Ranking the Chopin whatevers

[chopinlover01]

This is a post I'll come back to, but I'm going to make a rough attempt at ranking most of the big Chopin categories, so we can refer members to a useful thread instead of answering this once a week.
(From easiest to hardest)
Etudes:
Group 1- Mostly slow: TN 1 and 2, Op 10/6, 10/3, 25/7
Group 2- Difficult: 10/5, 10/9, 10/11, 25/2, 25/9, TN 3
Group 3- Very Difficult: 10/4, 10/8, 10/12, 25/1, 25/3, 25/4, 25/5, 25/10, 25/12
Group 4- Virtuosic: 10/1, 10/2, 10/7, 25/6, 25/8, 25/11

More to come.

[rubinsteinmad]

D'accord!  

Les Ballades sont un peu plus subjectif  Voici ma suggestion:

PLUS FACILE
2e Ballade
3e Ballade
1er Ballade
4e Ballade
PLUS DIFFICILE

[abel2]

This is a post I'll come back to, but I'm going to make a rough attempt at ranking most of the big Chopin categories, so we can refer members to a useful thread instead of answering this once a week.
(From easiest to hardest)
Etudes:
Group 1- Mostly slow: TN 1 and 2, Op 10/6, 10/3, 25/7
Group 2- Difficult: 10/5, 10/9, 10/11, 25/2, 25/9, TN 3
Group 3- Very Difficult: 10/4, 10/8, 10/12, 25/1, 25/3, 25/4, 25/5, 25/10, 25/12
Group 4- Virtuosic: 10/1, 10/2, 10/7, 25/6, 25/8, 25/11

More to come.

Very nice. How I would have ranked it myself.

[pencilart3]

Looks like a lot of people are using my little bracket system Mine are organized within the brackets as well.

Ballades hardest to easiest:

[4 1]
[2 3]

Etudes hardest to easiest (And I'm doing this before reading chopinlover's so I have no bias )

[25/11, 25/6, 10/2, 25/10]
[25/12, 10/10, 10/4, 10/1, 25/8, 10/8]
[10/7, 25/4, 25/9, 25/3]
[10/5, 10/3, 10/11, 25/5]
[10/9, 10/12, 25/1, 25/7, 25/2, 10/6]  

Preludes hardest to easiest

[19, 8, 24, 16, 12]
[3, 5, 10, 18]
[14, 17, 1, 11, 23, 21]
[22, 15, 2, 9, 13]
[6, 4, 7, 20]

[rubinsteinmad]

Это мой список:

трудная
Скерцо № 4
Скерцо № 1
Скерцо № 2
Скерцо № 3
легкий



COHATAS:

трудная
Cohata № 3
Cohata № 2
Cohata № 1
легкий

[chopinlover01]

I actually adopted the bracket system from an earlier post of ranking Chopin etudes.
I think it's clear that, despite many of the third ballade's technical difficulties, it is still outdone by number 2- which also outdoes number 1.
Here's my ranking of the Ballades, from easiest to hardest:
Ballade in A Flat, Op. 47
Ballade in G minor, Op. 23
Ballade in F major, Op. 38
Ballade in F minor, Op. 52
My ranking of the Scherzi:
Scherzo in B minor, Op. 20
Scherzo in B flat minor, Op. 31
[Scherzo in C sharp minor, Op. 39, Scherzo in E major, Op. 54]
My ranking of the Sonatas:
Sonata in C minor, Op. 4
Sonata in B flat minor, Op. 35
Sonata in B minor, Op. 58
I rank the concerti as so vastly different it's impossible to give anything beyond "whichever you like more".

[pencilart3]

Oh. I had never seen the bracket system before. And I just can't agree with you that Ballade 2 is harder than #1. The musical challenged in #1 far, far, FAR, FAR outdo the minor technical challenges in #2. Not to mention the very difficult coda.

[rubinsteinmad]

And I just can't agree with you that Ballade 2 is harder than #1. The musical challenged in #1 far, far, FAR, FAR outdo the minor technical challenges in #2. Not to mention the very difficult coda.

I agree. I also think that the Ballade #3 is harder than the Ballade #2.

[preludetr]

While I can't comment on everything by Chopin, I will say that the 4th Ballade is obviously the hardest and the difficulty is really just egregious and unnecessary. I read through it for the first time yesterday and was surprised to find that it is much harder than it sounds, owing to the fact that the right hand is almost always playing two melodies at once and these melodies contain all sorts of hand-twisting devices like passages in thirds, big rolled chords, trills, and not to mention highly irregular polyrhythms. None of this is really perceived by the audience or adds much to the musical conception, so it feels like Chopin was throwing in all of those tricks just because he could. It was really a disappointment for someone who loves the piece and would like to play it one day.

[rubinsteinmad]

None of this adds much to the musical conception, so it feels like Chopin was throwing in all of those tricks just because he could.

That's the excuse the incapable use.... "Oh, it's hard, it's musicless."

Well, if it was simpler, it would sound much different; it would sound bare; it would sound depressing. Chopin is a master at choosing the right textures for his pieces. He added those polyrhythms and what you call "tricks" for a reason.