It's been a while since this question was asked. What's everybody working on?

For me:

Debussy: Girl with the Flaxen Hair (Prelude VIII)
Clementi: Sonata Op. 26 No. 2
Chopin: Etude Op. 10 No. 1, No. 12
Haydn: Concerto in D major (Done! Concerto competition in December!!!)

I need to pick a new concerto soon. My teacher is thinking the Grieg. What would you suggest?

Matt

Hey, great concerto. Have you heard Andsnes's recording? Have you heard Piano_Dad's son's recording? (He's "bookworm" here, right?)


For me:

Mendelssohn: Variations Serieuses
Scarlatti: Sonata in f minor, K466
Scarlatti: Sonata in A Major, K113

Also rewriting one of my own pieces, and practicing that and something else of mine.

I'm also doing a term paper on Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 (Pathetique). It's not a piano piece necessarily, but I did get a copy of the solo piano score. :p

Chopin: Scherzo in C-Sharp Minor Op. 39 (Clean up)

Haydn: Sonata in E-Major Hob. XVI:49 (learning)
Allegro
Adagio e cantabile
Finale: Tempo di Minuet

Haven't updated my sig yet, here's the current batch:

Scarlatti - Sonata in C Major K159
Schubert - Impromptu in A-Flat
Debussy - L'Isle Joyeuse
Chopin - Nocturne in C# Minor posth.

Coincidence Matt, I just finished recording my version of "Girl with the Flaxen Hair" (going to be on my youtube sometime soon). It's a great, short piece. I also benefited from reading the poem it's based on.

Theowne - I talked with a pianist who has played this quite a bit and recorded it a few times. He said the it terms of technique... it is not very challenging, but musically (much to do with dynamics) speaking it is very hard. Please PM me when you post your recording on Youtube.

Thanks,
Matt

-

you could also consider the mendelssohn piano concerto no.1 in g minor or the schumann concerto

Thanks for your suggestion Amelia! We've been looking for at The Schumann aswell. I'll definatly need to start working on a new one in December after the competition.

Matt

On Monday in studio class, I'm playing a few things:

Debussy: Les collines d'Anacapri, Des pas sur la neige, and Ondine
Stravinsky: Trois Movements de Petrouchka

After that, I've got a violin recital. It's cakewalk rep - a Bach Sonata, Beethoven Kreutzer, Poulenc Sonata, and some Gershwin. :rolleyes:

Next semester (my last in school!) will be fun - Tchaikovsky Trio, Pierrot Lunaire, Barber Concerto for some competitions, and few solo programs.

I also have to come up with a lecture-recital topic, STAT. I was thinking of either John Adams' Phrygian Gates or doing a program of a Chinese and Japanese music with Cage's 4'33" in between. The overall idea in the latter would be meditation in music as it exists in various styles. Not sure if I can convince my teacher on it, though.

Chopin Etude Op 25 No 4 and No 6, and some other stuff.

Theowne, thanks for mentioning this - I didn't know the piece was connected with a poem.

Here's a link to the poem if anyone else is interested.
http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/La_Fille_aux_cheveux_de_lin

Chopin etude op. 25 no 11.
Bach sinfonia 14, going to start g-minor fugue from book 2 next week.
Beethoven sonata op.2 no. 1

Beethoven 32 variations in c minor (just start)
Bach invention 9 (finishing up)
Rach op.16.4 (continue)
Chopin op.10.2 (put aside for a while, and start again)

Chopin: Heroic Polonaise Op. 53
Etude No. 12 Op. 25

Brahms Sonata in F minor (Op. 5)
Schubert Sonata in A minor (can't remember the opus number)
Liszt 1st Piano Concerto

I just started school this semester for my Master's in Piano Performance and thought I'd take it easy the first semester! Didn't end up happening though! Next semester, I'm going to try to work on Bach's Partita No. 4 (D major), continue work on the Liszt, maybe do Liszt's Transcendental Etude 11 (I think - Harmonie de Soirs) and definitely do Beethoven Op. 111.

Stravinsky: Trois Movements de Petrouchka

I absolutely love the Petrouchka suite, I listen to it pratically everyday, it sounds so fun to play and is delightful. If my hands were not so small, I would learn it.

the op. number for the schumann concerto is op.54

I started all new music this semester. I am trying to be ready for a recital this April. I am playing Bach Prelude and Fugue in F Minor bk. 1,
Mozart Sonata in F Major K. 332, Rachmaninov Etude in Eb Minor (the famous one), Rzewski North American Ballades (just the first movement so far), and Liszt Valle d'Obermann. I still need to add another 10 minutes to the program, I am either going to learn a few Rach Preludes to add to the Etude as a set or learn another movement of the Rzewski.

Been working on some of these more than others.

