Obscure and not too difficult piano music

[dreamaurora]

Hi guys,

I would like to explore some of the more obscure pieces written for solo piano in the repertoire. I am takin ATCL diploma this year to indicate you my skill, so please refrain from recommending me stuff like Godowsky-Chopin etudes.

I am quite curious in Bach-Busoni arrangements, any easier ones to play ? How about Alkan , Poulenc, Ligeti, etc ? Are there any of their easier pieces to play ?

[ted]

Established composers - Frank Bridge, John Ireland, Cecile Chaminade, Charles Ives, Ferdinand Morton, James Scott

Contemporary composer - David Thomas Roberts.

[ned]

Here are some "obscure" short pieces I have played which are delicious and not too difficult:

Poulenc: Nocturne No 4 "Bal fantome" It starts by sounding like the Chopin Prelude in A major in a minor key and is full of piquant harmonies.

Milhaud: from his "Saudades do Brasil" try "Tijuca" a haunting tango, slightly bitonal.

De Falla, "Miller's dance"  A real taste of  flamenco-austere with strong rhythms. Violent ending.  Relatively easy.

Prokofiev, "Dance of the Girls with Lillies" from his piano version of "Romeo and Juliet" Prokofiev loved to play this one for friends.

Lyadov: Prelude op 11 in B minor. A fabulous Russian romantic piece. Just as good as Scriabin's little etude in C sharp minor.  My teacher is mad about it and he has recorded a good swat of the Russian repertoire. Lyadov was a bit older than Scriabin. He wrote other beautiful preludes and some mazurkas which are in a class with Chopin's but with a Russian accent! I highly recommend Steven Coombs' recording of Lyadov on Hyperion. And you can buy all of Lyadov's sheet music on sheetmusicplus.com. It is published by Koenemann in Budapest. Lyadov is a treasure trove of beautiful stuff. Alomost totally overlooked.

Bach Busoni is generally pretty hard. Take a look at the Kempff Bach transcriptions. Better in my opinion and simpler. Get Angela Hewitt's excellent new recording of Bach transcriptions. She does several by Kempff. Ich ruf' zu Dir, Herr and the Siciliano are beautifuland not too hard. Do you know the Busoni sonatinas?  There are some small pieces by Alkan but I don't play them. Are you looking for 20th century in particuler?  By the way you should listen to the Lutoslawksi Paganini Variations for two pianos. Wow!!! You could try it with a friend.
Ned

[BuyBuy]

Hey ! How about Poulenc improvisations ? or Bizet Chants du Rhin ? or Scarlatti sonatas ?

[ned]

I thought some more about your search for not well-know - not too difficult - pieces.

I think we can rule out Boulez, Stockhausen, Berio, Webern, Messiaen. They are heavily played now anyway.

How about Szymanowski - eg, Mazurkas?

About Ligeti, the Etudes are hard. His Musica Ricercata is easier. (Not my kind of repertoire)

There is a book of pieces I bought published by Boosey& Hawkes "The Carnegie Hall Millenium Piano Book" with pieces commissioned from 20th century composers like Carter, Babbitt, Rzewski,etc with the specific purpose that they be playable by students. Also included is a CD where Ursula Oppens (great performer of 20th century repertoire) plays all the selections. There is in this collection a real masterpiece "Ba Ban" by Chen Yi (Chinese woman composer now living in the USA). It is very impressive, kind of a mix of Szymanowski, Schoenberg,and Chinese folk.  I think if you could do it well, you would have great success with a jury or audience. Maybe a standing ovation. There are a few other pieces in the book that would be effective and are not hard. I am considering "John Brown and Blue" very powerful with gospel and blues strains. It is based on the life of John Brown the famous American Abolitionist who was hanged just before the Civil War. The final measure tells the pianist to slam the piano lid shut!!

JS Bach is definitely well-known but he has pieces that I would think are not played much. Look at the Fantasias, particularly Fantasia in G minor "duobis subiectis" BWV 917, slow and deep, and Fantasia in A minor BWV 922, which seems incredibly modern because of the almost minimalist repetition of a single theme. Both of these pieces are intellectually and emotionally powerful. No mechanical difficulties at least. Either would round out a program.

You might also consider something by the English virginalists like Orlando Gibbons or William Byrd. Glenn Gould loved that repertoire and did a CD of various pieces.