GMG Classical Music Forum

I'm going to sit this one out until I can put down a list with some confidence. Until then, I'd love to see all of your lists.

Keeping my list one piece per composer otherwise it would go on far too long

Boulez: Sonata no. 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbF2996shIU)
Ligeti: Etudes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHhZ2TzHlow)
Ferneyhough: Lemma-Icon-Epigram (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYMXbM0RCeU)
Crumb: Makrokosmos I (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YTix06IwT4)
Cage: Etudes Australes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7Gzy1hGDg0)
Xenakis: Mists (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqmpnLRkI7w)
Stockhausen: Klavierstück X (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srItBc1cJdg)
Messiaen: Catalogue d'oiseaux (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qWhpSCHCxg)
Debussy: Etudes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FymZsN_NiB4)
Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLGeJ9mrNfU)

Quote from: jessop on February 13, 2018, 08:13:33 PM
Keeping my list one piece per composer otherwise it would go on far too long

Boulez: Sonata no. 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbF2996shIU)
Ligeti: Etudes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHhZ2TzHlow)
Ferneyhough: Lemma-Icon-Epigram (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYMXbM0RCeU)
Crumb: Makrokosmos I (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YTix06IwT4)
Cage: Etudes Australes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7Gzy1hGDg0)
Xenakis: Mists (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqmpnLRkI7w)
Stockhausen: Klavierstück X (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srItBc1cJdg)
Messiaen: Catalogue d'oiseaux (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qWhpSCHCxg)
Debussy: Etudes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FymZsN_NiB4)
Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLGeJ9mrNfU)

Sorry to do this to you, Jessop, but I shortened the list to five works only...because, you know, I've got to make it tough on you guys. ;) ;D

Quote from: Mirror Image on February 13, 2018, 08:15:03 PM
Sorry to do this to you, Jessop, but I shortened the list to five works only...because, you know, I've got to make it tough on you guys. ;) ;D

Is ten not tough enough? :laugh:

Here is a ridiculously short list of piano works. I was very unhappy to delete HALF of them! :P

Quote from: jessop on February 13, 2018, 08:13:33 PM
Keeping my list one piece per composer otherwise it would go on far too long

Boulez: Sonata no. 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbF2996shIU)
Ligeti: Etudes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHhZ2TzHlow)
Ferneyhough: Lemma-Icon-Epigram (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYMXbM0RCeU)
Xenakis: Mists (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqmpnLRkI7w)
Stockhausen: Klavierstück X (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srItBc1cJdg)

Quote from: jessop on February 13, 2018, 08:36:43 PM
Is ten not tough enough? :laugh:

Here is a ridiculously short list of piano works. I was very unhappy to delete HALF of them! :P

Yeah, 10 is hard to do, but I wanted to make it a bit more difficult. :P Interesting list, especially since it ignores three of my favorite piano masters: Ravel, Debussy, and Janáček. ;) But I understand that this is your list and not mine of course.

Solo single piano

Shostakovich WTC Book III
Debussy whichever preludes and etudes fall in the 20th century
Prokofiev Fugitive Visions op 22, and several sonatas
Bartok Mikrokosmos
Glass Metamorphoses
Messiaen Vingt Regards

If we're talking multiple pianos then a lot of ten Holt.

In chronological order, one piece per composer:

Debussy: Préludes - both Books, but if I have to choose then Book I
Messiaen: Vingt Regards sur l'enfant-Jésus
Boulez: Sonata No.2
Nono:...sofferte onde serene... (ok, it's for piano & tape but...who cares?  :P)
Feldman: Triadic Memories

Runners-up:
Albeniz: Iberia
Busoni: Sonatina seconda
Ives: Concord Sonata
Bartók; Piano Sonata
Kurtág: Játékok

Quote from: Mirror Image on February 13, 2018, 08:42:12 PM
Yeah, 10 is hard to do, but I wanted to make it a bit more difficult. :P Interesting list, especially since it ignores three of my favorite piano masters: Ravel, Debussy, and Janáček. ;) But I understand that this is your list and not mine of course.

If you let me have more (like maybe 10 to 15), I would include Debussy and Ravel without hesitation

Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit
Janáček: On an Overgrown Path
Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues, op. 87
Godowsky: Passacaglia in B minor (after Schubert's Unfinished Symphony)
Bridge: Piano Sonata, H. 160

https://www.youtube.com/v/F89fz09pbHs

I'll attempt to make a list even though I'm still getting familiar with the solo piano music of my favorite composers:

(In no particular order)

Ravel: Miroirs
Debussy: Estampes
Janáček: In the Mists
Bartók: Out of Doors
Ives: Concord Sonata

Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
Janacek: 1.X.1905
Messiaen: Le baiser de l'Enfant Jesus (a.k.a. Regard No. 15)
Rachmaninov: Preludes Op 32
Albeniz: Iberia

I could agonize for a few more hours over this but probably couldn't do much better.

