Musical Madness 2026! Sonata showdown!

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Link to the form for voting: https://forms.gle/paHe4t3yDJf3Dcv98

Pieces in the matches:
Saint-Saëns - Étude Op. 111 no. 1 "Tierces Majeures et Mineures"
Liszt - S. 137 Douze Grandes Études no. 5 "Feux Follets"

Schubert - D. 958 Sonata (mvt. 4)
C. Schumann - Sonata (mvt. 4)

Alkan - Étude Op. 39 no. 12 "Le Festin d'Ésope"
Albéniz - Triana (Iberia Suite Book II no. 3)

Scriabin - Op. 66 Sonata no. 8
Rachmaninoff - Op. 36 Sonata no. 2 (mvt. 1) (1913 version)

Current bracket: https://challonge.com/musicalmadness26

Winners of the previous matchups: Le Preux, Lavapiés, Arabesques et Adages, and Le Loriot. Full results are available on challonge.

This thread also doubles as the official discussion thread for this match and the results of the previous one.

Voting closes at 8:00 PM on March 9th, 2026 (US Eastern time).

[the_franzliszt]

No shot Le Preux is harder than Islamey lol. Same with the Messian beating out Saint Saens Etude.
But I am a man of my word, Liszt and Galops, let me know which Russian piece I should learn in the next 2-3 weeks (End of March).

[gasplamey]

Am I the only one whos' not surpsigned by Tiger Raf wining? it's insnaley fast and lots of notes puts huge leaps. Practicaly the perfect voting piece. tbh the more surdpsingh thing was Comme le Vent lsoigkn. Also didn't expe t lavapiss to win but whatever ygeah "musicality" or smth.

Same with the Messian beating out Saint Saens Etude.

Aghjnetd.

No shot Le Preux is harder than Islamey lol.

What Ke Preux fdid you listen to.

And ythast's opnly one part.
Anyways voted S-S 111/1, Schubert, Alkan, Rachmaninoff. SS vs Liszt is gonna be close but i'm going with the underdog. Festin is ridiculous in every way. Rachmaninoff and Schubert I dont's need to eexplain.

[thorn]

it's insnaley fast and lots of notes puts huge leaps. Practicaly the perfect voting piece.

Yeah this is essentially what it all comes down to in the end. There's more to difficulty than this but for this purpose it's about vote-ability (basically if it doesn't sound like a Liszt/Alkan etude it's not going to get far haha). Catalogue d'oiseaux is one of the hardest things on the whole list but most won't appreciate its difficulty, surprised it won- and by such a huge margin! (Likewise Saariaho)

[liszt-and-the-galops]

But I am a man of my word, Liszt and Galops, let me know which Russian piece I should learn in the next 2-3 weeks (End of March).

That was your idea. I never agreed to it lol.

Am I the only one whos' not surpsigned by Tiger Raf wining? it's insnaley fast and lots of notes puts huge leaps. Practicaly the perfect voting piece.

Eritaña is even more ridiculous, though. I was very much expecting it to win, even if it was fairly close.

Anyways voted S-S 111/1, Schubert, Alkan, Rachmaninoff. SS vs Liszt is gonna be close but i'm going with the underdog. Festin is ridiculous in every way. Rachmaninoff and Schubert I dont's need to eexplain.[/font]

The Saint-Saëns is undoubtedly ridiculous, but Feux Follets seems to be one of the most insanely overestimated pieces in this tournament. Unfortunately I doubt it'll go out early, especially after it demolished a Liszt Etude of pretty similar difficulty in the play-in.

Similarly, Le Festin d'Ésope isn't actually that ridiculous (I see it as between Liszt S. 139 nos. 4 and 5), but of course everything Alkan wrote has to be impossible. 

Rach vs. Scriabin is going to be close. I voted Scriabin, but it could absolutely go either way.

Catalogue d'oiseaux is one of the hardest things on the whole list but most won't appreciate its difficulty, surprised it won- and by such a huge margin! (Likewise Saariaho)

Also pleasantly surprised. Unfortunate that they have to face each other in the next round.

[thorn]

Eritaña is even more ridiculous, though. I was very much expecting it to win, even if it was fairly close.
...
Rach vs. Scriabin is going to be close. I voted Scriabin, but it could absolutely go either way.
...
Also pleasantly surprised. Unfortunate that they have to face each other in the next round.

I imagine Navarra would've been more votable, even though I wouldn't rate it alongside the final movements of each book.

What people are 'used to' comes into play a lot tbh. I voted Rachmaninoff but that's probably because I don't really play him, or most of that kind of repertoire vs. I play lots of Scriabin/that style stuff so I don't find it as daunting.

Shame there's not a score for the Saariaho, it's difficult to properly judge this one.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Shame there's not a score for the Saariaho, it's difficult to properly judge this one.

I mean, you could by it for $10 IIRC, but I doubt anyone is doing that for this silly contest lmao.

[thorn]

I might at some point cos I'm always up for new contemporary music. But not for the sake of the contest lol