difficult vs. difficult sounding

[jeremyjchilds]

I know I know... I'm sure this topic has been done before...but what is the easiest sounding piece that you find difficult and the hardest sounding piece taht you find easy?

I'm not even talking high level pieces here..

For instance, in my level... I find my Brahms 0p 118 #2 to be mush more difficult than it sounds, and my Schubert impromptu op 90, no 2 in eb to be very easy.

non players just go wild for those fast scales...it's funny isnt it.

I always play that on pianos that I have just tuned for a demonstration.

does anyone find it the other way around??

Any other good examples?

[Barbosa-piano]

 I believe that pieces that sound hard and are not that difficult are:
 Rondo Op.11 by Hummel, Etude Op. 25 no.1 by Chopin, Gigue from Partita no. 2, Prelude and fuge No. 2 (Bach), Clair de Lune, Chopin's first Waltz, Gypsy Rondo by Haydn... There are many... The Rondo is not difficult, I am working on it. A piece that sounds easy, and it is harder than it sounds, humm... I would say that Brahms' Capriccio Op. 76 No. 2 fit in well... Chopin's Waltz in D flat (Petit Chien).

Mario Barbosa

[presto agitato]

I know I know... I'm sure this topic has been done before...but what is the easiest sounding piece that you find difficult and the hardest sounding piece taht you find easy?

I'm not even talking high level pieces here..

For instance, in my level... I find my Brahms 0p 118 #2 to be mush more difficult than it sounds, and my Schubert impromptu op 90, no 2 in eb to be very easy.

non players just go wild for those fast scales...it's funny isnt it.

Yes. I agree with you.

If sounds difficult doesnt mean that is hard to play.

Example: Chopin´s Op 10-12 sounds harder than Scriabin´s Op 12-8 but we all know that Scriabin´s is much more difficult to play...

[dikai_yang]

shubert's wonderer's fantasy...
doesn't sound so difficult, doesn't even look difficult,
but it's certainly too difficult...
---
bach prelude^fugue in c minor,
sounds impressive, looks impressive,
but it's not bad at all...

[steinwayguy]

Believe it or not many people don't think Gaspard de la Nuit is that hard, until you tell them it is....or have them read through it 

[happyface94]

Are you sure the scriabin is harder than the revolutionary? I have personally only played the Scriabin and I personally thought that it was very easy albeit the need of practicing very well the passages that require more technical challenge.

[pita bread]

Believe it or not many people don't think Gaspard de la Nuit is that hard, until you tell them it is....or have them read through it

Yeah I made this girl listen to Argerich's recording of Gaspard de la Nuit, and she was all like "oh that's not that hard... blah blah blah." Maybe I'll buy her the score for Christmas and sit there and make her sight read through the whole thing.

[dikai_yang]

if anyone is bold enough to say Gaspard de la Nuit is not hard, i'll start laughing at that person, and there's nothing else to say...

especially the scarbo, indeed one of the most difficult piece of music ever written in the impressionistic period... if not others as well...

1. odine, quite hard to keep a steady ppp
2. very very hard to read, this is some crazy stuff...
3. scarbo, not even close...

well, scarbo is the only movement left for me... but it out-classes the 1st two...
i'll put it aside for now, maybe when i look at it again a year after, i might see some light

[alzado]

I had occasion to play the Adagio Cantabile movement from Pathetique in the last few days.  I was surprised at how easy it is.  Sounds great, of course.

Perhaps that might be considered as one for your list  that sounds impressive but is actually rather easy.

[musicsdarkangel]

Even though it sounds hard,

to many people the Hammerklavier wouldn't sound as hard as it is.

[jeremyjchilds]

So then...when you are at a party and someone says "Hey, so and so is a super good piano player" what do you do when you sit down.

Do you bust out the brahms or the schubert. (for examples)

Impress the mob, or be self-satisfied with your inderpretation of a difficult piece to play "WELL"

[quasimodo]

Yeah I made this girl listen to Argerich's recording of Gaspard de la Nuit, and she was all like "oh that's not that hard... blah blah blah." Maybe I'll buy her the score for Christmas and sit there and make her sight read through the whole thing.

I read a story about Argerich and Gaspard de la Nuit. She's said to have learned it in 2 weeks when she was a teen (don't remember whether it's the whole or only Scarbo, anyway even only Scarbo in 2 weeks is impressive) so her teacher asked how the hell did she do that and she answered "Nobody told me it was hard !"

[jehangircama]

The Chopin impromptus are tougher sounding than they actually are as they always follow the same pattern: First part, slow middle section and then the first part repeats. in fact most impromptus are like that. lovely pieces though

[Skeptopotamus]

I think La Campanella is definitely one of those pieces that looks/sounds ALOT easier than it is.

[dangermouse]

Schubert impromptus can sound quite impressive, but are not that hard.  I find the notes 'fall into place'.

I would say the first movement of Moonlight Sonata is a lot harder than it sounds, to play well anyway.

[maxy]

I read a story about Argerich and Gaspard de la Nuit. She's said to have learned it in 2 weeks when she was a teen (don't remember whether it's the whole or only Scarbo, anyway even only Scarbo in 2 weeks is impressive) so her teacher asked how the hell did she do that and she answered "Nobody told me it was hard !"

Actually, her teacher of the time Gulda, challenged her to learn Gaspard in a ridiculous amount of time.  I believe it was less than a week... 

[maxy]

oh, and speaking of extreme challenges:

Arrau was asked by his teacher to learn Mazeppa, Feux-Follets and Eroica (Liszt TE 4-5-7)in one week...  He did not manage it.   

[turner]

One composer not mentioned yet is Moszkowski, who's an expert in writing music that sounds harder than it really is. His favorite trick is to use the "alternate-hands" figuration to spin out these gorgeous sounding runs that sound impressive, but quite manageable. This may not be too apparent in the 15 Etudes of Virtuosity, the set he's most famous for today. I would highly recommend the 3-cd set played by Seta Tanyel on Hyperion/Helio label--many forgotten gems by Moszkowski that sound absolutely glorious. I have been able to track down some of the scores at university libraries, and they don't look too bad.