Chopin's Hardest?

[ihatepop]

Pick and explain.

Start posting.....

ihatepop

[Kassaa]

"The Infernal Banquet" WHAT THE HELL.

[zheer]

  Ballad 4 ,because of its length, and interprative reason.

[mephisto]

Polonaise Fantasie.

[ihatepop]

"The Infernal Banquet" WHAT THE HELL.

That was its nickname the last time, ok?

[Kassaa]

That was its nickname the last time, ok?

Never heard of it, and the name was never given to it by Chopin. Stop using it.

[nicco]

ANOTHER "whats hardest" thread??

difficulty is subjective

[jre58591]

ANOTHER "whats hardest" thread??

difficulty is subjective

agreeed. stop making these threads. if you want to know what the hardest piece is, get your sheetmusic and find out for yourself.

[phil13]

ANOTHER "whats hardest" thread??

difficulty is subjective

agreeed. stop making these threads. if you want to know what the hardest piece is, get your sheetmusic and find out for yourself.

You would THINK at this point people would realize that certain threads have been done over...and over... and over...and over again.

I just searched for this exact same topic and recieved 8 pages of topics. At 30 topics a page, that's 240 threads on the same f***ing topic.

Ihatepop, PLEASE do us a favor and search for this kind of stuff before posting No.241.

Phil

[thierry13]

Difficulty may be suggestive, but the only pieces that are worth being in that list are the etudes and only the fourth Ballade ... The others aren't among the hardest pieces Chopin ever wrote, and the Fantaisie-Impromptue is VERY far from being one of Chopin's hardest pieces, objectively.

[lung7793]

10/2   by far

[maxy]

from the choices given, it's op 10#2 or Ballade #4.  Both could be considered the hardest for different reasons.

-Scherzo 1 is not even the hardest of the 4 Scherzi.
-Polonaise op 53 is not even the hardest of the Polonaises (op 44 or polonaise-fantaisie deserve the spot)
-I still can't figure why FI is on the  poll.
-Ballade 1 and op 25#11 are not far behind op 10#2 and Ballade 4 IMO.

[nanabush]

He said out of these, maybe he wants to pick one of them?

[donjuan]

christ, this thread is not very encouraging to me; I just started the 4th ballade 2 days ago because I thought it would be a good 'first Chopin' piece after playing years of "Liszt Liszt Liszt et encore Liszt"  think I should do something easier first?

[pita bread]

Dude you'll be fine.

[Kassaa]

christ, this thread is not very encouraging to me; I just started the 4th ballade 2 days ago because I thought it would be a good 'first Chopin' piece after playing years of "Liszt Liszt Liszt et encore Liszt"  think I should do something easier first?

Hmm, I wouldn't start with the 4th ballade as my first Chopin piece tbh. Try some nocturnes, mazurkas, some early polonaises and some waltzes first to get into Chopin's style of writing music. After that the 4th ballade will be much easier, musically.

[Waldszenen]

"The Infernal Banquet" WHAT THE HELL.

^_^

[cloches_de_geneve]

I am currently working on etude op 10/2 and would say that certain passages are just insane. Your fingers must twist and bend a bit the way certain artists do with their whole bodies in dazzling, near-miraculous circus performances. Chopin must have been in a sadistic mood when he wrote this. Whoever manages to play this work in the prescribed tempo, neatly and musically, can call him/herself an accomplished pianist.

Incidentally, I followed the last International Geneva Piano Competition, in which the candidates have to present a Chopin etude in the first round. I wonder whether this is representative, but the great majority choose among op. 10/4, 25/6, 25/11, like over 60% (and how boring that was !). A certain number played op. 10/8 and 25/10 (like 25%). Very few played op. 10/1, 10/5, 10/12 or 25/12.

And of all the over hundred competitors just one single person presented 10/2 (she ended up getting the third price in a year when no first prize was awarded).

[ihatepop]

Never heard of it, and the name was never given to it by Chopin. Stop using it.

Its a known fact that nicknames of Chopin's works were given by the public and not by himself as he resents that. When the public heard it, they named it 'The Infernal Banquet' due to its drastic nature.

I understand if you have never heard of it as the name is slowly being cancelled out so far.

By the way, I won't stop using it.

ihatepop

[opuswriter]

From both a musical and technical point of view I have to say Ballade op.52. The difference between playing this piece with technical focus and playing it musically with technical ease is huge. Etude op.10 no.2 is a second, but only due to technical difficulty.

Wasn't Polonaise op.53 in A flat major nicknamed "Heroica"? I don't think it was Polonaise-Fantasie op.61...

[phil13]

He said out of these, maybe he wants to pick one of them?

Who would ask for Chopin's hardest work to study? I will bet money ihatepop is not at that kind of level yet.

Phil

[ihatepop]

Who would ask for Chopin's hardest work to study? I will bet money ihatepop is not at that kind of level yet.

Phil

You win the bet, I'm not that good yet. (sigh)

[brewtality]

FI definitely.

[mephisto]

FI definitely.

I have heard it is like fast allmost all of the time. So yes, definetly.