Bach: Sinfonias 12-15
Bach: French Suite No. 6 E Major
Scarlatti: Sonata in C Major K 461 (I think)
Beethoven: Tempest Sonata
Chopin: Etude Op. 10 No. 4 c# minor
Schumann: Papillons Op. 2


I hope to finish the Sinfonias by the end of year so I can finally be finished learning all the two and three part inventions. I still play through some of them of course. And I am also accompanying a Trumpet player in a piece. Otherwise, I am keeping pretty busy

When I say I'm working on pieces I mean I'm working on them on... it could still take me another year to master.

Grieg: Concerto in A Minor (Slowly... All Movements) (Will take awile)
Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata (Just started working on last movement. I've pretty much mastered the first movement... but it could always get better.)
Bach: Prelude in C minor (I'm almost done with this... for some reason I can't master the accidentals.)
Chopin: Revolutionary Etude (I better work to finish this by contest in Jan.)
Rachmaninoff: G Minor Prelude (I'm not even close...)

I'm also working in some theory/technique books.

Debussy20... the Grieg concerto is awesome. I'm still not bored with it. I'm trying to get it ready for a competition next year. The third movement is my favorite.

Now that I have more time to devote to music I am embarking on many projects. At the moment I am trying to learn several of the Farrell transcriptions of Waller at once. It's all a bit slow because I have allowed the memorising faculty to get slack in recent months. Most of my playing time is going, as usual, in recording CDs of improvisation, in which the ideas are tending to outstrip physical capability - so I have some work to do there. I'm probably getting further away from any semblance of musical normality but I am enjoying my music more than ever, which I suppose is all that matters in the end.

Once I am fully retired I might start writing a few compositions again, although not to the extent of earlier years.

Bach: WTC Book I C# minor P&F
Beethoven: Sonata Op.10 No.3
Chopin: Op.25 Nos 7 & 9
Debussy: Reflets dans l'eau
Hindemith: Sonata No 2

-Michael B.

Just finished learning-
Handel- Prelude and Fugue F minor, Suite 8
Haydn- 1st movt Sonata in E major No. 37
Faure- Prelude No. 4 Op. 103
Khatchaturian- 3rd movt. Sonatine (my teacher wants me to learn the other two movements, which i probably will now that i have 4 months uni holidays!)

I want to start learning-
Faure- Nocturne No.4 in E flat (cant remember opus)
Debussy- Suite Bergamasque
Schubert- Sonata in A minor Op. post. 143
Grieg- Wedding Day at Troldhaugen
*Maybe* Kabalevsky- 'Youth' concerto Op.50
and *maybe* Mozart- Concerto in B flat K456.

Oh, and I just remembered, i need a study for next semester as well...I'd better look for one!

Well, I'd better get cracking!

This competition is mainly for high school students. It only allows you to play one movement that is less than 10 minutes. If the Haydn isn't "strong" enough this year, we're planning on the Grieg or Schumman or a Beethoven for next.

Matt

*Double Post - sorry*

Mozart : Sonata in Bb major, K333
Schubert : Impromptu in c minor, Op 90, No 1
Schubert : Impromptu in Eb major, Op 90, No 2
Chopin : Nocturne in F# major*, Op 15, No 2
Chopin : Nocturne in c# minor*, Op posth.
Brahms : Intermezzo in e minor, Op 119, No 2
Grieg : Schmetterling (Butterfly)* from Lyric Pieces, Op 43, No 1
Liszt : Liebestraum, No 3*

* pretty well "finished", just polishing up memory work. Well, a piece is never "finished"; it continues to grow as we live with it, but you know what I mean, I hope.

Regards,

I'm actively working on my long term goal of learning Book I of the Debussy Preludes. Currently working away on
- Les Collines d'Anacapri
- La Seranades Interompue
which will put me about 3/4s of the way through this project that was started in the late 1970s, interrupted by 25 odd years of other priorities and now resurected...

As well as the
Shostakovich P&F #24 (d-)
Shostakovich PC#2 (Mvmt 2) (hoping to be able to play all of this over time...)

gmf001:
...project that was started in the late 1970s, interrupted by 25 odd years of other priorities and now resurrected...

Hey, I resemble that remark

-Michael B.

Beethoven, Op. 78, 1st movement finished and memorized but needs some work, just starting on the 2nd movement.
Scriabin, Op. 11, Nos. 7, 13 & 14
Chopin, Op. 25, No. 12 (Still trying to get up to speed.....cleanly.)and Op. 10, Nos. 5 & 12.

Polishing:

Bach, Prelude & Fugue in F minor WTCII
Schumann, Des Abends and Aufschwung
Scriabin, Op. 11, Nos. 5 & 10.


Brendan, I love the Kreutzer, especially the variations!

apianonne, good luck with the Rach Etude. I started it earlier this year, but put it aside. At the time it was (probably still is) a big stretch for me and I just didn't love it as much as the other stuff I was working on to really put the effort into learning it. Will probably pick it up again next year.