# Contemporary Era Piano Solos



## CepiAltan (Aug 15, 2014)

As an orchestra member, both playing and listening, I love the music of composers such as Tchaikovsky, Gershwin, Stravinsky, Mahler, Shostakovich, etc....

Does anyone know of piano solo composers from a similar era that have music similar to that?
Im struggling to find classical piano music I like to play...I often find it either too slow or too light and dance like, and I'm looking for more of the dramatic middle ground that will be more similar to the orchestral music I like. Can anyone help?

(I realize dramatic middle ground is sort of an oxymoron....I'm looking for music that is energetic and fun to play, but not as dance like as a lot of music I have played)


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## Guest (Aug 15, 2014)

Are you asking for good contemporary solo piano music or contemporary solo piano music that apes the composers you mentioned?


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## fugueforthought (Nov 28, 2013)

Hrmmm... 
First, I'm no expert. 
I would be interested to hear what music you have played that you _don't_ like... and what you _are able_ to play. Can you play the Chopin etudes in your sleep or do you break a sweat with the Hanon exercises?
Also, dance like?
Some of my favorite "dramatic" solo piano compositions are Julius Reubke's piano sonata (quite similar to Liszt's Bm piano sonata, which is also a wonderful work), but these are two quite demanding, large-scale works. For something dramatic and more contemporary, what about Scriabin's middle sonatas? Again, these are very advanced works, far beyond my playing ability, but I do love them. Check out Scriabin's third piano sonata. 
For something not so technically challenging but (what I find to be very interesting to listen to and play), check out Erik Satie. I quite like his _Gnossiennes_ and some other stuff. 
I find your request a bit vague, but perhaps just do a lot of listening. Ravel (Sonatine, Gaspard de la Nuit), Prokofiev's piano sonatas, Chopin's, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Alkan, Debussy, Medtner, Liszt... these are some of my favorites.


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## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

CepiAltan said:


> As an orchestra member, both playing and listening, I love the music of composers such as Tchaikovsky, Gershwin, Stravinsky, Mahler, Shostakovich, etc....
> 
> Does anyone know of piano solo composers from a similar era that have music similar to that?
> Im struggling to find classical piano music I like to play...I often find it either too slow or too light and dance like, and I'm looking for more of the dramatic middle ground that will be more similar to the orchestral music I like. Can anyone help?
> ...


I agree with arcane. It's not clear what you're asking. Do you want solo piano music from late 19th/early 20th (i.e. the same period as the composers you cited)? Or contemporary (i.e. composers who are still alive and writing)?

For the moment, you might consult the long list of recommendations on this thread: http://www.talkclassical.com/33021-can-someone-recommend-me.html

Scriabin, for instance, was a contemporary of Mahler. He is neither too slow or too light. He is also very challenging to play. Rachmaninov's piano works (his Preludes, his Etudes-Tableaux) are from the same period. They are hardly "too slow or too light or dance like." I could cite dozens of others, but check out that thread. If I have misunderstood, please clarify.


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## CepiAltan (Aug 15, 2014)

arcaneholocaust said:


> Are you asking for good contemporary solo piano music or contemporary solo piano music that apes the composers you mentioned?


I think either, really. 
Honestly, its hard to explain exactly what I'm looking for, since I haven't found anything quite like what I want yet. I don't want to sound uncultured or ignorant, but the problem I'm having is that most of the classical piano solos I have played I have found boring. I know its not that I don't like classical music, as I mentioned before, there is so much classical orchestral music that I love. 
The best way I can describe it is a sort of metaphor, in the same way that the string quartet music of Haydn is so different from the music of George Gershwin, I feel like in the field of classical piano solo music all I have found so far is the music on Haydn's end of the spectrum. I know this still doesn't really make it clear what I'm looking for, but I don't so much care who the composer is or what time period it is from, I am just looking for something more exciting to play that is still classical piano.


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## CepiAltan (Aug 15, 2014)

@fugueforthought
Thank you! Listening through your suggestions, they sound better than anything else I have found so far....I will give them a try. Also thank you for the list of composers, I have been trying to listen to different things but it was hard to search without a starting place, so that will be very helpful.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

You may investigate Rorem, Glass, Rzewski, Part, Adams, Hamelin, Gulda, Jarrett, Magle, Nyman.:tiphat:


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Earl Wild wrote a sequence of piano etudes based on Gershwin songs, as did Michael Finnissy. Other things that came to mind, when I tried to thought of orchestral colours and drama are Bartok's Out of Doors suite and sonata, some of the pieces in Prokofiev's Visions Fugitives, Ferneyhough's Lemma-Icon-Epigram, Baraqué's sonata, Scriabin's Vers la Flamme, some of the pieces in Messiaen's catalogue d'oiseaux (or indeed 20 regards - but maybe it's musically less interesting), Michael Finnissy's History of Photography in Sound, Stockhausen's 10th Klavierstuck and George Flynn's Trinity.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Perhaps Carl Vine's first piano sonata? It's not contemporaneous with the composers you mention but you might find something in it you're possibly after.


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Hmmm = I wonder if this the sort of thing you seek?






Maybe Prokofiev too for something more astringent






(then Debussy and Ravel and Bartok because they are great obviously) - just get on youtube and explore

But then you throw in "contemporary" (which is really different to the composers you mentioned) - do any of these contemporary works tickle your fancy?






















(dang, that's some good music right there)


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## CepiAltan (Aug 15, 2014)

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions! I found many of them helpful


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