Help me make my piano sonata playlist

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The discussion revolves around creating a piano playlist, with participants sharing their favorite classical pieces. Key selections include Beethoven's "I Allegro Maestoso," "Moonlight Sonata," and "Für Elise," along with Chopin's "Minute Waltz" and Mozart's "Appassionata." Participants emphasize the importance of including entire sonatas rather than just popular movements to appreciate the full composition. The conversation also touches on the meanings of musical terms like Allegretto, Allegro, Andante, and Adagio, which describe tempo and mood. Notable recommendations include works by Bach, Liszt, and Glenn Gould's interpretations of Bach, which some argue elevated the perception of these pieces from mere exercises to artistic masterpieces. The discussion highlights the diversity of opinions on classical music and the significance of understanding the context and structure of the compositions.
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Piano playlist

I don't know what to put on it! I know I want these
"I Allegro Maestoso" - Sonata No. 8 in A Minor K310 (Beethoven)
"Appassionata" - Sonata No. 23 (Mozart)
"Moonlight Sonata" - Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor (Beethoven)
The Minute Waltz (Chopin)
Für Elise (Beethoven)

And what order? What do you have? This is my first.
 
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The Appassionata is by Beethoven.
 
So what does Allegretto, Allegro, Andante, and Adagio mean?
 
Mk said:
So what does Allegretto, Allegro, Andante, and Adagio mean?
Being new to classical music, I have this page bookmarked. Hope this helps.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo
 
I Allegro Maestoso" - Sonata No. 8 in A Minor K310 (Beethoven)

That Mozart's. I hope you understand the 'K310' is for cataloguing mozart works, as bwv is for bach.

I would add to that:

Hammerklavier sonata - Beethoven
All of Liszt's hungarian rhapsody's.
The preludes and fugues of Bach (well tempered clavier)
Bach - Busoni Chaconne transription for the piano.
(Please, take AWAY Fur elise)
All preludes and etudes of Chopin

I'll add more a bit later.
 
Mk said:
So what does Allegretto, Allegro, Andante, and Adagio mean?
Each sonata is made of two, three, sometimes four parts. Each part is called a "movement." These words are often used as the names of each movement, but they specifically describe the speed and "attitude." They are Italian words for "fast," "lively," "with spirit," "rapidly" etc. (I forgot which is what word, so that was not a translation of the above; allegro is "fast" I'm pretty sure.)

Which reminds me; when recoding the sonatas, record the whole sonata. What people call the "moonlight sonata" is only a small part of the entire "Quasi una Fantasia" sonata. Often, one of the movements will be slow and (at first) boring, but in the best works they are necessary to get the full feel of the final movement which is often fun and lively.

I like Mozart's k300 (sometimes called 10th, sometimes 11th sonata). The first movement is somewhat popular.

Last thing: If you are looking for piano pieces: Glen Gould is best for Bach (IMO), but not for Mozart. When you listen to GG play Mozart, you can hear his disdain for that composer. He is famous for saying that he believed Mozart did not die soon enough.
 
Bladibla said:
That Mozart's. I hope you understand the 'K310' is for cataloguing mozart works, as bwv is for bach.
And if anybody else notices that I accidently switched the composers up, I meant to do it!
"I Allegro Maestoso" - Sonata No. 8 in A Minor K310 (Beethoven)
"Appassionata" - Sonata No. 23 (Mozart)

So, can I fit REO speedwagon in there?
 
Chi Meson said:
Each sonata is made of two, three, sometimes four parts. Each part is called a "movement." These words are often used as the names of each movement, but they specifically describe the speed and "attitude." They are Italian words for "fast," "lively," "with spirit," "rapidly" etc. (I forgot which is what word, so that was not a translation of the above; allegro is "fast" I'm pretty sure.)

Which reminds me; when recoding the sonatas, record the whole sonata. What people call the "moonlight sonata" is only a small part of the entire "Quasi una Fantasia" sonata. Often, one of the movements will be slow and (at first) boring, but in the best works they are necessary to get the full feel of the final movement which is often fun and lively.

I like Mozart's k300 (sometimes called 10th, sometimes 11th sonata). The first movement is somewhat popular.

Last thing: If you are looking for piano pieces: Glen Gould is best for Bach (IMO), but not for Mozart. When you listen to GG play Mozart, you can hear his disdain for that composer. He is famous for saying that he believed Mozart did not die soon enough.


It was Beethoven's experiment to put the most important movement of the moonlight sonata (or quasi una fantasia for you skeptical freaks) as the last, which was quite unconventional back then.

