# Masterpieces of the 20th-Century (Solo) Piano: One by One



## Alypius

Almost every morning, I begin by listening to solo piano works, sometimes just a single composition, sometimes a full album's worth. And so my question:

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE 20TH-CENTURY COMPOSITIONS FOR SOLO PIANO?

One proviso: *Please recommend no more than one composition per post.*

And please post comments about it -- brief ones, long ones, no matter. For example: 
*What do you personally enjoy about it? 
*What is a favorite performance of it?
*If you yourself are a pianist and have played it, what insight has playing it given you?
*If you have studied something about it, what insight has the reading about it given you?

NOTE: *Why only one composition per post? *I guess that I want to slow things down. I would like to savor each work. I plan to listen, as much as possible, to what people recommend. I generally don't find dashed-off lists very helpful. I find it more helpful if people advocate for fewer things and explain why. As for my own favorites, I'll post some of my own today and in the coming days. I hope others will do the same. Thanks.

Last week I began a similar thread on 19th-century piano works:
http://www.talkclassical.com/34057-masterpieces-19th-century-solo.html
I hope you might consider posting recommendations there as well.


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## hpowders

Charles Ives, Concord Piano Sonata.
Recommended performance-Easley Blackwood.
Haunting.


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## hpowders

Vincent Persichetti, Piano Sonata No. 10.
Recommended performance-Geoffrey Burleson.
Haunting.


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## hpowders

Sergei Prokofiev, Piano Sonata No.7.
Recommended performance-Sviatoslav Richter.
Haunting.


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## hpowders

Aaron Copland Piano Sonata.
Recommended performance-Easley Blackwood.
Haunting.


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## ptr

Leaving out those composers that where born in the 19th century...

John Cage and Olivier Messianen are two whose piano music I listen to with regular intervals, Ligeti and Steve Reich have written some fun pieces, I will always have a few Russians like German Galynin, Leon Ornstein and not least Shostakovich in my baggage..

Call me in about 200 years and I'll give You a hint if anything they wrote was a masterpiece!

/ptr


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## Alypius

Let me begin with a somewhat lesser known masterpiece:

Prokofiev: _Visions fugitives_, op. 22 (1915-1917).

Favorite performance:
Steven Osborne, _Musorgsky: Picture from an Exhibition / Prokofiev: Visions Fugitive, Five Sarcasms_ (Hyperion, 2013).










I bought this record because I was looking for a fine recent performance of Mussorgsky. What I discovered was this gem--or rather, set of gems--by Prokofiev. Prokofiev's _Visions fugitives_ is a collection of 20 miniatures. The Russian title, _Mimolyotnosti_, means "things flying past" or more figuratively "transciences." It plays off a poem by the Russian symbolist poet Konstantin Balmont. Here's an excerpt:

In every fugitive vision
I see whole worlds:
They change endlessly
Flashing in playful rainbow colors.

The symbolist inspiration parallels the symbolist inspiration of many of Debussy's piano works. This is probably Prokofiev in his most Debussy-like mood. He's temperamentally rowdier, noisier than Debussy both here and in general. These 20 works are brief gems, and a good gateway into his larger, more formidable (and more brilliant) Piano Concertos and Piano Sonatas.


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## Alypius

ptr said:


> Leaving out those composers that where born in the 19th century...
> 
> John Cage and Olivier Messianen are two whose piano music I listen to with regular intervals, Ligeti and Steve Reich have written some fun pieces, I will always have a few Russians like German Galynin, Leon Ornstein and not least Shostakovich in my baggage..
> 
> Call me in about 200 years and I'll give You a hint if anything they wrote was a masterpiece!
> 
> /ptr


ptr, Could you write about just one work by one composer? (Please note the opening post). Thanks.


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## ribonucleic

Messiaen - Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jesus
performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard


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## starthrower

What's the criteria for establishing a work as a masterpiece? I don't play the piano, so I wouldn't know. I do like Dutilleux's piano sonata, as well as the piano music of Prokofiev, Bax, Ligeti, Bartok, Hindemith, Ravel, Scriabin, and some of Messiaen's pieces. I should have some Takemitsu in my collection, as I enjoy many of his other works.


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## Alypius

ribonucleic said:


> Messiaen - Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jesus
> performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard


ribonucleic, Thanks. Why do you enjoy these or recommend these?


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## Morimur

*Michael Finnissy: The History of Photography in Sound*

View attachment 51181


_Review by PrestoClassical_

This is no less than a seminal and milestone recording in modern piano music. The awesome Michael Finnissy's 'History of Photography in Sound', a five and a half hour epic of genius, was recorded in several sessions between 2004 and 2006.

This cycle is much more than just a musical representation of pioneer photographers - only one section directly relates to such: the title refers to 'photography in sound' - i.e. the representation in music of events, people, places, cultures, and above all, philosophies. It is the recording for which Métier have had more requests than any other, and in all fairness to composer and pianist, should find itself in every recommended list of contemporary music.

The 100 page booklet contains a detailed essay of doctorate standard by Ian Pace.


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## Alypius

starthrower said:


> What's the criteria for establishing a work as a masterpiece? I don't play the piano, so I wouldn't know. I do like Dutilleux's piano sonata, as well as the piano music of Prokofiev, Bax, Ligeti, Bartok, Hindemith, Ravel, Scriabin, and some of Messiaen's pieces. I should have some Takemitsu in my collection, as I enjoy many of his other works.


Arcane, Could you say something about Dutilleux's piano sonata? Why you enjoy it? recommend it? Please note the opening post. Thanks.


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## Alypius

hpowders said:


> Aaron Copland Piano Sonata.
> Recommended performance-Easley Blackwood.


hp, Could you say something about WHY you enjoy and recommend the works that you did? Thanks.


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## Alypius

Morimur said:


> Michael Finnissy: The History of Photography in Sound


Morimur, Could you talk a little about the work? Who performs it? A bit about the composer? Recommended performance?

[EDIT: Thanks for adding your discussion and recommended performance.]


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## joen_cph

I´ll contribute with *Samuil Feinberg*´s *Sonata 9* (1939), strangely timeless and very modern, "jazzy" in its expression, coupled with the "usual" inspiration and magic from Scriabin.






Very well played by Samaltanos, from the BIS series of Feinberg´s complete sonatas. I don´t think that it can be done_ better_.


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## starthrower

Alypius said:


> Arcane, Could you say something about Dutilleux's piano sonata? Why you enjoy it? recommend it? Please note the opening post. Thanks.


I'll get back to you in 25 minutes after I have a fresh listen.


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## Alypius

joen, Thanks for the recommendations of Feinberg's Sonata #9. It is a remarkable work. I had not heard it before -- nor anything by the composer.










He seems to be another of those remarkable Russian composer-pianists who composed these thundering, intricate virtuoso works, not unlike Scriabin and Medtner and Godowsky and, well, Rachmaninov.

One of the reviewers of this on Amazon remarks:



> Samuil Feinberg's (1890-1962) piano sonatas are some of the best kept secrets of 20th century Russian piano music. Few classical music listeners have even heard of Feinberg. Perhaps his name, hyphenated with Bach's, may appear from time to time on various Bach transcription recordings. Other than that, his original music, notably his 12 colossal piano sonatas, have not been discovered until now. The previous volume in this series showcases Feinberg's first Six Sonatas, where the influence of Scriabin is pronounced. Actually, Feinberg has his own voice and his music is far from derivative. These works are highly virtuosic and the technical demands make even Scriabin's sonatas sound lightweight. Feinberg also treads darker paths of expression with greater depth than Roslavets and a biting potency that surpasses Scriabin.


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## hpowders

Aaron Copland, Piano Variations.
Recommended performance-Gilbert Kalish.
Haunting.


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## Guest

Samuel Barber's Sonata played by Vladimir Horowitz. I love its intensity and I have a fondness for counterpoint, so the last movement fugue nicely fulfills those two elements!


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## Guest

Sorabji's Opus Clavicembalisticum played by John Ogdon. See the above two elements and add overwhelming complexity!


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## starthrower

OK, I just finished listening to Dutilleux's sonata. I don't know how it is regarded along side so many other great 20th century works, but it's definitely a virtuoso piece filled with bold and dynamic percussive elements, flowing continuity, lyrical moments and grace. I can't imagine just any average pianist pulling this off without turning into a bashing train wreck. Maybe it's been poo pooed by modernists and serial music enthusiasts as being old fashioned, but I like it.

I've only heard the Erato performance by Dutilleux's wife. I know another female pianist recorded this piece for the Virgin label.


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## Alypius

Kontrapunctus said:


> Samuel Barber's Sonata played by Vladimir Horowitz. I love its intensity and I have a fondness for counterpoint, so the last movement fugue nicely fulfills those two elements!


Kontrapunctus, Thanks. I share your enthusiasm for Barber's Sonata -- and am listening to the work right now. (Barber seemed to write just one of each genre and each is a gem!) The performance I have is by Marc-André Hamelin. In the liner notes to that performance, Jed Distler writes:



> To Horowitz, Barber was "one of the few American composers who knows how to write for the piano". In turn Barber admitted that his piano writing was influenced by Horowitz's playing, and his teenage studies with the redoubtable Isabelle Vengerova reinforced his own predilection for the Russian style of pianism with its wide colors, subtle tempo fluctuation, and huge sonorities--all quinessential Horowitzian qualities.
> 
> Although the Sonata (commissioned in the autumn of 1947 by Irving Berlin and Richard Rodgers ...) was not specifically written for Horowitz, the pianist's highly acclaimed premier performances during the 1950-51 concert season quickly established the work in the international repertoire, and not just with younger musicians.


