# I want to work on SO MANY PIECES!!!



## clavichorder

How can I ever decide? How can I be confident that anything will ever get done since I haven't had a consistent track record with learning pieces in the last two years. The only thing I have to show for two years worth of work are a number of Bach inventions and some classical sonatas, pieces that took me a few days to memorize and then lazily perfected(multiple at once) over the course of months. I want to turn things around. I want to learn five or six pieces by each of the composers I'm currently interested in, and I know pieces that are well within my technical range. What's stopping me...?
sets on my agenda:

5 or 6 easier Medtner Skazki
5 or 6 Mendelssohn songs with words
5 or 6 Chopin Mazurkas
5 or 6 Miniatures by Schumann
5 or 6 Scarlatti Sonatas
5 or 6 Telemann Fantasias
5 or 6 English Virginal Pieces
5 or 6 W.F. Bach Polonaises
5 or 6 Chabrier Pieces Pittoresque

45 to 54 pieces in the next year? One a week? I can technically accomplish this, I hadn't thought of this before, but will I? Hmmm. What can motivate me.

45 sounds like better number than 54, so I'll do 5.


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## Polednice

How do you decide the order in which to do them? My problem would be wanting to do them all at once!


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## clavichorder

I think I'm going to finish the Medtner I'm currently working on, working at a consistent pace instead of an erratic, half hearted one. Then I'm going on to the Mendelssohn. Then so on, perhaps not in order on the list, but till I've gone through every composer/grouping I intend to go through. Then repeat the process and repeat it as many times as I can muster in a year. What a rigid plan. I'm sure its going to not go totally as outlined here, but I'm all worked into a tizzy about it. I'll see what I can do.

Perhaps I'll ultimately just work on what I can work on at the time I'm working on it, but since I feel so behind, grandiosity is the last resort.


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## clavichorder

Well, I just spent a solid 40 minutes on Mednter, that's a start. Perhaps this thread will be my blog that I update from time to time. 

Who knows, maybe I'll have youtubes in the future?


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## Rasa

After a while you may find some of these pieces aren't as interesting as you thought they were.


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## clavichorder

Rasa said:


> After a while you may find some of these pieces aren't as interesting as you thought they were.


Can you specify? I'm not deifying these pieces, I merely don't like to exclusively play pieces in the canon. The only way to know though is to try.

I've been playing the Bach inventions for two years and I still find them interesting. What pieces on my list have lost your interest?

Edit: I think I missed your point, you meant that I might not be nuts about EVERYTHING on my list and my list of pieces to learn might be more refined?


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## Rasa

Yeah. I'm always sight reading and looking into a lot of things that sounded allright when I first heard them, but who then proceed to carry no big musical interest.


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## clavichorder

Rasa said:


> Yeah. I'm always sight reading and looking into a lot of things that sounded allright when I first heard them, but who then proceed to carry no big musical interest.


Fortunately, I have a good and generous piano teacher who knows can do that for me, he can then tell me what he thinks.


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## Meaghan

"I want to work on SO MANY PIECES!!!"
*sigh* Don't we all, m'dear. (I want to play ALL THE BEETHOVEN SONATAS but I probably never will.) Have fun on your odyssey, and don't get discouraged if it takes longer than you would like. That's a lot of music. But a good project.


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## clavichorder

At any rate, I will go to bed(later) pleased with myself even if I didn't practice any more today because I've spent 3 and a half hours practicing Medtner today, which is a marathon compared to the pattern. I may be struggling to memorize half a page of this piece, but I'll give myself a break since its at the start of a characteristically thick and chromatic Medtner development section.


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## Meaghan

Yay! It's such a good feeling when you really have the focus to practice for a nice chunk of time.


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## Air

As long as you don't force yourself to memorize them and have fun with every single one, I'd say that you can't be stopped! 

By 5 or 6 Schumann miniatures, do you mean to play isolated sections from different cycles or focus on one, say Kreisleriana or Davidsbundlertanze? Either way, they are so short and lovely, that it's almost impossible for one to be overwhelmed.

Good luck!


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## clavichorder

I've decided to modify my list. Only 25 in the next year.

5 Medtner
5 Chopin
5 Scarlatti
5 WF Bach
5 Brahms


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## Polednice

Nooooooooooooooooooooo! Do the Mendelssohn!!


