Medtner Emotionally Impactful Pieces

[swilliams002]

What is the most emotionally stirring piece by Medtner for y'all? Just curious.
I can't really choose one, but here are some of my top picks:
     Concerto 3 in E Minor ('Ballade')
     Elegy in A Minor, Op. 59, No. 1
     Forgotten Melodies, Op. 38 (especially the Sonata-Reminiscenza, the canzona serenata, and the quasi-coda)
     Sleeplessness (song from Five Poems, Op. 37)
     Night Wind Sonata, Op. 25, No. 2
     Sonata Romantica, Op. 53, No. 1
     Opus 11 Sonatas (particularly 1 in A-flat & 3 in C)
     Sonata in F Minor, Op. 5
     Skazki, Op. 51 (especially nos. 2 & 4)
     Sonata-Ballade, Op. 27
There are many more, since I love all Medtner's music.

[anacrusis]

Difficult to choose, but I agree on the Sonata Reminiscenza! Not too familiar with Medtner otherwise.

[felixblumenfeld]

Fairy Tale in B Minor, op. 20, no. 2

[ahinton]

An impossible choice to make, given the consistenly high quality of Medtner's work, but the Night Wind Sonata and the two sonatas Op.53 deserve places near the top of such a list - also his second sonata for violin and piano as well as his third piano concerto whose haunting opening is magical. Much the same could be said of some of his songs...

[swilliams002]

An impossible choice to make, given the consistenly high quality of Medtner's work, but the Night Wind Sonata and the two sonatas Op.53 deserve places near the top of such a list - also his second sonata for violin and piano as well as his third piano concerto whose haunting opening is magical. Much the same could be said of some of his songs...

Medtner's 3rd Concerto is probably my favorite piano concerto (although Beethoven's 4th is might take first place on any given day). I really think it is one of the greatest pieces of music ever written. And yeah, I love Medtner's violin sonatas, especially the second and third.

[ahinton]

Medtner's 3rd Concerto is probably my favorite piano concerto

I was asked to write a cadenza for it many years ago...

[swilliams002]

I was asked to write a cadenza for it many years ago...

Interesting! Did that ever come into fruition? Also, where in the concerto would it have gone/did it go?

[hmoll53]

I think all of Medtner's pieces are very emotionally impactful, some are romantic, some are violent, some are grotesque...

Op.51 No.3 (it's graceful character and the musical portrayal of Cinderella and the trying the glass slipper, Op.20 No.1 (it's Rachmaninoff like passion and tenebrous textures), as well as the 2nd Concerto (which is a good mix of virtually all emotions one can feel).

[ahinton]

Interesting! Did that ever come into fruition? Also, where in the concerto would it have gone/did it go?

Sadly, no, it didn't; it was done for the Italian premičre of the work but this was cancelled! As to its position in the concerto, I think that I can do no better than cite the preliminary notes from the typeset score:

"This cadenza is intended as an elaboration of Medtner’s own “quasi Cadenza” passage which begins at figure 54 in his own two-piano reduction published by Zimmermann (Z11803, 1951); it therefore replaces in performance the passage from figure 54 to the end of the concerto’s first movement. This being the case, it takes the opening of Medtner’s “quasi Cadenza” as a point de départ.

No attempt has been made to write a cadenza in Medtner’s own “elusive” (so it is said) yet very distinctive style; rather, the composer has endeavoured to write in a manner duly reflective of Medtner’s influence on him – an influence acknowledged to be a powerful one."

So - there you go!

[swilliams002]

Op.51 No.3 (it's graceful character and the musical portrayal of Cinderella and the trying the glass slipper,

I love Op. 51 for the same reason, but I didn't know it portrayed Cinderella. Or is that just your interpretation? At any rate, it's quite interesting to hear it in that way.

[lelle]

Fairy Tale in B Minor, op. 20, no. 2

I also love this one. Very sinister and interesting. Challenging to play too, but a lot of fun.