Chopin Scherzo No.4 in E Op.54

[chopinawesome]

I have been listening to the 4th Scherzo by F.Chopin lately. At first,I didn't seem to care for it. But then, it grew on me, and now it is one of my favorite works by Chopin. I am not really sure on how hard it is, because I have seen some people say that it is one of the technically lighter ones and others saying it is harder than Ballade no.4. I looked at the score, and it doesn't seem so difficult. I tried playing it SLOWLY(sight-reading), and I found it much easier than scherzo no.2.

So the 4th scherzo actually that difficult? What pieces can you compare it to in terms of difficulty?
Thanks for your replies.

[mjames]

Its difficulty lies in the fact that it requires a lot more nuance than any of the other scherzi. If you can play no. 2 then I'm sure you'll do fine if you work hard.

[chopinawesome]

Its difficulty lies in the fact that it requires a lot more nuance than any of the other scherzi. If you can play no. 2 then I'm sure you'll do fine if you work hard.

Thanks, but do you think the other scherzi lack nuance? No.3 has some nuance as well.

[chopinawesome]

anyone else?

[symphonicdance]

If you can easily manage Chopin's Scherzo #2, then it's likely that you'd find many of his works not too difficult.  Ballade #4 and Scherzo #4 are the more mature works, and I think the challenge will be more about musical / communication than technical.

The diploma syllabus of ABRSM and Trinity (both UK) put the 4 Scherzi, 3 Ballades (#1,2,4), Polonaises #6 & 7 in the same level (licentiate).  Other works also on the same level incl. but not limited to the concert and paganini etudes, transcandental etudes (excluding #1), Hungarian rhapsodies of Liszt.