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## clavichorder

Polednice said:


> Nooooooooooooooooooooo! Do the Mendelssohn!!


It was Mendelssohn vs. Brahms. Granted, if I have time, I'm especially eager to learn about Mendelssohn. Maybe Mendelssohn can take over from Chopin.

Today's a new day.


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## clavichorder

*If I learn half these pieces, I'll be happy.*

A piano adventure/project for the next year is being undertaken, 25 pieces, starting with Medtner op. 54 number 8, the Beggars Tale. I've decided that I'm going to learn 5 pieces by 5 composers, exploring a/the major form that each composer wrote in. I currently know six Bach inventions and would like to add to my current memorized personal repertoire pieces that will expand my musical experience, technique, and most of all be fun and satisfying to play.

-Five Scarlatti Sonatas
Baroque keyboard pieces, Scarlatti's sonatas were composed with the intention of being technique builders for the Queen of Spain by Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti. These sonatas are usually quite interesting both musically and technically, the Queen must have been no slouch of a keyboardist. Scarlatti has almost always had great pianists as advocates of his music, he is a well travelled and much loved route.






Five W.F. Bach Polonaises.

W.F. Bach the prodigal son, J.S. Bach's eldest. He wrote polonaises, which in his case has a unique meaning unrelated to the romantic polonaises of Chopin and Liszt. The time for the composition of these pieces was well into the classical era, barring the obviously baroque stylistic elements readily percieved in these pieces. With a stylistic foot in the past and the then present, along with an injection of W.F.'s quirky improvisational touches, one might even percieve a sort of proto romanticism. These lesser known pieces are certainly worthy of more attention than they recieve and would sound great on the modern piano.






Five Mendelssohn Songs Without Words

Romantic piano miniatures by Felix Mendelssohn, poetically entitled Songs Without Words. Stylistically these may be termed early romantic. Often very melodic(you'll find yourself humming them), they are also very concise and well put together. The "songs" vary from sweet, to melancholy, to lively, to dramatic.






Five Brahms Intermezzos, Rhapsodies, and other miscellaneous later pieces

The late and middle piano works of Johannes Brahms are sometimes described as old bachelor piano music. This is in part, because Brahms was quite the "old bachelor" at the time he wrote these, but this also seems to hint at the character of these pieces. They are not so melodic in the traditional sense, but when played musically, they have a charm to them, a sort of cranky richness that might appeal to the old bachelor sorts. They appeal to me and I'm no old bachelor, yet.






Five Medtner Skazki(Fairy Tales)

Nikolai Medtner, a Russian composer of German decscent and contempory of Rachmaninoff is perhaps best represented through his piano miniatures known as skazki, a form he invented. Medtner's typically thick and harmonically rich style is given a narrative-like structure in these mostly short pieces. Harmonic richness, and ingeniously developed themes are the more universally attractive aspects of Medtner's music and are best advertised in these pieces, though the uniquely bustling textures can be said to be an aquired taste.






That's it for now.


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## Rasa

> Five Brahms Intermezzos, Rhapsodies, and other miscellaneous later pieces


Speaking from experience, none of the Brahms pieces you mention are anywhere near easy-ish to play. Perhaps I am very much behind the curve or I have a very distorted idea of where you're on it, but I'm playing Brahms' 1st rhapsody for my second semester finals, and I've played the 2nd for my first year in conservatory. If I had to study either one in the space of two weeks... I'm not going to say it can't be done, but I would have to do nothing else for the duration of the weeks and the performance wouldn't be a secure, in-depth one.

If you consider these (and I most definitely include the intermezzi to be "miscellaneous pieces" you are severely mistaken. They are without exception all beefy pieces of serious business. The one person I knew that played the intermezzi was for their first year of their Master's degree, so there you go.

I'd say this is pretty much true for the entire programme: it's very, very, very ambitious. Ofcourse, I don't know your pianistic skill and your situation time-wise. But all of these pieces are levels above Bach inventions.

Apart from the difficulty of these pieces, it's also an enourmous aomunt of music to study in the span of one year.


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## clavichorder

Thanks for you input Rasa. It may well happen that this is too much for me, but I'm going to try. I think there is plenty of manageable material in the later Brahms opus's, but I could always revise to Chopin mazurka's if you recommend, then again, you've gently stated that you think this idea is ludicrous. It may very well be, I'll see how my Medtner goes. Perhaps 1 piece from each of these composers will ultimately be enough.


