Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner FAQ - Pianist Corner Looking for a talent show piece...

My school has an end of the year talent show. The time limit for a performance is five minutes and since I'm playing a lot of ARCT level pieces right now, I'm finding my music search slightly difficult. I'm looking for something that can show off my practice and talent. Preferably something fast.

Does anyone have any suggestions/links? Thanks a bunch. By the way, I have about two months to learn it.

Diana

How about Fantansie Impromtu........

Fast and about that level I think.......

Such a beautiful song.....

Diana:

If you want a flamboyant, tuneful, romantic piece with plenty of action you're more than welcome to any of my early compositions. I've scanned scores and emailed them to pianists before now and I'm told they've been enthusiastically received. At least you could more or less guarantee no one will have heard it before. The difficulty would be about that of a Chopin study I suppose.

Let me know if you want to see one and I'll send it.

tedj@gud.co.nz

In a talent show, the judges usually aren't too piano savvy. This being the case, anything that sounds impressive, they are generally amazed by. It's kinda like when you play piano for non-piano playing friends, and they're amazed by everything. I'm only saying this because if you already have a lot of difficult music to work on, you could learn something fast and flashy, but not super hard, so it wouldn't take up too much of your time. There's always good old Bumble Bee, there are easier transcriptions than rach's that still amaze an "untrained" audience. It also only takes a few minutes.

Tom

Ernst Toch's "The Juggler"

Flashy, short, meaty, loud, perfect, get it now!

Ted,

I've not got a concert yet in which I could play it (though undoubtedly one will come up!), but I would love to try and play one of your pieces if you'd be so kind as to send me whichever one suits you! I'm at about the same level as kawahime. It sure would be nice to play something fresh that's not already been done to death.

Peter

Chopin's Octave Etude
Chopin's Revolutionary Etude
But the BEST one to be showy, Chopin's Etude Op. 12 No. 4, it's just awesome to see someone perform it.

yes, indeed...it would be awesome...something never-before heard...

As if a talent show judge would be picky about how common something is. :rolleyes:

I think you misunderstood his sarcasm- he was poking fun at the thought of there being an actual piece of Op.12, #4. (Maybe you mean Op.10, No.4) not at the idea that it is overplayed!

Ah, ok, kind of pointless, one could easily go around poking fun at all the typos online. :rolleyes:

I'm sticking by Ernst Toch's "The Juggler"

I wouldn't recommend a Chopin etude in two month's time for a talent show, although it might work if you've played a couple before and can rework one. Might be possible, though, just depends on how far along you are in ARCT world.

The Toch can be learned in under a month and once you've got it down, it's the kind of piece you can really play the &$*%&!! out of.

Also consider Villa-Lobos' Polichinelle (from 'A Prole do Bebe No. 1') It's also short, flashy, fast, and LOTS of fun!

valarking,

just curious, it was Op. 10 No. 4 right? not the Op. 25 one?

Good point magnezium. I have never seen someone perform Op25 N.4 but I'm sure it must be quite impressive too.

Wow thanks for everyone's replies. I really should have thought this through more. I just realized: I dont' really have time to learn a Chopin Etude and MEMORIZE it as well in two months. Mainly because I'm horrible at memorizing songs.

I was thinking maybe I shouldn't bother memorizing it, but I would look WAY more talented if I did the piece by memory, right?? Hmm... tough decision. I think I'll ask my teacher. She probably knows my learning capacity best, right??

Anyway, thanks for everyone's input. I REALLY love the Chopin fantasie impromptu so that will probably be my first choice if I choose to do a Chopin piece..

Diana

Just in case you do decide to go for a Chopin Etude, I would have to recommend Op. 10 No. 3, as it is by far the easiest to play at a moderate level, and sounds impressive to non-musicians who fall in love with the main melody while being impressed by the middle section.

Peter

You could try Chopin Op.25 N.2
I memorized it in two days. I think it's easier than Op10 N.3 although I have not finished learning Op10 N.3 (too boring...)

I also have a talent show coming up, and I thought of a marvelous idea. The selection of pieces I could of played were Chopin b minor Scherzo, or the Beethoven b flat major sonata Op. 22. The problem is twofold, first, both pieces are fairly long and thus I would have to cut too much down, so I rather not play these. Secondly, I don't know how they will be recieved by the audience, since I don't think there will be too much knowledge of classical music.

My plan is to play a composition that I just composed, I will even improvise parts of it while I play. It is in the style of Rachmaninoff or so, although it is a bit different. I think I will have the best shot at pleasing everyone with this, since I know i can have 100% control over its aspects, unlike another composer's composition!

Flashy, and not as difficult as it seems. Chopin Etude OP 10 No 12. Don't go for sheer speed though or it sound a mess. There are thousands of possibilities really. Only you or your teacher who knows your capabilities, can really decide! Good luck.

Definitely a zombie thread! You're 13 years late mate!