Piano music for left hand only

I slipped on a patch of ice this morning, fell, and hurt my right hand. It's too early to tell much about how it's doing, but it doesn't seem broken, and I'm hoping (though really I have no idea) that it won't take too long to heal decently. Still, it's completely unusable at the moment, and I'm expecting it to be more or less so for some time.

So! What better occasion to explore some of the piano repertoire for the left hand alone? This neat website does a good job of summarizing the literature, but I'd also like to hear some more direct accounts of people's experience with any of this music.

I'm aware of Ravel and Godowsky (off the top of my head) and, well, those freaky difficult works. Is anyone familiar with something somewhat less technically difficult? This is more for my amusement than anything else, and I also intend to take this as an opportunity to relax (and do stuff that doesn't require a piano and fully healthy hands), so I'd be very interested to hear about something less than virtuosic. Also... this is a long shot, but is anyone aware of any such music available online? Major libraries are at the moment some distance away.


I'm almost surprised myself at how well I'm taking this. You'd think I'd be devastated, but, well, I'm not really, as is probably apparent. Oh well. Has anyone else had an injury like this? How was it? And how was the recovery and return to playing?

Unfortunately for me, I broke my LEFT hand when I was 17, which put me in an awkward situation: there is very little repertoire for the right hand alone.

I ended up writing myself some music at the time (not the best I've ever done), including my very first attempt at a concerto.

Sadly, very little of the left-hand repertoire really translates well to the right hand. I tried the Ravel (which ended up being my physiotherapy piece, BTW) but it does NOT translate at all to the right hand.

However, I did find a lovely Bartok étude for the left hand, very tonal, very... ummm.. un-Bartok-ian.

I was a real concerto-holic, so most of the works I tried were in the piano+orchestra repertoire (besides, at that time, that was what I needed for exams, competitions, and concerts). My favourites, apart from the Ravel, were the Britten and Prokoviev.

The only ones I played (RSI in my right arm. It sucked ) were the Scriabin prelude and a Sonatine by Walter Lang. Both quite fun!

I'll give a shot at writing you something.

Originally Posted by QcCowboy

However, I did find a lovely Bartok étude for the left hand, very tonal, very... ummm.. un-Bartok-ian.

I was a real concerto-holic, so most of the works I tried were in the piano+orchestra repertoire (besides, at that time, that was what I needed for exams, competitions, and concerts). My favourites, apart from the Ravel, were the Britten and Prokoviev.

So you played from the left hand literature, with you right hand, then? Not too easy, I imagine? (though obviously I can't try it right now)

Anyway, I will be checking out all the stuff mentioned here when I get a chance. Thanks.

Break your other hand as well and play Reich's pendulum music with your mouth

There's of course the Hindemith. And the Britten diversions for LH and orch.

Originally Posted by oboeducky

There's of course the Hindemith. And the Britten diversions for LH and orch.

are there any recordings of this Hindemith?
according to the website listed above, the Hindemith score was lost until recently and has neither been published nor recorded.

and I already mentionend the Britten.