Chopin Prelude no.16

[mitch24]

How hard is this piece? 
I'm learning it right now and its giving me a much harder time than expected. I dont mean to sound foolish but I'm finding it harder than Fantaisie Impromptu.

Can someone please help me realize what I've gotten myself into.  Thanks.

[pseudopianist]

It is A LOT harder than the fantasie impromptu. If that is the most difficult piece you have ever played then I would advise you to wait with that piece!
It is possibly the hardest of the preludes and it is 1 min of pure hand torture.
Use the search function because it can you a lot of info.

[nanabush]

What makes this prelude difficult, is it the shear speed of the right hand?  Haven't looked too hard at the sheet music, and/or is it really awkward fingering which must be followed?  Or is it the left hand?  Or is it a combination?

[mitch24]

Wow that bad?

Well I've played Chopin 10/12. Which was also easy compared to this prelude.
Or am I just messed up?

Compared to 25/11, is the prelude much harder than that?


Also I did search, everyone says its difficult, but i'm not too sure home difficult they're saying it is..

[Selim]

op25N°11 is harder, it is all random, and it is faster and of course it depends of your own technique.

[jhon]

I wonder if there exist a version of the 16th Prelude where the RH and LH parts are INVERTED (such as what Godowsky did to the Etudes).  If there is, it would be a very helpful LH exercise. 

[pseudopianist]

I remeber Bernhard doing a post about the difficulties of this prelude, but just look at jumps in left hand and the akward right hand at an insane speed. It speaks for itself


10/12 would also be quite a strech. 25/11 would be a lot harder.

[C-A]

Out of these 4 preludes (8, 16, 19, 24) I've played, the easiest for me is the 16th.
Have no problems with the passages, since my right hand adores playing on pieces with awkward fingering and black keys, and my left can blaze its way through those leaps, especially the ones with huge octave leaps at the middle.
I usually play it at a metronome tempo of 220, sometimes my hands can go out of control at the middle, sometimes reaching 270 on the metronome.

[pseudopianist]

Out of these 4 preludes (8, 16, 19, 24) I've played, the easiest for me is the 16th.
Have no problems with the passages, since my right hand adores playing on pieces with awkward fingering and black keys, and my left can blaze its way through those leaps, especially the ones with huge octave leaps at the middle.
I usually play it at a metronome tempo of 220, sometimes my hands can go out of control at the middle, sometimes reaching 270 on the metronome.

16th notes at 270?!?!?!?! Holy f*ck!
Do you have a recording? Playing ANYTHING near 300 bpm is hard but this piece?!½?!?!

[C-A]

Yup! I did that many times. Its just that my right hand loves the rapid black keys and my left hand loves huge leaps- a lot.
I want to send a video, but there's this tinsy-winsy problem bothering me... The last time I sent a video to my auntie, it took me more than 6 hours, and that video was around 30 minutes long! The one I will send is a recital, over an hour long... I'm the last one to play. I can't buy a new, faster modem, since I don't have enough money to buy one.
Go to https://www.gressus.se/chopin/midi/chopin.html
and search for the 16th prelude, and play it.
I play the prelude like that, only faster. Notice that the speed increses in the middle part.

[nanabush]

Did you play any of the other difficult preludes, such as G sharp minor, G minor or F minor?

[Toivot]

Oh my god, the midi is extremely fast. And you really play this faster than this? Is it really supposed to be played at this speed??

[C-A]

Uh-huh, I can play it faster, but I usually play it at a tempo of 180, and in the middle part where my hands can go out of control, usually reaches 220. But sometimes for excitement, I crank the speed up to 220, and when the middle part arrives, my hands simply went out of control and reaches around 260-270 on the metronome, without mistakes.

Did you play any of the other difficult preludes, such as G sharp minor, G minor or F minor?

I also played those preludes. There's quite easy to master, as I can figure out that there's a pattern or motive in each prelude.
The ones I've played are (if I can recall) #s 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 12, 15, 16, 19, 22, and 24.
The hardest I've played is 24. Though I can play it at normal tempo (for every 8th notes 115 or per 8th note 230), it's very, very dangerous, as a miscalculation in turning your fingers on those scales can lead to disaster. I have no problem with the downward chromatic thirds scale, though.

[ravel]

has any one heard argerich play this prelude.  now thats what is fast. i dont think , any one has played it that fast.  also pogorelichs rendition is good too, not as fast as argerich though. but really its not about speed. is it?

[jhon]

has any one heard argerich play this prelude.  now thats what is fast. i dont think , any one has played it that fast.  also pogorelichs rendition is good too, not as fast as argerich though. but really its not about speed. is it?

Yes, I remember someone from the SDC told me Argerich's #16 if about 5 seconds faster than Pogorelich's.

Argerich is a good pianist - TOO good that she almost STEAL the pieces from its composers and OWN it, not because she changes and modifies the notes or interpretation, but because her playing is simply too natural, spontaneous, instinctive, and almost effortless!  One reviewer of her Chopin Preludes said "Argerich is fine, but is it still Chopin?"

As of now, my favorite Chopin Preludes set is by Nelson Freire (who happens to be a best friend of Argerich).

[ligurian]

How about Rubinstein? Have you ever heard him play this? It's harcore man...