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## GreenMamba

William Duckworth's Time Curve Preludes is one of my favorites. Minilamism, or perhaps post-minimalism. Makes use of drones and of the Fibonacci series.


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## hpowders

Claude Debussy, L'isle Joyeuse.
Recommended performer-Sviatoslav Richter.
Haunting.


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## joen_cph

starthrower said:


> OK, I just finished listening to* Dutilleux's sonata*. I don't know how it is regarded along side so many other great 20th century works, but it's definitely a virtuoso piece filled with bold and dynamic percussive elements, flowing continuity, lyrical moments and grace. I can't imagine just any average pianist pulling this off without turning into a bashing train wreck. Maybe it's been poo pooed by modernists and serial music enthusiasts as being old fashioned, but I like it.
> 
> I've only heard the Erato performance by Dutilleux's wife. I know another female pianist recorded this piece for the Virgin label.


Actually these two performances (G.Joy/Erato & A.Queffelec/Virgin) are unusually different from each other in the phrasing. There´s also an Ogdon recording, but as far as I remember I prefer the other two.


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## hpowders

Alypius said:


> hp, Could you say something about WHY you enjoy and recommend the works that you did? Thanks.


Why? Like all works I enjoy, I like the way they sound and how they move me. Sheeesh!!

I will use the code word "haunting" since it is pithier than writing all that.


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## PetrB

Igor Stravinsky ~ _Concerto per due pianoforti soli_ (1935)

I. Con moto
II. Notturno: Adagietto
III. Quattro variazioni
Variazione I
Variazione II
Variazione III
Variazione IV

IV. Preludio e fuga

A monumental work for two solo pianos, it is Stravinsky in full neoclassical mode, and I think one of his masterpieces. The work is redolent with both luscious harmony and exciting counterpoint, and it does require two very technically adept and intelligent musicians to perform it well.

The first movement, a driving _con moto,_ is the first example in the repertoire of an integral use of metrical modulation; the second is an elegant _Notturno,_ mannered, witty and quite beautiful; the set of four variations (the theme from the following fourth-movement fugue) are of great interest; the prelude and fugue finale are very exciting and satisfying.

Of course I realize this is a work for two solo pianos, but it is a 20th century masterpiece, and the composer said he thought it was his favorite of _all_ his instrumental works.

Favored recording: an older one, Paul Jacobs and Ursula Oppens; Nonesuch Records. The pianists consulted directly with Stravinsky about interpretation, and Stravinsky directed them to omit the ultimate chord of the finale and instead to end the piece on the penultimate chord in the printed edition, a revision by the composer not, I believe, documented anywhere else. I do not know if other later recordings include this small but important revision.


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## Alypius

A bit more on Barber's Piano Sonata: From Jed Distler's liner notes from Hamelin's performance of the work:

"The opening movement of Barber's Piano Sonata ... does not firmly establish its home key of E flat minor until the final pages. A pillar-like dotted rhythmic figuration colors its main themes-the first hammered out in gnarly ascending and descending minor seconds, the second taking wing through more lyrical, appegiated gestures. The composer freely employs twelve-tone rows, not so much as organizational devices as much as to keep certain textural patterns fresh in the ear, such as the transition into the second theme (bars 20-22 ...). Towards the end of the exposition Barber thickens the plot by introducing a supporting character in the form of a declamatory repeated-note motif...

Like all sucessful magic acts, the scherzo's nimble demeanor and myriad sleights of hand manage to delight the senses while keeping the audience slightly off balance. Such 'tricks' include flirting back and forth between double and triple metre, playful bitonality, and an occasional, sardonic glance down to the piano's bottom range from the music's high-register perch.

[Concerning the 3rd movement (_Adagio mesto_] the composer's biographer Nathan Broder called this spacious and elaborate lamentation [of the 3rd movement: 'the most tragic of all of Barber's slow movements'. Here Barber's use of tone rows within accompanimental figures and to enance the music's melodic trajectory truly comes into its own. One wonders if the movements imposing passacaglia structure was a response to Barber's intense immersion in Bach at the time of composition ...

The fugal finale, however, aspires to instrumental as well as compositional virtuosity, inspired, no doubt, by the singular abilities of Barber's friend, the pianist Vladimir Horowitz, who had premiered the composer's Excursions for piano solo in 1945. Barber had first conceived the Sonata as a three-movement entity concluding with the Adagio mesto, but Horowitz suggested that the work would sound better if he made 'a very flashy last movement, but with content.'"


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## PetrB

Frederic Rzewski ~ _The People United Will Never Be Defeated!_ (1975)

"a set of 36 variations on the Chilean song _¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!_ by Sergio Ortega and Quilapayún."

This is a set of variations commissioned and written as a companion piece to Beethoven's _Diabelli Variations_, and is just about as formidable as the Beethoven.

For the rest, the Wikipedia entry says enough... 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_People_United_Will_Never_Be_Defeated!
and includes a list of recordings of this big work -- several are by the composer, who is also more than highly esteemed as a truly phenomenal pianist.


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## SilverSurfer

Hello everybody from Barcelona, let me introduce you *Joan Guinjoan*, born in 1931 in the same village than Gaudí (Riudoms, Tarragona) and a former pianist who became composer studying in France.

One of his more complex works is this Au revoir barocco, where he makes a personal comment to the history of piano since the barroc thanks to his knowledge as player:






This is the only video of that piece, played by José Menor, who has recorded recently 2 Cds with almost Guinjoan's complete works for piano (almost, because afterwards the author wrote a little piece dedicated to him), but has been played and recorded also by Rose Marie Cabestany or Horacio Lavandera.


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## ptr

Alypius said:


> ptr, Could you write about just one work by one composer? (Please note the opening post). Thanks.


Sure...

*John Cage* - Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano, Boris Berman on Naxos..

Cage evolves the world of the grand piano in to futurism; A traditional instrument opens up to a completely new sound world!
Berman is a perfect interpreter of this sound world.

/ptr


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## Cosmos

Surprised no one has mentioned Medtner's music. Probably because he's more post-Romantic?

Anyway, one of my favorite is the monstrous "Night Wind" Sonata

*What do you personally enjoy about it? 
It's like the Liszt sonata; cyclic form with many reoccurring motifs. The whole atmosphere of the work is dark, dramatic, and epic. It has so many beautiful moments, and it's the type of work that gets better and better the more you listen to it and catch all the little nuances. 
*What is a favorite performance of it?
As much as I love Hamelin's fantastic recording, Hamish Milne's recording is top notch. Both have their pros and cons, I guess it's just opinion of who interprets it better. Some moments Hamelin does better than Milne, other moments, vice versa.
*If you yourself are a pianist and have played it, what insight has playing it given you?
Nah
*If you have studied something about it, what insight has the reading about it given you?
A lot of people talk about it's enormous difficulty, but I'm more impressed by it's towering complexity. And the title, "Night Wind" and the poem that proceeds the work makes it a very impressionistic piece. Sorabji called it the greatest sonata of the 20th century, if I remember correctly, and I have to agree.


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## hpowders

Anton Webern, Variations, Opus 27.
Recommended performer-Mitsuko Uchida
Haunting.


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## hpowders

Alban Berg, Piano Sonata, Opus 1.
Recommended performer-Maurizio Pollini
Haunting.


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## Guest

SilverSurfer said:


> Hello everybody from Barcelona, let me introduce you *Joan Guinjoan*, born in 1931 in the same village than Gaudí (Riudoms, Tarragona) and a former pianist who became composer studying in France.
> 
> One of his more complex works is this Au revoir barocco, where he makes a personal comment to the history of piano since the barroc thanks to his knowledge as player:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is the only video of that piece, played by José Menor, who has recorded recently 2 Cds with almost Guinjoan's complete works for piano (almost, because afterwards the author wrote a little piece dedicated to him), but has been played and recorded also by Rose Marie Cabestany or Horacio Lavandera.


Thank you for the introduction: I like what I hear! Unfortunately, I can't find the CDs, only MP3 downloads. Do you know a good source for the CDs?


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## SilverSurfer

Thank you for your interest, Kontrapunctus, there are many Cds on any Amazon you search.


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## joen_cph

www.amazon.es has a good deal of such CDs.


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## Alypius

Kontrapunctus said:


> Thank you for the introduction: I like what I hear! Unfortunately, I can't find the CDs, only MP3 downloads. Do you know a good source for the CDs?


Kontrapunctus, Actually I had a little trouble finding the work that SilverSurfer recommended, but it appears on Vol. 2 of Guinjoan's Complete Works. Here's the cover:


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## Weston

Picking one piano piece out of 100 years is next to impossible, so I'll quit trying to make it a perfect choice and just go with Ligeti's Etude No. 13, Book II - L'escalier du diable.

