which of these two should i try?

[Nemo]

well my first year piano recital at school was yesterday, played Chopin's Waltz in A minor
now i'm already planning for next year, and i'm decided to go with my favorite composer at the moment - Rachmaninoff

i'm undecided between the Rach 3(Piano Concerto No.3, D minor), the version which is featured in the movie Shine. its 8 pages long only, got a whole year to learn it and practice it.

or his Prelude in C-sharp minor, which is 7 pages long.
i understand they're both hard songs, specially for me but with a whole summer to learn the song, and then 10 school months to perfect it, i think i can do one of them. and if i can, i might try both, but one at time.

so, what do you guys recommend i should try first?

[Aurelio]

:Psorry about my English

to give us an idea about your level we should know what other pieces have you played this year

What was the piece of your concert
Chopin waltz in a minor no.11 BI 56
or
op.34/2 BI 64?

[frederic]

I think its a too big jump from a chopin waltz to Rach 3! Oh, but you did say its a version from Shine? Well, in my opinion, why waste a whole year learning a version off a movie? And i don't think you would learn very much from it either. Why can't you choose some original pieces from the masters? And another thing: You are only choosing ONE piece to learn for a WHOLE YEAR? That is not alot is it for one year?
I also wouldn't learn the C# minor prelude if it was me. Its too often played. Can't you find more choices? The piano repertoire is so huge i believe you could find much more pieces than this. Look at the Beethoven Sonatas, Mozart Sonatas, Chopin Mazurkas, Polonaises, Preludes (though for me, if i was going to learn these, i would learn the 24), Etudes, Bach Prelude and Fugues, Prokofiev Vision Fugatives.... There are just so much!

So in conclusion, if it was me, i would listen and discover more pieces. Not just stick to some old piece that billions of people have played.

[Aurelio]

I absolutely agree with Frederic opinion.

But, perhaps I am timid to tell you that it is a very very bad idea to play a ficticious version of the Rach 3.

From a musical point of view that version destroys the musical structure of the original one, and it's a surprise for me that there are that kind of arrangements that get several sections of a complete piece.

So, as Frederic says, forget Rach. 3

As regard to C# minor Prelude, we have to know whats your level. In any way if you want to play Rachmaninoff there are some easier wonderful pieces (e.g. other of his preludes)

[Nemo]

thanks for the response. the Rach 3 i want to do is not a "version", the score says "Excerpts from Piano Concerto No.3". I got the complete score for the concerto, but i dont have either the time or the skill to attempt it yet, plus i dont have 40 minutes to play it in the school recital, that's why i'm opting for the excerpts for now.

and what's so wrong about his prelude being played by lots of people? nobody that i know of in my school plays it, and more importantly, i like the song. i dont care how many people play it, i wanna play it too

i'm ordering the score for it soon, and when i have them both i'll decide, as i find them both well within my capabilities

[Aurelio]

If you are not going to consider other pieces I strongly recomend you to choose the Rachmaninoff Prelude because it's a complete piece (not a sucession of excerpts)

In my opinion, when you plan to play the Rach. 3, at least you must play a entire movement, not a "copy/paste" mosaic that would cause that Rachmaninoff shakes in his grave.

We still don't know what other pieces have you been working on this year

[frederic]

i don't like the sound of that Rach 3 exerpts. You really should learn a proper complete piece. Wait a few years before studying the Rach 3 properly. Well, there's absolutely nothing wrong with liking it. But there are just so many things you can enjoy. I mean, say, you listen to a piece to death because you love it so much. But no matter how familiar or how much you like it, it was still once a new piece for you. So why not go on the search for more pieces thats unfamiliar to you?
So if you listen to more things you haven't heard before, that prelude wouldn't be the only piece you like.
I am in no way discouraging you from learning that prelude. But personally I don't like it because im sick with that piece. Too many people plays it.
But if you still want to choose from these too things i would say the prelude.

[pskim]

nobody that i know of in my school plays it, and more importantly, i like the song.

Please!!! They are not songs!  They are pieces, not songs!  Pianists do not play songs.  

