IMSLP Forums

Hi. My cousin is looking for solo piano pieces and concertos to perform in some international, national, and state-wide piano competitions.
She's very good at interpretation and likes dark, passionate, melodramatic, climactic works.
A recent piece she's played is Beethoven's Pathetique, which she mastered in less than a month. She is also learning his Apassionata sonata (3rd movement) but is finding it somewhat difficult. She likes pieces from the romantic period. However, she just got over some wrist and finger injuries, so she isn't looking into anything that requires a ton of heavy chords and octaves. Any suggestions? My cousin will be so appreciative of this!
Thank you!
Pianogirl23

Has she tried learning the first movement of Appassionata? I believe that movement is more dark and passionate than the third movement, which is moreso a virtuoso ending. I would recommend some Rachmaninoff Preludes (op 23 no 5 and op 3 no 2 are the more famous ones) as well as some Liszt pieces. The Chopin Etude in C# Minor is also pretty good and is also a virtuoso piece like the third movement of Appassionata, so if she masters the latter, she should try out the Etude.

I hope this helps!

If I played piano at that level (which I definitely do not ), I would play something like Chopin's "Fantaisie-Impromptu", but it is so popular it has probably been done to death.

I have just discovered (right here on IMSLP) transcriptions for solo piano of the "Egmont" and "Coriolan" overtures by Beethoven. Now those would be suitably dark and melodramatic.

If she wants a piano concerto, the one by Clara Schumann (A minor, op.7) is worth a look. It is not overly long, has some nice lyrical parts (including a lovely slow movement for just the piano and a solo cello), ends with a dramatic and climactic final movement, and is not generally well known.

(Addendum: If someone out there has a PD copy of same concerto, it would make a fine addition to IMSLP. It was published during Clara's lifetime as a solo piano part with a set of orchestral parts, so there may be copies out there somewhere. I have a study score but it is very recent and most definitely under copyright.)

Good luck to your cousin in the competition(s)!

Aldona

One should first make sure whether a competition has a list of required pieces, or sublists of pieces to choose from for a given category (baroque, classical, romantic, modern). There may be freedom to choose some pieces, but requirements should investigated first.

Thank you everyone for posting!
Oh, an LyleNeff, the only thing required is Mozart's Piano Concerto 20 in D Minor, repertoire she's had for a long time.
My cousin needs an etude, sonata movements, and she picks the rest. They have to come from varying styles (Baroque, classical, romanticism/impressionism, and contemporary) that's all...
Thanks again,
Pianogirl23

If she's up to it, Stravinsky's Piano-Rag Music is a great "contrasting" piece.

Competition judges generally appreciate music that is a bit more unusual, although of course many competitions have restrictions about what period of music etc. Here are some recommendations... some well-known, some not, but most probably not heard in competitions that often. Trying to stay within the range of difficulty you indicate.

Leonard Bernstein - Anniversaries (there are many sets of these... I played Four Anniversaries (1948) in a competition in high school myself)
Shostakovich - Preludes
Bach - Goldberg Variations (would need to select a few for purposes of time, probably)
Schubert - Sonata in A minor, first movement, forget which number or opus number, but the one where the first movement begins with a slow unison figure
Bohuslav Martinu - Etudes and Polkas (a couple books to choose from--I love book 2, and the Etude in C and Etude in F from that book are very brilliant-sounding with only about 1 page worth of strenuous large chords)
Gwyneth Walker - Cantos for the End of Summer (probably have to order directly from the publisher, E. C. Schirmer, not the same as G. Schirmer, can listen to a recording on composer website before you buy)
Lou Harrison - Reel (Homage to Henry Cowell) - Palm clusters! Arm clusters! Elbows! Very entertaining and impressive-sounding.

SkyIvories wrote:Has she tried learning the first movement of Appassionata? I believe that movement is more dark and passionate than the third movement, which is moreso a virtuoso ending. I would recommend some Rachmaninoff Preludes (op 23 no 5 and op 3 no 2 are the more famous ones) as well as some Liszt pieces. The Chopin Etude in C# Minor is also pretty good and is also a virtuoso piece like the third movement of Appassionata, so if she masters the latter, she should try out the Etude.

I hope this helps!

For concerto competition, she can play these work, she should have a go with the one of the Chopin's piano concerti. Both are really expressive, and require considerable techical skills, yet doable. This year is Chopin's 200th Anniversary.....