Piece(s) that scares you

[quasimodo]

No, I'm not evoking some creepy stories or something like that, lol.
I'm just asking, is there a piece that you really love listening to, which roughly matches or your level but that you dare not to learn for some reason ?

Which piece ? Why does it scare you ?

[anda]

brahms 2nd. and i'll never play it - out of common decency, if for nothing else.

[zemos]

Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique. Do I really need to tell why? For god sake the guy's insane!! The very frightening parts are in the 4th and 5th movments... (they where written in the effect of drugs hehe) Great piece anyhow! (:

[Rach3]

The Schubert impromptu op. 142 no. 4. It's too perfect, I could ruin it.

[donjuan]

Im afraid of learning Prokofiev's op 11 toccata, Balakirev's Islamey, Brahms Paganini Variations, and Rachmaninoff's 3rd concerto.  Why?  because they are freakin difficult and Im afraid of damaging my wrists and going crazy.

Quasimodo, can you explain your statement "is there a piece that you really love listening to, which roughly matches or your level.."?  It just doesnt make any sense to me..

donjuan

[Bob]

Every piece.  Every piece has something in it at some level I won't be able to perfect.  That's scary.

Sometimes it is nice to play a piece by an unknown composer.  Then you don't end up comparing yourself to models of near perfection.

[dinosaurtales]

2 pieces I am currently working on scare me, but for different reasons:

Mozart Sonata K576 - requires perfect fluid scales, "pretty" everything.  One flub and it's all gone.

Prokofiev Suggestion Diabolique - memory - it's patterns all involve chromatic chord changes and chromatic intervals - MOST of the time - get off by one half step and I am doomed - no way I can instantly transpose up a half step.

[alkanite]

The score of the 3rd movement of the Concerto for Solo Piano by Alkan scares me.  I wasn't scared when I heard it, just when I saw it.

I was never scared of Chopin's D minor prelude until I heard Martha Argerich play it.  I have not looked at the score since.

[galonia]

Mozart Sonata K576 - requires perfect fluid scales, "pretty" everything. One flub and it's all gone.

Good luck with that!  This piece gives me nightmares, too - I worked on it for ages, and performed it several times, and yes, I stuffed it up big time once; it's an amazing and fun piece when you can actually perform it, though, so it's worth persevering.  Not that I'm in a position to give such advice - at a certain point in time, I gave up, and indeed it made me feel inadequate to play Mozart ever again.

[lostinidlewonder]

Pianississimo by Donald Martino. Not well known but stupidly hard to memorise and play.

[quasimodo]

Quasimodo, can you explain your statement "is there a piece that you really love listening to, which roughly matches or your level.."?  It just doesnt make any sense to me..

donjuan

I mean a piece which makes you drool when you hear it played by someone else, and which you should be able to play according to your level.

[Alde]

A scary sounding piece is the Liszt Totentanz.
A scary piece to learn is Balakirev's Islamey.

[SteinwayTony]

2 pieces I am currently working on scare me, but for different reasons:

Mozart Sonata K576 - requires perfect fluid scales, "pretty" everything.  One flub and it's all gone.

Prokofiev Suggestion Diabolique - memory - it's patterns all involve chromatic chord changes and chromatic intervals - MOST of the time - get off by one half step and I am doomed - no way I can instantly transpose up a half step.

I played the Opus 4 cycle my senior year of high school in my teacher's attempt to broaden my horizons, or something like that.  You're right, the memorization was torture, but they're such fun pieces.  You should consider finishing the cycle, the payoff is huge.

The Schubert impromptu op. 142 no. 4. It's too perfect, I could ruin it.

A very thoughtful observation.  I've never played it myself but surely have heard it butchered up enough.

[chopinetta]

ehehehe! Mozart K576!!! that one! i'm working on that right now. i'm not scared of it because i destroy all the pieces i play... i'm actually very very very frustrated with myself now. i can't master the first movt and i haven't finished the third. and i've been playing that for more than a year! and also because i barely touch the piano now.

[larse]

I cannot really see myself performing the complete Goldberg Variations...I figured that when I finally, after an hour or so, came to the 30th variation, how the f*** should I be able to still play the rest good enhough?

Rach3, because it's been played too much...and recorded by people such as Volodos, Luganski, Andsnes, Ashkenazy, Horowitz, and everyone else, and I don't really want to be compared to these guys...Unless of course I play it REALLY good, which I won't be able to... 
That goes a bit for the Gm Ballad by Chopin. I saw "The Pianist" where he performes (most of) it to the German Officer. It's an incredibly moing scene where the music creates an insane effect. And how am I supposed to compete with that?

Brahms and Prokofiev Concertos because they're WAY to difficult to play no matter how much I practice. But they're not my level, though...

[burstroman]

The last movement of Alkan's "Symphonie".

[chopinguy]

Even though I'm learning the Chopin Polonaise-Fantasie, it still scares me... I wonder how I'll ever pull it off when it does come to performing it.  Right now, I'm about 3/4 of the way on the notes (beginning and end) and I'm planning to perform it in a little over a month.  The last part scares me since one slip can screw up the whole thing...

but that sort of applies for every piece.  if you've got the audience in a trance, listening along with your every move, one slip-up instantly shatters that.

[pies]

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[maxy]

Anything by Bach and Mozart is scary.

[brsmpianist]

Perhaps Liszt's Mazeppa or Feux Follets... both amazing pieces AND amazingly difficult, especially for people w/ small hands... or some of the Rachmaninov concertos

[Troldhaugen]

I'm not really scared by any piece not because I'm a good piano player or something but because I have this firm belief that I'll eventually be able to play any piece if I work hard enough no matter how hard it is.
By the way, Balakirev's Islamey is really overrated. The claim that it's the most difficult piece ever composed is a kind of myth. Not that it's easy to play, but once you actually PLAY it, you'll be like "Why was I so afraid of playing this piece?". So, people....go head and be courageous!!!

[dlu]

Sorabji's scores...they're easier than they look...