Help needed with choice of piano music

aruna

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Hello all you musicians out there! I need help with choosing the music played by my MC. I'm just at the beginning so if any of you turns up to help, I'll probably be back again and again!
OK, it's an 18 year old girl and the date is around 1936, British Guiana.
She plays at her mother's Christmas party, two or three pieces. Make a nice suggestion! I'll listen to all suggestions and make my choice.
She plays again at a public event. Four or five pieces. A bit of nice variety! She's a very soulful girl who pours her heart into her music. Think Lucy in A Room With a View.

I love music myself but can't really put names and composers to the pieces I love so finding appropriate items is a bit hard for me. I suppose I could go through Chopin's entire repertoire but...

Thanks in advance!
 
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talktidy

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Alas I cannot play, but what about Erik Satie? I am thinking of his Gymnopedies and Gnossiennes works. The spellings may need some work.

It depends on the accomplishments of your character and the sort of music she plays, obviously.
 

aruna

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She is very accomplished. A gift for music runs in the family, and though she has had lessons she has far outstripped her teachers in skill.

Oh -- and very classical music, though she will also accompany the singing at Christmas. But I know all the carols so that's OK.
 

Lil

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Chopin Mazurka #13—a showy piece that's often performed by students.
Liszt Liebestraume #3—popular and also shows off technical ability.
To balance all that Romantic drama, she needs something classical, Haydn or Mozart. And something by Bach—some of the Goldberg Variations?
And something modern—Ravel or Debussy, or maybe even Gershwin.
Hope she enjoys it!
 

Lauram6123

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For an upbeat crowd?

How about Mozart's Turkish March? (The third movement of Piano Sonata No. 1) It's a crowd pleaser and it's not too long.

For a more mellow crowd?
Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.
Chopin's Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 or Nocturne Op. 27 No. 2


If she's really, really good and wants to impress the hell out of everyone...
Chopin's Heroic Polonaise.
 

Silva

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Siri Kirpal

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Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

I'd be leery of anything by Rachmaninov unless your MC is a real prodigy with large hands. He made his works hard to play. (I don't play piano myself, but I just talked with my nephew about this at Christmas. He's a graduate music major.)

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

Silva

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Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

I'd be leery of anything by Rachmaninov unless your MC is a real prodigy with large hands. He made his works hard to play. (I don't play piano myself, but I just talked with my nephew about this at Christmas. He's a graduate music major.)

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Yeah, a lot of classical composer had large hands and threw in some reaches that may be beyond the abilities of the small-handed. I can't reach more than an octave with any accuracy, so I run into this a lot, but I think most adult pianists will be able to reach a ninth and sometimes a tenth. There are workarounds, too (rearranging chords, rolling the notes instead of playing them simultaneously, etc.), and best of all, the Rachmaninov I linked to doesn't have this problem. :) It's a serious favorite of mine.
 

Jason

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I took piano for about 10 years and my longest reach was about 11 notes, but that was only after I'd been practicing for an hour or so, and it was my fingertips on the very edge of the keys. Liszt and Rachmanionov were good suggestions imho for an accomplished pianist in classical genres. If you want something with a bit more of a snap to it, try Scott Joplin (ragtime jazz in the US circa early 1900's). I never could master the Maple Leaf Rag but still enjoy listening to it.
 

Siri Kirpal

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Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Okay. Even as I typed that post, I guessed the one posted would be the exception to the rule.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

neandermagnon

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She is very accomplished. A gift for music runs in the family, and though she has had lessons she has far outstripped her teachers in skill.

Oh -- and very classical music, though she will also accompany the singing at Christmas. But I know all the carols so that's OK.

moonlight sonata by Beethoven... all 3 movements. The third movement requires considerable hard work and talent to perform well.

Rachmaninoff's technically very difficult although his later works won't have been written yet when your story's set.

ETA: gratuitous link to 3rd movement of moonlight sonata just because I love it so much https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zucBfXpCA6s

ETA#2: Rachmaninoff's prelude in C# minor (considered his most famous piece and is supposed to be really difficult to play, albeit I've never tried to play any Rachmaninoff) was written then and as far as I can tell most of his famous works were written by the time your story's set, though you'd have to check the finer details
 
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Alessandra Kelley

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moonlight sonata by Beethoven... all 3 movements. The third movement requires considerable hard work and talent to perform well.

