Virtually any Scarlatti sonata!Certain Chopin Preludes (G major, d minor, g# minor).Also several Scriabin Preludes or Etudes fit this description.Walter Ramsey
dear all!i need some help. my practice time is very reduced those days, but i really want to improve my technique and keep challenging myself. to give you an idea of what i'm about, the last piece i finished was the second ballad, by chopin. i would love to tackle a scherzo or something, but studying a long piece is, thus, out of question. so, i'm talking about pieces of no more than 2 minutes: the shorter and the harder, the better!any suggestions?best for all!
I present you with 3 Preludes by Samuil Feinberg. They are short and to the point, and they will (if you play them with the dexterity the instructions the score demands (think Scriabin on peyote). I'll attempt to upload the PDFs of the Op.15 "3 Preludes".
IMO, his book Pianism as an Art is one of the most important books on piano pedagogy, performance, and approach to technique, ever written.
To the original poster: if you are into something short and challenging, which should be a Scherzo, then look no further than Mendelssohn-Rachmaninov, Scherzo from Midsummer-Night Dream. IMHO, by far the hardest piece ever written for piano. In any case, it is worth of Chopin Op.10/2 and Feux-Follets together.I have been working on it for about 30 years and still did not dare to play in public.Also, I could suggest Rachmaninov Moment Musicaux Op.16 no.2 in E flat minor.Best, M
Any Rach/Chopin/Debussy/Scriabin etudes that are under 2-3 minutes are usually ridiculous.Scriabin's Op 65 #3 is pretty awesome sounding, but seems very awkward once I look at the sheets.Virtually all of Rach's Op 39 can be used (save for #2, #5 and #7), and they have fiendishly difficult passages throughout. His Op 33 #6 in Eb minor is also one crazy piece of work.Also, his prelude in Eb minor looks very similar to Feux Follets by Liszt, but is only 4 pages and about two minutes of double notes Debussy's Octave, Chord, 4 fingers, and Chromatic etudes are pretty interesting. I don't know the numbers, but those are the techniques in each.Some of Chopin's preludes too: #19 Eb major has difficult parts in every measure I'd say, along with #16 in Bb minor, and #24 in D minor. I'd stand by the argument that those preludes are among some that are harder than a good chunk of his etudes. The jumps in #19, the speed of #16, and the insane scales/thirds/arpeggios that come out of nowhere in #24 pose serious challenges.I'm not a huge fan of them, but some Godowsky's Chopin Etudes are short enough, and are probably (I've never tried any) very difficult.Fur Elise is a very hard song....did I just say that?
dear walter:thanks for your post. would you have specific suggestions about scarlatti and scriabin?best!
Franz Liszt - Transcendental etude No 2 in a minor.Johaness Brahms - A couple of variations of you choice form his Paganini Variations (Incredibly difficult) - 1 to 4 of his hungarian dances. From Les Seize valses Op.39 Sergei Rachmaninoff - Musical Moment No.2 in E flat minor Op.16 Frederic Chopin - The 2nd Mvt. form his Piano sonata is short but very difficult. - Etude No.1,4,5,8,12 Op.10 No.6,8,12 Op. 25
As far as Scarlatti goes, why not start from the beginning? K1 in d minor is a favourite of mine, and not much more than 2 minutes even with the repeats. For a serious challenge, try K141 (also d minor). I'm also a fan of the Cat Fugue K30, but that might be a bit long for you. (ABRSM says Cat Fugue is grade 8, but personally I think it's a bit on the tough side--all those wrist-cracking double sixths eep!)
dear jim:as far as abrsm grading is concerned, i'm talking about LRSM or above, disregarding duration issues (since most of FRSM are just big LRSMs). i'd take a look in this k 141, thanks for the suggestion.best!
Topic: Short and demanding pieces 