Hi all,

I want to make a gift to a friend of mine, a pianist. So I'm looking into works for solo piano written in the last 50 or so years (ok... whatever).

The rules:

1. No well known stuff (Ligeti etudes, Vingt regards, etc).
2. Only solo piano please.
3. I should be able to grab ALL the scores from the same e-shop (sheet music plus? Some other?), for convenience.
4. Around 150$ to spend in total

Any ideas you might want to throw? youtube links most appreciated, or links, or titles and name of composer... whatever works for you.

(And yes that's me. nobody hacked my account yet! )

I'm learning a two-movement work by Esa-Pekka Salonen called Dichotomie which I'm crazy about lol.

Do you know Howard Skempton ? A selection of his piano output has been recorded by John Tilbury.

Here's an excerpt :


A bit minimalist, I like it very much. I don't know where to buy the scores.

William Duckworth's big and wonderful set "Time Curve Preludes".

There are various performances of various parts of it on YouTube worth checking out - I'm linking this one because it shows the score.

I bought the Petrushka project - Dances of our Time anthology, and have had a great time playing through it (or trying to play through it - the pieces range from moderately difficult to very difficult). You can listen to them online. 75 different composers - all short piano pieces - all 21st century music.

Sam

Don't know how accessible the scores are, but there's Kaija Saariaho's Prélude and Ballade. Is Carl Vine too well-known?: three sonatas and lots of other music. And Judith Lang Zaimont, who posts here occasionally, has a lovely Piano Sonata of which the finale Impronta digitale has been used in the Van Cliburn competition, as well as much else fine stuff like A Calendar Set, Nocturne, Jupiter's Moons and Hesitation Rag.

And there's Phillip Ramey who wrote lots of fine piano music, including several piano sonatas.

First of all thanks for posting. Keep coming with the suggestions!All are quite valuable!

Now, to individual posts...

debruecey: Knowing your style I'd say that I'll trust your instincts. Cheers mate

worov: Thanks

wr: much obliged! That's what I also like when I create scores (thus I try my best to include the scores in some way or another... )

Sam: Yup, I know this one. I'm afraid that I'm not too crazy about the music itself, but I'll check it out once more. Perhaps my mind might change on the third listening.

bennevis: Karl Vine IS a nice idea! And your other ideas as well!

Thank you all! Keep 'em coming!

Nikolas, here are some suggestions; they are all pieces that I've worked on or am working on, and which I like quite a lot:

Steven Paulus -- Five Preludes (1993)
William Bolcom -- Nine New Bagatelles (2007)
Libby Larsen -- Mephisto Rag (2003)
John Harbison -- Sonata No 2 (2001); Gatsby Etudes (1999)
Fred Hersch -- 24 Variations on a Bach Chorale (2002)
Richard Danielpour -- The Enchanted Garden, Vol 1 (1993); Vol 2 (2009)
Katherine Hoover -- Toccata (2011)
Milton Babbitt -- The Old Order Changeth (1999)
Judith Zaimont -- Wizards (2005)
Michael Torke -- Blue Pacific (2006)
Jennifer Higdon -- Secret and Glass Gardens (2005)
Joan Tower -- No Longer Very Clear (1998)
Dan Welcher -- Prelude for Dani (2005)
Haskell Small -- Renoir's Feast (2004)

That should keep you busy for awhile!

Oh more than a while everyone! I think I'll be spending Sunday night listening to youtube recordings... and then buying a bunch of scores!

Any other suggestions, keep them coming. And thank you everyone!

Adolphus Hailstork - Trio Sonata, Piano Sonata No. 2

Are you familiar with Alan Hovhanness ? If you are not, check him out :

Macedonian Mountain Dance :


To Hiroshige's Cat :

For some tough avant-garde stuff, have a look at Harrison Birtwistle's Harrison's Clocks. Apparently, Alfred Brendel is a fan but significantly, he never played any of Birtwistle's music.

Another British composer (who's also a fine pianist) with a rather more accessible language is Thomas Ades. His piano works include Traced Overhead, Darknesse Visible and Still Sorrowing.

Then there's György Kurtág's Játékok; and Sofia Gubaidulina's piano music, including a Piano Sonata, Chaconne and Musical Toys, less gritty than Birtwistle's music.

And there's the holy minimalist/titinnabulist Arvo Pärt and his Für Alina, which is very simple in comparison.

Mieczyslaw Weinberg composed very fine piano music, including several sonatas, most of which have been recorded.

And a recent discovery for me (thanks to Krystian Zimerman, who recorded the Piano Sonata No.2 brilliantly for DG) is Grazyna Bacewicz.

Carl Vine's piano sonatas are good, if they're not too famous. The scores are also relatively inexpensive and easy to get.

Jaan Rääts - Toccata (1968)
Youtube-Link (only blank screen, no pianist visible)

(I thought of Jaan Rääts when I read the Arvo Pärt suggestion)

Eino Rautavaara has a set of interesting Etudes, Preludes and two sonatas for piano

Lera Auerbach has many pieces for piano solo, many of which are on YT with scores

George Antheil? (Sonate Sauvage?)

How about Bortkiewicz? Even Elliott Carter is hardly known among pianists.

Consider a collection, like the Waltz Project from Peters.

Hi Nikolas, I seem to remember having already mentioned this on one of your subjects... anyway here it is again: the dancer leads the procession

Check out the Preludes and Fugues of Trygve Madsen. There are some real gems in there.

Wow, a few suggestions off the top of my head.

Michael Byron, Dreamers of Pearl, almost one hour, 3 movements. I have recorded this one.

Larry Polansky, Lonesome Road -- The Crawford Variations. A huge, multi-hour work, 51 variations on a Ruth Crawford setting of a folk tune. There is a multi-CD recording; can't recall pianist's name.

Both of the above, I think, published by Frog Peak Music.

Mamoru Fujieda, Patterns of Plants. Lovely, post-minimal pieces, hard to describe. Some are published, will have to find my copy to see...