I'm going on a payday splurge in later this month as I'm starting to build up my music collection. I was wondering what people consider as essential material? I'm really quite partial to the Henle hardback editions so will probably add quite a few of those, but as for what to get, I don't know!

Ideally, the self-imposed rule for the moment is that I must be able to play at least one piece from every book I buy, so buying the Chopin Etudes or Ballades is out of the question right now (although I could cheat and buy the WTC book 1 as i know I can play the first piece!

Should I invest in some Haydn, for example? I already bought the following Henles: Beethoven Klaviersonaten I + II, Chopin Op.28 Preludes, Chopin Nocturnes, Schumann Piano Works I.

Advice much appreciated!

I've just ordered the Hardback version of ABRSM's Well Tempered Clavier. It's White and Gold and oh so pretty

After people's comments on the AB's Beethoven books and their "editing", I'm a dit dubious about buying AB editions without prior advice...

I really like hardbacks though - the good quality editions will last a lifetime, so they are a great investment

I spoke to my teacher and he likes that edition But he would agree with the new Beethoven collection, he wants to replace his ancient copy but doesn't like the new one.

Happy Shopping

Shopping for music is strangely satisfying Always cheers me up, and shelves full of lovely books are always good!

*hrm... This looks nice! And so does this!*

Frankly ... I think you have already bought enough to keep you busy for years ... if not the rest of your life!

However Haydn is under-rated and less difficult to play well than either Beethoven or Mozart (whose Sonatas, Rondos, Fantasias, Variations you should also consider).

There are dozens of composers that wrote great piano music. Buying the scores is the easy bit.

This one's on my wishlist

http://www.chappellofbondstreet.co.uk/P~CO...+Piano+(5+Vols)

If I were to try to play every piece in those books at some point, certainly, but who on earth does that! I think I will definitely get the Mozart piano works one as my copy of the Fantasia in D minor put me off learning it (awful printing).

Unfortunately, I'm one of those people who is guilty of liking books for their aesthetic properties on a shelf, as well as for actual use, so it doesn't help the buying addiction!

Well, Sol, with the rate you're progressing, I wouldn't worry about whether you're currently able to play certain pieces, because you will be able to in the future. In addition to your Bach WTC, Beethoven Sonatas, and Chopin Preludes & Nocturnes, I would recommend:

- Haydn's Sonatas (agree with Mad Tom)
- Mozart's Sonatas (ditto)
- have a look at Schubert's Sonatas
- Chopin's Etudes (yes they are difficult, but some of them aren't too bad, AND they are great for learning specific techniques)
- Ravel: Pavane pour une Infant Defunte
- Debussy: Preludes

A thought I do have at the back of my mind is whether you expect sheet music price inflation (particularly Henle Urtext) to exceed wage inflation. If you do, then buy the books now. If not, then buy them when you need them.

OK. I have been found out. I confess.

You definitely need those Mozart books. Come to think of it, my copies of the Mozart sonatas and other pieces are falling to bits. I don't suppose you could buy one of each for me as well, and I'll collect them from you at Chets

You could learn some Mendelssohn too. The Song's Without Words are very good. And of course you'll need some Liszt (start with the consolations), Rachmaninoff, Debussy (Clair de Lune is a lot easier than it sounds), and Prokofiev (Nothing VERY easy here - but it is worth the efffort). Going back a bit further a lot of Couperin's compositions work well on piano, are not that hard to play, and have the timeless quality of all the great composers - there is a nice Dover edition of his complete works in 2 volumes, edited by Brahms!. And of course we must not forget Scriabin - some of his Preludes and one of the early etudes are do-able (though many of the the preludes, most of the etudes, and quite a lot of the rest of his output are fiendish). Amongst lesser lights you could check out Chabrier, Moszkowski, Albeniz, Granados, Ginastera, Piazolla. It is almost endless ...

Why am I not surprised?

Thanks for the recommendations I've just ordered the Mozart Sonatas and Piano Works books The rest will wait until after payday I think!

Not sure how others feel, but I can't stress enough how important decent quality sheet music is when learning new pieces. The Chopin preludes book has been a joy to study so far and my eyes don't get tired!

