composers awareness of difficulty

[Ryan]

I was wondering if people think composers were aware of the difficulty of their piano music and if they quietly liked the fact that it is so difficult. For instance, did rachmaninoff realise he was writing something so difficult in the rach3 or sonatas? Do you think composers were aware of the difficulties or was it just a natural matter of their own technique that led the way?
Would be interested in your thought
Ryan

[rachlisztchopin]

well u gotta remember rachmaninoff was an amazing pianist as well as many other famous composers for piano were (chopin, liszt, alkan, etc)  therefore the music wasnt so difficult for virtuosos such as themselves...they played there own peices by the way so ofcourse they were aware...lol im listening to rachmaninoff right now playing his piano concerto no 3

[comme_le_vent]

composers who were pianists themselves knew perfectly well how difficult their music was -
the perfect example of this can be found in the etudes of alkan and liszt. liszt actually rewrote his etudes because the originals were far too hard for most pianists.
there is an interesting thing about technically difficult music, some people want to play difficult music particularly because it shows off their skill so well, and some people totally avoid them because they are too hard. its a two-edged sword.
the ultimate example of a composer knowing just how difficult his music was , is alkan, when composing his colossal op39 - a 2 hour etude set including a concerto and symphony for solo piano - he knew perfectly well that he was writing the most difficult music ever composed(and it still remained unchallenged in difficuly until the 20th century), but he didnt give a flying fudgepie, he wrote it for himself, noone else, but in writing this colossus  - he made me a very happy man - alkan's op 39 is my favourite musical creation in the history of the universe.
alkan's op 39 is the true definition of musical integrity - writing whatever you want , however you want, and for noone but yourself.

[scriabinsmyman]

i dont think composers composed w/... "hmmm..i think THIS will torture pianists, i'll just add that here..." I think they just put down whatever the felt sounded good, their emotions...and the thing about Rach- yes he was amazing, and I heard he learned to play his own Concerto 3 on a dummy keyboard....hmmm....crazy guy