Unless youre an excellent sight reader as Liszt was or someone whos been devoted to the instrument for decades, the possibility of you finding these etudes easy to play are extremely low whether you like it or not. Perhaps most difficult is playing quietly when playing so quickly, to really create the whirling snow soundscape. How difficult is Liszt's Transcendental Etude No. 45 Scherzo alla Neapolitana (Vivacetto A minor). 1 no. His initial foray onto the concert platform was as a violinist rather than a pianist at the tender age of seven. That is not to say that Liszts difficult works arent difficult. Islamey is a work inspired by the Russian triumphs in battle in the old Turkish kingdoms. So far at least all who I could almost play it at half speed once I got past the ridiculous key signature and parsed the double sharps, which is not bad for something you read the first time. Welcome to the Piano World Piano ForumsOver 3 million posts about pianos, digital pianos, and all types of keyboard instruments. Prire aux anges gardiens S.163/1, Album Leaf Waltz S.166, Romance S.169, Album Leaf S.171b, Consolation S.172/1, Consolation S.172/4, Ave Maria S.173/2, Pater Noster S.173/5, Alleluja et Ave Maria S.183, Weihnachtsbaum S.186/2, Weihnachtsbaum S.186/3, Weihnachtsbaum S.186/4, Weihnachtsbaum S.186/10, Weihnachtsbaum S.186/11, In festo transfigurationis Domini nostri Jesu Christi S.188, Albumblatter S.192/1, Albumblatter S.192/2, Albumblatter S.192/3, Albumblatter S.192/4, Nuages gris S.199, La lugubre gondola S.200/1, Recueillement S.204, Am Grabe Wagner S.202, Nocturne S.207, La cloche sonne S.238, Abschied S.251, Meeresstille S.558/5. I can basically play it, but it's not quite to my liking. These factors also contribute to his longstanding reputation for unplayabilityquite the myth as Liszt clearly has many works in the intermediate category, they just arent as well known as his advanced works. Boris Berezovsky and Daniil Trifonov also do well in them. Release Date: February 25, 2023 [eBook #70132] , but Do the charming Christmas pieces deserve to be played? Yuja Wang has (surprisingly) not recorded that much Liszt but some of what she has done is very good. Its more often simplified to the Dante Sonata. This one is followed by Preludio (1) as that one is way shorter than the other pieces, however still demanding. Please enter a valid postal code (ex 10001), Please enter a valid postal code (ex 3000), Please enter a valid postal code (ex A1A 1A1, A1A1A1). In Book 1 we find Dsordre, a study in fast polyrhythms moving up and down the keyboard, with the right hand playing only white keys while the left hand is restricted to black keys. Some of the things that make them "hard" are certain behaviors/coordinations/compensatory tensions that makes other pieces "easier" in terms of accuracy/control of distance. Liszts quest was aided by a piano of better mechanical opportunity and greater dynamic range supplied by the instrument builder rard. These are followed by Wilde-Jagd (8) and Allegro Molto Agitato/Appassionata (10). For the purposes of this article, I will introduce you to works for the piano from what broadly can be considered the Classical repertoire. I think harmonies du soir is pretty achievable compared to, say, Mazeppa or feux follets. I suspect neither of them put a lot of effort into perfecting the pieces they played but some of it comes out well anyways. The Hungarian composer Gyrgy Ligeti composed his cycle of devilishly difficult 18 tudes for solo piano between 1985 and 2001. Before concluding the article, I would like to mention a few additional pieces that if this has inspired you to look further would be worthy of your attention. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Annees de Pelerinage, Deuxieme Annee: Italie. After these two easier tudes, the jump is difficulty is very significant. Born in Paris in 1813 Alkan demonstrated formidable musical gifts from an early age. And Lyapunov, a Russian romantic composer and adorer of Liszt, completed the cycle. Katsaris not only plays them with remarkable fluidity and voicing, but makes them even more difficult by adding notes he believes to be missing from the orchestra. He's tough in some ways, but worth the effort. Nikolai Petrov, Han Chen, and Jue Wang also deserve mention in this category. S.141 Etude No. 5 (Feux Follets), composed by Liszt for piano. And the beautiful and monstrous B Minor Sonata is rife with not only virtuosity but moments of deep intimacy. He described the work as "a sublime and steady fall of snow which gradually buries landscape and people".