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## tdc

^Yes, that is quite the list clavichorder. Unless your skills are currently on par with what the late Rachmaninoff's reportedly were I'd say that is a tall order. I think if you can memorize and play well about a half dozen of those pieces within the span of a year - you've done quite well for yourself.


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## CountessAdele

Whether you're up for it or not is beside the point I think, the real benefit of this plan is setting a goal and doing your best to achieve it. Even if you don't quite learn them all in a year if you stay consistant you'll feel like you've achieved something! I think you'll surprise yourself! 

Just remember to not stress out about it and enjoy yourself!


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## clavichorder

tdc said:


> ^Yes, that is quite the list clavichorder. Unless your skills are currently on par with what the late Rachmaninoff's reportedly were I'd say that is a tall order. I think if you can memorize and play well about a half dozen of those pieces within the span of a year - you've done quite well for yourself.


Thanks for your gentle criticism. I say that the best claim I can make right now is that I'm making a fresh start, and this has been pivotal in motivating myself.


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## clavichorder

*Modifying...*

Originally, the plan was to learn six Medtner in one year. I decided this was too confining. But I wanted a continuity between my pieces. I tried to find a compromise between the need to learn six pieces and the need to not stick with one composer, and instead of compromising, I combined. Perhaps the modified list should be in pairs? Maybe one per month. Does this sound like a doable challenge to which I can find some cheerleaders who don't feel like they are encouraging a train wreck? tdc said six. I say 12, one per month. What do others say? The idea is to give me some room to have a life outside the piano.


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## clavichorder

*And in defense of myself*

For all those who wondered if I had all my bolts screwed in right, I was able to memorize each of the Bach inventions 3-5 days, with an average of an hour and a half of work on them daily. These pieces were challenging for me at the time, so I assumed that the following wave of pieces would be similar. But thank you for kindly down sizing me, I think I think I will be able to manage one of my modified goals.


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## tdc

clavichorder said:


> Originally, the plan was to learn six Medtner in one year. I decided this was too confining. But I wanted a continuity between my pieces. I tried to find a compromise between the need to learn six pieces and the need to not stick with one composer, and instead of compromising, I combined. Perhaps the modified list should be in pairs? Maybe one per month. Does this sound like a doable challenge to which I can find some cheerleaders who don't feel like they are encouraging a train wreck? tdc said six. I say 12, one per month. What do others say? The idea is to give me some room to have a life outside the piano.


I think 12 may be reasonable... I average about 5 or 6 new pieces a year, but I have a job and I spend a lot of time working on perfecting pieces I already know. There are a lot of factors. As time goes by I find I am able to learn new pieces faster, but I find I enjoy myself far more and am less cranky in general when I don't place unrealistic goals on myself. I just try and enjoy the process. For music students this may be different as deadlines can loom up forcing one out of their comfort zone etc. Sometimes you just got to roll with whatever is going on in your life at the moment.


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## clavichorder

I haven't been working like a dog due to a few sick days, and getting off my routine. I hope to have the Medtner memorized by next week.


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## kv466

I'm with our good brother Air on this...if you've got the capacity to memorize then I can assure you that your body is not going to quit on you all of a sudden...give everything you can a go...for some, memorizing a couple of Etudes is the way to go...for others, you either learn em all at once or not at all...you just gotta figure which one you are (although we already have an idea) and go from there...you have nothing to lose (i hope) but some time but if you invest it well, the reward will be a million-fold. 

Best wishes on all of your musical endeavors, Mr. Chorder.


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## clavichorder

New Years Routine is kicking into gear. For a while, I was thinking about doing all Medtner this year, but I think I will stick to my plan of 12 pieces by 6 different composers.


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## clavichorder

Changed my mind again, I'm doing a year of Medtner.


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## Klavierspieler

clavichorder said:


> Changed my mind again, I'm doing a year of Medtner.


Are you saying that you're going to do _nothing_ but Medtner?


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## clavichorder

Klavierspieler said:


> Are you saying that you're going to do _nothing_ but Medtner?


Originally that was precisely what I meant. But now its modified yet again. I'm not so tight about plans now that I'm actually working. I'm considering Medtner, Bach, Clementi, Scarlatti as my primary composers to focus on this year.


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