Why? It is highly motivic and gives the illusion on infinite ascent. I mentally picture molecules coming together and combining in different ways in the business of life. Oh, I suppose a staircase image works too. I do not currently have this piece in my collection so I wouldn't know which performer would be best for it. It sounds like a good vehicle for Martha Argerich.


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## GioCar

Morton Feldman: Triadic Memories (1981)

One of the most complex yet simple pieces I have ever heard.
More than 90 minutes of music made of sounds of astonishing beauty. 
Very few notes, a very complex rhythmic structure (just look at the score!) resulting in a very fluent music flow...

One of my most recent discoveries. I fell in love with it, and with most Feldman's music.

Recommended recording? I have just this one:










but I'd like to listen to the one made by its first performer, Aki Takahashi.


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## SilverSurfer

For Ligeti, here you can find a review which compares 3 versions:

http://www.classicstoday.com/review/ligeti-etudes-from-hell/

And regarding Guinjoan's piece, it's also on this Cd (being Cabestany only in Lp), if you search for Lavandera, not for Guinjoan:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0017KVT0W/ref=mp_s_a_1_5_twi_2_twi_2?qid=1410725417&sr=8-5


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## Guest

Alypius said:


> Kontrapunctus, Actually I had a little trouble finding the work that SilverSurfer recommended, but it appears on Vol. 2 of Guinjoan's Complete Works. Here's the cover:


No source that I can find has the CD of Vol.2, including Amazon US, UK, ES, MDT, or Presto Classics. Amazon has Vol.1 as a CD-R and Vol.2 as an MP3, as does Amazon ES. I guess I'll have to live with horrors of an MP3!


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## SilverSurfer

Hello, GioCar, you could try the pianist of Ictus that you will see playing Romitelli:

http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6384


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## SilverSurfer

Something is wrong with your search, Kontrapunctus, they are both in Cd:

http://www.amazon.es/gp/aw/d/B00A1S...5_QL70&qid=1410726589&sr=1-12#ref=mp_s_a_1_12


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## millionrainbows

Samuel Barber, Sonata Op. 26. It sounds modern and Romantic all at the same time. The fast little scherzo (at 7:10) always amazes me. Van Cliburn was my imprint, and he is fine still. Horowitz was the first, and there is a good Hyperion version, but it's too fast to be "perfect." I love Kissin, but he's a little too fast as well.


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## Alypius

Weston said:


> Picking one piano piece out of 100 years is next to impossible, so I'll quit trying to make it a perfect choice and just go with Ligeti's Etude No. 13, Book II - L'escalier du diable.
> 
> Why? It is highly motivic and gives the illusion on infinite ascent. I mentally picture molecules coming together and combining in different ways in the business of life. Oh, I suppose a staircase image works too. I do not currently have this piece in my collection so I wouldn't know which performer would be best for it. It sounds like a good vehicle for Martha Argerich.


Weston, Thanks so much. Please note the opening post. I did _not_ say "one piano piece out of 100 years". I simply asked one work *per post*. So post frequently -- today and over the coming weeks until you run out of recommendations. BTW I love Ligeti's _Etudes_.


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## SilverSurfer

Then, I would also recommend *Bujaraloz by night* by *Carles Santos* (Vinaròs, València, 1.940), pianist and performer and one of the Spanish outstanding personalities in music who went to USA in the 70s and came back with this personal minimalism:






He has been playing this short work as an encore since then, and its title comes from the fact that he had the piece in mind but was not able to complete it, until one night he had to stop the car at the village of Bujaraloz and found the inspiration to give it its definitve form.

By the way, it is almost impossible to recommend any other pianist than himself playing it; may seem easy but I've heard only another one trying to play it and was unable to keep the constant pace...

And it has never been recorded directly on Cd, just reprinted from the original Lp and appearing in several compilations.


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## GreenMamba

Bartok's First Term at the Piano, certainly the best 20c. work a hack like me can play (no, that's not me below).


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## PetrB

Alypius said:


> Let me begin with a somewhat lesser known masterpiece:
> 
> Prokofiev: _Visions fugitives_, op. 22 (1915-1917).
> 
> Favorite performance:
> Steven Osborne, _Musorgsky: Picture from an Exhibition / Prokofiev: Visions Fugitive, Five Sarcasms_ (Hyperion, 2013).
> 
> I discovered was this gem--or rather, set of gems--by Prokofiev. Prokofiev's _Visions fugitives._


Yes, the _Visions fugitives_ are a superb set of miniatures. Ranging in difficulty, they are none the less beloved enough by virtuoso pianists that a good number of them think them worthy of performing and recording. (If one were completely new to Prokofiev, they are a must to add. They are not at all a bad 'introduction' to the composer's works either


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## PetrB

Claude Debussy ~ Études (1915)

Globally famous as some of the more brilliant and intensely virtuosic of solo piano works, there is nothing to add to the collected general near-hyperbolic comments already said about their being both a superb masterpiece as well as technical monsters for even the most pyrotechnical of virtuoso performers.

A listen through will have to take place of anything I might say about them.
Debussy ~ 12 Études; Mitsuko Uchida, piano.


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## brotagonist

Olivier Messiaen
Catalogue d'Oiseaux
Peter Hill

This is the only recording I have ever heard, so Peter Hill will have to suffice 

I enjoy the bird songs and how the birds in the vicinity of my balcony appear to come alive and begin to sing when I am listening to it  I am a fan of Messiaen's music and this is possibly his longest solo piano work. The research that went into studying the many bird calls and the settings (other birds in the region where the featured bird lives; impressions of the environment, etc.) is fascinating. It is not an easy piece, by any means, but worth endless repeat listens.


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## PetrB

Poulenc ~ Nocturnes

Poulenc's eight nocturnes were written over a good number of years, yet go together more than well as a recital / concert program. The writing is idiomatically perfect, Poulenc being a virtuoso. On that virtuosity, Poulenc said it sometimes got in his way of writing music not driven by mere virtuosity, and that is the case with the nocturnes, which are 'difficult enough' without at all being pieces of technical display, but where the music came first.

The variety of type and the quality of the writing contribute to this collection counting, to me, as 'masterly.'

Gabriel Tacchino is my recorded pianist of choice with these.
The links are nos. I-IV, then V-VIII


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## PetrB

GioCar said:


> Morton Feldman: Triadic Memories (1981)
> 
> One of the most complex yet simple pieces I have ever heard.
> More than 90 minutes of music made of sounds of astonishing beauty.
> Very few notes, a very complex rhythmic structure (just look at the score!) resulting in a very fluent music flow...
> 
> One of my most recent discoveries. I fell in love with it, and with most of Feldman's music.
> 
> Recommended recording? I have just this one:
> 
> [Triadic Memories ~ Pascal Berthelot, piano]
> 
> but I'd like to listen to the one made by its first performer, Aki Takahashi.


Here is a link to Takahashi's recording of _Triadic Memories_ (duration: 1'00'25'')





There are these other Feldman piano works, each a similar extensive dialogue:
_For Bunita Marcus_ ~ this performance lasting 1'11'20''




and his _Palais de Mari,_ also written at the request of Bunita Marcus, who after happily receiving _For Bunita Marcus_, wanted a briefer piece she could practically program as one piece among several in recital.
_Palais de Mari_
with pianist Aki Takahashi


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## Alypius

Cosmos said:


> Surprised no one has mentioned Medtner's music. Probably because he's more post-Romantic?
> 
> Anyway, one of my favorite is the monstrous "Night Wind" Sonata ... Sorabji called it the greatest sonata of the 20th century, if I remember correctly, and I have to agree.


Tonight I went back and listened to several of Medtner's Sonatas, including what Cosmos recommended. Let me highlight another one:

Medtner, Piano Sonata in B flat minor ("Sonata Romantica"), op. 53/1 (1932).

Performance: Marc-André Hamelin, _Medtner: Complete Piano Sonatas_ (Hyperion, 1998)










Nikolai Medtner (Russian: Никола́й Ме́тнер) (1880-1951) was a brilliantly-skilled, backward-looking composer. He was ill at ease in the 20th century for all sorts of reasons -- political and aesthetic. Like Stravinsky (whose music he despised) and Rachmaninov (with whom he was friends), he spent the majority of his years after the Russian Revolution living as an exile in the West. He moved to London in 1936 and spent his last years there. He was a romantic stuck in the 20th century and composed in a fashion that reminds me of Chopin at his most extravagent. In terms of virtuosity, he is a kindred spirit of Scriabin. As for the biographical context of this work:



> "In four connected movements, the Sonata Romantica dates from 1930, when Medtner was living in Paris (where the music of his bête noire, Stravinsky, was very fashionable). In the atmosphere of the time, the 'romantic' of the title, echoing the Romanza first movement, can perhaps be seen as a gesture of defiance by one of the old guard against modernists who rejected the expression of emotion in music. The sonata was written during a desperately difficult period in the composer's life, the cheque for his recent North-American tour having bounced, leaving him unable to pay his debts (a predicament from which he was rescued by the ever-generous Rachmaninov). These worries seem to be mirrored in the work's prevailing mood of apprehension and quiet menace."-Barrie Martyn (from the liner notes of the Hyperion edition).


