Feux Follets - advice needed, waste of time or reasonable

[petyr]

Greetings,

My name is Peter, this is my first post here. I'm an amateur pianist and have been playing for 10+ years, but it has always been only a hobby. I've only attended elementary music school (for 6 years + 4 years of advanced classes there, instead of attending a dedicated music-highschool or whatever it's called). Now I study economics at the university and play the piano without a teacher in my free time.

The piece that stirred my interest is Feux Follets, and I am aware that learning it isn't the optimal way for me to improve, I simply like the piece a lot, and I wouldn't mind spending the time to learn it, even if it means a slower overall progress to my playing.

Pieces I have already learned include:
Chopin's Revolutionary Etude
Scriabin's Etude Op. 8 No. 12
Rachmaninoff's Etude Op. 39. No. 6
Liszt's La Campanella

I have started working on Feux Follets, but the thought that it is all just a waste of time, and I won't be able to play it decently anyway in the end troubles me, so I'm asking you the question - is it realistic at all for me to tackle this piece, or should I just leave it alone instead.

I haven't played too much for a year or so after starting the university, but in the past few months I have re-learned and recorded the first two pieces I mentioned here. That is, without a teacher, and on my digital piano just for my new pals to see. So they're not polished, not as good as they used to be in their prime time. I'll give you the links anway, I guess they'll help you give me more appropriate advice.

Thanks in advance!

[j_menz]

Feux Follets will be a stretch, but not, I think, a leap too far. If you are motivated by the piece, that helps a lot and the extra time it will take is time well spent.

[danhuyle]

I watched your Chopin 10/12 and Scriabin 8/12. It's fine and you have what it takes to play Feux Follets. I've played all pieces you play except for the Rachmaninoff.

What's your real concern with Feux Follets? Where are you with it? Learning the notes? Having trouble interpreting?

More clarity to the question please then I can answer accordingly.

If there's any advice I'll give you, it's play it slow. This piece is actually the 2nd easiest (no1 being THE easiest) TE to memorize, far easier than no6,7,8 and easier to handle than no2 IMO.

The memorizing is easy, the interpretation side of it is something else altogether.  My playing of Feux Follet is 4:30 which is considered slow by many pianists and it really should be finished in 4 minutes or less.

[petyr]

I am still learning the notes, started it three days ago or so, it really is easy to memorize, but that's never a concern anyway.

I have been working on the double note section mainly, right hand only, slow, relaxed, and while I don't feel tension, I am really not seeing "the light at the end of the tunnel" yet or so to say, when it comes to getting it up to speed, without it losing it's light touch. I know that I shouldn't be trying to practice fast already, and I am really not, I was just trying to test it on the first 2 bars of that part from time to time, to see if I'll be able to handle it at speed at all.