Chopin Piano Sonata 3

[gregh87]

Hey everyone,
I've been looking at this piece, and I'm considering learning it for my big piece next semester (and hopefully I could learn all of it).  I'm performing Ravel's Ondine in about a month, and I was wondering if the Chopin is feasible for me, as the last movement sounds extremely difficult.

How does it compare in difficulty to Ravel's Ondine, Chopin's 4th Ballade, Beethoven's Waldstein, and Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto?  These are the principle pieces I've learned in the past couple of years.  Just from my first impression from listening to it and following the music, it seems much harder, but pieces always seem really difficult to me when I listen to them.  (Sorry for making this kind of difficulty-comparison threads, I know there are probably a gagillion out there.)

Thanks!

[thierry13]

I think it demands higher musical maturity and perfectionnement than what you have allready played, and it is a larger scale work for sure. But if your teacher thinks you're good for it, then you should try it out.

[gyzzzmo]

To my opinion the ballade and rach concerto are both harder than the op 58 sonate. I havent played Ondine and Waldstein, so i dont know about them.
The chopin sonate maybe sounds hard, but its technically not that complicated.

gyzzzmo

[imbetter]

i agree with gyzzzmo if you can play rachmaninoffs second concerto chopins fourth ballade and beethovens waldstein sonata then you can play the third sonata

[gregh87]

Thanks, that's encouraging.  I guess Chopin pieces are generally easier than they sound.  I listened to Ivo Pogorelich play the Sonata on Youtube, and he plays the 4th movement at like Mach 2.  This piece looks like a great project for next semester.  I'm also open to other pieces.  This time when I'm about to finish a piece and choose a new piece is always exciting! 

Anyone else have any other suggestions of pieces of this difficulty range that I should look into? I'm also considering Beethoven's Appasionata, but I've been playing a lot of Beethoven recently.  How do people like Rachmaninoff's Sonatas?

@ Gyzzmo, I'm a little surprised that you would consider that the ballade is more difficult than the 3rd Sonata.  I know that the Ballade requires a tremendous amount of musicality and expression in addition to the technique, but it seems that the Sonata needs at least as much musical maturity.  (This is obviously coming from the perspective not having played the Sonata.)

Some more questions:
Is the scherzo similar in difficulty to the 1st Ballade scherzo-like section?
Is the 3rd Sonata considered the most popular of the 3? My uneducated impression is that the 1st Sonata is not popular, and the 2nd and 3rd are viewed nearly equally.  I don't really like the last movement of the 2nd sonata, though.

[popdog]

Is the 3rd Sonata considered the most popular of the 3? My uneducated impression is that the 1st Sonata is not popular, and the 2nd and 3rd are viewed nearly equally.  I don't really like the last movement of the 2nd sonata, though.

I'm pretty sure that's about right.  I like the 2nd most. 

[pianowolfi]

I guess Chopin pieces are generally easier than they sound. 

It's precisely the other way around, to me

[numerian]

Have a care with this sonata.  It is technically quite difficult, though there are certainly more demanding works.  But it is emotionally extremely rich, and in that respect one of the greatest piano sonatas written.  The more I work on this sonata, the more impressed I am with its construction and its musical power.  The four movements seem quite diverse, even though Chopin ties them together with occasional repeating motifs, but as you play through them you realize they are all perfect complements to each other.  There is more gorgeous, compelling, moving, exhilarating music packed into this sonata than you can find in most major symphonies or operas.  It takes a lot of musical experience to draw out the many beauties of this composition. 

[gyzzzmo]

Thanks, that's encouraging.  I guess Chopin pieces are generally easier than they sound.  I listened to Ivo Pogorelich play the Sonata on Youtube, and he plays the 4th movement at like Mach 2.  This piece looks like a great project for next semester.  I'm also open to other pieces.  This time when I'm about to finish a piece and choose a new piece is always exciting! 

@ Gyzzmo, I'm a little surprised that you would consider that the ballade is more difficult than the 3rd Sonata.  I know that the Ballade requires a tremendous amount of musicality and expression in addition to the technique, but it seems that the Sonata needs at least as much musical maturity.  (This is obviously coming from the perspective not having played the Sonata.)

In your intro you were saying that the finale of the sonata sounded very difficult to you, and since the finale is musically pretty straight forward, i supposed you were talking about technical difficulty. Plus the fact that 'musical maturity' is something you have or not, not really something you can grade.

gyzzzmo

[gregh87]

Thanks for the replies.  The more I look and listen to this Sonata, the more I love it.  I'm excited about learning it, as soon as I finish learning Ravel's Ondine...