The opening movement (Andantino con moto) is in terms of melody deeply evocative and remarkably tender, Chopin-esque in many ways. The movement as a whole is rich in design, elegantly crafted -- and feels almost symphonic in its grandeur. The 2nd movement, a scherzo, is restless, rhythmically elaborate, the sort of melody and intricacy favored by the young Prokofiev. The 4th movement (Finale) has a ringing just-right-ness, a dance-like feel. Here I disagree with Martyn's dour assessment. There is a wonderful playfulness in this finale. BTW, here's a YouTube of it:


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## Alypius

hpowders said:


> Charles Ives, Concord Piano Sonata.
> Recommended performance-Easley Blackwood.
> Haunting.


Normally, I devote evenings to symphonic works, but tonight, following hp's recommendation, I listened to: 
Ives: _Piano Sonata #2 (Concord, Mass., 1840-1860)_ (1911-1915).
Performance: Marc-André Hamelin (New World Records, 1989).












> "Marc-André Hamelin recorded what for many listeners remains the reference recording of the Concord Sonata (New World)... His poetic rendering of The Alcotts has a wholly apt, Chopinesque grace, and he's one of the few pianists to make a noticeable effort to scale down his dynamics for Thoreau."--David Hurwitz (_Classics Today_)


Several years ago, I was privileged to see Hamelin perform Ives' _Concord Sonata_. It remains one of the most powerful concert experiences that I have ever had. Just listening to the work gives one the feeling not only of its symphonic grandeur but also its virtual un-play-ability. There is simply so much going on simultaneously. And yet Hamelin played it -- effortlessly would be too strong, but with a deep ease and long-standing familiarity that allowed him to let its expressiveness shine through.

It's a quirky piece: boldly experimental in its harmonies, thorny at times, lyrical at others. It bangs out quotations, notably from Beethoven's 5th. And yet, for all its strangeness and mannerisms, it is deeply moving, not a hodge-podge but authentic. It is a conjuring of New England -- its rocky soil and gracefully aged houses and village squares, its literary aspirations and its laconic soft-spokenness. Here is the opening page of the score -- a glimpse of its marvelous dissonance:


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## SilverSurfer

For those interested in more works for piano by *Joan Guinjoan*, before or instead of buying Cds, you can listen to the complete concert played by José Menor here:

http://digital.march.es/clamor/es/fedora/repository/atm:6049

The main works there are Dígraf, Jondo (based on Flamenco) and Verbum.

And if you want to go further, there are other concerts in that website with Guinjoan's works (just search for Guinjoan), specially Flamenco for 2 pianos, which I bet will be a huge surprise for anyone interested.


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## hpowders

Alypius said:


> Normally, I devote evenings to symphonic works, but tonight, following hp's recommendation, I listened to:
> Ives: _Piano Sonata #2 (Concord, Mass., 1840-1860)_ (1911-1915).
> Performance: Marc-André Hamelin (New World Records, 1989).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Several years ago, I was privileged to see Hamelin perform Ives' _Concord Sonata_. It remains one of the most powerful concert experiences that I have ever had. Just listening to the work gives one the feeling not only of its symphonic grandeur but also its virtual un-play-ability. There is simply so much going on simultaneously. And yet Hamelin played it -- effortlessly would be too strong, but with a deep ease and long-standing familiarity that allowed him to let its expressiveness shine through.
> 
> It's a quirky piece: boldly experimental in its harmonies, thorny at times, lyrical at others. It bangs out quotations, notably from Beethoven's 5th. And yet, for all its strangeness and mannerisms, it is deeply moving, not a hodge-podge but authentic. It is a conjuring of New England -- its rocky soil and gracefully aged houses and village squares, its literary aspirations and its laconic soft-spokenness. Here is the opening page of the score -- a glimpse of its marvelous dissonance:


Try to hear Easley Blackwood in the Ives if you can.


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## Alypius

These were the works and performances recommended yesterday. I’ve listed them in chronological order.

Debussy: L'isle Joyeuse (1904). Performance: Sviatoslav Richter.
Berg: Piano Sonata, op. 1 (1910). Performance: Maurizio Pollini.
Scriabin: Piano Sonata #6, op. 62 (1911). Performance: Dmitri Aleexev, Marc-Andre Hamelin.
Medtner: Piano Sonata in E minor (“Night-Wind”), op. 25/2 (1911). Performance: Hamish Milne.
Debussy: Études (1915). Performance: Mitsuko Uchida.
Ives: Piano Sonata #2 (“Concord”) (1915). Performance: Easley Blackwood, Hamelin, Kissin.
Prokofiev: Visions fugitives, op. 22 (1917). Performance: Steven Osborne.
Poulenc: Nocturnes (1929-1938).
Sorabji: Opus Clavicembalisticum (1930). Performance: John Ogdon. 
Medtner: Piano Sonata in B flat minor (“Sonata Romantica”), op. 53/1 (1932). Performance: Hamelin.
Copland: Piano Variations (1932). Performance: Kalish.
Stravinsky: Concerto per due pianoforti soli (1935). Performance: Paul Jacobs & Ursula Oppens. 
Webern: Variations, op. 27 (1936). Performer: Mitsuko Uchida.
Feinberg: Piano Sonata #9 (1939). Performance: Samaltanos.
Copland: Piano Sonata (1939-1941). Performance: Easley Blackwood.
Prokofiev: Piano Sonata #7 in B flat major, op. 83 (1942). Performance: Sviatoslav Richter.
Messiaen: Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jesus (1944). Performance: Aimard
Cage: Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano (1946-1948). Performance: Boris Berman.
Dutilleux: Piano Sonata (1947-1948). Performance: Quefflac, Joy.
Barber: Piano Sonata (1949). Performance: Vladimir Horowitz.
Persichetti: Piano Sonata #10, op. 67 (1955). Performance: Burleson.
Messiaen: Catalogue d'Oiseaux (1956-1958). Performance: Peter Hill
Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated! (1975). Performance: Rzewski.
Duckworth: Time Curve Preludes (1977-1978). Performance: R. Andrew Lee.
Guinjoan: Au revoir barocco (1980). Performance: José Menor.
Feldman: Triadic Memories (1981). Performance: Pascal Berthelot.
Santos: Bujaraloz by Night (1984).
Ligeti: Étude #13, Bk. II (1994). Performance: Pierre-Laurent Aimard.
Finnissy: The History of Photography in Sound (2003).


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## SilverSurfer

Sorry, Alypius, Bujaraloz by night was released on 1.984, although now I don't know the exact year of composition.


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## violadude

Scriabin's 6th sonata. This sonata is somewhat underplayed (and so probably under-listened to). I love how Scriabin uses a few relatively small, and angular motifs to build the music up slowly over 11 or so minutes. The culmination and climax is wonderfully nightmarish. The harmonies get very deep (deep in sound, not philosophically deep). From the very first chord it sounds like it came from the depths of the earth, imo. I love the contrast between the ecstatic sections and the stoic sections. They compliment each other really well in this beautifully dark and eerie concoction.

The only notable performance I could find on Youtube was the one by Vladimir Ashkenzy. I'm not sure if I like it too much though. I think he puts forth too much at once. I wish he would hold back a little more near the beginning and bring out some of the more lugubrious qualities of figures like the one at 1:26. Although, the way he chose to do it does make the musical line a little more continuous and the way I am used to (and suggesting here) makes that phrase a little more disconnected from what came before, so I can see his reasoning.






The recording I have is the Ruth Laredo one. I am satisfied with this recording for now but I've heard it's not so good and her interpretations aren't very authentic so I don't know if I would necessarily recommend it. So I really don't know which one to recommend.


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## Alypius

SilverSurfer said:


> Sorry, Alypius, Bujaraloz by night was released on 1.984, although now I don't know the exact year of composition.


Thanks. I edited in the date.


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## Alypius

violadude said:


> Scriabin's 6th sonata. This sonata is somewhat underplayed (and so probably under-listened to). I love how Scriabin uses a few relatively small, and angular motifs to build the music up slowly over 11 or so minutes. The culmination and climax is wonderfully nightmarish. The harmonies get very deep (deep in sound, not philosophically deep). From the very first chord it sounds like it came from the depths of the earth, imo. I love the contrast between the ecstatic sections and the stoic sections. They compliment each other really well in this beautifully dark and eerie concoction.
> 
> The only notable performance I could find on Youtube was the one by Vladimir Ashkenzy. I'm not sure if I like it too much though. I think he puts forth too much at once. I wish he would hold back a little more near the beginning and bring out some of the more lugubrious qualities of figures like the one at 1:26. Although, the way he chose to do it does make the musical line a little more continuous and the way I am used to (and suggesting here) makes that phrase a little more disconnected from what came before, so I can see his reasoning.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The recording I have is the Ruth Laredo one. I am satisfied with this recording for now but I've heard it's not so good and her interpretations aren't very authentic so I don't know if I would necessarily recommend it. So I really don't know which one to recommend.


violadude, I became deeply fascinated by Scriabin's piano music a couple of years ago. You're right about less attention being given to the 6th. I presume that you've heard all 10 of the sonatas. The 2nd and the 5th are my favorites, but all, except maybe the 1st, are remarkable in one way or another. You mentioned Laredo's performance. Horowitz's performances of Scriabin are highly esteemed, but I can't see where he ever worked through the sonatas as a set. (I also get frustrated with their sound quality). The set I have and enjoy immensely is Marc-André Hamelin's. I've heard Dmitri Aleexev's (on Brilliant), which is a bargain ($6 download, $6 for 2 CDs @ Amazon sellers). I also have and enjoy Yevgeny Subdbin's collection (a mix, but includes Sonatas 2, 5, and 10).


