I did a search and there was an old thread like this but it hadn't been posted in for 2 years so I thought I'd start a new one. It's nice to share and all and I'm looking for inspiration!!! Doesn't matter what level you are (but it's good to know to relate it to what you're playing at the moment)

At the moment I'm playing
Chopin - Waltz in A minor
Gade - Elegie
Jensen - Romanze
Heller - Etude in D
Kalinnikov - Chanson Triste
all from More Romantic Pieces for Piano book IV.

Grieg - Elfin Dance Op12 No4
from Lyric Pieces but I have it in an 'introduction to Grieg's piano works' book. I'll probably start playing more from this book soon.

Heller - Song Without Words Op120 No 1
And a few Preludes (want to get through all the ones in the book)
from Miscelleaneous Pieces (ABRSM Easier Piano Pieces series). I love Stephen Heller.

And I'm also hacking through Bach Tocatta & Fugue in D minor.......getting there slowly, this is my longer-term thing at the moment!

So..........what have you been mostly playing this week?

A lovely selection. I am almost jealous

Couperin: Les Baricades Mysterieuse
Bach. Preludes and Fugues: Book 1 No 12
Scarlatti. K25 in F minor, K87 in B, K247 in C sharp minor, KK426 in G, K466 in F minor, K482 in F minor (I like F minor!)
Chopin. Etudes: Op 10 No 7, Op 25 No 4
Mozart. Sonata in D K576

and a medley of Christmas songs:

White Christmas
Have Yourself a merry Little Christmas,
Sleigh Ride
Winter Wonderland
The Christmas Song

oh ... and Bright Eyes by the great and under-rated Mike Batt!!

-czerny op. 636 no. 20
-czerny op. 299 no. 1-3
-chopin's prelude in b min op 28 no 6
-haydn's sonata from universal edition book I no 2, 3rd movt.
-A2 and B3 from selected grade 7 03-04
-debussy's 1st arabesque
-and also "the christmas song" ..chestnuts roasting.. in this peaceful month ^^

Schumann - Von fremden Landern und Menschen
Prokofieff - La pluie et l'arc-en-ciel

I'm trying to work as though I'm taking my G5 again, but cheating slightly as I learnt these pieces 30 years ago and am working from the Musiques d'enfants that I had first time round! I can't choose a List A piece - why is that always the hardest?

Long term - Grieg op. 34 - Last Spring

Christmas pieces - Walking in the Air (easy piano version) and Little Donkey (again, ancient version!) I like the choices mentioned here so am going to get some of those.

I seem to recall a similar thread not long ago but I can't remember the title, and I posted some of the things I am working on in that, although some of them have lapsed a bit - I'm having to concentrate more on the organ at the moment.

One thing I have recently begun is from John Irelands London Pieces and is called Ragamuffin. A few cluster chords that are a bit of an uncomfortable stretch but other wise quite good fun.

Bach's Suite Francese No. 3 (the Gavotte and the minuet)
Bach's Two-part Inventions Nos 2 and 3
Massenet's Mélodie (Set piece for Grade 5)
Cornick Espagnol (Set piece for Grade 5)
Haendel's Toccata in g minor (Set piece for Grade 5)
Mozart's Fantasia in d minor
Tscaikowsky's The Witch
Chopin's Prelude in e minor

No études unfortunately (my teacher doesn't seem to believe in them)

Yes there is indeed a recent thread from about a month ago. (I remember since the last time I looked into it oldnotes was working on 28(!!!) pieces)

Two Grade 6 pieces:
Beethoven Adagio: 2nd movt from Sonata in C,
Oscar Peterson Jazz Exercise No. 2

Two "jazzy" versions of carols:
Silent Night
Deck the Halls

Yes there is indeed a recent thread from about a month ago. (I remember since the last time I looked into it oldnotes was working on 28(!!!) pieces)
[/quote]
Those concerts and exam are behind me now (after one more today), so, I will now be concentrating on grade 7 pieces and Headingley solos, accompanyments, duets and trio. No other committments during December

daquin - le coucou
brahms - intermezzo in A major

Beethoven - Piano Sonata 5 in C minor- Third movement.

Then my GRADE 8 pieces
Bach - Tocatta & Fugue in F minor (WTK II)
Mozart - Piano Sonata No. 9 in D major - First movement
Debussy - Doctor Gradus

Nobuo Uematsu - FF7 Main theme (Piano collections)
Nobuo Uematsu - Descendent of the Shinobi (Piano collections)
Nobuo Uematsu - one winged angel. (Piano collections)

Big fan of nobuo

Clowns - Gareth Wood - Piano accompaniment only though.

Some other randoms.

