Musical Madness 2025! The (deadlier) group of death!!! (Islamey vs. Scarbo!)

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Link to the form for voting: https://forms.gle/TAs2dvUeGH5cWoAF9

Pieces in the matches:
Liszt - Etudes d'Exécution Transcendante d'Après Paganini no. 4b
Scriabin - Sonata no. 5

Liszt - Un Sospiro
Chopin - Op. 10 no. 1 "Waterfall"

Balakirev - Islamey
Ravel - Scarbo

Alkan - Op. 39 no. 10 Concerto mvt. 3
Ravel - La Valse


Current bracket: https://challonge.com/musicalmadness2025
Winners of the last matchups: Le Festin d'Ésope, Paganini Variations (Book I), La Clochette, Rondeau Fantastique.
Results page on MM website: https://sites.google.com/view/musicalmadness-ps/voting-results
Matches/results spreadsheet: https://1drv.ms/x/c/373bca7cb13fd958/ERCeNi1RJdVCuYiYk2KhQlkBEpSOnfoDFbYla3MknPz-vA?e=oxosxa&nav=MTVfezAwMDAwMDAwLTAwMDEtMDAwMC0wMDAwLTAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMH0
Full results will be added in a couple hours.


This thread also doubles as the official discussion thread for these four matches and the results of the previous four.
Voting closes at 5:00 PM on March 12th, 2025 (US Eastern time).

[thorn]

Voted. I'd never heard the Alkan until now, that's 9 minutes of my life I'll never get back. It's harder than La Valse for sure but there's hardly any music in it lol. Don't think I'll bother listening to the other movements ><

[artificial21]

Link to the form for voting: https://forms.gle/TAs2dvUeGH5cWoAF9 2v2 io

Pieces in the matches:
Liszt - Etudes d'Exécution Transcendante d'Après Paganini no. 4b
Scriabin - Sonata no. 5

Liszt - Un Sospiro
Chopin - Op. 10 no. 1 "Waterfall"

Balakirev - Islamey
Ravel - Scarbo

Alkan - Op. 39 no. 10 Concerto mvt. 3
Ravel - La Valse


Current bracket: https://challonge.com/musicalmadness2025
Winners of the last matchups: Le Festin d'Ésope, Paganini Variations (Book I), La Clochette, Rondeau Fantastique.
Results page on MM website: https://sites.google.com/view/musicalmadness-ps/voting-results
Matches/results spreadsheet: https://1drv.ms/x/c/373bca7cb13fd958/ERCeNi1RJdVCuYiYk2KhQlkBEpSOnfoDFbYla3MknPz-vA?e=oxosxa&nav=MTVfezAwMDAwMDAwLTAwMDEtMDAwMC0wMDAwLTAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMH0
Full results will be added in a couple hours.


This thread also doubles as the official discussion thread for these four matches and the results of the previous four.
Voting closes at 5:00 PM on March 12th, 2025 (US Eastern time).

Voted as well. I get why Alkan turns people off — it’s definitely more about extreme writing than instant musical payoff — but I wouldn’t write it off entirely based on that movement alone. Later sections (and some of his shorter works) are a lot more rewarding once your ear adjusts.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Voted as well.

I hope not, because that form has been locked for almost a year.