Most difficult minimalist piano piece.

[dlu]

What is the hardest milimalist piano piece to play. This might be contradictory. Does difficulty destroy the principle of minimalism???

DLu

[Skeptopotamus]

um..... just because it is minimalist doesn't mean t isn't difficult.


Try some of Lubomyr Melnyk's stuff.  I promise you can't play that =P  But um, as for things that are actually playable Nyman's "The Piano Concerto" is rediculously difficult.

[odsum25]

Even in some of the simplist minimal piano music, there are some very tricky rhythmic patterns.  And to play the repetitions all musically is an extraordinary challenge. 

[quantum]

Ann Southam's Rivers can be quite difficult at times.  It consists of 3 books, which contain a number of pieces using various minimalist techniques in each book.  Book 3 contains mostly virtuosic material.  A lot of the pieces are based on alternating hand technique.  You would be doing various hemiolas constantly alternating hands for 10 to 15 mins per piece. 

Eg: Play a pattern of 6 in RH, Play a pattern of 8 in LH.  All notes are equal value in 8th notes, but RH is 16th note behind the LH - which gives the alternating hand technique.  The pattern will cycle and after a few rounds will come back to the original. 

The score for Rivers can be found at the Canadian Music Centre. 

[pianomann1984]

I took part in a performance of Steve Reich's Six Pianos (for 6 pianos funnily enough!) a few months ago which was pretty tough going.  But the hardest I think I have heard (though not performed) is Adams' Piano Phase for two pianos, which involves one piano playing at constant tempo, whilst the other speeds up until it is one quaver ahead, then snapping back to tempo.  This cycles round for about 20mins until the 2nd piano comes back into yjr original sync with 1st piano - any pieces like this for one piano?

[Nightscape]

Is Nyman a film composer also?  I have the soundtrack to Gattaca and it's by a Micheal Nyman and it sounds like there is a minimalism influence in it.  It's very beautiful, as well.

[anda]

i read somewhere (a long time ago, so don't ask me where) that brahms' 1st ballade op. 10 could be viewed as avant-la-lettre minimalism. if so, that would be a difficult one.

[bernhard]

Is Nyman a film composer also?  I have the soundtrack to Gattaca and it's by a Micheal Nyman and it sounds like there is a minimalism influence in it.  It's very beautiful, as well.

Yes you could say that these days Nyman is foremost a movie composer (he did the soundtrack for almost all  if not all of Peter Greenaway's films, like “The Draughtman’s contract” etc.).

Best wishes,
Bernhard.