own accord. I was quite ready to assume my status as a free man and artist."

Miraculously enough, the recording survives.

[ranjit]

As for me, maybe something really long, so that it gives me more time before I have to keep the piano away for good. How about the Sorabji OC?

[2hottohandel]

As for me, maybe something really long, so that it gives me more time before I have to keep the piano away for good. How about the Sorabji OC?

I was thinking that. Like maybe just improvise indefinitely lol.

[lelle]

As for me, maybe something really long, so that it gives me more time before I have to keep the piano away for good. How about the Sorabji OC?

Paging ahinton, where are you man? I thought he'd be lured to this thread just by the mention of the name!

[kc_gracie]

Hmmm. I don't know if I can choose just one. Chopin's 4th Ballade is a great choice. However, I have a very strong attachment to Beethoven. I find the Waldstein sonata to be such a joy to listen to and play. Something amazing just happens. So that is probably my answer.

Although, I like the idea of playing the last movement of Beethoven Sonata No.30 Op.109. Such a beautiful piece and very serene and very euphoric when the trills come in. I like what Schiff said about the ending, about it ending very simply and it is the kind of piece where there should be no applause. Just silence. I kind of like that about the piece and it being the last thing to be 'said'.

-KC

[lostinidlewonder]

If you knew that you could only play one piece on piano before closing the lid forever and never playing again, what would that piece be?

A gun and I'll shoot the person putting me through this.