pictures at an exhibition

[BoliverAllmon]

I heard this piece for the first time all the way through. I have heard the first bit several times, but never finished it. That piece is completely awesome. It doesn't sound too difficult except for a few sections. (or could this be Horowitz masking the difficulty)

what level of difficulty would you say it is? and do you think it is possible for me to learn starting in may finishing in August, which is basically four months.

boliver

[tds]

for me schumann carnaval is harder than mussorgsky pictures. it is possible to learn it in four months. it took me less than a month to learn and memorize it. i did it almost totally mentally, away from the piano, that is.

i played it for byron janis on the 40th days from the day i first learned it. it is a great concert piece. best, tds

[presto agitato]

What level of difficulty would you say it is?

According to London College of Music is as difficult as Balakirev´s  "Islamei" or Ravel´s  "Gaspard de la Nuit ".

[pianomann1984]

it is possible to learn it in four months. it took me less than a month to learn

Impressive!  I haven't learned this yet, though I would say there is not much that is harder than Gaspard (Ondine in particular), so I guess the Royal College gage is not too ideal for judging difficulty.  Btw, how did you deal with the final run of Catacombs?  This passage came up in one of my tutorial classes lately and there were lots of good ideas, but nothing concrete.

[BoliverAllmon]

what would be the hardest piece in your opinion?

[pianomann1984]

I really don't know!  I think Ondine from Gaspard is very nasty.  On the whole, I've given up thinking in terms of difficulty - now I just think in terms of how long it will take me to learn something - the harder it is, the longer it will take me.  I would say Gaspard se la nuit is one of the most difficult things around (paired with Prok 2 (PC) and Bartok 2nd PC), but it depends on your preference in music and your hand shape - the Ravel just tends to be more awkward for me.

[fnork]

funny, I listened to this yesterday (it's the first time I heard the piano version) and I absolutely loved it! I think I'll play it too, I borrowed the sheet music from the library today. If we both start today, boliver, we can compete about who finishes it first

I listened to Horowitz recording and then looked at the sheet music, and he obviously has made some changes in the music. Or are those someone elses changes? I really don't know. In"the castle" (don't remember the exact title), for instance, he skips half a page or something like that towards the end, where the main theme comes back. I don't remember all of the other changes, but it was one piece which started with a RH tremolo in the high register which he played different.

[musik_man]

Horowitz actually made alot of modifications.  You can see the Sheet music for them here.

https://horowitzscores.tripod.com/

[pianomann1984]

I was just about to say!  Horowitz was notorious for modifying music to siut himself - not advisable unless you already have his popularity and temprement!  it's a wonderful recording though, isn't it.  If you can, try to get to hear Richter's famed Sofia Recital from the 1960's.  I have a CD of this and it is by far the best rendition I have ever heard.  To anyone who has also heard this CD, isnt his rendition of Feux Follets ridiculous?!!! 

[BoliverAllmon]

funny, I listened to this yesterday (it's the first time I heard the piano version) and I absolutely loved it! I think I'll play it too, I borrowed the sheet music from the library today. If we both start today, boliver, we can compete about who finishes it first

I listened to Horowitz recording and then looked at the sheet music, and he obviously has made some changes in the music. Or are those someone elses changes? I really don't know. In"the castle" (don't remember the exact title), for instance, he skips half a page or something like that towards the end, where the main theme comes back. I don't remember all of the other changes, but it was one piece which started with a RH tremolo in the high register which he played different.

are you serious? when we get it done post a recording?

boliver

[fnork]

I was just about to say!  Horowitz was notorious for modifying music to siut himself - not advisable unless you already have his popularity and temprement!  it's a wonderful recording though, isn't it.  If you can, try to get to hear Richter's famed Sofia Recital from the 1960's.  I have a CD of this and it is by far the best rendition I have ever heard.  To anyone who has also heard this CD, isnt his rendition of Feux Follets ridiculous?!!! 

Yes, it's a great recording, I love it. As some would say, if you already have the popularity and make some changes in the music to make it suit you better, people will call you a genious. But if a young and not-famous musician does this, people would say, "oh, he plays the wrong notes"....
I'll try to remember to check out the Richter CD.

[fnork]

are you serious? when we get it done post a recording?

boliver

I wasn't too serious, although IF I would learn all of this someday I promise you that I'll post a recording of it. I need to take a closer look at the sheet music and see if I'm really willing to learn all of it...it's quite a lot of music.

[iumonito]

Make this interesting and post fingerings for the end of Gnomus.

Also, two imperatives: become familiar with the Hartman drawings and carvings and become very familiar with Boris Godunov.

This is a 2 week to 1 month piece, hardest parts obviously the end of gnomus, the market place at Limoges and Baba-Yaga, the rest of it is technically very accessible.

Good luck.

Now you got me all fired up.  I'll put mine in shape and post June 1st.

[BoliverAllmon]

Make this interesting and post fingerings for the end of Gnomus.

Also, two imperatives: become familiar with the Hartman drawings and carvings and become very familiar with Boris Godunov.

This is a 2 week to 1 month piece, hardest parts obviously the end of gnomus, the market place at Limoges and Baba-Yaga, the rest of it is technically very accessible.

Good luck.

Now you got me all fired up.  I'll put mine in shape and post June 1st.

if you post yours by june 1st, then you will definately have it up there before mine. have you learned this previously?

[CDS814]

Wow, I love listening to the Emerson Lake and Palmer version of this song! I didn't realize that there was a piano version and now i really want to learn it. Should I use the Horowitz version, or find the original?

[BoliverAllmon]

Wow, I love listening to the Emerson Lake and Palmer version of this song! I didn't realize that there was a piano version and now i really want to learn it. Should I use the Horowitz version, or find the original?

Horowitz is absolutely amazing.

[presto agitato]

Wow, I love listening to the Emerson Lake and Palmer version of this song

I adore ELP version. Mussorgsky would be pround ˇˇ 

[theodopolis]

One of the best musical experiences I have at home is to listen to the Richter 1958 solo piano, followed by an unbelievable pipe organ transcription by Jean Guillou.
I then listen to the Ravel orchestration with George Solti and finish up with the Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

Takes almost two hours, but is a really worthwhile aural treat.

[tariswerewolf]

I don't think I've actually heard the whole piano version of Pictures. I know I love the Ravel orchestration of it . Very colorful. And a few years ago, I heard a new scoring of it for piano and orchestra done by some Canadian composer (I can't remember who, though), and I really did NOT like it at all. He made so many changes to the actual notes that it didn't sound like Pictures at an Exhibition at all after a while.

[Glyptodont]

I wouldn't call this a piece.  I would call it a suite. 

I found "Pictures at an Exhibition" very obtuse.   I started with the first "Promenade."  I had some difficulty with the sequence of tri-chords.

They seemed awkward and clumsy-- hard to get the hands around. 

I finally just put it aside and went on to something else.

I have heard recordings of the suite, so I know it is very playable by a master.

I think it is harder than it needs to be.  I used the word "obtuse" and I'll stick with it.

I don't find Moussorgsky in this composition is very "pianist friendly."   I feel he makes things more awkward or difficult than is necessary to get equivalent effects.

Perhaps I am naive, but the idea of giving composers "points" for writing impossibly hard material is very juvenile, and suggests that some people are piano monkeys who really don't understand music.

Just my opinion.