Thread: What's Your Favorite Piano Music?

I have a copy of the original (never get there to play it) and the Kindergarten version was very easy but not a Big Notes type arrangement...so I guess the answer is neither...

...but definatley no Bom-cha cha...to be seen...

..er, does that make it better than the original?... :blink:

Bom cha cha ...hehehehhe...heard that somewhere :P

I suppose Bom-cha-cha is slang for waltz rythmn??

:P hello friends,

I guess my favourite pianomusic isnt very original either, after the reading the above...

Bach's first partita in B-flat, BWV 835, played by... Glenn Gould, especially the gigue... gives me the shivers every time..

A good "second" is Bach's third toccata in D-major, BWV 912, played by... Glenn Gould...

I dont dare to play them myself, i would consider that blasphemy..

Andantegorgonzola :wub:

Oh I love the first Partita as well!! I adore the recording with Lipatti!!! (poor poor Lipatti )

(and also the Gould's ... to come back to the long Gould debatte in the piano forum :P)

How can you choose one?! I like Beethovens Sonatas, all of Chopin, Debussy Arabesques, Mozart Sonatas and fantasia in D minor and Bach Prelude and Fugues

Originally Posted by thicks

How can you choose one?! I like Beethovens Sonatas, all of Chopin, Debussy Arabesques, Mozart Sonatas and fantasia in D minor and Bach Prelude and Fugues

An impossible question it is true, but if a gun was pressed to my head (a situation that would doubtless please many) I would say B's Diabelli Variations is the greatest piece ever for piano. I believe Brendel to name but one thinks the same.

For me, the 2 pinnacles of the piano literature would come down to two names, Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit and Prokofiev's Sonata No. 6 in A Major.

In my opinion, the 6th Sonata's brilliant and absolutely genius 1st movement has always been overshadowed by the popularity of the 4th movement (even though that movement, I feel, does not deserve enough attention still.)

Another fabulous composer is Charles Valentin Alkan. The little attention he receives is probably due to the difficulty of his works. I just listened to his Symphony for the Solo Piano, which is an incredible thrill ride, with a complexity and creativity that really matches that of great symphonies.

I love Gaspard de la Nuit by Ravel as well.

Well, my favourite piano pieces are the last handful of sonatas by Beethoven, and also his two late sets of Bagatelles (which are much more profound than their title or length would suggest). Also I love the music of Alkan - a contemporary of Chopin and Liszt but a nineteenth-century composer with a twentieth-century aesthetic.

Debussy Estampes, I am not entirely sure why, I love Debussy but for me, a little like Images played by Gieseking, this music seems to take me to another world entirely (which is a good thing ;-))

Fur Elise! Moonlight Sonata! I can't get over these, I play them everywhere I go, I dedicate it to cute girls. haha! and I make the most of these brilliant pieces!

Chopin's Ballades,Nocturnes.
Scriabins Etudes
Rachmaninov's entire solo output
Beethovens 32 sonatas
Alkan's Equisses
Grieg's Lyric Pcs
Bach's French Suites on piano

And so many others i would be here all day. :-)

Jim

Favorite? Chopin, probably. I'm not a huge fan of piano music, to be honest. Sonata or two once a week, maybe a couple of short pieces...

Thank you guys for ressurecting this thread I was unaware of.

For a long time I didn't like piano music, thinking of it as "plain old vanilla" for some reason. Maybe it's because it is ubiquitous. But after pursuing an understanding of Beethoven's works for several years I've done a complete about face and it is undoubtedly my favorite solo instrument for listening. I even prefer baroque music played on piano rather than harpsichord as it has a more soothing sound to my ears. I still prefer the harpsichord for continuo however - the piano does not work well in that role.

Favorite pieces? The 32 Beethoven sonatas as mentioned frequently above of course. I also think the piano lends itself very well to the impressionists and some moderns Debussy, Ravel, and Poulenc.

I haven't really learned to grasp or appreciate virtuoso piano as in Liszt or many other romantics. It's just so much showing off to me, but I'm sure if I studied it I would like it more.