Faure – Barcarolle No.6 in Eb
More from Gabriel Faure, this one on the official ABRSM ASRM Diploma List. Flowing, optimistic and smooth, this one is trickier than it seems, many of the shapes and figurations are very easy to trip over at full tempo.
Can also be found on IMSLP.
Gabriel Dupont – 1. Dans les dunes, par un Clair Matin
An unsung French Composer, another who’s life was cut short by illness as just 36, this piece opens his final set of piano music, ”La Maison dans le Dunes”. The polyrhythmic A section takes some getting used to, and the jubilant octave section demi-semi quaver chordal movement is fairly challenging.
Scriabin – Poeme – Op 41 – Solo Piano
An intoxicating mid-period Scriabin Poeme, incredibly characteristic of his style.
Fauré – Nocturne No.4 in Eb – Solo Piano
One from the LRSM syllabus, this Faure Nocturne is a fantastic introduction to his piano music. Famous for his orchestral pieces ”Reqiuem”, and ”Pavane”, he was a prolific solo piano composer, with sets of Nocturnes, Barcarolles, Preludes, Impromtus, and the magnificent ”Ballade in F# Major”. This piece needs a careful and considered approach to legato octaves in the first section, and has a tragic and emotional inner section with some challenging polyrhythms, notably 3s against 2s in the RH while the LH plays sets of 4s.
Get the Score for Free from IMSLP
Dudley Moore – Brogan – Solo Piano – From ”Songs Without Words”
Huge fan of this Dudley Moore piano album – Songs Without Words. I loved it so much I wrote an extensive ballade based on themes from the film 6 Weeks, you can this find here. This one is a romantic ballad, very advanced rhythms and voicing issues throughout, gorgeous tonal songs though, with a unique and beautiful harmonic language.
The most unctuous set of F major I – IV – Vs I’ve ever heard. Bix Beiderbecke plays the Davenport Blues, transcribed by Brian Priestley in Jazz Piano Volume 5. Lots of complex voicings and 10th spreads. Considerably harder for a small hand than a large. Came from the book below, Jazz Piano Vol.5 – Transcribed by Brian Priestley.
Dave Brubeck – One Moment Worth Years
Devastating cool from ‘Brubeck plays Brubeck’. Not fun for my average sized hands, would be especially unfun for anyone with an octave span. Worth the effort though. Huge, rich, unrelenting chordal texture makes it a real challenge to let the melody sing.
Comes from this book, not easily available, but I saw a few on Ebay.
Florent Schmitt – Sur un Vieux Petit Cimetière (On an Old Little Cemetery) – Crépuscules, Op.56
Florent Schmitt’s piano music is an absolute spectacle for me. The harmonies speak to me quite deeply, and this set Crépuscules is no exception. Operates on quite a Rachmaninoffian structure of moving towards a single, enormous peak, but the journey there is sultry and intoxicating.
Poulenc – Melancholie
Easily in my top 10 favourite piece of music, this is an excellent own choice for ARSM. Some of the most beautiful harmony I’ve ever heard, this exemplifies Poulenc’s essence perfectly over the course of 5 minutes. The figurations are awkward and challenging, the musicality and voicing is very tough to execute perfectly, but the rewards for managing it are enormous. Highly recommended.
J.S. Bach – Prelude No.14 in F#m – Well-Tempered Clavier – Book2
When included with its Fugue, this actually sits on the LRSM syllabus officially, however the prelude is substantially easier, so I will include it here. With any Bach, the first step is careful and meticulous study of what fingers you will use. You are expected to connect all intended voices as faithfully as possible with no pedal. This inevitably ends in hand positions that feel incredibly convoluted, but the goal is the sound, not player comfort.
Also available on IMSLP as it is long out of copyright.
Bowen – Berceuse – Op.84 – Solo Piano
This one was much trickier than I initially anticipated, the speedy R.H runs are fairly unintuitive. A rolling, intricate Berceuse from the under-sung English Romantic.
Scriabin – Etudes Op.8 No.4 – Piacevole (1895)
Early Scriabin etude, from his first book. Enormously wide and awkward figuration in both hands throughout, and riddled with polyrhythms between the hands. If you can overcome those difficulties though, it begins to feel very smooth and acrobatic once learned, and sounds absolutely gorgeous.
York Bowen – Prelude No.24 in B minor – 24 Preludes in all Major and Minor keys Op.102 (1938)
Powerful and wrought with emotion, this prelude is fantastic for fans of Rachmaninoff, and while certainly challenging, it never quite rises to the intense difficulty level of most of Rachmaninoff’s output. A rich, chordal romantic miniature, ideal for own choice ARSM diploma syllabuses.
Cyril Scott – Paradise Birds – No.5 from 5 Poems (1912)
Lush, impressionistic English post-romanticism from Cyril Scott. Requires fairly rapid arpeggiated movement, and has frequently fluctuating rhythms and time signatures. It all fits under the hand quite comfortably however, and the harmonic language is incredibly beautiful.
David Bowie/Brad Mehldau – Life On Mars – Solo Piano Version
You can find this score by searching for Timothy Gondola Transcriptions, a great version of the Bowie Classic. The first half is quite manageable, quite a bit of movement in the right hand, legato thirds + sixths in the melody. The second half however is much trickier, the melody moves into the left hand with its own accompaniment, while the RH provides spacious and often awkward arpeggiated movement.
Michael Peacock Piano 