[pianistimo]

FI is childsplay (just kidding).  the etudes are killers - unless you think fast 100% of the time.  i like down time.  just to daydream while i play.  so the ballades are GREAt. but it took a good year to learn the fourth ballade.  it's very interpretatively long and you have to tie everything together or it sounds 'choppy.'  of course, etudes are like that, too.  chopin wrote a lot of difficult music.  i think part of it is not thinking about 'oh, this is difficult' - but rather ' this is easy.  i can do it...'  so you don't stress out over parts that your mind says is difficult.

the way your hands move OVER the keys seems much more important in chopin than the way they hit the keys.  i've seen a lot of different ways of playing chopin - but the ones that always stick in my head are the ones that 'do the dance' on top of the keys.  they keys come up by themselves - but the fingers and hands just move around like a shadow on top.

maybe there's a difficulty level within each of the genre's of chopin's music.  the polonaise, scherzo, etude, ballade.  this is the order of the genre's that i find difficult.  the polonaise - so polish.  you ahve to understand the idea of the polonaise.  and the scherzo - so crazy and fast in places.  the etude - technical prowess.  and the ballade - to be able to tell a story and keep the flow going.

[walking_encyclopedia]

FI definitely.

I have heard it is like fast allmost all of the time. So yes, definetly.

oh brother whats the matter with you people? just because it's 'fastallmostallthetime' does NOT mean it's hard!!! get with it!

take the 'revolutionary' etude. very fast, but not half as hard as some of the nocturnes that are very difficult to interpret and play well.

Its a known fact that nicknames of Chopin's works were given by the public and not by himself as he resents that. When the public heard it, they named it 'The Infernal Banquet' due to its drastic nature.

I understand if you have never heard of it as the name is slowly being cancelled out so far.

By the way, I won't stop using it.

well we can all be thankful that at least one stupid title added to chopin's music is being 'cancelled out'

[walking_encyclopedia]

i like down time.  just to daydream while i play.  so the ballades are GREAt.

i'd like to see you daydream while performing the 'presto con fuoco' from the ballade op. 23. i'll admit that i can't 

[ihatepop]

well we can all be thankful that at least one stupid title added to chopin's music is being 'cancelled out'

 

[mephisto]

Just for the record:  Brewtality and me were just kidding

[Kassaa]

If you love Chopin so much, also respect his thoughts about naming his music.

[thierry13]

If you love Chopin so much, also respect his thoughts about naming his music.

Agreed. All the way.

[ihatepop]

If you love Chopin so much, also respect his thoughts about naming his music.

Agreed. All the way.

 ::)Sigh, Ok,ok, fine.

ihatepop

[meutsav]

I think fanatasie im promptu is the hardest as the left hand and right hand or on diff time signatures which makes it intersting to play..........its also sounds gud............u guys cant play it.its tooo diff

[ihatepop]

I think fanatasie im promptu is the hardest as the left hand and right hand or on diff time signatures which makes it intersting to play..........its also sounds gud............u guys cant play it.its tooo diff

Even I can play it, you doofus....
Can You?

ihatepop

P.S.Sorry, the doofus thing was meant as a joke

[sissco]

I have a recording of 12 minutes of Variations For Piano & Orchestra Op. 2, I think that is the hardest 

[ihatepop]

I have a recording of 12 minutes of Variations For Piano & Orchestra Op. 2, I think that is the hardest 

Is it under copyright?

ihatepop

[sissco]

Hmm I mean 16 minutes but still...played by demidenko. He says it is the hardest Chopin so....Variation IV is fun  https://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZO4OI0D2

[mikey6]

Someone listed every bloody Chopin piece he ever wrote and a poll asking for the same thing.  Why create a new one?

[ihatepop]

Someone listed every bloody Chopin piece he ever wrote and a poll asking for the same thing.  Why create a new one?

That is because MY list specifies only a few choices, making it easier for people to choose. Imagine if you were told to choose whats the hardest piece out of EVERY Chopin piece.

BTW, the other poll was for choosing your favourite, not the hardest.

ihatepop

[Waldszenen]

Even I can play it, you doofus....
Can You?

ihatepop

P.S.Sorry, the doofus thing was meant as a joke

Well unfortunately I don't think too highly of your own ability, if you brag about being able to play FI and those are the only options on this so-called "Chopin's Hardest" poll... 

[nanabush]

K I still can't take this seriously... Infernal Banquet lmfao!

[jakev2.0]

Infernal Banquet...LOL. Pass

[mikey6]

That is because MY list specifies only a few choices, making it easier for people to choose. Imagine if you were told to choose whats the hardest piece out of EVERY Chopin piece.

BTW, the other poll was for choosing your favourite, not the hardest.

ihatepop

So why bother listing only a few? You're not going to get any resonable conclusion - AND if you're attempting to list his supposed most difficult works, where are the sonatas?

[opus10no2]

The 10/2.

Based on the amount of practice it takes to get it up to performance level.

[a1]

  Impromptu No4 (Fantasy Impromptu)
      too difficult..................

[mycrabface]

Polonaise. My hands are tiny. lol

[rob47]

definitely the infernal banquet

[mcgillcomposer]

So why bother listing only a few? You're not going to get any resonable conclusion - AND if you're attempting to list his supposed most difficult works, where are the sonatas?

Even though I think this thread is ridiculous, you make a good point. Where the *** are the sonatas? ... 'cause they are NOT easy by any stretch of the imagination.