Most difficult Chopin Etude
Michael Sampels
10.2 is the most difficult of Chopin's Etudes, and next is
op. 10.1. He said that in contrast to the other pieces you would
not manage to finish, if your hands cramped. Maybe, this is the
reason, why live-performings are so rare.
What do you think about it? In my opinion op 10 f-minor is the
easiest one and op.25 (thirds) is the most difficult one.
Michael
Alexander Hanysz
>Yesterday, my piano teacher told me that in his opinion op.
>10.2 is the most difficult of Chopin's Etudes, and next is
>op. 10.1. He said that in contrast to the other pieces you would
>not manage to finish, if your hands cramped. Maybe, this is the
>reason, why live-performings are so rare.
No way! I find op 10/2 one of the easier ones. I can't play it up to
tempo, but that goes for most of the others too! (It's possible that I
find it easier than others would because I've spent so much of my life
playing Bach and now I find it not to hard to play melodies with my third,
fourth and fifth fingers :-) My conjecture is that it rarely gets played
because it's harder than it sounds (in contrast to many of the others that
sound really spectacular) and therefore doesn't impress audiences so much
(at least if you're looking for cheap thrills). Op 10/1 isn't that bad
either, as long as you're aware of the way your hand must contract and
expand to take it in, but it's _musically_ rather difficult to carry
off convincingly.
>What do you think about it? In my opinion op 10 f-minor is the
>easiest one and op.25 (thirds) is the most difficult one.
I think that the C# minor one from op 25 (no. 7?) is easier (it's the only
one I've ever dared play in public!), as well as the E flat minor from
opus 10, number 6 I think.
*sigh* I still dream of being able to play them all, but I think it's
going to be the best part of a lifetime's work.
Alex.
Alberto Moreira
If you have small hands, op. 10 n.1 can be quite challenging.
But I think the Etude in sixths (which number? I don't remember)
is the most difficult. _alberto_
Tang Yee Soong
the most often 'butchered'!
ys.:)
Lothar A.T. Bauerdick
of difficulty for the Chopin etudes:
op 10/6 eb, 3 Etudes w/o op f, Db, Ab, op 25/1 Ab, 25/2 f, 10/9 f, 25/9 Gb,
25/7 c#, 10/5 Gb, 10/3 E, 10/7 c, 25/8 Db, 10/2 a, 25/3 F, 25/5 e, 10/4 c#,
10/11 Eb, 10/10 Ab, 25/12 c, 10/12 c, 10/8 F, 25/4 a, 10/1 C, 25/6 g#,
25/10 h, 25/11 a.
Cheers, LatB
Sang-Hao Chung
: Yesterday, my piano teacher told me that in his opinion op.
: Michael
I think the 'Black Key' is the easiest.
__
sang-hao chung
institute of systems science national university of singapore
internet: san...@iss.nus.sg bitnet : isscsh@nusvm
voice : +65 772-6700 fax : +65 778-2571
Tang Yee Soong
: I think op. 10.4 (E major) is the easiest, and also
: the most often 'butchered'!
: ys.:)
sorry about the mistake, it was op 10.3
Carl Tait
The four most difficult Etudes, in the opinion of the people who make up
the repertoire list for the International Chopin Competition, are
Opp. 10/1, 10/2, 25/6 (Study in Thirds), and 25/11 (Winter Wind).
You MUST play one of these four Etudes in the preliminary round.
In my opinion, the two hardest are Opp. 10/2 and the Study in Thirds.
Both demand supreme control of the weak fingers in twisty, *quiet*
passagework. It is notoriously easy for these pieces to fall apart
unrecoverably in performance. (Exactly ONE contestant was brave enough
to play the Study in Thirds at the last U.S. Chopin Competition in 1990.)
Op. 10/1 has been singled out by several people on rec.music.classical
as the toughest Etude. However, the difficulty of this piece is lessened
if you have good stretch between your fingers, especially the thumb and
index. For someone with a tiny hand, Op. 10/1 is extravagantly hard.
Wolters's list is fairly strange, especially in its placement of Op. 10/2.
Garrick Ohlsson -- a fine technician if not a great pianist -- said it
took him eight years to learn that piece. And Op. 10/12 (Revolutionary)
isn't THAT hard: it's certainly MUCH less difficult than Op. 10/4, and
not even as hard as Op. 10/5 (Black Key).
Carl Tait