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## starthrower

There's been plenty of discussion here about Scriabin sonatas and the pianists. The purists say you must hear Sofronitsky's recordings, because he is the closest link to the composer. I have the Laredo and Maria Lettberg sets.


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## joen_cph

There´s a very unusual recording of Scriabin´s 1st Sonata by Szidon (DG), adding more broadness as well as drama than others, and thus making it a substantial work, IMO.


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## violadude

The finale of Scriabin's 1st sonata is one of the only things I can play pretty well on the piano.


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## Blancrocher

joen_cph said:


> There´s a very unusual recording of Scriabin´s 1st Sonata by Szidon (DG), adding more broadness as well as drama than others, and thus making it a substantial work, IMO.


I listened to this on spotify awhile back on your recommendation and now have a copy--I agree it's a special performance. It's funny: I'd more or less given up on Szidon as a result of some unhappy purchases in the past, but you never know sometimes.

Thanks for the tip!


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## Torkelburger

This leaves me speechless, every time I hear it. Hamelin performs:


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## Torkelburger




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## Torkelburger




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## Torkelburger




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## millionrainbows

hpowders said:


> Try to hear Easley Blackwood in the Ives if you can.


I put forth Bojan Gorisek as my favorite, an I've heard all of the others. Ralph Kirkpatrick (not on CD yet) might still be better.


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## PetrB

William Bolcom ~ Twelve New Etudes (1977 -1986) is another kind of magnum opus set of real tests for a pianist, and some wonderful writing.


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## GioCar

Since no-one has mentioned one of the icons of the 20th century so far, I'll do, in opposition to my previous post on Feldman's Triadic Memories.

Pierre Boulez: Piano Sonata No 2 (1948), played by Maurizio Pollini










It's a very stimulating experience to listen to Feldman and Boulez consecutively.


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## ptr

Beat Furrer - Drei Klavierstücke (Nicholas Hodges/Kairos)

Very much starts as a play with staccati versus silence, minimalist with out the repetitive samesameness one may associate with minimalism and the second and third movement evolves in to an expressive counterplay with more emphasis on cresendi looking for resolve.

/ptr


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## Mahlerian

GioCar said:


> It's a very stimulating experience to listen to Feldman and Boulez consecutively.


Not simultaneously, though!

I kid. Boulez has praised Pollini's playing quite a bit. Do we know what the composer's own interpretation of this work was like?


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## Badinerie

I suppose I'l go for the Rachmaninov vote. Someone has to  Conservative choice maybe but the Preludes opus 32 (1910) mean a lot to me. especially No 12. in G sharp minor.


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## DeepR

Badinerie said:


> I suppose I'l go for the Rachmaninov vote. Someone has to  Conservative choice maybe but the Preludes opus 32 (1910) mean a lot to me. especially No 12. in G sharp minor.


Let's not forget no. 10. And I'd recommend Richter every time for the Rachmaninov preludes (the ones he recorded, that is).


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## DeepR

Roslavets - Three Etudes Op. 14 (1914) by Hamelin, especially no. 2


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## Alypius

DeepR said:


> Roslavets - Three Etudes Op. 14 (1914) by Hamelin, especially no. 2


I've not heard Roslavets before, but I gather that he is another of those wonderfully eccentric Russian pianist-composers. Is this the record by Hamelin that you're referring to?










Could you say some things about Roslavets' music? Thanks.


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## PetrB

Poulenc: _Promenades._ (The ten pieces of the suite are 'about' various modes of transportation 
I. A pied. Nonchalant 
II. En auto. Très agité 
III. À cheval. Modéré 
IV. En bateau. Agité 
V. En avion. Lent 
VI. En autobus. Trépidant 
VII. En voiture. Très Lent 
VIII. En chemin de fer. Vif 
IX. À bicyclette. Vite 
X. En diligence. Lent






They are great fun, a pleasure to listen to. Not having seen a score, I imagine they are equally fun for the performer. The pieces are all relatively brief, and within this suite you will find some of Poulenc's driest and sometimes brittle-sounding bitonal writing.


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## Cosmos

I can't believe I forgot about Busoni's Fantasia Contruppuntistica! It's a marvelous, but difficult work, but the payoff is worth multiple listens.
The concept: Busoni (one of Bach's #1 fans) did his own "completion" of the unfinished Contrapunctus XIV. In the usual Busoni fashion, he finished it by turning it into a half an hour piano fantasy that defies conventional tonality and threatens to spiral out of control. Part 1, he took one of his earlier published elegies, re-works it a bit, and presents it as a prelude. then, Bach's music comes in, slightly modified here and there. Then, where Bach leaves off, Busoni continues and completes. Then, we go to part 3, which is basically a combo-fugatto-fantasy off of the Contrapunctus, and includes quotes from the prelude that opened the work. It's quite the wild ride and thoroughly enjoyable.

*What do you personally enjoy about it? 
It's a very fascinating combination of Baroque music and Modern music. The technique required to play it is astonishing. And it helps remind me that Busoni was a very, very smart musician. It's a cool piece that has epic moments, though if you're a Bach purist you may wince at the thought.

*What is a favorite performance of it?
John Ogdon, no contest. 

*If you yourself are a pianist and have played it, what insight has playing it given you?
Nope, not in this lifetime

*If you have studied something about it, what insight has the reading about it given you?
I haven't studied much about it, other than just reading a few program notes. Fun fact, the premiere was here in Chicago.
Edit: Fun fact no. 2: This piece inspired Sorabji to write his infamous Opus Clavicembalisticum, and you can catch a bit of quotes from Busoni's work in the opening

Anyway, in case it's not obvious how much I love this work, I HIGHLY recommend giving it a listen


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## ptr

Cosmos said:


> I can't believe I forgot about Busoni's Fantasia Contruppuntistica! It's a marvelous, but difficult work, but the payoff is worth multiple listens.


I would have mentioned it but I decided only to recommend pieces by composers born in the 20th century.

The Contruppuntistica is over all one of my absolute favourite piano works!

/ptr


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## EdwardBast

Prokofiev's Piano Sonata no. 8 in B-flat. This is my favorite of Prokofiev's sonatas for several reasons. First, are the gorgeous, lyrical melodies. Second, it is fully integrated thematically and dramatically. Nearly all of the themes come back in the finale and there are more subtle connections as well. Also, it is densely contrapuntal in a way that produces some of the most adventurous harmony Prokofiev ever wrote. Another quality I admire is that it is labyrinthine, so elaborately interwoven that one can get lost in it as in some fantastic Alhambra-like palace. Among my favorite passages is the magical incantation that occurs first at 4:29 in the performance linked below and which reappears at several points throughout the sonata. I feel it is the most essential element in the whole work, but I haven't made a hard and fast case for how this might be so.

This pianist, Boris Giltberg, whom I hadn't heard before I went searching for a performance of this sonata, does an excellent job of clarifying the structure and its complex inner connections.


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## Alypius

EdwardBast said:


> Prokofiev's Piano Sonata no. 8 in B-flat. This is my favorite of Prokofiev's sonatas for several reasons. First, are the gorgeous, lyrical melodies. Second, it is fully integrated thematically and dramatically. Nearly all of the themes come back in the finale and there are more subtle connections as well. Also, it is densely contrapuntal in a way that produces some of the most adventurous harmony Prokofiev ever wrote. Another quality I admire is that it is labyrinthine, so elaborately interwoven that one can get lost in it as in some fantastic Alhambra-like palace. Among my favorite passages is the magical incantation that occurs first at 4:29 in the performance linked below and which reappears at several points throughout the sonata. I feel it is the most essential element in the whole work, but I haven't made a hard and fast case for how this might be so.
> 
> This pianist, Boris Giltburg, whom I hadn't heard before I went searching for a performance of this sonata, does an excellent job of clarifying the structure and its complex inner connections.


Boris Giltburg released a superb performance of the three "War Sonatas" a couple of years ago (Orchid Classics, 2012).










Review here:


> "Giltburg brings them right up to date with playing of terrific panache and personality, digging deep into the fabric of the music to illuminate its emotional content and harnessing an authoritative bravura to underline the savagery and nervy energy that the scores often convey...These are powerful, intuitive performances, executed with stylistic understanding and arresting presence."-The Telegraph (31st August 2012). Rating: ***** (of 5)


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## EdwardBast

Alypius said:


> Boris Giltberg released a superb performance of the three "War Sonatas" a couple of years ago (Orchid Classics, 2012).


Not surprised. What immediately attracted me to this performance is how well it was planned. For example, he derived the tempo beginning the central section of the finale by rendering its quotations of the Andante sognando (second movement) in their original tempo. I've never heard anyone do that before but it is exactly right. I thought I understood all of the connections in the work already but Giltberg's performance taught me a few things. Smart player.


