# Short but sweet



## Brad (Mar 27, 2014)

What are some of your favorite pieces that are, say, less than than three minutes long? A video or recommended performance would be nice. 

A wise man once said, "Keep it pithy! I don't have all day!"


----------



## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

hpowders! Where are you?

It's your great opportunity!

:cheers:


----------



## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

Try this:

Shostakovich, Prelude & Fugue in A major, op. 87. While the 1:07 minute Prelude is fine, it's the 2:27 Fugue that is especially remarkable.


----------



## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

"Der Dichter spricht" from Schumann's Kinderszenen


----------



## Alypius (Jan 23, 2013)

A couple of obvious ones:

Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man






Debussy: Girl with the Flaxen Hair


----------



## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

The Russian and Chinese Dances from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker has always been a favorite (I curse all the Christmas movies that try to ruin it for me)








There are several short preludes and fugues from Bach's WTC books
Which reminds me of two Bach works that are lovely
The Gavotte from the fifth French suite




And Menuet in G from Anna Magdalena Notebook


----------



## Brad (Mar 27, 2014)

I love this Echo from Bach's Overture in the French Style, and I love Gould's interpretation.


----------



## Winterreisender (Jul 13, 2013)

Lots of Schubert Lieder come to mind, e.g. this one:






Or this one by Schumann is also klein aber fein


----------



## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

Haydn has a lot of excellent pieces which are short and (very) sweet:






Or one of Haydn's classic Finales:






There are so many .


----------



## Whistler Fred (Feb 6, 2014)

Here's a delightful march written for concert band by Prokofiev.


----------



## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

My calling card for entering this thread.


----------



## Brad (Mar 27, 2014)

So I just realized that I completely stole KenOC's thread idea


----------



## Svelte Silhouette (Nov 7, 2013)

Chopin's waltz in D-flat major, Op. 64, No. 1 - it may only be minute but small can be beautiful as I keep telling Erin Doors :tiphat:


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

GioCar said:


> hpowders! Where are you?
> 
> It's your great opportunity!
> 
> :cheers:


I'm watching. I'm watching. :tiphat:


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Meanwhile, one of my favorite pieces Debussy's La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin from preludes, book one, usually takes just under three minutes.

For some reason, YouTube is not allowing sharing of their links. I had a few good performances to choose from.


----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Igor Stravinsky ~ _Double Canon_ (Raoul Dufy In Memoriam) -- 01'27''





Elliott Carter ~ _Canon for 3_ (in memoriam Igor Stravinsky) -- 01'15''





Anton Webern ~ _Sonata for 'Cello and Piano_ -- 02'06''


----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Vaneyes said:


> My calling card for entering this thread.


*(-: ~ fragment ~ *


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Brad said:


> So I just realized that I completely stole KenOC's thread idea


"New and improved"


----------



## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

Always a little bit of gold (albeit from a far bigger nugget)...


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Orlando Gibbons: The Silver Swan


----------



## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

Robert Schumann: Kinderszenen, part 10 - "Fast zu ernst"

(yeah, it's not a "complete piece", but it's still a "piece", not a "movement")


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

O nume tutelar from Spontini's *La Vestale*


----------



## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Brad said:


> So I just realized that I completely stole KenOC's thread idea





hpowders said:


> "New and improved"


According to the two OPs:

Pieces shorter than 3 minutes should be posted here.

Pieces longer (but anyway less than 10 minutes) should be posted there.

Does it make sense?


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

How Fair This Spot by Rachmaninov, 1'48" of pure bliss


----------



## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Villa Lobos: Etude No.1 for guitar






A very nice homage to JS Bach and the WTC


----------



## Brad (Mar 27, 2014)

GioCar said:


> According to the two OPs:
> 
> Pieces shorter than 3 minutes should be posted here.
> 
> ...


Completely different, I feel better now!:tiphat:


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Debussy, La fille aux cheveau de lin, Michelangeli, piano.

Less than three minutes of pure bliss.

Pithy and beautiful.


----------



## Ven (Dec 3, 2010)

I don't know where else to put this, so I'll post here, but if someone suggests another place, thanks.

This was a breathtaking live orchestra performance of Nessun Dorma, for figure skater Yuna Kim's final performance.


----------



## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

All of Chopin, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff etc. Etudes, Preludes and other pieces under 3 minutes, I love 'm all, well nearly all of them.


----------



## Hassid (Sep 29, 2012)




----------



## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

Less than 3 minutes eh? It's hard to find much in that range other than songs....but songs can be quite wonderful!


----------



## Brad (Mar 27, 2014)

Stargazer said:


> Less than 3 minutes eh? It's hard to find much in that range other than songs....but songs can be quite wonderful!


you hit my soft spot, my family is from Norway


----------



## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

Tallis: Miserere nostri
Tallis: If Ye Love Me
Schubert: An die Musik, D. 547
Schumann: Gesänge der Frühe (Songs of Dawn), op. 133/1
Hahn: À Chloris
Stravinsky: Pastorale
Varèse: Un grand sommeil noir
Mosolov: Iron Foundry
and pretty much all of Ligeti's individual pieces from his _Musica Ricercata_ and his _Etudes_.

And if that is not cheating enough, here are a few others that are not as "pithy":
Stanford: The Blue Bird
Lyadov: Baba Yaga
Debussy: Syrinx
Carter: A Celebration of Some 100 x 150 Notes

None of these pieces is any longer than it needs to be, in my opinion.


----------



## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Schubert..... 5'1"


----------



## OldFashionedGirl (Jul 21, 2013)




----------



## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Maybe not "sweet" ;-)






EDIT - OMG just saw Trout's post - which I liked - already had The Iron Foundry - whoops!

So let me try to avoid redundancy with Reznicek's wonderful Donna Diana overture in a nice sprightly sub 4 minute performance here: 




And note that there a number of lovely Scriabin preludes (that surely could stand alone?!) under 1 minute


----------



## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Stargazer said:


> Less than 3 minutes eh? It's hard to find much in that range other than songs....[/video]


Nah. Plenty of solo piano pieces are less than 3 minutes...


----------



## schuberkovich (Apr 7, 2013)




----------