And i shouldn't say this but on french horn:
Beatles - Penny lane
Mozart - horn concerto no. 3 - second movement

That would be me and Tom discussing our games in the evening after a chess competition away from home: "Chess nuts boasting in a hotel Foyer"

fabnt what is nobuo like, haven't heard of him (her?)?

Wahey, final fantasy game music
It sounds great and is actually quite challenging. Great really

Nobuo Uematsu is a video game composer, but his style has been influenced by classical music and I find him absaloutely amazing.

Here's an example of one winged angel on youtube http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=B_MW65XxS7s
And FF7 Main theme, from the same game but a completely different mood - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jzz5cVt70j8

The piano collections are the piano arrangements of his works. There is one book for each game and each one has about 14 pieces. :-)

*duh* hahahaha

yes, from final fantasy, i like the one with title "fisherman..." forgot..

I'm working (memorising) on the following for exams in mid-May:
-Rachmaninoff: Prelude in C sharp minor, Op. 3 no.2
-Bach Preulde and Fugue in D minor
-Beethoven (1st movement): Sonata in C minor No.5
-Debussy (Clair de Lune)
-Chopin Etude Op. 25 no.1

I've decided to drop the Czerny study as I found it that I could have either 2 pieces (Rach and Debussy) and 1 etude or 2 etudes and 1 piece.

My teacher (who teaches the Russian syllabus) says it's not an 'exam' but more a 'performance' (they are obsessed with performances in Russia and also performing without the music in front of you), but it's still nerve racking as I have to perform before Professor Evgeny Mogilevsky (from the Brussels Conservatory) and he will be examining me (as well as giving me on the spot feedback). It's nerve racking I have no idea how I'm going to be on the day but I'm sure I'll be pleased as punch when it's over (then I can start work on Yr2!)

Fisherman's horizon?

yeah that one, nice melody

Sorry once again to go , but here's a version of FH that you may find interesting to listen to:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=FJUZK92jxoE

At the moment, I'm learning these pieces:
Beethoven's Sonata op.14 in E major
Chopin's Ballade no.3 in Ab major
Chopin's Etude op.25 no.9 (Butterfly)
Chopin's Polonaise op.40 no.1 in A major (Military)
Faure Nocturne no.4 in Eb major op.36
Rachmaninoff's Polichinelle

Of which, Chopin's Etude and Polonaise are for competition while the other four are for my future diploma exam


SHAN

Grade 8 pieces:
A1: Ciamarosa sonata in D minor
B1: Beethoven sonata in C minor, 3rd mvt
C?: Gershwin- The man i Love.

-Beethoven "pathetique" sonata, all 3 mvts
-Rachmaninov Prelude in C# minor
-Chopin Nocturne, but can't remember which one, but it was on the grade 8 07-08 list
-Gershwin "I got rhythm"
-Beethoven "moonlight" sonata, all 3 movements
-Grieg piano concerto 1st movement.

Jacob.

Not learning any solos at the moment - in fact haven't played any for ages. In the last few weeks it's been accompaniments for Christmas concert, carol service, CD recording, and another concert, all at school. Now that's all finished I need to work on the accompaniment for the Mass that we're doing at Easter - it's a jazz Mass, and very exciting. I'm not playing it in the actual concert - the composer will be playing - but I need to make a decent job of it for the rehearsals.

I've got a pupil planning to do his grade 8 piano in the summer, so I'm looking at some of the grade 8 pieces that I'm doing with him. I'm doing
Bach prelude and Fugue in F minor
Mozart - last movement of the F major sonata
Brahms intermezzo

I've also got some Gershwin on the go - I've got Rhythm.

I've got that book, and some of the others in the series, they're really good. I think that particular one has a mint green cover, and i play those ones too, they're really nice pieces.

Very interesting to see what everyone else's playing.
I am learning Schumann's piano concerto as I'm playing it with Orchestra early March.
Also playing Liszt-Paganini Etude no.1 which is just fantastic!!! especially towards the end.

I would love to play some Soler or Scarlatti for a change as I have long list of Romantic repertoire and reasonably broad Classical pieces as well. but I feel I ought to concentrate on my Concerto.

Well, if you can play stuff like that you are going to find most Scarlatti rather easy. But it is wonderful music, even if it is not hard to hit the notes.

I seem to have been working on fairly demanding stuff without a break for a year: Bach Preludes and Fugues, Chopin etudes, programmes for two diplomas, and repertoire for competitions further down the line, with several recitals thrown in along the way, so for Christmas, with nothing on the horizon until April, I am going to rest all that stuff, let the subconscious work on it, and give myself a treat, memorizing something more straightforward technically, but musically superb: Beethoven's 6 Bagatelles Op 126




Did you just make that one up? Brilliant!

