Greg needs help sorting through the enormous trove of musical expression created by humankind.
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Don't miss...
...the Polling Booths.
Do you get more excited about listening to Rachmaninoff or Mozart? Would you rather go on a date with someone cute, or with someone who has tickets to see Martha Argerich? Voice your opinion!
* The Finale from Stravinsky's "The Firebird." It's overall sound and the way it flows. It envokes a certain wondering as to what this song could depict.
* Rob Nelson's "Rocky Point Holiday." It's just amazing. Haha
* Rob Nelson's "Sonoran Desert Holiday." Once again, just amazing. And I believe this would make an amazing duo.
:-)
Brahms' Ballades, Op. 10. "Transforms a private passion into soemthing universal and overwhelmingly powerful."
Bach's Wiederstehe doch der Sunde (I), BWV 54. "Dominant sevenths over a thumping tonic, Bach's mastery of harmonic tension will get you writhing in your seat!"
Olivier Messiaen's "Regards de Jesus" for piano. "All of his work is mystic."
Ligeti's Reuiem
The first time I heard it I imagined it was what music composed by the wind would sound like.
Chopin's Etude Op. 10, No. 12 "Revolutionary"
Incredible intensity, urgency, and depth of feeling. Oh, and truly amazing left-hand work.
Bartok's Sonata for Piano, Sz. 80
Whenever I hear it or play it, I think of big machines building robots or anything else ind
Koyaanisqatsi by Philip Glass
The music from this movie is so simple yet overwhelmingly powerful, as minimalism should be.
Sergei Bortkiewicz's Ballade Op. 42
It's just such a wonderful piece, and hardly ever played!
Beethoven's Piano Sonata in F minor, Op. 57, "Appassionata"
The chords are full and grand. The work's three different movements are diverse, but fit together. I especially love to listen to the first and third movements turned up really loudly when I need some inspiration.
"Virgenes del Sol" (the version sung by Ima Sumac), composed by Jorge Bravo de Rueda
"Facing You" by Keith Jarrett. Why? "Unique Expression"
Many pieces by Chopin. His music is "powerful and beautiful."
Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor. "It's so hard to describe what makes this special---everything!! An overwhelmingly beautiful work...amazing - you have to listen to it to see!!"
"Jigsaw Falling Into Place" by Radiohead. The guitar work has so much going on. And Thom Yourke's voice has almost an orchestral presence. I feel that 10 or 20 fingers could do it justice.
Imaginary Landscape No 1 by John Cage. Why? "The color sound work"
Carl Vines's Sonata for Piano. "It is SOOO AWESOME!"
Schubert's "Wanderer" Fantasy. Why? "Simple - it has everything, and all of it is of the highest quality."
The Toccata in D minor by Sergei Prokofiev for it's sheer virtuosity.
"The Devil's Staircase" by Ligeti. My heart pounds with it. The end is complete and never ending.
The Alto Rhapsody, Op. 53 by Johannes Brahms.
"I'm tempted to say, "Everything." Brahms poured his whole soul into this one, and it was quite a soul, too: tortured by doubt and isolation, skeptical and curmudgeonly, harshly critical and demanding, but so utterly convinced of the raw power of beauty to salve the battered heart of man, and so preternatually gifted in the creation of exactly that sort of beauty, that he was almost able to salve even himself. When, after the deep despair and brooding of the first two movements, the alto and the men's choir join in singing, "Ist auf deinem Psalter, Vater der Liebe, Ein Ton seinen Ohren vernehmlich?" it is utterly beyond me to withold my tears. Indeed, I cannot see any reason even to try."
The Typewriter by Leroy Anderson. It's different, unique, and I think it would sound really cool on the piano. Arranged in the right way, it would sound great!
Mozart's Piano Sonatas, K 331-333, and his Piano Concertos, K 448 & 491 because they are so colorful in mood and feeling
Rachmaninoff's Prelude in B minor, Op. 32, No. 10. It's indescribably emotional and very forgiving if you chew on it and play it different ways so your way sounds like no one else's yet is better.
Saint-Saëns' Danse macabre because it's such a cool piece and it's so fun!