As for sheet music inflation, with the Henle editions in particular - do you mean it might fluctuate with GBP/EUR exchange rate, or that Henle might think that they can get away with charging more due to demand? To be honest, it's more a case of I want to make the investment now (i) So I don't have to worry about spending the money at a later date when I may not have the spare cash, (ii) Because they will motivate me, and (iii) Because I think they are a sound investment and will last a lifetime.



I have no problem doing that if you want! Can you not get hold of them easily over there?

I've lost track of all your purchases... Some that comes to mind: Bach 2- and 3-part inventions, Chopin mazurka, some Mendelssohn song without words, more Grieg lyric pieces, Debussy children's corner / prelude book 1, perhaps Bartok mikrokosmos (some people hate them), Beethoven bagatelle. Have fun!

Beethoven Bagatelles definitely. I learnt quite a few of these after when I was around Grade 5/6 I think. But there's plenty in there to keep you busy...and they're manageable too.

I've never heard any of them.... *goes to youtube*

One side-effect of having new stuff is that recently I've been picking random pages in random books for sight reading practice... So even if I can't play the harder stuff, I can pick out sections which I think are manageable. It's really nice to be bashing through a passage (albeit slowly... painfully so on occasion) and then suddenly think "oh, I recognise this!"

MUCH more expensive here!

And many of the Beethoven Bagatelles are wonderful

I went to university some thirty years ago, in the days when such things as a full grant were available. At the end of my first year I found that I had spent £300 on sheet music. That was the start of my collection. I once bought seven volumes of Chopin in one go.

Ten years later, from that same Chopin edition I then sought out the 'missing' volume of 'Miscellaneous Pieces'. It cost the same as the other seven volumes had, put together!

I could sell my present collection and buy a grand piano, but that would rather defeat the object!

I still make an annual pilgrimage to Blackwell's each summer.

The Beethoven Piano Works book has the following Bagatelles in it, from a bit of googling..

Bagatellen WoO 52, WoO 56, Opus 33, 119, 126

I have no clue how many that encompasses and whether it'd be a better idea to get the "Complete Bagatelles"?

Opus 33 encompasses 7 Bagatelles
Opus 119, 11
Opus 126, 6
Only things that seems to be missing in the works are

BAGATELLE IN C MINOR WOO 53
BAGATELLE LUSTIG-TRAURIG WOO 54
BAGATELLE FUR ELISE WOO 59

Hope this helps

Thanks, ordered the Piano Works on the strength of how many it has

Ah well it's my birthday soon so this is all a present to myself For the stuff I can't play yet, I can listen and study the score which won't hurt!

You got me thinking, Solari. Here is a big pile to add to your collection and also a pile I would like to buy. I wonder how much that will all cost. Many of these are I think intermediate level.


Chopin, Preludes, Op. 28
Chopin Nocturnes
Chopin Mazurkas
Mendelssohn - Songs Without Words
Clementi - Sonatinas, Op. 36
Mozart - Six Minuets
Haydn - Six Sonatinas
Beethoven - Six Sonatinas
Schumann - Album for the Young
Grieg, Lyric Pieces, Op 12 and Op 43
Listz Consolations (Thanks, Mad Tom)
Albeniz, Espana, Op. 165
Bartok - 14 Bagatells, Op. 6
Brahms - Fantasies, Op. 116 (Intermezzo in E minor)
Faure - Romances Sans Paroles, Op. 17
Faure - Nine Preludes, Op. 103
John Field - Nocturnes
Gershwin - Song Transcriptions
Granados - Danzas Espanaolas
Handel - Air with variations, Suite in B flat major, New Grove 36
Haydn Sonatas, Volume 1B (already have 1A)
Janacek - On an Overgrown Path (1st Series)
Kabalevsky - Four Rondos, Op 60
Poulenc - Suite Francaise, S.80
Profofiev, romeo & Juliet suite, Op. 75
Rachmaninov - No. 3 in B Minor (Moments Musicaux, Op. 16)
Ravel - Menuet Antique
Satie - Trois gymnopedies
Scarlatti - Sonatas: D minor. K.9/L.413, Fminor K 239/L.281, G major, K.259/L.103
Schoenberg, Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19
Schubert: Six Moments Musicaux Op. 94/D.780: No. 2 in A flat major and No. 6 in A flat major
Schubert: Four Impromptus, OP. POSTH.142/D.935 - No. 2 in A flat major
Schuman - Waldscenen, Op. 82
Scriabin - 24 Preludes, Op. 11
Shostakovich - 24 Preludes, Op. 34
Sibelius - Three Sonatinas

