What should I play?

[evergreen]

Hello everyone! I restarted playing piano 2 years ago after quitting for 5 years. I’ve had lessons since I was about 6, so I have around 7 years of experience with the piano.

In the last two years, I have played:
- Beethoven moonlight mvt. 1&2
- Beethoven pathetique mvt. 1&2
- Chopin nocturne op.32 no.1
- Debussy Clair de lune
- Debussy arabesque no.1
- Bach invention no.8
- Mozart k.282 mvt 3
- Rachmaninoff op.23 no.5

I have played a lot of basic, well-known pieces. But I just finished & performed the Rach prelude and I want to move on to something new. When listening to music, I adore russian romantic music by Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky etc etc. So that’s kind of my favorite style.

Maybe I want to try a piece by a composer I’ve never played before (Brahms, Schumann, Ravel, Haydn… and so so many more.)

Maybe you could recommend me some intermediate/advanced level pieces that would match the difficulty of the pieces I have played before. What piece would be a good next step? Thanks for answering!

[transitional]

Try one of the Schumann Kinderszenen. They're short and concise, seem to be favorites among many, not too difficult but maybe a little effort to make them sing. And you haven't played Schumann before.

For a Haydn sonata, I don't really know your preference. Honestly, with your repertoire, you could try any of them, just pick one you like. Personally my favorite is XVI/50.

[the_franzliszt]

A perfect Russian Piece that's short but sounds just so beautiful is Scriabin's Etude Op.2 No.1 in C-Sharp Minor. I would definitely recommend learning that. I would also recommend learning Schubert's Moment Musical Op.94 No.3 in F minor. After that, learn the rest of one of those sonata's (I would earn the rest of Moonlight sonata. It's funner to play + the 3rd mvt is not as hard as it looks). 

[evergreen]

Thank you both for the lovely recommendations! The scriabin piece sounds amazing and the score looks not too difficult, and it is indeed short, maybe I’ll give it a try. I’m also learning Bach’s prelude & fugue in c minor (book 1) at the moment.

I have also listened to Kinderszenen, number 3 sounds really fun and i will read through it and try it.

I am also considering learning Debussy’s Suite bergamasque, I love all 4 pieces. But I’m not sure if I have the skill to play the menuet, it looks quite difficult.

[evergreen]

Ohhh and i LOVE Reflets dans l’eau. I heard it live at a masterclass the other day and fell in love with it. I have played some Debussy but I don’t know if I can move onto that piece if I’ve only played the 1st arabesque and Clair de Lune. Has anyone played it? 

[transitional]

Ohhh and i LOVE Reflets dans l’eau. I heard it live at a masterclass the other day and fell in love with it. I have played some Debussy but I don’t know if I can move onto that piece if I’ve only played the 1st arabesque and Clair de Lune. Has anyone played it?

Reflets dans l'eau is seems like a pretty tricky piece. If you like debussy, you might consider trying some of the preludes first - Les sons et les parfums and Danseuses de Delphes are two I can think of that are related.

[pianistavt]

Debussy's Reflets dans l'Eau is quite difficult - way above ABRSM 8

I did a search for Russian piano music - and found this album by Schirmer.  You might get something from the list of pieces.  Kabalevsky wrote a lot for the developing piano student.  Also Bartok wrote the Mikrokosmos series - 6 volumes of progressive pieces.  Bagpipes from volume 5 is a good one, the last piece of volume 6 is good too - Bulgarian Dance #6  (I posted a recording in Auditions but there are many) - both will open your ears to a new sound.  His sonatina is another good choice.  Prokofiev's March from Love for Three Oranges is a great piece for students - fun to play, sounds great, and has interesting challenges.

https://www.amazon.com/Russian-Piano-Album-Schirmer-Schirmers/dp/1495008711/ref=sr_1_1?crid=198H34266JCOP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.USbWDr2R-6mxeAcXyrEEEJleYit1oR80uOHsWp8QwioT8NMUQ990TwtVvxpOzTBl251K2aMMlCNwQXqA7AAWUeBvSm9LWYcr0wjN4nfk8oI2LC_77S9aOH4TArHxFCgpjPLmSf-TnHilFuc3USpTHsAnoA12SkpuqJUS2GZnfIJF7zozb27Q08styQyggxXBectHaL0r-Jao9jiqfkjkvcVRcRbgwczkunVxtKSwaFU.GkD1LY__Fpr-eYcMAVJwzep-zrXeMdpWm9ggH-gVQCo&dib_tag=se&keywords=russian+piano+album&qid=1708522733&s=books&sprefix=russian+piano+album%2Cstripbooks%2C89&sr=1-1

[xdanielyj]

Hello everyone! I restarted playing piano 2 years ago after quitting for 5 years. I’ve had lessons since I was about 6, so I have around 7 years of experience with the piano.

In the last two years, I have played:
- Beethoven moonlight mvt. 1&2
- Beethoven pathetique mvt. 1&2
- Chopin nocturne op.32 no.1
- Debussy Clair de lune
- Debussy arabesque no.1
- Bach invention no.8
- Mozart k.282 mvt 3
- Rachmaninoff op.23 no.5

I have played a lot of basic, well-known pieces. But I just finished & performed the Rach prelude and I want to move on to something new. When listening to music, I adore russian romantic music by Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky etc etc. So that’s kind of my favorite style.

Maybe I want to try a piece by a composer I’ve never played before (Brahms, Schumann, Ravel, Haydn… and so so many more.)

Maybe you could recommend me some intermediate/advanced level pieces that would match the difficulty of the pieces I have played before. What piece would be a good next step? Thanks for answering!

The others have given good suggestions, so instead of talking about new pieces, I'll just suggest that you should finish the Beethoven Sonatas that you learned the first two movements of. I'd start with the Pathetique 3rd movement and then go to the famous moonlight sonata 3rd. They may be challenging, but I believe that it might be a good step up from what you've learned in the last two years.