Suggestions on starting Liszt ?

[l3g0br1ck]

Hey everyone,
I've been searching around lately for a piece to play, but could not find one that really inspires me…
I've played three pieces this year (and other very little ones) : Chopin's second scherzo, his grande valse brillante op. 18, and Rachmaninoff's étude tableau op. 33 no. 4 (5) in d minor. I haven't really struggled that much on neither of those, only a little bit with the ending of the scherzo which took a long time to settle. Right now, I'm finishing the etude tableau, and can't find anything to practice this summer.
I thought about starting to play some Liszt, but I can't find a piece that would challenge me and that I would really like.
I've thought of :
the Liebestraum, but I don't really like it,
Un Sospiro, but I think I could get bored while studying the ending which is very long,
I really love TE 10, but it's more like a long-term goal, I'm aware that it is waaay beyond my level at the moment.

Anyways, do you have thoughts on this, some pieces to propose ? (from Liszt or someone else, I was just looking at his works recently)

Thank you very much !

[visitor]

First mov to start

[lelle]

Here's a rare Liszt work I think is pretty incredible, and not too technically challenging. It's sort of a variation work mixed with a Mozart transcription. How do you feel about it?

[virtuoso_pianist]

Hi there. I am new here but I have played a couple pieces by Liszt before. The first piece of his I learnt was the liebestraume no. 3, then I learnt the Hungarian rhapsody no. 12, which was a big jump in terms of technical difficulty, however it was still manegable. I would recommend on of his 2 concert studies (waldschruden or gnomereigen) since they aren’t as hard as his other concert studies of transcendental studies and they might get your technique to a level where you could learn the transcendental no. 10 with less difficulty 

[anacrusis]

The Liszt sonata in b minor is awesome and a lot of fun to play. Not sure if you feel ready for that one yet.

[j_tour]

Well, I think you're looking for a "big" piece, given your abilities, but I wouldn't discount just reading through lighter fare from Liszt:  the piano transcriptions you'll almost certainly be able to sight read from Wagner and Beethoven, although I'm not dismissing the difficulties of portions therein.

And, yes, the B minor sonata is huge, but large parts of it are not very demanding:  then again, as a whole, it doesn't fit into any grading syllabus, other than "beyond."  Not that I'm aware of, anyway:  massive piece, almost etched in granite.  No, I can't even pretend to be an authority on that, just my recollection from reading through it ineptly several times. 

For pure fun, wait until July 14 and just read this one straight off the page!  Not difficult.  Depending on your neighbors, this will either enrage or delight them.

[l3g0br1ck]

Hey, thank you for your feedbacks!
The Bortkiewicz sonata is really nice, Il like it! And the B minor sonata is of course incredible, but I was looking for a smaller piece to play, but I put them in the back of my head for later! A la chapelle sixtine is also very long :/
I'm looking more of a 5 minute piece to study for a few months. Also, I wanted to know :
How hard is etude op 8 no 12 from Scriabin? I've sight read a bit and besides the rhythm, the chords seem "manageable", but I'd like to do at least a bit of justice to the piece ^^
Also The Lark from Glinka/Balakirev seems quite nice and not too hard?
As for the two concerts studies from liszt, I like the first one, but it seems like a pain to practice!

Anyway, thank you!

[visitor]

Hey, thank you for your feedbacks!
The Bortkiewicz sonata is really nice, Il like it! And the B minor sonata is of course incredible, but I was looking for a smaller piece to play, but I put them in the back of my head for later! A la chapelle sixtine is also very long :/
I'm looking more of a 5 minute piece to study for a few months. Also, I wanted to know :
How hard is etude op 8 no 12 from Scriabin? I've sight read a bit and besides the rhythm, the chords seem "manageable", but I'd like to do at least a bit of justice to the piece ^^
Also The Lark from Glinka/Balakirev seems quite nice and not too hard?
As for the two concerts studies from liszt, I like the first one, but it seems like a pain to practice!

Anyway, thank you!

makes sense
bortkie also did a underrated amazing set of etudes too I can recc a few
I've played the Scriabin d#m and it's a bear of a piece , fairly straight forward learning wise once you get used to reading the key but the agility and control and voicing /lyricism necessary to make it t convincing is where the challenge in that one  mostly lies ,it's a goody but might be too much for. 5 monther , I'll take a stock of some ideas I can throw out w those limits in mind

[visitor]

Take a look at this, the yt comment is spot on this is one of the great ones known masterpieces of the literature as good and worthy of as much study and appreciation of any of the ones by Chopin Rachmaninoff and Scriabin. It's almost beyond words how good this is

[l3g0br1ck]

I took a look at the etudes, some are really nice! I'll look out for pieces like this. Scriabin's set of preludes is quite nice too. Thank you for the ideas!

[thorn]

I'm shocked that no-one has recommended the Annees de Pelerinage! There are many shorter/technically manageable pieces in all 3 books, and for me they are some of Liszt's best work.

[slurred_beat]

I'm shocked that no-one has recommended the Annees de Pelerinage! There are many shorter/technically manageable pieces in all 3 books, and for me they are some of Liszt's best work.

Which are the easiest and best of The Annees de pelarinage?

[harold d. shores iii]

Wow, that’s crazy. I’ve never heard of anyone not being inspired by Liszt. I think most of his work is phenomenal. Maybe looking for  a different composer is the right answer.

[kc_gracie]

I second pieces from the Annees. There are several that are 5-7 minutes in length that will have some difficulty (some more difficult than Liebestrom and some about the same). Orage from year 1, which is pretty difficult and not too long, is fun (fast octaves). Some nicer pieces include Sposalizio and Sonetto 104 from year 2. Sonetto 104 in particular is just beautiful. Contains a number of easier sections interspersed with some short and difficult passages. The other two Sonettos from book 2 are also nice (but 104 is my favorite). Year 1 also includes Des Cloches de Geneve (mid level difficulty), which is gorgeous, and the Au Bord d'une Source (around 4 minutes to play), which is a nice level of difficulty (somewhat difficult, but not too hard and fits nicely under the hand).

Also, there are a number of easier pieces from these collections. The two that come to mind are Au lac de Wallenstadt and Le mal du pays (which I would think are the easiest out of the entire set - both are beautiful as well).

My favorite Liszt piece from these is Vallee d'Obermann. While it is longer (about 13-15 minutes in length), it is great. It has sections with a solid level of difficulty that you would be looking for but also has some beautiful and lyrical sections as well (and easier). Knowing the inspiration for the piece also adds a layer to this piece that makes it enjoyable as well.

Hope this helps. If you want some more purely technical pieces as well, I could add those, but I really enjoy the Annees pieces.

-KC

[thorn]

I echo the above post for years 1 and 2.

For year 3 you have the three Villa d'Este pieces- the two Aux cyprès pieces and the famous Jeux d'eau one. I feel they come as a set like the Petrarch Sonnets, not only because of the shared setting but also the program- the first two are contemplations on death and the final piece is the water of life.