[/quote]

I seem to have been working on fairly demanding stuff without a break for a year: Bach Preludes and Fugues, Chopin etudes, programmes for two diplomas, and repertoire for competitions further down the line, with several recitals thrown in along the way, so for Christmas, with nothing on the horizon until April, I am going to rest all that stuff, let the subconscious work on it, and give myself a treat, memorizing something more straightforward technically, but musically superb: Beethoven's 6 Bagatelles Op 126

[/quote]

I've changed direction a little bit, and am playing a couple of Chopin études (25/1 and 25/12) and am finding progress very s.l.o.w.; and also Brahms Intermezzo (op.117/2). I just want a break full-stop

In search of a change from my usual diet of Bach plus the romantics I came back from the library with Shostakovich Preludes & Fugues (still contrapuntal I know). I am particularly taken with

op 87 no 4 in e minor.

There are about 3 bars in the fugue where I will have to imagine a note continuing that I can't stretch or pedal without blurring and I may not succeed in differentiating voices in 1 hand like the pros do, but I'll give it a go for a few weeks. Does anyone know it or have experience of playing it ?

I'm amazed that people can have so much difficult stuff on the go at once! I tend to just get my teeth into one or two things at a time. At the minute it's Chopin's Etude Opus 10 number 3, which I'm hoping to have ready for a small concert in February. (No, Mad Tom, the memorising isn't going desperately well, I'm afraid, but there are small chunks where I can look at my hands... )

I've just taken on a couple of Bartok's Mikrokosmos Bulgarian dances and this rather beautiful piece.

Havn't played piano alone much recently, but over the holiday period I was pleased to get in some sonata work with my daughter on the violin. We did Beethoven No 4 (A Minor) and 5 (Spring), and Mozart no 10 and 15 (our favourite, but that second movement , set for Grade8, is mighty tricky to play really well!)

Might get some piano in this evening as Mrs is out. I fancy digging out some stuff I havent played for a biT like Poulenc (Improvisatons, Novelettes, Mouvements Perpetuels, Hymne) or maybe Bartok (Three Rondos, Sonatine )

Stephen Duro - Sam's Boogie

(I know everyone else is doing much harder stuff and much more of it, but piano really isn't my thing.)

Mendelssohn's d minor piano trio

- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (Liszt)
- La Campanella (Liszt)
- Ronda alla turca (Fazil Say's arrangement)
- Piano Concerto No. 3 (Rachmaninoff)

Brahms intermezzo in A major.

The last movement (Rondo:Presto) of Haydn Sonata in Ab major Hob. XVI/43.

for a competition coming up at Easter:
Chopin- Berceuse op 57
Ravel- Scarbo (Gaspard de la nuit)

and other stuff dipping in and out. but those two are the serious ones for next 3 months

If i were you I'd learn the cadenza bit.... near the end... first. Took me an age to get it right. A beautiful piece indeed.

I have decided to do a bit of work on the Beethoven Op31 sonatas,as Ive neglected these in the past.
Barenboim gave a master class on Op31 NO 2 on SkyArts 2 last Friday evening (Probably a repeat), and that inspired me !

Beethovens' 'Farewell To The Piano'.

oooh...that's a beautiful piece!! I've been trying to learn it for a while in my own time (not much time after all the work my teacher gives me!!!) but find it very hard! But then if I can keep learning a few bars at a time I'm hoping in a few years I'll be able to play it properly...
Good luck with the concert in February!!!!

Ravel Mother Goose duets (with myself - the joy of digital piano )

I used to love playing recorder duets with myself, using a tape recorder to record one part first.

Have you seen the link in the other thread in viva piano - "Watch this?" It's Lang Lang and Martha Argerich playing the Ravel.

At the moment, I'm mostly playing Carousel and various skippy/galloping music for baby ballet - deep joy...

Main pieces learning at the moment:

Estampes - Debussy

Pagodes
Soiree dans Grenade

Greig Piano concerto in A minor

Sonata in D Minor (Tempest) - Beethoven

Some Gershwin piano improvisation transcriptions

As the Yamaha competition is cancelled, and as the pieces below are scheduled for public performance in April, and as I bareley know them yet, I'm concentrating almost 100% on ...

Ravel: Fugue from Tombeau de Couperin
Ravel: Ma Mere L'Oye (duet with my teacher)
Martinu: Polka in A and Etude in F

So exam pieces take a back seat again! Will I ever get the whole of Rach 32/5 equally fluent and confident?

I'm learning this too - which part are you playing? I play secondo. It's a great piece

I've learned both parts - so we can swap places anytime! But I'm angling to play Secondo on Le Jardin Feerique to avoid those nasty glissandi.