Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 vs La Campanella

[pytheamateur]

Which one do you think is harder technically?  I see both pieces are on the LTCL syllabus.  There seems to be similar challenges in both pieces, such as, repeated notes, large jumps, fast chords.

[symphonicdance]

I'm neither a teacher nor a professional, but please allow me to share my humble, silly opinions.

I think the former has more technical difficulties.  However, amongst the two, the latter posted the biggest challenge technically and musically of making the piano really sounds so delicate, interesting, soft and sweet like the small bells...

If you are going for LTCL and you do want a Hungary Rhapsody or Concert/Paganini etude in your programme, it may be better for you to go for a "less" famous one (though I must admit that all of the Liszt's works in the syllabus are quite well-known!)

[pytheamateur]

I'm neither a teacher nor a professional, but please allow me to share my humble, silly opinions.

I think the former has more technical difficulties.  However, amongst the two, the latter posted the biggest challenge technically and musically of making the piano really sounds so delicate, interesting, soft and sweet like the small bells...

If you are going for LTCL and you do want a Hungary Rhapsody or Concert/Paganini etude in your programme, it may be better for you to go for a "less" famous one (though I must admit that all of the Liszt's works in the syllabus are quite well-known!)

Thanks for sharing your ideas.  I'm no way near LTCL standard.  I might go for an ATCL in a couple of years time if I make progress.

The two Liszt pieces are just something I'd dream of playing one day.  Unfortunately, it seems I'm only interested in learning popular pieces at the moment.

[49410enrique]

... Unfortunately, it seems I'm only interested in learning popular pieces at the moment.

nothing wrong that, they're popular for a reason, great music, so excited for you on getting on board with these if and when you do it.  Liszt scares the bejeezus out of me (so does Mozart but for different reasons...)

[j_menz]

so does Mozart but for different reasons...

Haha. Very wise!    I rather wish he scared more people.

[lucasxxd]

Honestly, the two pieces if you analyze them, are extremely easy to execute.O only problem will be overcome is the part of the mechanical hand but if you know in a reasonable manner the notes of a piano you can play these two music with ease.La Campanella I could play with only 4 years of piano.The music is based on just a bunch of jumps and some cadences that you can overcome with just a speed workout.The Hungarian Rhapsody is the same thing.If you have a good agility and strength in your hands, it is easy to play music that has lots of repetition and a foreseeable structure.

[philb]

Honestly, the two pieces if you analyze them, are extremely easy to execute.

Huh??? 

[j_menz]

Huh??? 

Oh, come on Phil, with those hands you don't even have to leap in la Campanella.

Methinks lucasxxd is either joshing us, a genius or an idiot.

[redbaron]

Honestly, the two pieces if you analyze them, are extremely easy to execute.

I'm sorry, what planet are you living on?

[rachmaninoff_forever]

I'm sorry, what planet are you living on?

He's right.

[octavius_trillson]

I could play with only 4 years of piano.

I envy you, I've been practicing La Campanella for 4 years and I still can't quite execute it perfectly.........actually nowhere near perfectly......

[revanyoda777]

Haha. Very wise!    I rather wish he scared more people.

Out of every composer I think Mozart poses the most challenges to play convincingly.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Out of every composer I think Mozart poses the most challenges to play convincingly.

Oh my god playing Mozart is a NIGHTMARE for me! 

You play some Liszt or Rachmaninoff and you screw up a couple measures, so what?  Happens to everyone! 

But you play Mozart and you miss ONE note in a CHROMATIC scale, EVERYONE hears it!

[pytheamateur]

Oh my god playing Mozart is a NIGHTMARE for me!  

You play some Liszt or Rachmaninoff and you screw up a couple measures, so what?  Happens to everyone!  

But you play Mozart and you miss ONE note in a CHROMATIC scale, EVERYONE hears it!

So true!  Thinking in the exam context, does this mean that you are more likely to get penalised for wrong notes when playing Mozart than when playing Liszt or Rachmaninoff, all else being equal?

[jy_]

i personally feel that HR2 is harder technically. La campanella is basically in G# minor and doesn't modulate so the hand position is remains almost the same, so its actually quite easy to play through the whole thing without much thought for its character

in the HR there are some parts which are quite uncomfortable to play and require inner voicing, and also not forgetting the final page of octaves

[jayeckz]

so its actually quite easy to play through the whole thing without much thought for its character

Isn't "character" a vital component of the work?  Technical difficulty should therefore account for "character" in my opinion.

