2022 our 25th year online!

Welcome to the Piano World Piano Forums
Over 3 million posts about pianos, digital pianos, and all types of keyboard instruments.
Over 100,000 members from around the world.
Join the World's Largest Community of Piano Lovers (it's free)
It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

SEARCH
Piano Forums & Piano World
(ad)
Who's Online Now
60 members (20/20 Vision, 36251, anotherscott, bcalvanese, 1957, beeboss, 7sheji, Aylin, Barly, 10 invisible), 1,461 guests, and 299 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Hop To
#2738703 05/22/18 05:29 PM
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 170
K
Full Member
OP Offline
Full Member
K
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 170
Hey folks, I'm looking for solo piano pieces that are toccatas or a similar form, comparable in difficulty to Khachaturian's Toccata in E-flat Minor. Any ideas?


Almost not insane some of the time.
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 94
Full Member
Offline
Full Member
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 94
The fifth of Unsuk Chin’s Études is a toccata. It’s good fun.



There’s also Elliott Carter’s Caténaires which is a bit harder...



Yamaha U3 | Currently working on:
Various Haydn Sonatas/Caténaires by Elliott Carter/Lots of Feldman
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 438
C
Full Member
Offline
Full Member
C
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 438
The Prokofiev Toccata is a pretty hard piece, as is the Toccata from "Le Tombeau de Couperin" by Ravel.

The Toccata and Fugue in D min by Bach is an old favorite.

Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 32,060
B
BDB Offline
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Offline
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
B
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 32,060
The Khachaturian is pretty easy as toccatas go.

Bach wrote 7 for keyboard and Alessandro Scarlatti wrote 10. Some of Dominico's sonatas are in toccata form. K. 141 is not too difficult.

There is the one from Pour le Piano by Debussy, and the one from Trois Pieces by Poulenc. They are probably more difficult than the Khachaturian.


Semipro Tech
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 8,949
8000 Post Club Member
Offline
8000 Post Club Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 8,949
York Bowen


Private Piano Teacher and MTAC Member
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 6,374
6000 Post Club Member
Offline
6000 Post Club Member
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 6,374
Robert Muczynski

Sam


Back to School at 62: How I earned a BM degree in Piano Performance/Piano Pedagogy in my retirement!
ABF Online Recitals
ABF Recital Index
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 6,562
6000 Post Club Member
Offline
6000 Post Club Member
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 6,562
This, played by Heathred (of this very forum) in this recording.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTMkyZ62R1k

Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 58
L
Full Member
Offline
Full Member
L
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 58
Liszt's Toccata is relatively easy and quite short.

The Saint-Saens Toccata, one of my favorites, is lots of fun, but more difficult than Khatchaturian's in my opinion.


LAP
Henry F. Miller Pedal Piano, Decker Brothers Concert Grand, Knabe Grand, Chickering 135 Grand, Mathushek Orchestral Square, Baldwin Hamilton, Challis Harpsichord
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 9,395
W
wr Offline
9000 Post Club Member
Offline
9000 Post Club Member
W
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 9,395

Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 422
S
Full Member
Offline
Full Member
S
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 422
We mustn't forget the Schumann Toccata!!!!!! My all time favorite for this genre


Serge P. Marinkovic, MD

Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 2,346
T
2000 Post Club Member
Offline
2000 Post Club Member
T
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 2,346
Hi, KenBakerMN -- and welcome to Piano World! One Toccata not yet mentioned is Katherine Hoover's, written in 2011. It's quite effective, and I think comparable in difficulty to the Khachaturian.

Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 433
S
Full Member
Offline
Full Member
S
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 433
Don't forget Kapustin...he wrote at least two "Toccatinas." They're both really nifty, but my favorite is the Op. 36:


Last edited by scriabinfanatic; 05/23/18 04:35 PM.
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 155
B
Full Member
Offline
Full Member
B
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 155
The first movement of Bach’s Partita no 6 is a toccata:

https://youtu.be/lxkbltXdoKI

Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 170
K
Full Member
OP Offline
Full Member
K
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 170
Thanks for all the great answers. I'll check out some of those, especially the Hoover and Kapustin.


Almost not insane some of the time.
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 338
X
Full Member
Offline
Full Member
X
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 338
How about the piano version of Widor's toccata from his fifth organ symphony? It sounds a lot smaller on a piano naturally, but still sounds pretty interesting, and it seems if one was good with music theory that they could add more to it to get it to sound different.

Last edited by XenondiFluoride; 05/24/18 12:39 PM. Reason: spelling

I now have a signature.
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 36,799
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Online Content
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 36,799

Most of the suggestions so far are much harder than the Khachaturian Toccata although the OP indicated he was looking for a piece of similar difficulty.

Last edited by pianoloverus; 05/24/18 01:06 PM.
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 170
K
Full Member
OP Offline
Full Member
K
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 170
Pianoloverus, you're right, most of those suggestions are beyond a level I am likely to achieve. Nonetheless I appreciate the suggestions. I sometimes like to read through hard stuff just to see what's inside. They also make good listening.


Almost not insane some of the time.

Moderated by  Brendan, platuser 

Link Copied to Clipboard
What's Hot!!
Piano World Has Been Sold!
--------------------
Forums RULES, Terms of Service & HELP
(updated 06/06/2022)
---------------------
Posting Pictures on the Forums
(ad)
(ad)
New Topics - Multiple Forums
Country style lessons
by Stephen_James - 04/16/24 06:04 AM
How Much to Sell For?
by TexasMom1 - 04/15/24 10:23 PM
Song lyrics have become simpler and more repetitive
by FrankCox - 04/15/24 07:42 PM
New bass strings sound tubby
by Emery Wang - 04/15/24 06:54 PM
Forum Statistics
Forums43
Topics223,385
Posts3,349,194
Members111,631
Most Online15,252
Mar 21st, 2010

Our Piano Related Classified Ads
| Dealers | Tuners | Lessons | Movers | Restorations |

Advertise on Piano World
| Piano World | PianoSupplies.com | Advertise on Piano World |
| |Contact | Privacy | Legal | About Us | Site Map


Copyright © VerticalScope Inc. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this site may be reproduced without prior written permission
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission, which supports our community.