Its nice to have all the big names in our repertoire. However, I'm now keen to explore lesser known composers which still wrote decent music. I believe it would be nice to grow an affinity with some lesser known piano literature not only as something extra to add to our repertoire, but also so that our own interpretations of that music would be more personal, since it would not be played/recorded by many people.

Some may/may not classify him as 'lesser known' compser, but Charles Alkan springs to my mind. His etudes are colossal, dare I say on par with the Chopin etudes.

Karol Szymanowski's Etude in b flat minor Op.4 No.3 is heart-breakingly beautiful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knW-yv6i6z4


There are other performances of it on youtube and pianosociety.

http://pianosociety.com/cms/index.php?section=53


Mel

Godowsky: Java Suite! I don't know if people would call it "great," but I sure think it's cool! The pieces are definitely more than "decent," and are very unique sounding.

Some of you know that I recently founded the Joseph Achron Society, devoted to the life and works of the Lithuanian-Jewish composer (1886-1943)

IMO, his "Symphonic Variations and Sonata on a Jewish Theme", Op. 39, should definitely be a staple of the repertoire. A public domain score, along with those for his two brilliant Op. 56 pieces, are available on the JAS website.

His other piano works include a "Concerto for Piano Alone" (i.e. without orchestra - kind of like what Alkan did) and several suites.

Most of his oeuvre is chamber music - violin pieces, string quartets, art songs, cello music - though he also wrote three violin concertos, incidental theater music, film music, and orchestral works.

Unfortunately, most of his music hasn't been recorded or published, and he's so regretfully unknown. I'm hoping to change that.

Interesting that you mention Szymanowski; he was the first composer to pop into my mind. I think his 3rd piano sonata is fantastic.

-Daniel

You don't say what specific kind of music, or difficulty level, you're looking for. American composers Godard, Nevin and Gottschalk (I think American anyway) come to mind. Mompou, Fanny Mendelssohn, Czech composer Martinu, and Respighi, with a few piano pieces, also. I'm sure there are many more.

Janacek, Piano Sonata 1.X. 1905, On an Overgrown Path, and In the Mists.

I don't know if you're interested in 20h or 21st century music. I can think of plenty of composers who deserve a hearing, some living, some not.

But contemporary compositional styles run the gamut from conservative to experimental, so that should be taken into account before suggesting anything.

Ralph Vaughan Williams' Lark ascending.

Personally I'm looking for Romantic period composers, but of course suggestions of composers from other eras are indeed welcome.

I've done lots of Liadov with my Russian piano teacher. Extremely gratifying.

Liadov sounds interesting, he seems to have a wide catalogue of pieces on IMSLP .

This is wonderful stuff! Thank for this! Keep them coming

You might like pieces in the collection"The Heaven Ladder, Book 7" by Terry Riley.

Everybody knows Terry Riley from his famous minimalist piece "In C," but few know there is a whole body of piano solo music, and even 4-hand music. It's quite fun and accessible.

You can get a taste of it here. Click on any of the titles to hear a short excerpt. Most of the pieces will seem slow, but that's because they have slow intro's and the link just lets you hear a little bit. Start with "Venus in '94."

Gloria Cheng plays Terry Riley

The music is available from Terry's website (terryriley.net) but I heard he has signed with Schirmer, so maybe it will be more widely available now.

Huh?

Ralph Vaughan Williams is one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century; I would hardly consider him a "lesser known" composer!

"The Lark Ascending" is an exquisitely beautiful work.

Regards,

Adolf von Henselt's Etude in E flat, No.11 'Dors tu, ma vie' from "Douze Etudes caracteristiques de concert" Op.2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb2INR_Ym7I

The piece is three and a half minutes of serene loveliness.


Mel

Quite lovely, Mel. Thanks for the link.

Maybe Shchedrin. When my friend played the Basso Ostinato, she made her Yamaha and the whole room shake, and she made a string snap. Yikes!!!

Either way he is pretty awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLw1CHmEAKg

I'll post a number of lesser-known French composers, contemporaneous with Debussy and Ravel, all of whom wrote IMO some terrific piano pieces:

Emmanuel Chabrier 10 Pieces Pittoresques; Bourree Fantasque
Deodat de Severac En Languedoc; Cerdana; Le Chant de la Terre
Albert Roussel Sonatine; Suite for Piano
Ernest Chausson Quelque Danses
Guy Ropartz Quelque Femmes
Vincent d'Indy Laufenberg; Aarau
Alberic Magnard Promenades
Jacques Ibert Histoires
Francis Poulenc Mouvements Perpetuel; Suite (1928)

Medtner: Fairy Tales

Two of my favorites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHYk_kxABwQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmE5eqLcuiw&feature=related

Very pleasant. I am always on the lookout for melodious romantic music. Can you share more about Henselt?

The Henselt is a lovely piece for what it is. I don't think, however, that it would wear very well nor would be worth programming except perhaps as a light encore or maybe grouped with a couple of other Etudes from the same opus.

Fortunately, it is easy to learn/play, so one wouldn't have to spend much time on it. I don't think it would have much of a "shelf life" though, pretty though it is at first hearing.

Regards,

Here is a gorgeous performance by Anthony Goldstone of the second-most beautiful nocturne ever, Sergei Lyapunov's Nocturne in D flat Op.8:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJHrnb3MNzk


Mel

There are some other interesting performances of it on YT. I also remember that it was turning up at some competitions. Shchedrin has written a good deal of piano music that's worthwhile (he recorded some of it himself). The set of preludes and fugues in all the keys is a real treasure-trove for people who "get" his style.

Another Russian, still living, who has written a considerable amount of good (and rather tough-minded) piano music is Boris Tishchenko - here's his 6th sonata (I don't think the graphic displayed has anything to do with the music...).

That really is worth a listen or maybe even two. I'd never heard it before; thanks for sharing it.

Regards,

The Liapunov Nocturne's opening is very similar to Chopin's Nocturne in the same key. I wonder if this was intentional.

Double post

I love Czerny's Variations on a Theme by Rhode (La Ricordanza)

Gustav Lange is not very well known.. he composed some nice pieces, his most successful being 'Blumenlied'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KJ2UUoAnt4

Cecile Chaminade.. well she is well known for just a few of her pieces but a lot of her pieces are not often played and they are very beautiful.

I realize that we're getting into subjective reactions, here, but as far as Lange's Bluemenlied (Flower Song) is concerned, it hardly fits the category of "great" pieces by lesser known composers! Blumenlied is a bit of 19th century salon writing, and "nice" is about the highest praise one can give it.

Regards,