Hi All,

I've just done Grade 3 and I'm looking for some pieces to play for pleasure while I start work on my Grade 4 studies.

I'd really appreciate some recommendations of pieces which are, so to speak, 'from the repertoire' - pieces from great composers which have not been simplified, which I have a reasonable chance of getting to grips with, and which I can enjoy learning...

Do such things exist?

Thanks in advance

Schumann is your friend here.... the Kinderszenen Op. 15 pieces are around that level, most of them beautiful and interesting without being too hard to play.

Traumerei is a great place to start

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY98-839DQw

Thanks for posting this HouseHead!

I too am looking for simpler (to play) classics to try out. I've no idea what my "grade" is but after seeing this video, the Schuman piece looks doable for me...as well as interesting. I'm presently working on Pachelbel's Canon in D and finding it both beautiful and challenging but not so terrifying to attempt. Time consuming yes but not hard per se.

Thanks Househead, I really like 'Traumerei' - just the sort of thing I was looking for.

The title of the piece, Traümerei, means dreaming. It has nothing to do with trauma.

If you're planning to play this piece it woud be of benefit to listen to a professional version.

I have recordings of this by Brendel, Barenboim, Ashkenazy, Arrau and Howard Shelley that I cannot find on youtube but are well worth hearing.

In the meantime here's Lang Lang and Lisitsa.

Thanks Richard, these vids and the wonders of Spotify mean I've got plenty of good examples of this piece, now all I've got to do is get as good as Lisitsa, or Lang Lang, or Arrau, or Horowitz, or Ashkenazy or... !!

Really looking forward to having a go at this beautiful piece, although I must say the printed music looks quite daunting...