Let's see...only five?  ::) Well then:

Albéniz: Iberia
Boulez: Deuxième sonate
Debussy: Douze études (tough to choose among Debussy's output, I must confess)
Enescu: Sonata No. 3
Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin

Hard picking which Carter piece - Night Fantasies, 90+ or 2 Thoughts About the Piano
Ligeti Etudes
Messiaen - Catalog d'oiseaux
Debussy - Images set 1
Bartok - Out of Doors

Debussy: Preludes Book II (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpnFucT4U_E)
Ligeti: Etudes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHhZ2TzHlow)
Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_m6hLSpsLc)
Schoenberg: Sechs kleine Klavierstücke Op. 19 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cmWgll8T4c)
Takemitsu: Uninterrupted Rests (遮られない休息) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll49wnTxDPM)

Scriabin: Sonata No. 5
Finnissy: Etched Bright with Sunlight
Ives: Sonata No. 2
Ligeti: Etude No. 6, Automne à Varsovie or No. 13, L'escalier du diable. Or just all of them.  8)
Medtner: Forgotten Melodies

--Bruce

Ligeti: Etudes, Book 1
Carter: Night Fantasies
Schoenberg: Suite, Op. 25
Berg: Sonata, Op. 1
Ives: Concord Sonata

Koechlin: Persian Hours (obviously the piano version!)
Novak: Pan
Bloch: Visions and Prophecies
Vaughan Williams: The Lake in the Mountains
Bax: Piano Sonata in E flat ( part of which became Symphony 1)

I think that all of these became orchestral works at some point, which I guess shows the trajectory of my musical interests.

Not sure if these are all 20th Century.

Quote from: jessop on February 13, 2018, 08:36:43 PM
Is ten not tough enough? :laugh:

Indeed!

Favourites tend to vary according to what I´m currently listening to, but some of the consistent ones are here:

- Scriabin - the Sonata cycle
- Feinberg - the Sonata cycle
- Debussy - the Preludes cycle
- Ligeti - the Etudes cycle
- Rachmaninov - the Etudes cycle

Quote from: Turner on February 14, 2018, 09:29:33 AM
Favourites tend to vary according to what I´m currently listening to, but some of the consistent ones are here:

- Scriabin - the Sonata cycle
- Feinberg - the Sonata cycle
- Debussy - the Preludes cycle
- Ligeti - the Etudes cycle
- Rachmaninov - the Etudes cycle

I very much enjoy the Debussy Preludes, especially the 'Sunken Cathedral' one unless that is from a different work.

Quote from: vandermolen on February 14, 2018, 09:43:57 AM
I very much enjoy the Debussy Preludes, especially the 'Sunken Cathedral' one unless that is from a different work.

Yes, that one is from Book 1, along with the other very popular piece in the set, "Girl with the Flaxen Hair."

Quote from: vandermolen on February 14, 2018, 09:43:57 AM
I very much enjoy the Debussy Preludes, especially the 'Sunken Cathedral' one unless that is from a different work.

Indeed it is from the series, and there´s a lot of exuberance in those two cycles ... very difficult to choose between the pieces, I think.

Let's see: Your Favorite Top Solo Piano Works from 5 20th Century Composers:  ???

Scriabin: Sonatas IX and X
Rachmaninov: Sonatas I and II
Protopopov: Sonatas I, II, III
Alexander Tcherepnin: Sonatas I and II
Busoni: Elegien, Fantasia Contrappuntistica

Yes, it's impossible.

But, five which come to mind first thing:

Albéniz, Iberia
Busoni, Fantasia contrappuntistica
Feldman, Triadic Memories
Sorabji, Opus clavicembalisticum
Stevenson, Passacaglia on DSCH

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on February 15, 2018, 04:01:16 AM
Yes, it's impossible.

But...



Sorabji, Opus clavicembalisticum

Yes,The Great Sorabji!!!  8)

And, dagnabbit, I left off the Shostakovich Op.87   :o

Bull's pizzles!

Albéniz: Ibéria
Debussy: Preludes Book I
Janáček : On the overgrown Path
Mompou: Musica callada
Murail: Territoires de l'oubli
Ravel: Miroirs de la nuit

No, can't do fewer than that.

Quote from: North Star on February 15, 2018, 05:02:11 AM
Albéniz: Ibéria
Debussy: Preludes Book I
Janáček : On the overgrown Path
Mompou: Musica callada
Murail: Territoires de l'oubli
Ravel: Miroirs de la nuit

No, can't do fewer than that.