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## PetrB

Luigi Dallapiccola ~ _Quaderno musicale di Annalibera (Musical Notebook of Annalibera)_

A set of eleven (I believe) pieces, covering a wide array of musical / emotional characteristics, say from the intensely darkly dramatic to a simple song-like lyric melody over an arpeggiated accompaniment, where others of them are densely sophisticated contrapuntal music -- all written using the 12-tone technique. They are "Italianate" in adhering to both generally very lyric, and they each seem to embody an innate sense of psychology as expressed via music (expression of states, moods, communicated to the listener.)

They are a milestone of sorts, and often come up in music training (they were gone through rather completely in my later harmony class) demonstrating not only that serial music could (of course) be lyrical, but they were also chosen as a very clear model of 'ways to write,' being a find model of its individual pieces being so clearly one dramatic, the other lyric, etc.


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## SeptimalTritone

PetrB said:


> Luigi Dallapiccola ~ _Quaderno musicale di Annalibera (Musical Notebook of Annalibera)_
> 
> A set of eleven (I believe) pieces, covering a wide array of musical / emotional characteristics, say from the intensely darkly dramatic to a simple song-like lyric melody over an arpeggiated accompaniment, where others of them are densely sophisticated contrapuntal music -- all written using the 12-tone technique. They are "Italianate" in adhering to both generally very lyric, and they each seem to embody an innate sense of psychology as expressed via music (expression of states, moods, communicated to the listener.)
> 
> They are a milestone of sorts, and often come up in music training (they were gone through rather completely in my later harmony class) demonstrating not only that serial music could (of course) by lyrical, bat also chosen as a very clear model of 'ways to write,' as well the individual pieces so clearly being one dramatic, the other lyric, etc.


That's a wonderful piece, and Dallapiccola in general is one of the great composers of the mid 20th century!


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## PetrB

SeptimalTritone said:


> That's a wonderful piece, and Dallapiccola in general is one of the great composers of the mid 20th century!


A very fine composer, indeed. So many write off serialism, i.e. they think it will _all_ sound like early 20th century Germanic-style expressionist fare (and to be fair, a lot of those who picked up serialism in the mid-century 'went there.') [any 'system' or scale is in the hands of the composer, and just as common practice allowed such a huge variety of music and styles, so does serial practice.] Dallapiccola remained 'very much himself, a lyrical composer, before and after his adopting / adapting the serial mode of writing.


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## Torkelburger

PetrB said:


> A very fine composer, indeed. So many write off serialism, i.e. they think it will _all_ sound like early 20th century Germanic-style expressionist fare (and to be fair, a lot of those who picked up serialism in the mid-century 'went there.') [any 'system' or scale is in the hands of the composer, and just as common practice allowed such a huge variety of music and styles, so does serial practice.] Dallapiccola remained 'very much himself, a lyrical composer, before and after his adopting / adapting the serial mode of writing.


Did you see the Stefan Wolpe video in post 68? Wonderful serial writing. Very musical. The climax is stunning imo.


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## PetrB

Torkelburger said:


> Did you see the Stefan Wolpe video in post 68? Wonderful serial writing. Very musical. The climax is stunning imo.


If you mean at around the nine-minute mark, that annoyed me, loaded with octaves (which, yes, pianos do better than about anything or any things else) and octaves with fourths or fifths within them, all something to pretty much -- in principle -- to avoid but for a touch here and there when 'in serial mode,' because they are such another sort of texture.

[The other annoying bit to me is _that_ pianist, whom I hear as a musical typist and nothing more... I'm convinced nearly 0 music comes out of the instrument whenever he plays, no matter what he plays.]


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## Torkelburger

PetrB said:


> If you mean at around the nine-minute mark, that annoyed me, loaded with octaves (which, yes, pianos do better than about anything or any things else) and octaves with fourths or fifths within them, all something to pretty much -- in principle -- to avoid but for a touch here and there when 'in serial mode,' because they are such another sort of texture.
> 
> [The other annoying bit to me is _that_ pianist, whom I hear as a musical typist and nothing more... I'm convinced nearly 0 music comes out of the instrument whenever he plays, no matter what he plays.]


Well, I enjoyed the interpretation. Octave writing is widely accepted in serial music outside of the Austrian/German tradition (George Rochberg, William Walton, in their second symphonies off the top of my head), I'm sure many more (Wolpe is considered American I believe).


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## Alypius

Badinerie said:


> I suppose I'l go for the Rachmaninov vote. Someone has to  Conservative choice maybe but the Preludes opus 32 (1910) mean a lot to me. especially No 12. in G sharp minor.


Today's listening, the "conservative choice" as Badinerie calls it (I also enjoy "liberal" and "radical" choices):

Rachmaninov: Preludes, op. 32 (1910):
Performance(s): Vladimir Ashkenazy (Decca), Stephen Osborne (Hyperion, 2009)'

















I found an overview over on the Rachmaninov thread. So in this case, let me steal Edward Best's excellent (as usual) commentary:



EdwardBast said:


> I would say his music is, by and large, anything but vague and impressionistic. In fact, his major works are some of the most intricately unified and carefully organized music I know. Often every idea in a movement will derive from a very small number of motives. And his finales almost always tie up every thread in the earlier movements. This aspect of his work is rarely recognized, however, because his melodies sound self-sufficient and spontaneous, even when they serve such unifying functions - they almost distract one from seeing the inner workings.
> 
> Much of his popularity is due to his melodies, which are in a Tchaikovskian vein. (Tchaikovsky was his mentor and the head of the Moscow Conservatory when Rachmaninoff studied there.) Many of them rise in successive waves and unfold over as much as two minutes.
> 
> His style is also characterized by what has been called polymelody - His textures tend to be dense, with several secondary lines having their own sense of purpose. He was accomplished at contrapuntal writing and occasionally wrote complex fugal sections (the finale of the Third Symphony, for example), or fugatos (scherzo of the 2nd symphony).
> 
> His piano miniatures (24 preludes in all keys, two sets of Etudes Tableaux, etc.) are especially good and diverse, many of them inspired by poems, pictures or natural phenomena, though he rarely indicated the sources. He wrote some excellent collections of songs as well. Far from being vague, almost every one of these little pieces has a definite high point and a clear dramatic arc.
> 
> He nearly stopped composing after 1917 (except for six opuses). The works from the 1913 on were getting more harmonically adventurous. See especially the Etudes Tableaux Op. 39 and the songs Op. 38.
> 
> To sum up: He is probably closest to Tchaikovksy, though with the added influence of Brahms and Wagner.


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## worov

I love this piece by Alan Hovhaness. The harmonies sound esatern. Completely different from what I usually hear in classical contemporary music.


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## TurnaboutVox

Time I made a contribution to this thread.

I am surprised to see that no-one has yet recommended Alban Berg's piano sonata, op. 1 (?1907-8 or 9), so let me do so now. I love this sonata with its typical Bergian chromatic romanticism. It is quite 'haunting'. actually!

I have several versions in my collection, but I think none is better than Peter Hill on Naxos.












> Alban Berg's Piano sonata is his only piano work given an opus number (Op. 1). He wrote it during the years 1907 and 1908, but it was not published until 1911.
> 
> The sonata is not in the typical classical form of three or four contrasting movements, but consists of a single movement centered in the key of B minor. However Berg makes frequent use of chromaticism, whole-tone scales, and wandering key centers, giving the tonality a very unstable feel. The piece is in the typical sonata form, with an exposition, development and recapitulation, but the composition also relies heavily on Arnold Schoenberg's idea of developing variation, a method to ensure the unity of a piece of music by deriving all aspects of a composition from a single idea. (Wikipedia)


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## GioCar

TurnaboutVox said:


> Time I made a contribution to this thread.
> 
> I am surprised to see that no-one has yet recommended Alban Berg's piano sonata, op. 1 (?1907-8 or 9), so let me do so now. I love this sonata with its typical Bergian chromatic romanticism. It is quite 'haunting'. actually!
> 
> I have several versions in my collection, but I think none is better than Peter Hill on Naxos.


Do not overlook our coolest poster


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## Alypius

TurnaboutVox said:


> Time I made a contribution to this thread.
> 
> I am surprised to see that no-one has yet recommended Alban Berg's piano sonata, op. 1 (?1907-8 or 9), so let me do so now. I love this sonata with its typical Bergian chromatic romanticism. It is quite 'haunting'. actually!
> 
> I have several versions in my collection, but I think none is better than Peter Hill on Naxos.


Following Turnabout's and hp's recommendations, last evening I played the version that I have, namely, by Mitsuko Uchida. That recording is best known for her performance of Schoenberg's Piano Concerto, but the "filler" has a variety of gems, including the Berg sonata. I don't have Pollini's or Hill's version, but will explore them sometime soon. I find Turnabout's description of it as "chromatic romanticism" wonderfully exact. It's one of Berg's works that I know less well. As I revisited it last night, it struck me that it's a pretty amazing opus 1. It's also typical of him, full of shifting moods and passions--anguish, searchings and yearnings, contemplative tranquility--yet skillfully executed in compositional terms. It's a great work, and unfairly overlooked.