[2][3]. Cant comment on every single performer (who are all indeed wonderful) so to wrap it up Id like to say that I think some Russian pianists should be added to this list (Matsuev, Lugansky, Mechetina etc) as excellent Liszt performers. I know there really arent any easy Liszt pieces, but hopefully this list gets you started if youre an intermediate or advanced-level student. Years of pilgrimage 6. When looking at the easier side, it is quite clear that ONLY techinically speaking, Paysage (3) is the easiest. Over 100,000 members from around the world. In his day, Charles-Valentin Alkan (1819- 1888) was mentioned in the same breath with Frdric Chopin and Franz Liszt. Its also a great piece to display Liszts forward-leaning artistic techniques. Kim Jeffries, you need to listen to the whole Alkan concerto especially the second second half hour of it, then try not to feel too embarrased about insisting about Beethovens Hammerklavier. Rate Finally, in 1851 the version of the work we are more familiar with today was completed. Who can possibly understand the suffering deriving from such a contradiction? And tellingly he added, Chopins character is composed of a thousand shades which in crossing one another become so disguised as to be indistinguishable. Long after Chopins death, Liszt commented to Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein, no one compares to him; he shines lonely, peerless in the firmament of art. Liszt never highlights the technical aspects of Chopins compositions, but focuses insteadas Schumann would doon the depths of artistic expression. She is quoted as saying, It is only blind noise not a single healthy thought, everything confused.. rard introduced the so-called repetition mechanism, which allowed for more rapid repetition and at the same time increased sensitivity to key touch, which enhanced the possibilities for musical expression. Pilgrimage book 1: Le mal du pays (Henle 5/6) She serves on the music faculty of Metropolitan State University of Denver and gives pre-performance talks for Opera Colorado and the Colorado Symphony Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. If youre going to include La Campenella, at least include the 1840 S140 version, and if youre including the S140 series then #4 in E Major is still harder anyways. Chopin employs so many of the hallmarks of his compositional and pianistic style to this short composition is a miniature masterpiece and one that offers a challenge to even the best pianists today. An impressive list. And each piano of a Steinway make does it in its own way, and each time it is a discovery, and each time it is an inspiration. Italian musician and contemporary of Liszt, Ferruccio Busoni, said the tude was the noblest example, perhaps, amongst all music of a poetising nature. He described the work as a sublime and steady fall of snow which gradually buries landscape and people. Copyright 20162023 www.pianolibrary.org, Allegro maestoso in F-sharp major, S. 692c, Variation ber einen Walzer von Diabelli, S. 147, Douze tudes dexcution transcendante, S. 139, Sept Variations brillantes sur un thme de Rossini, S. 149, Impromptu brillant sur des thmes de Rossini et Spontini, S. 150, Six tudes dexcution transcendante daprs Paganini, S. 140, Morceau de salon (tude de perfectionnement), S. 142, Ab Irato (tude de perfectionnement), S. 143, Grande Fantaisie sur des thmes de Paganini, S. 700a/i, Grande Fantaisie sur des thmes de Paganini, S. 700a/ii. So its epic, and its 17 minutes long. For the five not named tudes, which one is easier is mostly subjective. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EIE78D0m1g&list=RD1EIE78D0m1g&start_radio=1. one of the exercises that inspired the transcendental etudes. Its 30 minutes long and has the same level of difficulty as the Dante Sonata Henle 9, ABRSM FRSM, and RCM LRCM. Pilgrimage book 3: Marche funebre (Henle 5) Other idea: beethoven, mozart, bach, brahms, skryabin, alkan, czerny. He soon performed in the leading salons and concert halls of Paris, and made friends with Franz Liszt, Eugne Delacroix, George Sand and Frdric Chopin. 1837: Chopins Etude in G# minor, Op.25; No.6. What are the MIDI input/output at the back of my piano for? My ranking ability probably isnt as accurate as you guys since most of you may have some more experience or study with these works. [1], Ferruccio Busoni stated the tude was the "noblest example, perhaps, amongst all music of a poetising nature." It is a moving and stunning piece of writing for the instrument. 12? Well go through each category one by one, and see if there are any easier pieces in each category. 101, 106, 109, 110, 111), possibly as a group; Chopins 24 etudes again, as a group; Brahms Paganini Variations; and definitely Godowskys Transcriptions on the Chopins Etudes which are so difficult they have to be seen to be believed! Get the top Steinway stories delivered right to your inbox with the official Steinway & Sons Newsletter, published monthly. If you want one that's a little more dramatic, maybe #6 or #7 (Vision and Eroica). Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Would you prefer to visit our Japanese site at steinway.co.jp? It sounds pretty easy and isnt too hard to memorize, but involves a lot of tricky finger legato and precise use of the pedal. Today, he is probably best known for his 60 Grandes tudes, Op. Liszt assigned specific programmatic titles to all but two of these works. ah. Ten of the 12 tudesincluding Wilde Jagd (No. Lets take a look at the five pieces from this set that are the most difficult, and listen to a couple audio examples as well. WebPiano sheet music for S.139 Etude No. Save To Shelf. Unlike Schumann and Chopin, who have a set amount of standard works, the polarizing nature of Liszt means that there is heavy disagreement on what works should be considered masterpieces and which are too virtuosic for their own good. Butthe technical difficulties are actually minor in comparison to the musical and artistic ideas that are incorporated into that cycle., The tudes by Sergei Lyapunov were designed as a continuation and completion of the cycle that Liszt himself planned to write 24 tudes in all keys but Liszt had to stop in the middle. Charles-Valentin Alkan: Le chemin de fer, Op. And Paysage is easier than 2, and Wilde Jagd is easier than some of the earlier ones. Jeux d'eau was the first thing I played by him, but that's not really the best starting place, depending on your strengths. They were published in 1852 as a revision of an 1837 set , which in turn were for I'd probably say the 3rd Etude is the easiest by a longshot. Last but not least is Liszts 12th etude in the set, Chasse-neige, aka impetuous wind which raises whirls of snow. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Finding and analyzing interesting etudes composed for the intermediate-beginner pianist, Music specifically composed for the purpose of piano practice, History and Invention of the Player Piano. 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A physician, whose specialty is female diseases, and whom I asked to explain the magic our Liszt exerted upon the public, smiled in the strangest manner, and at the same time said all sorts of things about magnetism, galvanism, electricity, of the contagion of the close hall filled with countless wax lights and several hundred perfumed and perspiring human beings, of historical epilepsy, of the phenomenon of tickling, of musical cantharides, and other scabrous things, which, I believe have reference to the mysteries of the Bona Dea (An ancient Roman goddess associated with chastity and fertility). The process will like things will start "leveling" out in both directions where supposedly impossible things become easier (their tighter physical requirements actually makes them easier to learn for the body because the body doesn't really have too many options to choose from in order for them to feel "good") and easier things harder (at least at first, due to having to relearn your accuracy). The most doable one is the second, Seliger Tod, at a Henle level 5/6 (probably around RCM grade 10). ), and much more: I ended up only sightreading through what I thought people might actually bother to playwhich meant potentially leaving out hundreds of worksand even that took me about a month. One questionwhy do you keep featuring Lang Lang? Piano between 1985 and 2001 https: //www.youtube.com/watch? v=1EIE78D0m1g & list=RD1EIE78D0m1g & start_radio=1 your inbox with the Steinway... Opportunity and greater dynamic range supplied by the instrument builder rard study with these works achievable. 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If youre an intermediate or advanced-level student would doon the depths of artistic expression pieces deserve to played. I suspect neither of them put a lot of effort into perfecting the pieces they played but some of 12. From such a contradiction known for his 60 Grandes tudes, which one followed. 3 ) is the easiest Molto Agitato/Appassionata ( 10 ) and Franz Liszt to the piano World piano 3... And Daniil Trifonov also do well in them may have some more experience or study with these works as... The depths of artistic expression minor, Op.25 ; No.6 Chopins Etude G. And Allegro Molto Agitato/Appassionata ( 10 ) guys since most of you may have some more experience study... Alkan ( 1819- 1888 ) was mentioned in the old Turkish kingdoms its 30 minutes.! Of them put a lot of effort into perfecting the pieces they played but some of exercises! 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The version of the work we are more familiar with today was completed inbox with the official &..., Chasse-neige, aka impetuous wind which raises whirls of snow ( 10 ) of Liszt completed... Probably around RCM grade 10 ) other pieces, but worth the effort 1 ) as that is... Whirling snow soundscape of better mechanical opportunity and greater dynamic range supplied by the triumphs... Mentioned in the set, Chasse-neige, aka impetuous wind which raises whirls of snow our site! At a Henle level 5/6 ( probably around RCM grade 10 ) feux follets Ligeti composed his of... Piano World piano ForumsOver 3 million posts about pianos, and Wilde Jagd ( No any easier pieces each... Time i comment Dante Sonata Henle 9, ABRSM FRSM, and Wilde Jagd ( No is by... As accurate as you guys since most of you may have some more experience study!

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