And yes, I think there is nothing wrong with learning a piece that everyone knows and plays.  If you like it, go ahead and learn it.  It is a masterpiece.  Have fun.

[rachfan]

Whenever they speak of a piece as a "song",
we have to remind them again they are wrong.

If only they would refer to the correct musical form,
we'd be happy, since it's really the norm.

So if they will call a song a song and a piece a piece,
only then will our harping cease!

[rachfan]

Nemo,

Best to learn a real masterwork that will forever be part of your repertoire.  It will be of vastly greater value to you than a paraphrase of excerpts that will be "a flash in the pan".  So if you are going to invest your time, learn a piece of serious music, not a fluff piece.  The Prelude in c# is a warhorse to be sure, but intrinsically a great work too.  Go ahead and learn it if you are fully capable of performing it.  A good rule is to only play in public what you can play very well.  Be aware too that Rach wrote 23 other Preludes, some of which are as good or better, plus a posthumous prelude.  As you continue studying, you'll eventually want to explore and perform less hackneyed pieces.  There is a bit more leeway in interpretation, and audiences like hearing seldomly performed works too.    

[frederic]

i was just getting around to comment on about calling pieces songs.

At the moment i am not too interested in the basic piano repertoire. I am constantly checking out more music that are not too well known.
Nemo, if you like that prelude that much, i say you should go for it.

[JTownley]

nemo, why does it have to be one or the other? There are several Preludes by rachmaninoff that you could play if you have the technical capacity to do the c#-minor. Look at his Op. 23 #4(or is it 5 - hmm! I play the damn thing, go figure) in D and #6 in E-flat major. Beautiful - heavenly music, both of them (& romantic -sounding enuff to make the girl's heads at school swoon when they hear you playing it, you head rocking back and forth as you stare intently at the keyboard in a hypnotic trance of restrained passion!!) Definitely go for those! (wow! I'm hot just thinking about it!)
https://www.JoeTownley.com  Lots of piano videos!

[88keys]

As others already said, stay away form that "Exerpts from Rach 3"!

Either you play a piece, or you don't. Practicing on some cheesy arrangement of a monumental piece is simply wasting your time - no teacher is going to approve such an arrangement for a recital, and rightly so.

And if you really like Rachmaninoff, take the time to familiarize yourself with the authentic Rach 3, by listening to it. Once you get to know the original  piece a little better, you'll realize how pointless those exerpts really are.

[Nemo]

wow a lot of responses. well to start off. i have the complete concerto, both music AND score. i know it by heart, every hum and every chord, in my mind. the problem is, its just TOO monumental for me...
this Excerpt piece, it wraps up all the most memorable parts of the concerto, and it sounds awesome. its a great way to give a resume of the concerto in 5 minutes, you know not everyone has 40 minutes to listen to one piece.

however you have convinced me to strive for the prelude first. like i said before i dont care how many people play it, i wanna play it:-) i checked on that prelude in d major, i had it on my computer, it does sound good but i still wanna try the one in c# minor.

i have also seen a lot of "look for other music" comments. i'm what you'd call a computer freak, i have over 1000 songs, and around 300 piano pieces, so i know my bit. i've heard a lot of pieces and i've read lots of composers, but that doesnt change what i want to learn. thats why i asked about those two, and not "what song should i learn".

thanks for all the advices, i'll take them all into consideration

[88keys]

Nemo, you should be aware that classical pieces cannot be "exerpted" without loosing the essentials of the piece.

A classical piece is not just a collection of themes. It has a structure, which combines them in a specific way.

Any second-rate song writer can compose a decent theme. The geniousity of the great composers lies in their ability to combine various themes into a unified structured peace, be it a symphony, a sonata or a concerto.

If all you see in Rach 3 are the themes, than I'm afraid you don't really know the piece well. You might know every chord and every note, but not the piece as a whole.

Confession time: I am not very familiar with Rach 3, myself. I am, however, familiar with many classical and romantic pieces (including Rachmaninoff), and have yet to encounter a piece where the overall structure didn't play a crucial role. I would be very surprised if Rach 3, a 40-minute long piece loved by experts and amateurs alike, would be an exception to this rule.

[JTownley]

And that (as they say) is that!