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Help broadening my repertoire!!

Discussion in 'Repertoire' started by DaveO, Jun 8, 2014.

  1. DaveO

    DaveO New Member

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    Hi there

    Please help. I've been playing for quite a few years. I am not taking lessons anymore.
    I'm a little stagnant though and need advice on broadening my repertoire.

    I have currently been playing among others:

    Chopin Nocturne in E Flat Op. 9, No. 2
    Chopin Waltz Op. 64, No.2
    Chopin Waltz Op. 69, No. 2
    Mozart Fantasy in D Minor, K. 397
    Mozart Alla Turca, Sonata K. 331
    Beethoven Moonlight Sonata

    I am looking for pieces sort of on the level of these or just above or below.
    I am especially drawn to pieces with a strong melody.

    Thanks a lot
     
    DaveO, Jun 8, 2014
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  2. andrew

    andrew Administrator Staff Member Piano Society Artist

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    I'm somewhat biased towards transcriptions I'm afraid, as I have a lot in my repertoire. However, as they tend to revolve around setting orchestral or piano+vocal melody in a purely pianistic context, some might fit the bill.

    Of course there are other famous pieces such as the Raindrop Prelude which should be accessible, but which I'm sure you've probably already had a look at.

    At the more difficult end of what I might suggest would lie the Liszt Schubert song transcriptions, which are often very beautiful. Auf wasser zu singen, Die Forelle, Ave Maria and Standchen are good examples (in approximate order, hard to not so hard).

    Easier are Liszt's settings from Lohengrin, Elsa's Dream and Lohengrin's Admonition.

    A very fine (imo) setting of Casta diva was done by Sigismund Thalberg. It's not especially difficult, but does contain challenges, both in balancing a melody as it passes between the hands, and in voicing of melodic and accompanimental material within the same hand.

    You will be able to find scores for all of the above on IMSLP. Sorry for biasing towards my specific area of interest, I'm sure other members will be able to provide different suggestions.
     
    andrew, Jun 8, 2014
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  3. pianolady

    pianolady Monica Hart, Administrator Staff Member Piano Society Artist Trusted Member

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    Hello DaveO and welcome to Piano Society! :)

    Looks like you already like Chopin. How about some of his mazurkas? They are each so different from one another so there are bound to be some that appeal to you. Or how about Scarlatti? He wrote so many sonatas. We host many of them here on our main site. And then there is Haydn...again so many to choose from. Or how about Granados?
     
    pianolady, Jun 9, 2014
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  4. StuKautsch

    StuKautsch Member Piano Society Artist

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    I second Scarlatti. You can get many of the scores from IMSLP http://imslp.org/wiki/ and there are many recordings here to give you a clue as to a possible interpretation.
    And the music is gorgeous.
     
    StuKautsch, Jun 9, 2014
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  5. DaveO

    DaveO New Member

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    Thank you for your replies

    I love Chopin too bits, I have played a couple of the Mazurkas, beautiful. I've recently been playing Op. 7 No. 1 as well as Op. 68, No.2.
    I do probably prefer the Nocturnes and Waltzes though.
    My issue with Chopin is that I tend to ignore everything else when I start playing his pieces and I have been doing that for months, years even, which is fantastic but probably not good for my development on the piano in the sense that I don't play too much else.

    For some reason Scarlatti has not been on my radar much, I am beginning to do my research on him now.
    Which of his pieces are the more popular so to speak?

    My trouble with Liszt, Andrew, is simply the technical difficulty.
    Unfortunately I do not as yet have a strong interest in transcriptions, although I am sure it will grow on to me over time. I will have a look and listen at your suggestions.


    Thank you all for your feedback!!
     
    DaveO, Jun 10, 2014
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  6. StuKautsch

    StuKautsch Member Piano Society Artist

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    As far as popularity goes, one method of discovering this would be how many artists recorded a particular piece. If you go to the Society's list of recordings of Scarlatti sonatas and look at the list of catalog numbers, you'll see that some of them are repeated many times.
    K27, K87, K380, K466, and K531 are examples.

    Of course, there are many other popular ones. I'm just pointing out a fast way of finding a couple for starters. This also has the advantage of giving you several interpretations to see how people around the world approach his music.
     
    StuKautsch, Jun 11, 2014
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  7. pianolady

    pianolady Monica Hart, Administrator Staff Member Piano Society Artist Trusted Member

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    Great idea, Stu! :D
     
    pianolady, Jun 11, 2014
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  8. Ian

    Ian New Member

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    I note that all of those pieces are listed on http://www.pianosyllabus.com at grades 6-8 (assuming you are referring to the 1st mvt only of the Moonlight Sonata). If you search on that website for Scarlatti + grade 8 you'll get 10 results, and 24 results at grade 9. Haydn has 25 and 18 results respectively. Throw in whatever composer you like the sound of and see what it has for you.
     
    Ian, Jun 12, 2014
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  9. DaveO

    DaveO New Member

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    Thank you Ian. That's a very useful tip
     
    DaveO, Jun 13, 2014
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