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## Mahlerian

I love Uchida's recording of the Webern Variations on that disc, and it's a shame she didn't record the Schoenberg Suite...which I suppose I should do now.

Schoenberg - Suite for piano, op. 25









Schoenberg's Suite is a whole number of things. It's the first piece using a single 12-tone row from start to finish, it's a modernist take on a Baroque dance suite, it's a collection of all sorts of moods and characters, and, far from intellectual or dour, it's mostly rather playful, though perhaps a bit manic and mischievous.

It consists of five movements:
Prelude
Gavotte with Trio
Interlude
Minuet
Gigue

The tone row, concluding with the notes B-C-A-Bflat, or H-C-A-B in German, is from the beginning an indication of where the inspiration came from, though the Interlude takes on a more reflective Neoromantic character (it was started before the rest of the piece). As with the Waltz concluding the Five Piano Pieces Op. 23, the rhythms of the dances are taken more figuratively than literally, and the underlying pulse is constantly shifting, like a written out rubato. The final gigue is filled with a boundless energy that seems to boil over into its repeat and then, when it can't be contained anymore, into its concluding section (complete with the sudden entry of a new version of the row not heard before).


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## Mandryka

Elliott Carter, Night Fantasies. 

What I like most about this is that it's a really good impressionistic representation of a sleepless night, or rather, a night of bad sleep. Very accessible, at least if you can access Carter's quartets - easy to fall in love with. 

I think I have heard every performance ever recorded of it. It's Rosen's recording which I associate most with this piece, but that's just a personal thing maybe - Rosen's piano playing nearly always appeals, I'm not sure why. Others I recommend without hesitation are Stephen Drury and Pierre Aimard.


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## TurnaboutVox

GioCar said:


> Do not overlook our coolest poster


His post was so pithy that I completely overlooked it - humblest apologies to him


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## Mandryka

Mahlerian said:


> I love Uchida's recording of the Webern Variations on that disc, and it's a shame she didn't record the Schoenberg Suite...which I suppose I should do now.
> 
> Schoenberg - Suite for piano, op. 25
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Schoenberg's Suite is a whole number of things. It's the first piece using a single 12-tone row from start to finish, it's a modernist take on a Baroque dance suite, it's a collection of all sorts of moods and characters, and, far from intellectual or dour, it's mostly rather playful, though perhaps a bit manic and mischievous.
> 
> It consists of five movements:
> Prelude
> Gavotte with Trio
> Interlude
> Minuet
> Gigue
> 
> The tone row, concluding with the notes B-C-A-Bflat, or H-C-A-B in German, is from the beginning an indication of where the inspiration came from, though the Interlude takes on a more reflective Neoromantic character (it was started before the rest of the piece). As with the Waltz concluding the Five Piano Pieces Op. 23, the rhythms of the dances are taken more figuratively than literally, and the underlying pulse is constantly shifting, like a written out rubato. The final gigue is filled with a boundless energy that seems to boil over into its repeat and then, when it can't be contained anymore, into its concluding section (complete with the sudden entry of a new version of the row not heard before).


Be sure to check this live one from Gould if you can (it's on spotify), very expressive, more conventional than the studio one. Am I right to think that this is intended to be expressionistic music - very deep emotionally, touching on the subconscious and stuff like that, very unconventional sounding? And hence that's what we should be on the look out for in a performance?









I know three different recordings from Gould - there may be more.


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## Mahlerian

Mandryka said:


> Be sure to check this live one from Gould if you can (it's on spotify), very expressive, more conventional than the studio one. Am I right to think that this is intended to be expressionistic music - very deep emotionally, touching on the subconscious and stuff like that, very unconventional sounding? And hence that's what we should be on the look out for in a performance?
> 
> View attachment 52018
> 
> 
> I know three different recordings from Gould - there may be more.


I've heard that one and the studio one on Columbia, where he takes the Intermezzo at half of Schoenberg's tempo marking, which I am more familiar with. Gould's is great, and the Intermezzo truly does seem otherworldly at that slow clip, but I would only want it as a second choice, because I feel Pollini's polyphony is a bit cleaner and his rubato is a little less extreme. The other thing that's interesting about Gould's version is the way he brings out the backwards B-A-C-H motif wherever it appears, so you can start to hear it as a motif even when it's deep in a three or four-part texture.


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## Mandryka

Mahlerian said:


> I've heard that one and the studio one on Columbia, where he takes the Intermezzo at half of Schoenberg's tempo marking, which I am more familiar with. Gould's is great, and the Intermezzo truly does seem otherworldly at that slow clip, but I would only want it as a second choice, because I feel Pollini's polyphony is a bit cleaner and his rubato is a little less extreme. The other thing that's interesting about Gould's version is the way he brings out the backwards B-A-C-H motif wherever it appears, so you can start to hear it as a motif even when it's deep in a three or four-part texture.


It's Gould's rubato which makes me prefer it to either of the two Pollini recordings - partly because I think this piece, indeed quite a lot of Schönberg, deals with very strong, very powerful emotions.


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## Jobis

Hindemith's Ludus Tonalis, a set of 24 preludes and fugues (after Bach, but with an extra 'Postludium', making them 25 pieces in all) showcasing his developments of a new tonality.

They are quite charming! Some very beautiful, haunting even, others jovial and sweet. Well worth a listen.


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## Ian Moore

Brian Ferneyhough's Lemma-Icon-Epigram.


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## OlivierM

I would recommend Déodat De Séverac's Cerdana (1908-11), especially Les Fêtes, Souvenir de Puigcerda.
Interpret would be Jordi Maso, on Naxos.
Its fluidity, its cristal clear registry, the deep emotions it carries, coupled with unexpected ornamentations, which doesn't make it so easy a piece. Definitely worth a try, it's very beautiful.


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## Stavrogin

Alypius, if it is not too much work for you, may I ask you to keep an updated list of all the suggestions in the opening post?
Same with the other thread (19th century).
it would great


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## Stavrogin

Suprisingly, Arvo Part is still not mentioned here.

Fur Alina (1976) is a stunning, calmly thoughtful piece of piano music, and one of the pinnacles of Part's _tintinnabuli_ style.
Here is the obvious ECM recording with Alexander Malter on piano, who fully translates its both soft and crystal-clear nature.


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## Mandryka

Wound by George Flynn.

I like this because it's so very very horrible, like King Lear or the Oresteia or something. Like this music is about no hope, total disillusion. It's the complete antithesis of romantic consolation, the exact polar opposite of Chopin's third sonata. A musical denial of humanity, zero affirmation of life. 

There are two commercial recordings - the composer's and Frederic Ullén's. Has anyone heard George Flynn's? Is it worth buying (he praised Ullén's, which may be technically better.)?

It's on youtube.


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## PetrB

Charles Koechlin. ~ _Les heures Persanes_ (16 pieces for piano solo: duration, 1 hour.)

_This work may be better known as later orchestrated by Koechlin,_ but it seems that recently [100 years after it was composed] it has become a piece more pianists are presenting in recital.

From Wiki ~ "it's entirely typical of Koechlin that although the piece is harmonically extremely audacious for its time (1913-19), the music is so subdued that you might not be aware of its frequent polytonal or atonal basis."


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## Dutchman

Ravel Miroirs. Especially the third movement.


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## hpowders

Vincent Persichetti Piano Sonata #10.


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## Dirge

Charles T. GRIFFES: Piano Sonata (1917-1918, rev. 1919)
William Masselos [M-G-M/Naxos Classical Archives, 1957(?)] 





While not obscure, Charles T. Griffes's Piano Sonata doesn't get a whole lotta love (as Led Zeppelin is wont to say) and is often overlooked. It always gets mentioned when discussing the best American piano works, yet aside from William Masselos and Garrick Ohlsson (and perhaps a few others that I don't know about), big-name pianists have managed to avoid it … on record, at least. The work is abstract, angular, dissonant and is based on its own scale, which sort of resembles D minor; it represents an abrupt and drastic change from Griffes's rather Debussyan/impressionistic earlier output. Superficially, the Sonata sounds like an isolated and unexpected stepping stone between Scriabin's "Black Mass" (Piano Sonata No. 9) and Copland's Piano Variations-two works that I would otherwise never think to put in the same sentence-conveying something of the diabolical atmosphere of the former via the etched-in-stone angularity of the latter, and adding an almost Lisztian sense of wandering/journeying to the dramatic narrative for good measure. Indeed, some of it, the slow movement especially, sounds as if it could be from «Années de pèlerinage, Quatrième année: Amérique».

Masselos gives a strong, rugged, relatively volatile performance with a great sense of sweep & momentum and dramatic impulse. His playing is anything but fussy, but it's always sufficiently clear and detailed-and even poetic when need be. That said, his somewhat rough-and-ready brand of virtuosity won't be to all tastes. Modern performers tend to put more emphasis on clarity and detail and less on sweep & momentum and drama. I much prefer Masselos's way here, as he puts the music across as if it were conceived in one inspired fell swoop, its parts coalescing into an inseparable (and somewhat intractable) whole to a greater degree than in any other account that I've heard. For a contrasting take on the Sonata, try the newish recording by Garrick Ohlsson on Hyperion: a thoughtful and poetic yet clear-headed affair that's played with tremendous authority-it's certainly the best played account you'll encounter, and you'll hear some details and colors that are sacrificed to an extent by Masselos.


