Ligeti - Etude no.13 L'escalier du diable

[snafflemoose]

I'm currently learning this piece for a competition.  Has anyone played it? Do you have any advice?

[thracozaag]

I'm currently learning this piece for a competition.  Has anyone played it? Do you have any advice?

 Pray to whatever god you worship before you play it in concert.

[snafflemoose]

Thanks! I'll do that!

[liszmaninopin]

I was just sight-reading this one today.  I can't offer any performance suggestions, except to prepare really well and articulate the whole piece very clearly.

[Spatula]

Composers I might never understand or can "get" their music:

Bartok (although I have a new found appreciation)

Prokofiev (same with bartok)

Sorabji

Ligeti

Cziffra

Beethoven (haha jk jk)

[liszmaninopin]

I agree about Sorabji-with a few exceptions I don't understand his music.

I like some Bartok-Allegro Barbaro, the concertos, and I love the etudes op. 18

Prokofiev-too many masterpieces to count, IMO

I love Ligeti's etudes, and like his concertos

Never listened to a Cziffra composition

To tell you the truth, I often feel that I don't really understand Mozart Sonatas.  Forgive me, but I don't feel that they're his best work, or even very good piano music.

[Spatula]

True...mozart isn't bad...he just wasn't revolutionary.

He's a "BACH" follower...note the " " s.

I find a lot of Moz's works in the Major key are listenable but not exicting or breathtaking.  A Mozart Piano Concerto is not one where you're holding onto your seat and gasping for breath while listening..

Even the Rondo's by Beethoven in his PC's are fascinating and fun to listen to.

And I'm finding now that a majority of composers in the era of 1890-  1950 written music that really...spacy...like this type of music belongs in some 1930's SCI FI movie with cheesy back ground music.

Like the music doesn't make any sense or has no coherance to it...no melody or something you can hum to.  Even bartok had this fundimental thing in his pieces.

I'm finding the stuff really "out there" still are Prokofiev's sonatas....and I can't seem to detect a systematic or coherant melody line.  And that's what's really turning me away from this comtemporary stuff and looking at romantic pieces (tchaikovsky, grieg etc)

[Spatula]

Further more...to put this in perspective, listening to Beethoven is like looking at a masterpiece by say.... Rembrandt, or Van Gogh, etc. or even a bob ross landscape.

Listening to Sorabji is like looking at one of those "paintings" where the dude just took the paintbrush and created DA-DA art and splattered it all over the canvas...so no identifiable shape can be traced.

[snafflemoose]

MY GOD WHAT ARE YOU GUYS TALKING ABOUT!!!!

How can you say that you "don't get" Prokofieff and prefer Tchaikovsky and GRIEG!!!!!!!!!!

Grieg is such a laughably second rate composer that I wonder that anyone ever bothers playing his music.  In fact they don't, only the piano concerto which people only play because its very popular.  You can't seriously think that its a good piece!!

Prokofieff has absolute mastery of piano writing.  However difficult the pianism gets the music always remains playable.  The music itself is absolute genius.  Just listen to the fifth and second piano concertos,  the toccata, 6, 7, 8, piano sonatas the list goes on.

Ligeti is another genius.  Unfortunately the piano etudes do not reflect this particularly well.  Listen to Atmospheres, Aventures, Nouvelles Aventures, Le grand Macabre, Ramifications.  Ligeti's music transcends the rules of melody and harmony.  It is about effect and sound world.  Melody does exist but not used in the conventional ways.  

Sorabji is a tricky one.  I love it as I used to study under Yonty Solomon who is a Sorabji nut.  Sorabji used to compose at a table in the British Library and not use a keyboard which is why some of his pieces are v. difficult.  Have a look at the score of Opus Clavicumbistitititititcum for interest and listen to Le jardin parfumee, which is a great piece.

[liszmaninopin]

If you don't like Prokofiev, and want melody, you must listen to the eighth sonata.  All 3 movements have wonderful melodies.

[Maui]

Hey guys lets help the ligeti student!
Thats what this topic was created for :]

i'm sorry i dont know this piece so i cant help :\

[Spatula]

I like Grieg okay?...well only his PC so far..and some of his lyrical works.

Okay okay I'll give Prokie another shot...with those 6-7-8 sonatas..

[DarkWind]

...no melody or something you can hum to.

I constantly find myself humming something by Prokofiev or Bartok, sometimes even Sorabji! He has some really cool pieces.

[Spatula]

I hum to beethoven and rossini

[super_ardua]

I like Ligeti but I could never find the etudes in the shop