As for Glenn Gould, Its ironic that the most rulebound and tight composer would be 'best' interpreted by probably the most eccentric pianist. Personally, I think Glenn gould's recordings are pretty much too overrated.
 
  • #10
Bladibla said:
As for Glenn Gould, Its ironic that the most rulebound and tight composer would be 'best' interpreted by probably the most eccentric pianist. Personally, I think Glenn gould's recordings are pretty much too overrated.
I'd agree for anything other than Bach's work. Probalby because of Gould's audacity to break the "rules," he's the first to raise a large proportion of J.S.Bach piano pieces from "metronomic finger exercises" to works of art.
 
  • #11
Bladibla said:
It was Beethoven's experiment to put the most important movement of the moonlight sonata (or quasi una fantasia for you skeptical freaks) as the last, which was quite unconventional back then.

Eh? The Presto is the "most important" movement?

I'd agree for anything other than Bach's work. Probalby because of Gould's audacity to break the "rules," he's the first to raise a large proportion of J.S.Bach piano pieces from "metronomic finger exercises" to works of art.

Sure. Bach was obviously a mediocre hack who composed finger exercises, and only when Glenn Gould came along did they become musical. Riiiiight.
 
  • #12
I am ignorant. What is a playlist?
 
  • #15
Windows Media?! That is Winamp son :-p Itunes is slow as hell, I would never play my music in itunes, I use it only to rip :smile:
 
  • #16
Eh? The Presto is the "most important" movement?

The 3rd movement is the most emotionally unstable, and the 'heaviest' of the three movements. Also, the technical demands required for the piece is considerable, with many broken cords, arpeggios and accented notes compared to the other 3. Yes, it is the most important movement.

Its presto agitato, by the way; for the sake of none musical people out there, it would be better to refer as the '3rd movement'

Sure. Bach was obviously a mediocre hack who composed finger exercises, and only when Glenn Gould came along did they become musical. Riiiiight.

The poster is not implying that. While I do have my disdain for Glenn Gould, I would also at the same time admit the difficulty in getting the right emotion and intended emotion and effect (of the composer) in Bach's Keyboard works. What Glenn Gould did was make the pieces appleasing to the ear with his style. This does not imply that other performances cannot do the same.

Other Bach works follow this pattern as well; take the solo cello suites for example, before Pablo Casals stepped in, It was just considered 'technical' exercises.
 
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  • #17
Rach3 said:
Sure. Bach was obviously a mediocre hack who composed finger exercises, and only when Glenn Gould came along did they become musical. Riiiiight.
Well, that's not what I said, and not at all what I meant. Some pieces (Goldberg Variations as a specific example) were not considered to be up to Bach's usual brilliance until GG's interpretation. Golberg variations were indeed considered by many to be "finger exercises." Have you tried playing this work? He throws in just about everything there is into all 31 parts. They were not considered "important" before 1951.

Another example is the prelude to "Well tempered Klavier, book 1." When GG decided to play them mixing staccatto with legatto people simultaneously said "you can't do that" along with "wow, that's great."
 
  • #18
Bladibla said:
What Glenn Gould did was make the pieces appleasing to the ear with his style.
Yes, very appleasing.:biggrin:
 
  • #19
Chi Meson said:
Well, that's not what I said, and not at all what I meant. Some pieces (Goldberg Variations as a specific example) were not considered to be up to Bach's usual brilliance until GG's interpretation. Golberg variations were indeed considered by many to be "finger exercises." Have you tried playing this work? He throws in just about everything there is into all 31 parts. They were not considered "important" before 1951.

I misread you.
 
  • #20
mattmns said:
Windows Media?! That is Winamp son :-p Itunes is slow as hell, I would never play my music in itunes, I use it only to rip :smile:
Oh, I didn't click on it, it looked like the windows media list. Nice going with winamp anyway. :biggrin: For the... non-Mac user, winamp is the way to go.
 
  • #21
i can't stand classical
 
  • #22
I'm sorry for your tragic loss.
 
  • #23
Zygotic Embryo said:
i can't stand classical
Well get'chor butt out of this thread! Go back to http://rapforums.com :smile:
 
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  • #24
Zygotic Embryo said:
i can't stand classical
You can't punctuate or capitalize proper nouns either. So that's no loss for classical music.:biggrin:
 
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  • #25
Zygotic Embryo said:
i can't stand classical

You can't go wrong with classical. I don't see what pop, rock, or any other genre of music can do against over 500 years of classical music.
 

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