These are covered so far in my collection so I'm not doing bad

Chopin, Preludes, Op. 28
Chopin Nocturnes
Mozart - Six Minuets
Beethoven - Six Sonatinas
Schumann - Album for the Young
Grieg, Lyric Pieces, Op 12
Satie - Trois gymnopedies (I bought the Peters book with tonnes of his works in)
Scarlatti - Sonatas: D minor. K.9/L.413, Fminor K 239/L.281, G major, K.259/L.103
Schubert: Six Moments Musicaux Op. 94/D.780: No. 2 in A flat major and No. 6 in A flat major
Schubert: Four Impromptus, OP. POSTH.142/D.935 - No. 2 in A flat major


I'll definitely look into the missing pieces, I love the Liszt Consolations by the way! I really like Albeniz too!

As my mother always says: "Money on books is never wasted" - a useful maxim that I thoroughly (and regularly ) support.

And I also agree about the Mendelssohn, Satie, Scarlatti, Poulenc, Field that people have mentioned in their lists.

I like the way she thinks!

Any more buying will have to wait until after the 25th I think, I've already spent far too much, whoops!

I know that feeling way too well!! My WTC is due in tomorrow as well! Whoops! Luckily I have a husband who loves books, albeit Pratchett rather than music but at least he can also appreciate the aesthetic quality of good music books :-)

Einaudi is very popular, not sure if had got a mention above? At the piano club the other month someone played some of their own stuff...I think a collection as in Shooting the Past can survive being original.

I have his Divenire, Nightbook and "Best of" books already For all the slating that he gets, I really do enjoy playing some of his music (currently addicted to playing "Primavera", especially the big crescendo bit)

It is not that his music is bad. It is just that we are all jealous at him for making a big career (and a lot of money) out of something that almost any moderately skillful musician could do.

It proves that the image and the self-presentation adn the contacts are at least as important as actual ability.

About to buy some (ok a lot of) new music (sorry credit card!), was thinking of getting Einaudi's Nightbook or Divenire and found this thread. Which one's best? I'd heard one of these two was better than the other but can't remember which. Thanks

As this is a piano book thread, has anyone got Great Jazz Piano Solos - Book 2 published by Wise and would they recommend it?

Re: The Einaudi, it depends on whether you like his newer stuff better or not. I have both books and edge towards the Divenire but they both have some good material in them. If I were you I'd take a listen to some of the pieces on youtube before making your mind up

I never think to look on youtube

Thanks, will do that. May end up getting both

No-one's yet mentioned my favourite composer - Burgmuller! I just bought his complete studies (Op. 100, 105 and 109) on Amazon, about £7 for 55 pieces which is hard to turn down. The 25 easy and progressive studies (Op. 100) spans Grade 2-5, I think the 18 Characteristic Studies (Op. 109) are about Grade 5-7. Does anyone know what sort of level the 12 Brilliant Studies (Op. 105) are? I know they're harder than the Op. 109 and they look too hard for me at the moment but that doesn't narrow it down much!

If that was in response to the original post, I've already mentioned him loads on here, I love the Op.100 book and have had it for yonks now, it was one of the first things I bought

If you enjoy Burgmuller, you may also like Kuhlau. Have you tried his Four Sonatinas (opus 88)? They're around grade 5 or 6 and I really enjoyed them at that stage. Just a thought!

I Giorni - Ludocivo Einaudi

How about Heller? Lovely studies that are beautiful music from intermediate levels to the positively virtuosic!

I know this is a fairly old thread, but it's a good one, and I have a suggestion.



In the grand scheme of piano music, the Children's Pieces probably do count as 'very easy'... and I think they are beautiful. Maybe a few of them sound a bit 'munchkin-ish', so some adults might not want to play them in public, but the book is well worth buying. They'd also be good sight-reading practice as they're accessible but contain key changes, crossed hands and use almost the whole keyboard, so lots of ledger lines!

I really like the recordings by Gyorgy Sebok on Spotify if you want to get more of an idea of them.

You should see the age of some of the threads resurrected recently - fairly old doesn't begin to cover it!

(Methusalah is likely to have posted some of them ...... when he was a lad! )