Ooh, yuss! Everyone knows the first movement, but I love it when pianists go on. The speed ramps up: the first movement is mellow and hypnotic, the second movement is perky and bright, and the third movement gallops along so it sounds like the pianist is throwing piano keys and their fingers left and right in a sound explosion.
 

neandermagnon

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On the hands thing, I have tiny hands (size 3 feet and hands to match) however I can reach more than an octave without too much difficulty. I just checked on my piano and I can reach a 10th as long as it's only involving white keys. I've never really found hand size to be an issue and even if there are notes that can't be reached with small hands in some pieces, there are ways of working around it without spoiling the piece of music. Someone who's also proficient in music or has a naturally very keen ear and also knows the piece well would hear the very slight, subtle difference but would know it's due to having small hands so it wouldn't be seen as anything detrimental.

I'd say that stretchyness (if that's a word) of tendons etc between your fingers is more important for a wide reach than actual length of fingers. I started learning the piano formally at age 6 but was playing little tunes by ear on the piano before that. I can stretch my hands such that my thumb and little finger are in a straight line (i.e. spread at a 180 degree angle). Most people can't spread their fingers that wide. I'm guessing playing piano through childhood increased the stretchiness of my hands (kind of like how gymnasts develop flexility through gymnastics maybe?)
 
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aruna

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I broke my hand when I was ten and it never healed properly; a bone is out of place meaning that I can't bend down my left index finger at the hand joint, and it never grew beyond ten years of age -- it's small and sticks up. As a result I was severely handicapped when I tried to learn piano and flute as a child, and guitar as an adult -- three instruments I'd love to play, but had to give up eventually.
Thanks for the suggestions and I'm just about to go to the link you posted. I do love the moonlight sonata -- who wouldn't very suitable and definitely on her repertoire.
 

aruna

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For an upbeat crowd?

How about Mozart's Turkish March? (The third movement of Piano Sonata No. 1) It's a crowd pleaser and it's not too long.

For a more mellow crowd?
Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.
Chopin's Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 or Nocturne Op. 27 No. 2


If she's really, really good and wants to impress the hell out of everyone...
Chopin's Heroic Polonaise.

I've always been fond of the Heroique --- it's so passionate!
I think Moonlight Sonata, first movement, followed by the heroique , followed by something soft and soothing... will try out some more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HbbADXOigM&list=PLA467A4F3433C0EB8&index=16

- - - Updated - - -

I think her hands would have been fairly small -- long artistic fingers, but she's just 16, so not yet full size.
 

aruna

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It would be nice to have something by Mozart -- her family is from Salzburg originally. Any suggestions? She could play it in honour of her grandmother, who gave her her first piano lessons.
 

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Beethoven's "Für Elise" would be a great choice. As far as Mozart, IMO you cannot go wrong. Technically I know nothing about the pieces, since I don't play piano. But if you want her proficient, she should be able to handle Mozart as far as I know.
 

neandermagnon

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It would be nice to have something by Mozart -- her family is from Salzburg originally. Any suggestions? She could play it in honour of her grandmother, who gave her her first piano lessons.

Alla Turca (Rondo Alla Turca/Turkish March/etc/can't remember the K number) is a good choice, because it's lively and well known. It's technically not that difficult though - if you want something that shows she's a virtuoso pianist, though of course she could play that and something more technically difficult. Music is ultimately about playing beautiful music, not showing off your ability.

Symphony 40 (K550) is another really great one, here's the piano version (originally it's orchestral) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfxDSEUtSSc - you may have to check who arranged it for piano because piano arrangements of orchestral pieces for piano aren't always done by the original composer, and if done later you'll have to check it was published as sheet music by the time your story's set.
 
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neandermagnon

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Following the bit about piano arrangements of orchestral pieces... if you really want to show her musical talent, beyond just technical ability, maybe she composed her own piano arrangement of an orchestral piece and performed that?