schumann's toccata

[dapianoman]

Has anyone on this forum ever tried to play schumann's toccata. I have heard people mention it but it seems as though not that many people have tried to play it. Is is that really a difficult piece ? (sarcastic) From looking at the score, i believe that it requires great deal of technique. I would be impressed if anyone learned this song because it is gonna take me a while to learn this song. Tell me what you guys think about this song.

[hodi]

first of all
composition and not song
and i tried to read it.... the double notes all over the piece are nightmare.
it's probably one of the most difficult toccatas, if not the most difficult.

[wintervind]

Ive sightread through and although I like it I really have no desire to play it.
First off
1) The hand span required. In other words-the stretch needed for the toccata(am i being clear, its difficult to describe)
2) it being Schumann, the musicality required. Finding the melody notes in this piece is incredibly difficult.
3)The speed
Enough said
I believe their are few who can do it justice, Horowitz being the only one I can think of at the moment

[maxy]

I did play it.  It's even harder than it looks...   

On the good side, once it's "done", other stuff suddenly seems MUCH easier... 

[mikeyg]

I much prefer theprokoviev tocatta.  the shum is very hard though.

[trix]

I played this a long time ago and, with the right practice and previous Schumann exposure I'd had,  I didn't find it hard to get under the hand; it kinda reminds me (Chopin's) op.10 #4 in that the overall structure and patterns and actual notes are not that hard to put together (I am not saying the required techniques are the same tho) but getting, and keeping, it up to tempo are perpetual endeavors.   As for reaches, in general, break ones that aren't comfortable; long "reaches" in Schumann are usually meant to be broken, it's part of his style.

I worked on this after  just having done the Symphonic Etudes,  Kriesleriana and parts of the Fantasy and I was just really immersed in Schumann and it was a really energetic, fresh, happy, youthful time in my life so I really related to the Toccata and eagerly attacked it.  My teacher, however, didn't share my enthusiasm for the work and when I first played it for him he said  "there's nothing I can say about this until you get it up to tempo"-guess he knew that would be the end of that LOL-actually the semester was up then, he took off somewhere, I put the Toccata down and was never inspired to pick it back up but my previous flirtation with it was nostalgically  memorable.