Just to emphasize my point, what constitutes character?  For me, one essential aspect of character is tempo...so technically (no pun intended) you can play the piece lento if you were to play the piece without thought for its character.

[jayeckz]

So true!  Thinking in the exam context, does this mean that you are more likely to get penalised for wrong notes when playing Mozart than when playing Liszt or Rachmaninoff, all else being equal?

Check the following out:

https://www.abrsm.org/en/exams/examcriteria/
https://www.abrsm.org/en/exams/examcriteria/pieces.html

I would assume that you won't get penalized for missed/wrong notes here and there.  You'd have to mess up pretty badly it appears.

[jy_]

Isn't "character" a vital component of the work?  Technical difficulty should therefore account for "character" in my opinion.

Just to emphasize my point, what constitutes character?  For me, one essential aspect of character is tempo...so technically (no pun intended) you can play the piece lento if you were to play the piece without thought for its character.

erm i was just answering his question because he asked abt the technical difficulties for both pieces

[danhuyle]

HR 2 is much harder on the technical level than La Campanella.

La Campanella most difficult technique is the trills hands down. The rest of the piece, I don't care.

HR 2 has not been kind to me. The 2nd part of that F# major scale is enough to get a person to give up playing the piece. 7 against 2, then 5 against 2.

Both are easy to play slow and hard to play fast.

[pytheamateur]

HR 2 is much harder on the technical level than La Campanella.

La Campanella most difficult technique is the trills hands down. The rest of the piece, I don't care.

HR 2 has not been kind to me. The 2nd part of that F# major scale is enough to get a person to give up playing the piece. 7 against 2, then 5 against 2.

Both are easy to play slow and hard to play fast.

Somehow I had always assumed La Campanella to be more difficult, but I think you might be right.

[jayeckz]

Somehow I had always assumed La Campanella to be more difficult, but I think you might be right.

You're persuaded quite easily .

I'm not disagreeing or agreeing with Danhuyle's statement, but his assessment of the works is far from comprehensive, very subjective, and extremely biased.

For this thread, I feel that arguments that fail to establish or mention a systematic method to evaluate the works on a "technical" basis are extremely weak.  However, this thread was more asking for an opinion rather than a definitive response.  Keep in mind that opinions can be more than uninformed or informed.  For example, sometimes people are misinformed .

[danhuyle]

You're persuaded quite easily .

I'm not disagreeing or agreeing with Danhuyle's statement, but his assessment of the works is far from comprehensive, very subjective, and extremely biased.

My assessments of works are based on my own experience going on what my strengths and weaknesses are.

The only way to know which is harder is to play them yourself, then assess it based on what you know. Everyone is going to have a different assessment.

These questions on which piece is harder/easier come up frequently. The end answer to all of them is - none of them are easy and they have their own set of problems. Regardless of what you choose, you're going to encounter obstacles in all music you play.

[perfect_pitch]

HOLY F@#K?!? They're bloody huge??? I can barely reach a tenth and I'm a bloody adult.

How the heck is that possible???

[redbaron]

HOLY F@#K?!? They're bloody huge??? I can barely reach a tenth and I'm a bloody adult.

How the heck is that possible???

This is a twelfth. Rachmaninov could reach a thirteenth  

[music_doctor]

I don't know how you play both pieces but I find Hungarian Rhapsody a lot more difficult than la campanella. Once you get the hang of the jumps in la campanella it becomes easier but hungarian rhapsody wins for sure if your talking about difficulty. I also think Liszt's hungarian rhapsody sounds better than la campanella because of movement 'Friska' which really makes me want to listen to more of Liszt's works.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

I don't know how you play both pieces but I find Hungarian Rhapsody a lot more difficult than la campanella. Once you get the hang of the jumps in la campanella it becomes easier

I agree with you that Hungarian Rhapsody is harder, but the trills and the repeated notes in La Campanella are the hardest sections, no contest.

[dream_pianist1999]

Both of them are beautiful pieces. I think you should try both. If I will you I would try both. Hope you enjoy playing