Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum New Themed Recital suggestions

I had resurrected the Tchaikovsky thread and really should have created a new one. I'd love to hear some more suggestions. Here's what's been said so far:

Another vote for Schumann. One of my favorites and for some reason I don't play any of his stuff.

+1 for Schumann. I'm learning Kinderszene no. 1, but I don't think it will be ready any time soon, so I may pick up something from Album for the Young.

+ 1 - Bach
+ 1 - Beethoven
+ 1 - Chopin

I'm still on the fence with Schumann, pending investigation forthcoming. + 0 for now.

New ...

+ 1 - Clementi
+ 1 - Schubert

Another vote for Schumann Oh no I already did

When it will be Chopin I think the only piece I might be able to play is the Posthumous Valse in A Minor.. Not that much choice and I would probably do really bad since Chopin is musically even more difficult than technically.

Bach and Beethoven have a broader repertoire for Adult Beginners.

Greener: I'll respond to your post in the other topic here. Regarding unfamiliar composers, I have learned so much having participated in these recitals. I didn't know any Grieg pieces, nor had I really worked on Much Mendelssohn except for 1 or 2. Tchaikovsky, I knew some of the easier pieces but it was neat to learn a lot more about his more difficult works.

Personally, I think there's a charm to these recitals when some of the music is a little off the beaten path. I love Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, etc., but I also finding new loves. So for me there's a new discovery of repertoire that I enjoy so much.

I'm in the same boat as you for Schumann. I know several of his art songs, but I haven't explored any of his piano beyond rep for students. I would love to see why people seem to love his piano works. There's just so much music out there, it's hard to take time away from the standards of Bach, Beethoven, etc. to try them out. So it's a bit of expanding one's horizons.

I agree that even the "easy" Chopin (isn't that a contradiction in terms?) is beyond many of us (including myself)......

My vote would be for Schumann or Bach (any of the Bach's)

I like Clementi - but truly have no clue as to how much material he might have at an approachable level.

What about Heller?

Forgot to comment on Clementi. Personally, I find his music pretty average musically, so I probably wouldn't participate in something like that.

Also forgot to mention that since I'm instigating this, I'm offering to "run" it, but I'd need lots of help from those who have done these before as to the format.

Heller, I don't know much about him apart from a few etudes, but it seems he had a respectable output. This would be an interesting choice. I'm listening to some of his stuff on youtube and finding it quite beautiful. I encourage people to listen and see what they think. He does have some intermediate works for which he is better know, I think.

I would love to learn some Schumann. So +1 for me.

Also prokofiev could be a good choice. I played a prelude from opus 12 once. Nice music!

So the options so far:

Schumann
Bach
Beethoven
Chopin
Clementi
Schubert
Heller
Prokofiev
Bartok

Dmitry Kabalevsky,
Aram Kachaturian,

From extremely easy to very difficult.... and different from the usual soup. :-)

Ooo, a couple of great suggestions! Really, I'd be up to doing any of them (except Clementi)

I would vote for either, but their stuff is still under copyright. *edit* I think it is, I should say. Not sure how to check...

I'd be happy with a choice that has some early intermediate-level-friendly pieces- Schumann would be fun I think.

Yes! Or why not Shostakovich, he also has wonderful pieces that range from easy to...well you know

Does it have to be just one composer btw? We could also have a soviet theme... Any composer who lived and worked in the Soviet Union...?

OH, and has there ever been a Scarlatti recital? There would surely be something for everybody there!

Schumann.

Don`t bother with a German Theme . . . .we could have one composer each . . .

There are many excellent composers that could likely fill the bill. As we open up more possibilities, so do we open up more discussion and challenge towards deciding on one.

Great idea too. But, as above, not sure where we might go with that before deciding.
---
+1 Schumann.

I'm just desperately trying to come up with suggestions, so that it won't be Schumann or Bach...anything else, pretty please...

Or Mozart or Beethoven...I think anyone else will do...

I think let's keep it simple and stick to one composer for this. Something about studying one composer's works like this I find to be very enlightening. Not a bad idea, but we do have to draw a line somewhere

It is looking like a lot of interest for Schumann.

Sigh... But I'm sure you're right, one composer is interesting.

One question from a newbie, is only one recording of a piece allowed? So if something is already picked, then others cannot do it?