Heart-wrenching anguished piano piece?

[shera]

Hi, I want to find an advanced piece that evokes heart-wrenching, inner torment, anguish and pain.  Heh.  Any suggestions?  Thanks.   

[fast_forward]

Berg Sonata op.1

[ch101]

chopin scherzo no.1.    based on chopin's experience with the capture of Poland. also allegro de concert. this is the piece that Chopin said that he would play first when he goes back to the free poland

[shikamoo]

Rachmaninov Elegy in Eb minor would seem to fit the bill

[perfect_pitch]

The two that come to mind for me are

Chopin - Nocturne in c minor, Op 55 No. 1 (I think the Opus no. is right)
Scriabin - Etude Op 8, No. 12 in d sharp minor

[brogers70]

Bach Prelude and Fugue in Bb minor from WTC Book I.

[cygnusdei]

Sound like Rachmaninov Prelude op. 23 no. 1 

[prongated]

To complement the already excellent suggestions above;

Brahms Variations op. 9
Brahms op. 116 no. 2
Brahms op. 117 no. 2
Brahms op. 118 no. 6
Rachmaninoff Prelude op. 32 no. 10
Schumann Symphonic Etudes

[pianowolfi]

[eminemvsrach]

The two that come to mind for me are

Chopin - Nocturne in c minor, Op 55 No. 1 (I think the Opus no. is right)
Scriabin - Etude Op 8, No. 12 in d sharp minor

The c minor nocturne is Op. 48 No. 1  . Op. 55 No. 1 is in f minor.

Em

[alexis_]

The third sonata of Scriabin   

[perfect_pitch]

The c minor nocturne is Op. 48 No. 1  . Op. 55 No. 1 is in f minor.

Em

Ahh - figured I had it wrong, but was too lazy to look it up. My mistake.

[m2r]

Beethoven Sonata No.32 in C minor.

[shera]

Wow, thanks for all the great suggestions!  I'm going to look them up.

[lontano]

Hi, I want to find an advanced piece that evokes heart-wrenching, inner torment, anguish and pain.  Heh.  Any suggestions?  Thanks.   

Feinberg's single movement 4th Sonata strikes me as "spooky, fantastique" on first listening but after getting to know it better I find it conveys a sense of all the criteria you list above, at least as performed by Nikolaos Samaltanos.

[lontano]

Beethoven Sonata No.32 in C minor.

The 1st movement is certainly full of angst, likely more than any other Beethoven sonata movement, but I don't know that it would fulfill all the parameters of the request. And certainly the 2nd movement would not fit the call at all, being one of the most blissful set of variations ever composed by anyone...

[bbush]

Well, it's more agitatedly introspective in parts than merely pained, but definitely intense as hell - and truly magnificent:  I speak of Alkan's Quasi-Faust, the second movement of his Grand Sonate of Op. 33.

Happy Angst,
Bruce