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Chopin and His Europe - Warsaw Invites the World
Celebrating its 20th anniversary the festival “Chopin and His Europe” included the thematic title “And the Rest of the World”, featuring world-renowned pianists and international and national top ensembles and orchestras. As usual the event explored Chopin's music through diverse perspectives, spanning four centuries of repertoire. Piano Street presents a selection of concerts videos including an interview with the festival’s founder, Chopin Institute’s Stanislaw Leszczynski. Read more >>

Topic: Help choosing a new piece around Henle level 6/7? How hard is Scriabin 12/2?  (Read 276 times)

Offline mooshrimp

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I am having trouble getting excited about picking a new piece and was hoping for suggestions. I'm at the upper end of Henle 6, lower end of 7. Mostly I am having trouble wanting to play anything other than the Scriabin Impromptu 12/2, BUT I don't want to brute force a piece that's too hard and play it badly when it's a piece I love. Gravitating towards layered chaos lately (Scriabin, Rach, Medtner, oh my!). Pieces I was interested in but worry might be too difficult:

Scriabin Impromptu 12/2 (almost to the point of obsession here, but looks and sounds very challenging)
Rach 3/2 (but so overplayed)
Rach 23/4
Rach 32/5
Liszt 139/1

Last couple months worked through:
Debussy Doctor Gradum ad Parnassus (most intuitive fun song I've ever played)
Chopin Nocturne C# Minor (first Chopin piece, also very intuitive and fun)
Mendelssohn Songs Without Words 30/2 (not intuitive, kind of a slog)
Medtner Skazkie 42/2 (much more difficult than I thought, wish I waited a little longer to learn this)

Would love any input!
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Offline sonata_5

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You could do Chopin op 10 no9, at Henle 6,if you have small hands the stretched might be a little difficult but I could do it and when I learned it I could barely reach an 8th. I think you could do one of the nocturnes too. Just stay away from op 62 no 1 and 48 no 1. You could also do 1 3 or 5 of Rachmaninoff moments musicaux.If you want a sonata you could pick one from Mozart,Beethoven op 2 no 1,op 79,or op q4 no 1/2.You could also do the famous moonlight sonata ,op 10 no 1/or 2.Op 26 and op 28 would be a stretch but manageable.Oh and op 13. Schubert sonatas could do the a minor ones,ab major or a major d 664,or Eb major d 568 or the db major version of the eb major. You could also do the Scriabin Mazurkas,and most of the preludes. Ravel’s valses nobles, the Haydn minuet and Debussy la plus que lente,Dancers of Delphi,Des pas sur la niege,reverie Les sons et les parfums,Voiles,Canope ,Fuielles mortes,
The intruppted serenade, Childrens corner,suite bergamasque,Et la lune qui fut,La fille aux cheveaux de Lin. Also do the Haydn sonatas but stay away from the late ones.There are also some of Brahms op 79 and op 116,117,118,and 119,and the slow movements of the sonatas,just look through the Brahms because they are very subjective in difficulty and also Bach is a must.Pick one that you like from Well tempered Clavier and Scriabin op 12 no 2 may be a tad too difficult but you never know until you try it. For Schumann you could do the Blunte Blatter or the Kinderszenen.Hope this helps!
You could do a Chopin mazurka too,pick one you like but stay away from op 56 no 1.
I am currently working on:
Bach p&f in c minor wtc book 1
Beethoven op 2 no 1 first movement
Chopin Black keys etude

Offline iamdopeuarenope

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Hi, I'm learning the Scriabin Impromptu right now for my exam and I love it as well! However, there are many technically challenging parts in the piece, it is at an ARSM level and a 4 on the worksbydifficulty website. There are many jumps, usually an octave or more along with some intricate voicing that is found in a lot of Scriabin's works. I also found one part especially challenging, there's a very awkward polyrythmns where the right hand plays a triplet with a 16ths while the right hand plays 8th notes, I've been working on it on and off for 2 days and it's still in irking me. Besides that one, theres also a 4 on 3 polyrythmns that comes with very large left hand jumps.

TLDR; The piece is very challenging and can be considered Associate degree level, I think you should avoid it for a bit, maybe tackle one of his Preludes Op. 11

Offline mooshrimp

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Hi, I started down the first page and agree with you, too hard for now. Definitely a "later" piece. Someday I will be skilled enough for 12/2 and much farther out for 42/5, but not today. We actually went with a piece that's "too easy" (I can pretty much just sight read the whole thing), but it's so lovely. Musicaux moments no. 3. It's actually kind of a nice break to work on a piece that I don't have to think too hard about technique or hitting the right notes and just focus entirely on the musicality.

Offline liszt-and-the-galops

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Musicaux moments no. 3.
I know you chose the Rach piece, but you might want to also give Schubert's Moments Musicaux a go at some point.
I'd argue that they're much better than Rach's.
Amateur pianist, beginning composer, creator of the Musical Madness tournament (2024).
https://www.youtube.com/@Liszt-and-the-Galops

Offline sonata_5

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I know you chose the Rach piece, but you might want to also give Schubert's Moments Musicaux a go at some point.
I'd argue that they're much better than Rach's.
I love the C sharp minor and ab major ones!
I am currently working on:
Bach p&f in c minor wtc book 1
Beethoven op 2 no 1 first movement
Chopin Black keys etude
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