Nope; impossible to shed any of those.

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on February 15, 2018, 05:16:08 AM
Nope; impossible to shed any of those.

And this reminds me, I need to listen to Finnissy's 5-hour cycle The History of Photography in Sound, of which Bruce nominated a part (Etched Bright with Sunlight).

Cage: sonatas and interludes for prepared piano
Ginastera: sonata no 1
Ives: Concord sonata
Prokofiev: sonata no 7
Stravinsky: Three Movements from Petrouchka

Of course, Ravel... ::)

Quote from: North Star on February 15, 2018, 05:02:11 AM
Ravel: Miroirs de la nuit

You sly dog!  ;D

Satie Gymnopédies
Satie Gnossiennes
Prokofiev Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 14
Berg Sonata Op.1
Ives Sonata No. 1 (I actually prefer it to the Concord)

Edit: My list doesn't work. The Satie works were composed in the late 19th century  :(


Sarge

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on February 15, 2018, 12:27:38 PM
Satie Gymnopédies
Satie Gnossiennes
Prokofiev Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 14
Berg Sonata Op.1
Ives Sonata No. 1 (I actually prefer it to the Concord)

Edit: My list doesn't work. The Satie works were composed in the late 19th century  :(


Sarge

I love those Satie works both in their piano or orchestral manifestations.

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on February 15, 2018, 12:27:38 PM
Satie Gymnopédies
Satie Gnossiennes

Edit: My list doesn't work. The Satie works were composed in the late 19th century  :(


Sarge

Testosterone causes memory loss.

Quote from: Ken B on February 15, 2018, 01:21:02 PM
Testosterone causes memory loss.

That explains so much of my life  ;D ...at least the parts I still remember.

Sarge

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on February 15, 2018, 12:27:38 PM

Ives Sonata No. 1 (I actually prefer it to the Concord)

I'll take that as a reminder to listen to it again (I have Masselos RCA recording). I enjoy early Ives about as much as "mature" Ives, but I think critics tend to downgrade it because it's more conservative or whatever.

Good to see another vote for the Berg Sonata also.

Quote from: North Star on February 15, 2018, 05:24:25 AM
And this reminds me, I need to listen to Finnissy's 5-hour cycle The History of Photography in Sound, of which Bruce nominated a part (Etched Bright with Sunlight).

I have never heard the whole cycle, and would like to. Meanwhile, a strong runner-up would be Finnissy's Gershwin Arrangements. I am particularly fond of the recording by my (not-related) friend, Nicolas Hodges.

--Bruce

My top 5:

Debussy: Préludes
Godowsky: Java Suite
Ives: Piano Sonata #2 "Concord"
Ligeti: Études pour piano (minus Book 3, I suppose :()
Messiaen: Vingt Regards sur l'enfant-Jésus

But I also need to mention:

Adams: Phrygian Gates
Albéniz: Iberia
Cage: Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano
Debussy: the rest of his 20th century piano output
Decaux: Clairs de lune
Finnissy: English Country Tunes
Koechlin: Paysages et Marines
Ligeti: Musica Ricercata
Nancarrow: Studies for Player Piano
Poulenc: Nocturnes
Young: The Well-Tuned Piano

Argh...Nancarrow! Of course!

--Bruce

Ligeti etudes
Boulez 2nd piano sonata
Ravel Miroirs
Debussy etudes
Barraqué piano sonata

Quote from: aleazk on February 15, 2018, 02:27:55 PM
Ligeti etudes
Boulez 2nd piano sonata
Ravel Miroirs
Debussy etudes
Barraqué piano sonata

Pfft why listen to Barraqué when we have Boulez  $:)

Territoires de l'oubli
Klavierstück X
Le tombeau de Couperin
English Country-Tunes
Improvisation No.15 (Hommage à Edith Piaf)

a little eclecticism never hurt anyone <.<

I have far more than 5 but I don't think these have been mentioned before.

Fauré - Nocturne no. 13 in B minor op. 119 (1921)
Weinberg - Piano Sonata no. 2 op. 8 (1942)
de Séverac - En vacances (1912)
Villa-Lobos - A prole do bebe, Books I & II (1918, 1921)
Esplá - Sonata Española (1949)

Quote from: jessop on February 16, 2018, 01:09:03 AM
Pfft why listen to Barraqué when we have Boulez  $:)

" $:)" indeed... ;)

Ligeti Etudes
DSCH Op 87
Ravel--specific work to be advised, but certainly he wrote enough good stuff that at least one will qualify!
Scriabin--one of the later sonatas
Rachmaninov--Corelli Variations

Quote from: vandermolen on February 14, 2018, 09:43:57 AM
I very much enjoy the Debussy Preludes, especially the 'Sunken Cathedral' one unless that is from a different work.

