Heroic Polonaise 53 or Ballade no 1.

[sroka]

I will be returning to my second semester of college soon and I want to know which piece would be:

* More beneficial to play
* More difficult to play
* More enjoyable to play

I know how to play:

Nocturne 55 no 1. I memorized it in a weeks time. This happened last week.
Nocturne 9 no 2
Minute Waltz 64 no 1
Valse 64 no 2
Mazurka 7 no 1.
Polonaise 40

What do you all think?

Or should I work on other pieces by Mozart instead?

I have only been playing for two and a half years and I mostly worked on Chopins pieces.

[49410enrique]

[sroka]

Hahaha.

Fine, I'll try to do both.

[thesixthsensemusic]

First of all, 2 things; 1: a happy New Year! and 2: both these pieces are within the same scope of difficulty, but for different reasons. The Polonaise contains quite a lot of repetitive parts especially rhythmically, so getting the hang of it musically is more easy. However, it contains excruciatingly difficult 2-hand leaps across the keyboard with very awkward passages right after landing your hands after such leaps, with some rapid chromatic scales in between (however, these are relatively easy although they sound daunting).

Having said that, I am 100% sure the Ballade will be much more beneficial to learn. It has on offer these very same difficulties, but offers a myriad of others too, while also offering loads of time to relax, because significant portions of it in between, are lyrical and not technically demanding at all.

But, it contains all sorts of keyboard acrobatics apart from large jumps, like arpeggios that are written out in twisted ways (like going a few steps down, hitting a 2-note interval, moving up again, another 2 note interval, moving down again and repeat on a different octave for example),  and extreme tempos (the coda is a tough nut to crack even for seasoned pros).

Apart from that, I think the Polonaise is physically heavier to play (making you tired faster) while the Ballade is more mentally demanding to play (as it is musical storytelling of the highest order).

Overall I think both pieces are in the same difficulty league but, if you mean to tackle a piece that is more difficult than anyone you did before, and you want to do this in order to become better as a pianist, the Ballade will be more useful I reckon. In both cases I would recommend Alfred Cortot's editions of these works, he offers priceless musical insight and also means to combat any technical difficulties that arise while learning them. They're available in English translations through www.broekmans.com (international sheet music and CD web shop) if you need to purchase them. Good luck, hope you conquer them both ofc

[sroka]

First of all, 2 things; 1: a happy New Year! and 2: both these pieces are within the same scope of difficulty, but for different reasons. The Polonaise contains quite a lot of repetitive parts especially rhythmically, so getting the hang of it musically is more easy. However, it contains excruciatingly difficult 2-hand leaps across the keyboard with very awkward passages right after landing your hands after such leaps, with some rapid chromatic scales in between (however, these are relatively easy although they sound daunting).

Having said that, I am 100% sure the Ballade will be much more beneficial to learn. It has on offer these very same difficulties, but offers a myriad of others too, while also offering loads of time to relax, because significant portions of it in between, are lyrical and not technically demanding at all.

But, it contains all sorts of keyboard acrobatics apart from large jumps, like arpeggios that are written out in twisted ways (like going a few steps down, hitting a 2-note interval, moving up again, another 2 note interval, moving down again and repeat on a different octave for example),  and extreme tempos (the coda is a tough nut to crack even for seasoned pros).

Apart from that, I think the Polonaise is physically heavier to play (making you tired faster) while the Ballade is more mentally demanding to play (as it is musical storytelling of the highest order).

Overall I think both pieces are in the same difficulty league but, if you mean to tackle a piece that is more difficult than anyone you did before, and you want to do this in order to become better as a pianist, the Ballade will be more useful I reckon. In both cases I would recommend Alfred Cortot's editions of these works, he offers priceless musical insight and also means to combat any technical difficulties that arise while learning them. They're available in English translations through www.broekmans.com (international sheet music and CD web shop) if you need to purchase them. Good luck, hope you conquer them both ofc

Haha yes! Happy New Year!!

Anywho, I was leaning towards the ballade at first. I hope this can be learn just as well as the Cortots edition!  I will spend a couple months on this piece, for it will be the longest time spent I have ever spent on one piece continuously.  I feel the presto part towards the end will be truly difficult. Which measures do you suggest require intensive training? I will be asking my piano teacher one last time before I leave back to college on my own to self teach myself.