# Looking for solo piano romantic/modern repertoire



## danae

Don't worry, there are other restrictions too: I am looking for solo piano repertoire from Schubert until 1945. Preferably cycles of smaller pieces (for instance Brahms's opp. 116-119). The level of difficulty you can tell by the following: I can play a Mozart sonata, or a Bach partita, a Ravel G major or a Grieg or a Shostakovitch concerto, all Beethoven sonatas, though the Appassionata and the op.111 with hesitation. I know I can never play Liszt, or a Rachmaninov or Tchaikowsky concerto, or most of the Liget etudes. 

I think you can tell what my level is by reading the above.


----------



## Herzeleide

I'm sure you could try some of Liszt's moderate pieces, like the wonderful _Consolations_. Lots of things spring to mind - maybe Messiaen's _Préludes_?


----------



## Taneyev

Try something funny like Gottschalk. Besides, nobody plays it anymore.


----------



## danae

Herzeleide said:


> I'm sure you could try some of Liszt's moderate pieces, like the wonderful _Consolations_. Lots of things spring to mind - maybe Messiaen's _Préludes_?


I think I 'll stay away from Liszt altogether. I don't want to mess up my wrists in the effort, and besides he doesn't sweep me off my feet anyway. As for Messiaen, great suggestion. I have the Preludes. They are really nice, a little bit reminiscent of Debussy but it doesn't matter. They seem playable too. So Messiaen Preludes: added to the list.

What else?


----------



## danae

Taneyev said:


> Try something funny like Gottschalk. Besides, nobody plays it anymore.


That's interesting. I don't know him that well. Which piece?


----------



## Taneyev

Anyone. All are very romantic, very pianistics and rather hard technically. 
Or try Albeniz short pieces (not from Iberia, toooo difficult) From the Spanish Suite?


----------



## JSK

Consider looking at some of the Rachmaninoff preludes. They tend to be significantly easier than his concertos.


----------



## danae

Many thanks to all of you. Right now Gottschalk, Albeniz are on my list, although I have to say that Rachmaninov is something I shouldn't embark on, if I want to play something really well. I have both his preludes and his Etudes Tableaux, I've played some too. But the sound volum, the distances, the thick chords and the speed, all seem really intimidating to me. Something like Ravel's Jeux d' eau suits my technique a lot better.


----------



## danae

Oh, I forgot: please don't stop posting whatever piece comes to mind. There may be some neglected masterpieces that I don't know of.


----------



## Tapkaara

Try Sibelius's (often maligned) output for the piano.


----------



## YsayeOp.27#6

You should explore Godowsky's *Triakontameron*. From that set, "Alt Wien" is quite famous.

By Bortkiewicz, you can play some of his Lamentations et Consolations Op. 17, or his Etudes (like the Op.15 Nº 8).


----------



## Air

I don't quite get the guidelines here: You tell me you can play Beethoven's Hammerklavier but you can't play Liszt's Années de Pèlerinage?


----------



## altiste

And why stop at 1945?


----------



## Drowning_by_numbers

Debussy preludes, Messiaen Vingt Regards which you can listen to the first movement of here:






Stunning! These are all French I'm sorry! And another american composer heavily influenced by French music - Charles Griffes The white peacock -


----------



## danae

airad2 said:


> I don't quite get the guidelines here: You tell me you can play Beethoven's Hammerklavier but you can't play Liszt's Années de Pèlerinage?


Well, I don't know the piece but I suspect that all Liszt pieces are unplayble by me, because of distances, volume, stamina, thick chords etc. If that's a piece that doesn't belong to his standard highly technical output, then I figure I can play it. And the Hammerklavier is more musically and technically difficult, in my opinion at least. And it's more technically difficult than the Appassionata, which I said I can't play.


----------



## Herzeleide

danae said:


> but I suspect that all Liszt pieces are unplayble by me


You suspect wrong. I have a book of easy and moderate pieces by Liszt.


----------



## Air

danae said:


> And the Hammerklavier is more musically and technically difficult, in my opinion at least. And it's more technically difficult than the Appassionata, which I said I can't play.


Remember this quote?



danae said:


> I can play... all Beethoven sonatas, though the Appassionata and the op.111 with hesitation.


----------



## danae

airad2 said:


> Remember this quote?


Yes, so? OK I forgot to mention the op.111 again. I consider the Appassionata and the op.111 the most difficult of the 32 and I don't think I can play them, or I can't play them indeed. This topic doesn't concern itself with persision, I'm just posting some rough guidelines for you to have an idea of my technical level. OK?


----------



## Air

danae said:


> Yes, so? OK I forgot to mention the op.111 again. I consider the Appassionata and the op.111 the most difficult of the 32 and I don't think I can play them, or I can't play them indeed. This topic doesn't concern itself with persision, I'm just posting some rough guidelines for you to have an idea of my technical level. OK?


Deal. I'm very sorry for musing over technicality, I'm not one to go around forums nitpicking and aggravating people.

Why not try Poulenc's Nocturnes, Khachaturian Piano Sonata, Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 6, Schumann's Papillons, or Chopin's Ballade No. 1 for starters? These should all be challenging, but certainly not painful. Any Ravel or Scriabin would work as well.

As for Liszt and Rachmaninoff, I will no longer deter this thread but to remind you "never say never." (The technical side of me wants to say Hammerklavier is Op. 106, and you never mentioned that being too difficult )

I'm wondering, is this a requirement for a standardized piano exam? I know in California they moved the requirement for "20th century" to something like 1950-or-so. Anyways, there are so many beautiful pieces out there, good luck! 

Air


----------



## YsayeOp.27#6

You should befriend Liszt through one of the Petrarch Sonnets. The 104, for example.


----------



## danae

airad2 said:


> I'm wondering, is this a requirement for a standardized piano exam? I know in California they moved the requirement for "20th century" to something like 1950-or-so. Anyways, there are so many beautiful pieces out there, good luck!
> 
> Air


No, it's not for an exam. I'm done playing for examiners. This is only for me. I'm trying to build a repertoire for concerts and recitals. And, since my fingers always learn quite slower than my brain does, I want to sit down and study pieces so that, if there's a concerts or a masterclass in sight, I won't have to learn something entirely new, I 'll just have to work on already familiar stuff. 
At the moment, I would characterize my repertoire as "tiny". It consists of less than 12 Bach Preludes and fugues from WTC, 5 Beethoven sonatas, Brahms opp.118 and the Rhapsodies op.79, Scriabin some preludes from op.11, a little bit of Takemitsu, Ravel Jeux d' Eaux, Debussy some preludes, Arvo Part, 20 Scarlatti sonatas, John Cage Bacchanale, and some short pieces of greek composers (for example Konstandinidis)


----------

