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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!
It's another "can't pick just one, or even a dozen" question for me. And I am glad I can't, because that means there are many pieces that have seriously intense meaning for me, and that fact makes me happy.
I find it hard to pick as well. And many of those closest to my heart are not solo piano pieces either. The Brahms viola/clarinet sonata in E flat is one; countless Lieder; but for solo piano Schubert's B flat sonata D960 must be near the top of the list.
My heart is fickle. Every few days I find there is something new to melt it. Currently it's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor (BWV 582). Ye Gods! What a colossal achievement!
Chopin Polonaise Militaire. - My first Chopin piece, also my first "difficult" piece.
Rhapsody in Blue. - Playing this in a recital with my teacher is one of my fondest memories !!
Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto (haven't played this one though !!! ) I just love the way the second movement flows directly in the third.
Schubert D Major Sonata D.850 - Currently learning. I was hooked from the moment I heard the first few measures .
Bach C minor Fantasy and Fugue (an organ piece). Maybe not my absolute favorite Bach piece, but again it was the first 'big' organ piece I learned. It was certainly my favorite piece before I started playing the organ.
I've got a youtube account you're welcome to check out. Not too much there yet though !
After hearing a rivetting masterpiece on our local Classic-Fm radio station ...
it’s always this gem buzzing around in my noggin ...
The latest buzz ... the Chopin Piano Concerto no. 2 Opus 21 which keeps going round and round upstairs ... amazingly composed in 1830 at the tender age of 20 years.
What’s wrong with me? ... why can’t I write a scrap of keyboard music to match Fred’s neat PC2?
A very tough pick. I think that right now, my answer would be Brahms' F-minor sonata, since I'm currently working on it. I loved it the first time I heard, and I never tire of it. The Brahms D-minor concerto is also on this list, although I've never played it. This is no coincidence, since Brahms is certainly my favorite composer.
Funny you should mention the Alkan Concerto for solo piano, Orange-Soda King. This is also a piece that I could put on such a list. I immediately fell in love with it the first time I heard it, which was during a bit of a tough time for me. I was simultaneously getting over a girl and things were going poorly for me in graduate school. Every time I hear this piece now, I'm reminded of that dear friend that consoled me and got me through a difficult period of my life.
I really don't understand why more (professional) pianists don't play the Alkan concerto. And I won't accept difficulty as an answer; you can't possibly tell me that the likes of Lang-Lang or Yuja Wang can't handle the piece, even though it is an absolute monster (I think that it's the hardest solo piano work that I've ever heard). Not that I like either of those pianists, I'm just saying that today's technical standards are so high, that there are plenty of pianists that could - at least from a technical standpoint - handle it.
I agree with you, s.t.richter. They both easily have the technique to make good work of it, although those are two pianists I don't want to ever play that piece. Maybe Garrick Ohlssohn, Stephen Hough, or Anton Nel. The second theme of the first movement is just so glorious!! And how he uses it throughout the movement. I'm tired with the Liszt B Minor Sonata and Schumann Fantasie: two unbelievably great works in the Romantic era, but I just hear them SO much now... People should really branch out.
....I really don't understand why more (professional) pianists don't play the Alkan concerto. And I won't accept difficulty as an answer....
Is that the rumor?
That might be what keeps a lot of people from playing it, but it's not the reason that most performers have (or give) for not playing it. I'm speaking as someone who likes Alkan, but I realize that the fact is that many people don't find his music that appealing. They simply think it's not that good.
....I really don't understand why more (professional) pianists don't play the Alkan concerto. And I won't accept difficulty as an answer....
Is that the rumor?
That might be what keeps a lot of people from playing it, but it's not the reason that most performers have (or give) for not playing it. I'm speaking as someone who likes Alkan, but I realize that the fact is that many people don't find his music that appealing. They simply think it's not that good.
You're right. Sucks for those people, right?
Although, I can speak from experience talking to solid musical figures that don't get into Alkan (yes, even a youngster like me has some experience) that they are quite ignorant to his music, too. You don't fully understand what you don't really know, right?
....I really don't understand why more (professional) pianists don't play the Alkan concerto. And I won't accept difficulty as an answer....
Is that the rumor?
That might be what keeps a lot of people from playing it, but it's not the reason that most performers have (or give) for not playing it. I'm speaking as someone who likes Alkan, but I realize that the fact is that many people don't find his music that appealing. They simply think it's not that good.
You're right. Sucks for those people, right?
Although, I can speak from experience talking to solid musical figures that don't get into Alkan (yes, even a youngster like me has some experience) that they are quite ignorant to his music, too. You don't fully understand what you don't really know, right?
That's absolutely true. That's why I try some Alkan every so often, maybe once or twice a year. So far... nothing.