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## Dirge

Béla BARTÓK: 3 Études, Op. 18 (1918)
Jerome Lowenthal [Pro Piano]









These diabolical little piano pieces are not under-appreciated, but they're neglected because they're so brutally difficult to play, let alone play well. The 1st Étude features a chromatic blizzard of alternating seconds & thirds and ninths & tenths that result in a wonderful oscillating sense of harmonic struggle and instability; superficially, it might make you think of "The Chase" from _Out of Doors_, if only fleetingly. The 2nd Étude features a beautiful chromatic melody and a wide array of ever-changing arpeggios; it has something of a "night music" atmosphere about it, with all manner of insidiously sophisticated harmonic transformations taking place in the glittering chromatic moonlight. The Molto sostenuto section of the 3rd Étude features a perpetually moving left hand laying down a foundation of fast-moving sixteenth-notes played in complex irregular rhythms, with time signatures changing almost every measure; this constant regrouping of notes results in an ever-changing pattern of accentuated notes, which results in an ever-changing pulse. While all that is going on, the right hand plays irregularly and asymmetrically spaced staccato chords that hop, skip & jump across the sixteenth-notes like a cat on a hot tin roof. (That's my dubious understanding of what's going on after reading all the descriptions of this Étude that I could find. For the most part, however, it remains magic to me.)

I recommend the Jerome Lowenthal recording on his superb all-Bartók album on Pro Piano. His somewhat lean and mean playing is mind-bogglingly precise and a wee bit severe, embracing internal conflict/struggle and bringing out the angular and abstract aspects of the music rather than trying to soft-sell them.


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## dgee

Tristan Murail's Territoire de l'Oubli (1977) - a massive spectralist work that keeps knocking my socks off


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## Dirge

Aaron COPLAND: Piano Variations (1930)
Easley Blackwood [Cedille]





Interestingly, but not all that surprisingly given the work's modular feel, Copland wrote each variation of his Piano Variations out of context with the rest and only collated and fitted them together after the fact, when, as he put it: "One fine day when the time was right, the order of the variations fell into place."

Blackwood approaches the Variations with all the tolerance and casual disregard of an Incan stone mason, savvily crafting the individual variations with such finely chiseled precision that no mortar is needed to hold them together. The resulting performance is as uncompromising and imposing as you'd expect, with structure and form being one and the same. The only other pianist I could imagine pulling off, or even attempting, such a lithic performance is Charles Rosen. When I want a more varied and flexible performance, I turn to Kalish on Nonesuch, but when I want a performance that will stand up to enemy attack and earthquakes and all manner of weather and will last a millennium or more, I turn to Blackwood. Fittingly, the Cedille CD is made out of a thin slab of granite rather than the usual polycarbonate.


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## Selby

Alan Hovhaness (1911-200)

Bardo Sonata, Op. 192 (1959) -

A stunning, transcendental piece.

I. 



II. 



III. 












From the performer:

" 
Bardo Sonata. Here the atmosphere is different: already in the title Hovhaness informs the performer that "Bardo refers to the 'After Death State' described in the Tibetan Book of the Dead". Well, as a performer I never saw a subtitle of this kind! It means perhaps one should study a little Buddhism and reflect on that while preparing this piece - it is a piece about you, about us, not only a "good old sonata" to be played on the stage. In the first movement we find a technique that I found only in some Ligeti or in Nono: melody by subtraction. Hovhaness starts from an accord and builds a melody not by adding notes, but 'removing' notes from it. The result is a strange melodic mood always in diminuendo. After a small jhala - thirty seconds! - Hovhaness gives us a superb quasi-improvisatory piece with the third movement, the Hymn to Amida. Melody by subtraction and by harmonics sounding compose a still and shiny texture. Why is this sonata not in the repertoire of a good number of pianists? Is it lacking some features of "contemporary music"? On the contrary, this is a very good piece, dated 1959, in which Hovhaness tried to go beyond traditional writing and piano technique. 
"


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## Selby

Alan Hovhaness (1911-200)

Journey to Arcturus, Op. 354 (1981) -

A fantasy story, a mythopoetic masterpiece.

I. 



II. 



III. 



IV. 



V. 



VI. 




View attachment 65923


From the performer:

" 
The title already suggests a journey beyond human capability. The choice of Hovhaness is to build a sort of programme for this imaginary journey, but this is not a simple programme music. Hovhaness starts with a Lullaby - you can find some lullabies in his sonatas, an interesting aspect to study - that leads the listener to a quiet mood. A modal Vibration fugue follows.

It is a concept typical of Hovhaness: a fugue with a theme made up of repeated notes, the theme must literally 'vibrate' and so the fugue moves not only in the harmonic and counterpoint side but also internally, each note carries a big tension and each modulation and each entry of the theme adds more tension. After that a Nocturne follows and we find the mysterious atmosphere of the beginning. This is the preparation for the journey because the fourth movement Jhala for Star Journey is the emotional climax of the sonata. The jhala is an Indian form based - I'll keep the whole thing extremely simple - on an upper line of repeated notes with a melody interjected: of course the performer must keep in relief the melody while the repeated notes are in the background.

Besides this an ostinato drone in the bass line accompanies at regular lapses of time, not the classical four or six. This jhala uses the piano in a very percussive manner - so exploiting a piano characteristic - with chromatic passages: the drone is based on major seventh intervals (and fourths) while the melody is of a mysterious chromaticism. Sometimes changes of time and meter culminate in polymodal episodes until the very peak: an outburst of minor seconds - witness the relationship with both the theme and the seventh of the drone - starting from the extreme low octave of the keyboard, reaching the highest octave and coming back at a high speed. The 'flat' jhala restarts after a fermata and fades away in a completely mysterious way. To save the listener from this abyss, Hovhaness provides a sad but plain Love Song.

Finally another jhala, chromatic and playing with the major-minor modes, ends the sonata. With this Jhala for Arcturus we have finally reached the star, but we don't know if we are safer than before. Well, after this simple description - hardly an analysis and it cannot replace a listening, of course -

I pose this simple question: how can we judge a sonata like this? Why did Hovhaness call it "sonata"? Which meter of aesthetic judgment can we use for this kind of music? I do not have all the answers but I can say that the whole construction, the balance of the "hot points" with the quiet moments, the consistency of the material used in the different movements and the peculiar use of the oriental structures - not in a pictorial way, but in a real musical way - rank this sonata at a very high level in Hovhaness's output.
"


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## Albert7

No Morton Feldman what?

Triadic Memories I will add to this list. Righting the wrong here.


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## 20centrfuge

*Prokofiev Piano Sonata No.4 *in C minor, especially with Barbara Nissman (recording). It is difficult to describe this piece in words (me not so good with words). But I will try:

First movement is dark and brooding, intense, but also rather reckless and carefree. Tough to explain. There are little bits of humor here and there and the music is quite lyrical. On the whole I would say that no4 is Prokofiev's most lyrical piano sonata. As much as I love 6-8, no4 is a perfect gem of a piece.

Second movement: a more passionate movement (to my ears) than the first movement. This is the soul of the piece. To be descriptive at the risk of sounding like an idiot: it is like a person who is out for a evening walk in the cold but the thoughts are of a wistful nature (melancholy with yearning). Prokofiev doesn't really let the music ever wallow in itself and get too sentimental, as perhaps Rachmaninoff would. Instead he gives brief moments of real pathos followed by angry moments (as if the person were reproving himself/herself). There are some gorgeous moments to this music.

Third movement: Angular leaping melodies with "wrong notes." Prokofiev loved those Major/minor seconds and throws them in occasionally. He (Mr. Prokofiev) has a devious character in much of his music. This is a prime example. The music is quite optimistic, vigorous, with some sudden changes of character that are fantastic.

Please give this piece of music a few listens and I think you will agree that it is an under-rated classic of the 20th century piano repertoire.

That is all.

PS just now heard a recording of Evgenia Rubinovna and I would say she really "gets" this music.


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## 20centrfuge

*Hindemith Piano Sonata no2*
Allison Brewster Franzetti, Piano

One of my absolute favorites by Hindemith. The 3rd movement rivals the opening of Mathis der Maler for beauty. 1st movement is very tuneful and rhythmically metered music. All in all, just a great piece.

As a trumpeter, I performed Hindemith's Sonata for Trpt and Piano and I was always so jealous of the pianist because of the brilliant writing - deliciously complex. This piece is like that.


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## 20centrfuge

*Copland Piano Sonata*

To my ears, a more dissonant work than the most popular of Copland's works. 
A haunting work that I love more every time I hear it.


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## 20centrfuge

*George Benjamin's Shadowlines*, performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard.

This piece feels like a modern day descendant of the Copland Sonata. It has a similar harmonic sensibility albeit with greater rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic complexity. At times the music is also quite sparse. I have to say that Aimard is such a badass. He is such a great interpreter of new music.


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## Albert7

Feldman's Palais de Mari is also just incredible on the solo piano.


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## Selby

dgee said:


> Tristan Murail's Territoire de l'Oubli (1977) - a massive spectralist work that keeps knocking my socks off


I just listened to this.






I just bought this.


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