Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Themed recital: Suites

I've loved From Holberg's Time since I heard Antonio Pompa-Baldi play it to a huge ovation at Oberlin. It's tender, touching and full of graceful turns of phrase. I'll have my work cut out for me navigating Grieg's thick writing to arrive at the elegance within.

I'm overwhelmed by the response so far. What is interesting, indeed, is that so many of you have picked works from the 20th century.

It has been suggested also to include "Variations" in this e-cital. This is, of course, a possibility. I suspect, however, that it will be long enough if we stick to "Suites" this time. What is your opinion?

And now, the updated list:

J.S.Bach

English Suite no.2 - FarmGirl
Partita no.3 - Ganddalf
Partita no.6 - Kuanpiano

G.F. Händel

Keyboard suite no. 16 - Cinnamobear

E.Grieg

Peer Gynt Suite no.1 - Damon
From Holberg's time - jeffreyjones

C.Debussy

Suite Bergamasque - woodog
Suite pour le Piano - neuralfirings

M.Ravel

Tombeau de Couperin - hreichgott + ScriabinAddict

B.Bartok

Suite Op.14 - Kreisler

Deodat de Severac

En Langeudoc: Suite pour piano - Tim Adrianson

Alberto Ginastera

Suite de Danzas Criollas - Orange Soda King

Important notice to all participants:

I try to keep the list of chosen pieces up to date. There is, however, a risk that I make omissions or other mistakes. Therefore I urge you to check the list to verify that your own piece has been included, and that composer, work title and participant nickname is correctly written.

I agree. More than enough material in suites and the variations could be its own event in the future.

Ganddalf, a spelling correction on my entry -- It's "En Languedoc" (not En Langeudoc).

Hm, my fingers seem to be a bit dyslectic. Wonder if the piano playing is to blame....

I'll correct this next time I edit the list.

With regards to Ravel's Tombeau, which is split between hreichgott and ScriabinAddict, are you guys playing all of the pieces just between you two, or is there room for another to squeeze in for one of the pieces?

I have studied the two pieces from Feinberg's Suite No. 1, Op. 11 -- Etude no. 1 and no. 4.
I think it will be more than ample time for me to learn the other two pieces.
Please sign me up for Feinberg's Suite No. 1!

Would the Bach Italian Concerto count (since it's not really a concerto)?

I'm only just back to playing piano in the last month after a 10 year break. These recitals are great for helping me pick some new repertoire - I'm relearning pieces I used to play but there's such an overwhelming number of pieces I want to learn! I'm especially finding myself swayed into only learning Chopin since I love his work.

This recital would give me an excuse to branch out! I'm looking at learning something a bit easier than some of my other pieces since it's such a large amount of work and I still want time to work on some other things. I'm considering:

Edward MacDowell - Op. 51 Woodland Sketches
or
Schumann - Op. 15 Scenes from Childhood

I'm not even sure if Scenes from Childhood classifies as a suite. It seems to depend what you read about it. Since suites after the Classical period don't seem to have the rigid structure, can someone help me out with what exactly defines it as such?

What do the experts say about the Italian Concerto, Woodland Sketches and Scenes from Childhood? Can we count them as "suites"? I would say that the Italian Concerto is more like a sonata, but being an uneducated amateur I would really have some statement from the other participants.

I'm certainly no expert - but Bach named this work "Concerto in the Italian Style." If he'd considered it a suite or partita he would've called it that instead. The Woodland Sketches, on the other hand, are sometimes referred to as a "suite" even tho McDowell himself didn't name it as such. I've seen the Scenes from Childhood referred to as a "suite" along with Papillions - but not works such as Carnival or Album for the Young. Then, of course, we have the Mendelssohn Songs Without Words and Grieg Lyric Pieces - neither of which I've ever seen referred to as a suite. So - it tends to get kind of fuzzy - doesn't it??

Definitions of "suite" seem to fall into three general categories - as summarized below....

SUITE - Music
a. an instrumental composition consisting of several movements in the same key based on or derived from dance rhythms, esp in the baroque period
b. an instrumental composition in several movements less closely connected than a sonata
c. a piece of music containing movements based on or extracted from music already used in an opera, ballet, play, etc.

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

The Scenes from Childhood are definitely not a suite.

Post withdrawn in deferance to Poly's concern over lack of relevancy.......

What does that have to do with it?

Nothing now.

More of a cycle, but I don't see why it shouldn't count.

Because the title of the recital is "Suites."

The OP did say that "suite" should be in the title, with exceptions for other pieces with the common dance forms you find in Baroque suites, like From Holberg's Time. That's why Le Tombeau de Couperin is acceptable but Kinderscenen wouldn't fit the theme.