[Be sure to look for the Anderson & Roe CD to be released later this fall - it will include their own arrangement of this work!]
Both Sonatas "No. 2 in B-flat Minor" by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Frederic Chopin. They are amazing works of art dealing with life and death. They are both a journey. The Chopin ends in a "sweeping wind" that seems defeating but the Rachmaninoff ends in triumph. They are great works.
La Campanella by Paganini/Liszt because it's hard to play accurately.
Robert Schumann's Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54, especially as recorded by Artur Rubinstein. "It's ecstatic. There are parts that make me feel exited, full of life. Like I just discovered a new way to life or a new intellectual interest.
"Questa Notte" by Ludovico Einaudi. "It's very beautiful. I found it on his myspace page and the piece took me by surprise. Very introverted and honest. I want to know if you can play it that beautifully."
"Under a Glass Moon" by Dream Theater. Each section of the song relates so well to one another. It is a modern "rock" piece that I believe is incredibly well-thought out and composed in a way that "classical" musicians can appreciate.
Ravel's Pavanne because it is "out of earth."
Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2, because it was the piece that got her excited about being a pianist and started her on her dream of becoming a concert pianist....
Alberto Ginastera. I am a huge Ginastera fan because I LOVE the Latin American rhythms, syncopation, colors, and he throws in cool cluster chords. His music is full of adrenaline.
Carl Vine's piano sonatas are amazingly difficult and are pretty recent. Your Ligeti video made me think of his second piano sonata. I might describe it as Ligeti mixed with Barber with an emotional rock-jazz spin on steroids - yeah, piano rock star music.
Geirr Tveitt. This guy is a 20th century Scandinavian composer who has some wonderful pieces based from Norwegian (?) folk songs. His music (like Sibelius and others) makes you picture Nordic landscapes, but with more modern language.
I'd love to recommend the Godowsdy's piano transcription of the third Bach suite for cello solo because of its important meaning: Yo-Yo Ma performed it with a ballet academy in a ruin, the cellist Rostropowitch performed this suite at the time of the reunion of West- and East-Germany, etc. It is just a pleasure to listen to that suite and I am amazed about Godowsky's transcription!
"Le Joie du Sang des Etoiles" from Turangalila Symphonie by Olivier Messiaen. The piece is vivid madness...throughout! Not a drop of silence, and why not!?
Piano Concert No. 1 by Rodion Shchedrin. It's a refreshingly melodic and cute concerto by one of today's Russian composers.
Sergei Bortkiewicz's Eros Op. 24, No. 3 because of its hyperactive neo-romantic idiom.
The third movment of Thomas Ades' Asyla. Why? You'll see :-)
Maximizing the Audience by Wim Mertens.
Olivier Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus
Individual movements can stand on their own, especially "Regard de l'Esprit de joie" and "Le baiser de l'enfant-Jesus." The full suite has a cumulative effect that is awesome.
Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire because it is utterly original and unforgettable in its strangeness and beauty.
Music by Valentin Alkan .... bombastic, over the top, naive? Perhaps, but his music was highly inspirational.
Jornada del Muerto by Peter Garland.
What makes the work special?
- the poignant lyricism, beautiful sonority, and powerful evocation of solitude and transcendence, and the fact that is impossible to sum up the impact of this work in words.
Skateboarder's Fantasy by Marco Melanson. This work's modern-day connotations will surely become a favorite with your audience!
The composer I would like to recommend is Sorabji. I’m a pianist myself and I really love the music of Sorabji. The music, even just the titles or a piece of a score makes me enormously enthusiastic every time again. It’s very nice to work on and very rewarding to play. ... Very interesting pieces are his sonatas, Gulistan, his Toccata’s and of course the opus clavicembalisticum.
Many pieces by American composers because of their intrigue, rhythm, sexiness, and color.
Robert Gerhard's Piano Concerto
Alfred Schnittke's Piano Concerto
Ein Kindrespiel by Helmut Lachenmann - it's marvelous
Evryali by Xenakis - it's titanic
So, what music do you wish you heard more often? What pieces have made a strong impact on you?
(May take a moment to process)