Agreed 100 %. Sunken Cathedral has absolutely wonderful atmosphere made by a single instrument. Most of Debussy's preludes in general have countless wonderful effects.

Expect lots of Debussy works:

Debussy: Preludes Book 1
Debussy: Preludes Book 2
Debussy: Images Book 1
Debussy: Images Book 2
Ravel: Miroirs

Let's see...

Medtner: Sonata Romantica in B-flat minor
Nielsen: Luciferian Suite
Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 6 in A major
Rachmaninoff: Variations on a Theme of Corelli
Tippett: Piano Sonata No. 1

Medtner Piano Sonatas
Prokofiev Piano Sonatas
People United Will Never Be Defeated
Carter Night Fantasy


The final spot will belong to one of the followings:
Stevenson Passacaglia on DSCH
Sorabji Opus Clavicembalisticum
Shostakovich Op 87
Bridge Piano Sonata
Berg Sonata Op. 1
Ives Sonata 2

(This is a sneaky way of naming ten+ instead of five...)

Prokofiev war sonatas
Rachmaninov Preludes
Debussy Preludes
Ravel Gaspard
Ligeti Preludes

Quote from: kyjo on January 18, 2024, 11:00:55 AMLet's see...

Medtner: Sonata Romantica in B-flat minor
Nielsen: Luciferian Suite
Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 6 in A major
Rachmaninoff: Variations on a Theme of Corelli
Tippett: Piano Sonata No. 1

I haven't heard any of Tippett's piano sonatas!

John Cage: Music of Changes
Boulez: 12 Notations pour piano
Shostakovich: 24 Preludes & Fugues, Op. 87
Schoenberg: Drei Klavierstücke, Op. 11
Morton Feldman - Palais de Mari

Many favorites have been mentioned -
Jardins sous la pluie, Tombeau de Couperin, Messiaen -Merle noir , Enescu Carillon nocturne, Jolivet - Mana....
I love the mighty sonata (1948) by Dutilleux.

Quote from: Mahlerian on February 14, 2018, 08:34:47 AMDebussy: Preludes Book II (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpnFucT4U_E)
Ligeti: Etudes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHhZ2TzHlow)
Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_m6hLSpsLc)
Schoenberg: Sechs kleine Klavierstücke Op. 19 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cmWgll8T4c)
Takemitsu: Uninterrupted Rests (遮られない休息) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll49wnTxDPM)

Whose recording of the Takemitsu work do you like (your link no longer works as that account has been deleted)?  I've heard very little of his music.

PD

In no particular order:

Ravel - Miroirs
Debussy - Préludes, Book 1
Rachmaninov - Preludes, Op. 23
Prokofiev - Vision Fugitives
Schönberg - Suite, Op. 25

I may or may not have replied already, but today:

Busoni, Fantasia contrappuntistica
Hindemith, Ludus tonalis
Feldman, Triadic Memories
Sorabji, Opus clavicembalisticum
Shostakovich, Op. 87

Mompou - Musica callada
Albeniz - Iberia
Granados - Goyescas
Falla - Fantasia betica
Blancafort - Cants intims

Quote from: Florestan on February 15, 2024, 11:32:30 AMMompou - Musica callada
Albeniz - Iberia
Granados - Goyescas
Falla - Fantasia betica
Blancafort - Cants intims

Muy español todo...  ;)

Buenas tardes, querido Andrei.

Quote from: ritter on February 15, 2024, 11:35:56 AMMuy español todo...  ;)

Muy fantastico tambien.  :D

QuoteBuenas tardes, querido Andrei.

Buenas tardes, Rafael.

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on February 15, 2024, 06:07:41 AMWhose recording of the Takemitsu work do you like (your link no longer works as that account has been deleted)?  I've heard very little of his music.

PD

I think Mahlerian has long gone, unfortunately.

Uninterrupted Rest is a really hard piece of music I think. If you didn't know, you could think it was a Cage Etude - but unlike Cage, Takemitsu was explicit about the emotional impact he wants each movement to have. And there are lots of accents which can sound harsh and agressive. I like a pianist called Hiromi Okada. Roger Woodward also, but Okada has better sound.

Quote from: Mandryka on February 15, 2024, 11:55:55 AMI think Mahlerian has long gone, unfortunately.

Uninterrupted Rest is a really hard piece of music I think. If you didn't know, you could think it was a Cage Etude - but unlike Cage, Takemitsu was explicit about the emotional impact he wants each movement to have. And there are lots of accents which can sound harsh and agressive. I like a pianist called Hiromi Okada. Roger Woodward also, but Okada has better sound.

Thank you.  I'll give them a listen.

PD