No. You're wrong. Speed is not paramount. That's childish logic, broskies. But don't worry, you're not a bad person. You're just wrong, wrong wrong wrong wrong.Don't worry about it man.If you want to challenge me, I accept (even though I don't know what kind of challenge).
You can have the most agile and flexible fingers in the world, but if you don't know how to use your arms, torso, or legs you're still likely to be unable to play anything well at all.
Actually, I do agree. The primary factor in the production of sound is the speed of the finger's descent onto the piano's keys. Even if the notes are passing slowly, a finger must come down with many varying speeds in order to produce varied volumes and articulations. As such, I would put finger speed as the most important aspect of technique if I had to choose one.
The point is, there is much difficulty without speed. Some incredibly slow pieces are very difficult! You have already stated that EVERYTHING boils down to difficulty from speed.Members of Pianostreet, do you agree that speed is the only factor of difficulty?Fine - you choose a piece, I'll have it done.~Max~
Actually, I do agree. The primary factor in the production of sound is the speed of the finger's descent onto the piano's keys. Even if the notes are passing slowly, a finger must come down with many varying speeds in order to produce varied volumes and articulations. As such, I would put finger speed as the most important aspect of technique if I had to choose one.Disclaimer: I personally believe that there is no one aspect of technique that is the most important. You can have the most agile and flexible fingers in the world, but if you don't know how to use your arms, torso, or legs you're still likely to be unable to play anything well at all.
what?!I mean a duel, MONO A MONO, me vs. you a BATTLE TO THE DEATH, let us both join swords in the 10/2, learn it and record it, and so shall I.Where the flying dismemberedcorpse do you come up with the idea that 'In this etude, evenness and control of dynamics are more important than speed'?It's also more than a BIT obvious that evennes and dynamic control in this piece are dependent upon digital dexterity and - you guessed it - SPEED.I WILL NOT AGREE THAT THEY SOUND BETTER, I WILL NOT AGREE TO HAVING PENILE REDUCTION SURGERY!I have never been wrong in my life, I wouldn't have a clue what it feels like, I believe you find it cool, but as has been proven thus far this evening - our tastes differ immensely.I shall say nothing of our respective intellects...just that you are a lesser mortal than I.
Oh and I forgot to mention. You may also choose any Rachmaninoff prelude or sonata, Chopin prelude, sonata, or Liszt etude but I seriously doubt you have those technical abilities.
While I sit on your lap, I will practice these pieces
While I sit on your lap, I will practice these pieces, to provide word to your anachronistic perveliatoristics.Get real, Harry.
This contest is getting fun!Walter Ramsey
What are you talking about broskies.
When I met Marc Andre Hamelin (he has recorded the most difficult woks of Alkan, Albeniz, and Godowsky) I asked him about the most difficult piece he had played. His answer was convincing: “It’s a tie between Reger’s variations on a theme by Bach and Scriabin’s late sonatas” he said.When I talked to Leslie Howard (he has recorded the complete works of Liszt) I asked him about the most difficult piece he had played. His answer was convincing: “Beethoven’s Hammerklavier by far” he said.Conclusion: Yes, Alkan=Overrated Difficulty.
It may be that we haven't yet heard someone who has the control and requisite technique to transform Alkan's works into things of beauty.
I must admit I'm not too fond of that particular piece, I hope you won't hold it against me. I'll listen to Lewenthal's recordings of something I like more. Just to be clear I really like Alkan's music I listen to him on a daily basis, what I meant was that to the common listener it takes a REALLY special performance to get them effectively hooked on Alkan with the exception of Le Festin d'Esope, Concerto, and Symphony. It mustn't be 'dry' like how you would normally play a Hannon Excercise or a scale (though even these can be played beautifully). according to my knowledge there are sonatas by (I think) Scarlatti which have no dynamic markings in them, one could choose to play them like a machine and no one would like Scarlatti but pianists know better than that and fill them to the brim with musical expression and their own dynamic ideas and make fans of me and you. With Alkan it's much much harder to do this, I think some people treat his music as a thing to learn the notes and play at speed, as something to show off with, a warhorse and this manifests itself in harsh sounds and sometimes dry playing. I listen to people play (even Hamelin) and I think sometimes they shouldn't have done that there or they could have played that differently, it may be that they are just following the score but it's not unheard of for pianists not to be 100% faithful to the score.To answer the original question I say Alkan is VERY VERY difficult, it's one thing to play a piece through and an entirely different thing to make it sound beautiful. I hope I have made my point clear
Alkan's music is not over rated difficulty. I reckon his stuff is just as comparable with the etudes of Liszt although not as high the musical quality. I really like his esquisses and his etudes though.
Alkan is an acquired taste, some people just don't like his music. It is quirky and overtly technical and much of it requires a straight-ahead interpretation. Many of the greats don't play him, not because they can't, but because there is not much room for interpretation compared to say Liszt or Ravel (This is not to say that it has no depth). As far as difficulty goes, much of it is breathtakingly relentless and does not lend itself to a slower, more deep and meaningful interpretation. When we hear someone playing Alkan, we want Jaw-dropping technical feats that bring out its quirky nature. You can bluff Liszt, Ravel, Chopin and even Beethoven by hiding within the musical interpretation, but there's no hiding place in Alkan. This is what makes it more difficult than Scarbo, Islamey and the rest. It's not more technically difficult, but your technique has nowhere to hide and can be a reputation breaker.