Hi all, newbie here
I'm learning all these pp, romantic, ethereal songs which are lovely and everything, but I'm looking for a nice loud, angry, string-snapping piece for contrast. Any ideas? Something Spanish perhaps?

I'm doing grade 6 AMEB (Australian Music Exams Board) with pieces such as Moonlight I, Clair de Lune, and Bourrée II from Partita in Bm (Bach).

Try Strauss's "Electra"!!!!!!

Mmmmm, this is good stuff.
It's dark, heavy, suddenly devishly loud in some areas, and extremely powerful.

If you want something relatively easy that's nice and loud, try MacDowell's "From Puritan Days" (Op.62 No.8) from his New England Idyls. Starts off fairly quiet but slowly builds to FFF at the end.

The last movements of Beethoven's Appassionata and Moonlight sonatas, and Rachmaninov's Prelude in C Sharp Minor.
but these are a little on the difficult side.

I think the loudest piece I've ever heard is "The Great Gate of Kiev" from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Pianists (especially Russian ones) seem intent on destroying the instrument when they play this one. Also Messiaen is notorious for requiring extremes of dynamic. Both these are probably not what you're looking for at the moment, however.

Most Spanish piano music is actually quite difficult, especially Albeniz's. The first of Granados's Spanish Dances is not too hard though (was in Trinity College Grade 8 years ago) and suits your requirements.

A few other boisterous pieces which are not too hard are Chopin's Prelude Op 28/20, Scriabin's Prelude Op 11/6, Schumann's "Important Event" from Kinderscenen. There's also bound to be something suitable in Bartok's Mikrokosmos.

Do you have any other choices for the exam syllabus? There might be something in there that is more extrovert and if you liked it you could consider using it instead of one of the other pieces. BTW, the Bach Bouree should be played elegantly, but not too delicately.

[ October 24, 2001: Message edited by: yok ]

Welcome Tina!

The 3rd Movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata is crashing....but I think that is well beyond 6th Grade standard. I would have thought that Appassionata was beyond 6th grade standard too. But that's alway kind of fun though isn't it.....biting off more than you can chew, ripping, tearing, biting and snarling until you actually start to play something that sounds something like the way it is intended!!!

Have fun!

Greg

Thanks for your suggestions, everyone

yok- well, there's one Albeniz listed for gr6, Sonata in D from Recital Gems. Do you know what that's like?
The Chopin and Skryabin Preludes you mentioned are also listed, yay.

(the Bourrée was an example of my standard, not of a delicate piece- my other delicate piece is "Returning Tide" by Miriam Hyde
by the way, are grades pretty much standard worldwide?)

Franz Liszt Transcendental Etude #8 "Wilde Jagd" Much FFF playing, octaves, etc.

how about Corigliano Etude Fantasy? After practicing it, my parents are very annoyed. It is very loud, and the notes are clashing many times.

I just heard that piece in concert recently, played by James Tocco. Have you heard his recording of it? It's as close as to definitive as one can come.

You are very brave for practicing that piece...I gave up on it after two weeks.

I don't know that Albeniz piece. If the Chopin and Scriabin preludes are the ones I suggested that would be quite a coincidence. I think the AMEB, Trinity and ABRSM exams must be fairly similar in standard because they can be used as prerequisites for one another's diploma exams. South Africa and Canada also have their own exam boards, I think. You can now sit the AMEB in NZ but I don't know anyone who has.

BTW, do you follow netball? It should be a huge game on Saturday.

the 3rd movement from prokofievs seventh sonata! or ginasteras sonata, the fourth movement (the end of this piece was played in the movie 'the competition')...both pieces have an ostinato rhythm too