Mr Incredible Becoming Uncanny: Hardest Piano Pieces
Vložit
- čas přidán 30. 12. 2022
- You guys wanted more Mr. Incredible...so here it is! In this video, we're going to explore some of the hardest piano pieces out there! From Liszt to Beethoven, these pieces will challenge your skills as a pianist.
Discord server: / discord
Pianists:
La Campanella: Yundi Li
Double Thirds: Cziffra
Chopin Sonata: Andsnes
Ravel Mirroirs: Thibaudet
Rach Sonata: Ogdon
Beethoven Variations: Solokov
Scriabin Etudes: Abashev
Barber Sonata: Browning
Godowski Studies: Henry
Alkan Symphony: Hamelin
Liszt La Clochette: Pasini
Stump Solo: Thomas
Hamelin Etudes: Hamelin
Xenakis Herma: ??
Finnissy English Country Tunes: Finnissy
Stump Prelude: Some app
Sorabji Fantasie Espagnole: Carey
Sorabji Opus: Ogdon
Finnissy Transcriptions: Pace
Sorabji Sonata: Hannenberg
Hi! :), I tried to make this list as best as possible from what I learned in my previous two lists, and for those who are confused on why La Campanella is first, I made this video SPECIFICALLY for the hardest piano pieces!
CORRECTION: at 4:11, John Cage wrote the "Solo for Piano," not John Stump!
I wonder if they knew each other
I think miroirs from Ravel arent that hard except for no 1 and no 3
you know its gonna be bad when la campanella and double thirds are the two easiest
It shows how overrated she is
@@TM_2024GO ?
@@TM_2024GO ?
@@TM_2024GO ?
@@TM_2024GO ?
finnissy really hit the keyboard of his piano with every household object he could find very rapidly and dared to call that "composition" "english country tunes"
I wanna see this Finnissy guy playing his own pieces.
Lol
czcams.com/video/kXBR0JcFO48/video.html Some of his English country tunes
Lmao you know it’s about to get real when La Campanella is the first thing that shows up.
Hamelin's works on the Chopin etudes are amazing. My favorite of them all is his version of the Black Keys etude.
Me too!
I think that a lot of really hard pieces sometimes sacrifice ease of listening for a display of extremely high musical ability, and there's nothing necessarily wrong with that, but I think it's remarkable how Hamelin's pieces manage to be both incredibly complex and incredibly fun to listen to at the same time.
His piece on Alkan's etudes are also amazing.
As a pianist.. I have no idea how hard most of last pieces are because I never tried them
Lmao😂
can confirm that sorabji is a pain in the ass czcams.com/video/W2msssqT7PM/video.html
Polychords are easy to play but hard to memorize
Pieces before the last one just brute force the difficulty. The last one has sections that both sound good and are reasonable to play
When you realise that Rachmaninoff's first creation was the Piano Concerto no. 1 💀
It was his first documented piece
@@underscorde1976 Yes, first officially one.
His first piece is technically a romance for piano and violin (i think) and three nocturnes as well as a piece in d minor, but he saved his opus 1 number for piano concerto
Xenakis - the forefather of math metal
I'm afraid of the monster who says "La Campanella ? Pff easy !"
You know it’s *real shit* when it starts with la Campanella
The Hamelin Etude is hard af, though I have a recommendation to add to your list, Stravinsky Petrushka and Firebird Suite, they are both underrated, and Jesus Christ is that piece one of the most brutal piece that everyone messes up the first chords at even the most prestigious comps
Totally agree. There are also several solo transcriptions of the Rite of Spring, which are as well unimaginably hard.
La Campanella appears at the beginning of the video.
Me automatically: This is going to get ugly
Yep 😂
6:16 Beautiful
Just a little suggestion: Maybe you can use the most technically challenging excerpt from each piece because some excerpts used here make it seem like it is easier than the previous pieces (Example being Phase 14).
For a lot of these peices a lot of parts are technically challenging
@@graydusk1039The part which is the most technically challenging can be used. If there are multiple parts with similar difficulty then any of those parts can be picked. But in some of these pieces the “less challenging” parts were used, like Phase 14, which was just a series of single half and quarter notes.
@@KrisPBacon69 true
Good idea, I will do that next time!
I'm really not lying! Your videos are great! My favorite was the Finnissy english country tunes! Thank you for putting it to the video!
The best list you’ve made I have to say. Nice
Thanks!
@@acactus2190 and the most accurate title
5:50 Imagine being at the countryside singing this old Bri’sh folk song 😐
Ahh just some old bed tunes my grandfather would sing to me
@@graydusk1039bro I think your grandfather was having a stroke to sing those nice bed tunes
@@cubycube9924 he certainly was
Lmao yeah I think this piece is trying to mimic what nature sounds like with birds and stuff rather than actual Melodies and music lmao
@@acactus2190 I don’t think that part sounds like birds and nature dude
La Campanella: 7/10
Double Thirds: 7.6/10
Chopin Sonata: 7.6/10
Ravel Mirroirs: 7.9/10
Rach Sonata: 8/10
Beethoven Variations: 8.3/10
Scriabin Etudes: 8.5/10
Barber Sonata: 8.6/10
Godowski Studies: 8.7/10
Alkan Symphony: 9/10
Liszt La Clochette: 9.2/10
Stump Solo: 9.2/10
Hamelin Etudes: 9.3/10
Xenakis Herma: 9.4/10
Finnissy English Country Tunes: 9.5/10
Stump Prelude: 9.5/10
Sorabji Fantasie Espagnole: 9.7/10
Sorabji Opus: 9.7/10
Finnissy Transcriptions: 9.8/10
Sorabji Sonata: 9.8/10
putting double thirds that close to la campanella is a crime
@@ohiomyfired Not my fault.
@@ohiomyfired double thirds is way harder than La Campanella in every aspect. I played both, and never have been able to get the Etude up tonspeed
いい編集ですね！！素晴らしい。全部聴き入りました。後半の前衛ピアノも最高ですね。
Nice edit! ! wonderful. I listened to it all. The avant-garde piano in the second half is also the best.
I too have broken out in eyeballs when playing those Scriabin Etudes.
6:16
It is more difficult than anything introduced in this video because there is a section where repeat the same note faster than 60 times in second
why not 764560 times per second? to make it even harder and impressive?
Fairly impossible
Idk if it counts if it isnt remotely possible
Those double thirds were NUTS
6:19 Finally the only piece written by John stump that is actually POSSIBLE TO PLAY
If only the composer knew how to compose properly
The fact how the total mess at 4:08 is just the middle of the video legitimately scares me.
You know it's going to be about the realest hard pieces when la campanella is placed first
Thanks for featuring my recording
2:49 you know it's bad when you have multiple ossias for a single part...
Cool! I like it!
I have been waiting for a new video of yours for such a while
Heh 😅 I will try to upload more frequently next time! Anyways hope u enjoy!
(the last one) piano players like us often had no idea for ur music that u want to "compose" u want to make the song catchy and aggresive, usually we all press this random octaves together but we often dont remember what we even play but sorebji is different, he ran out of idea so he composed this
I agree because it's only a demonstration of skill....but, i mean..... they are random notes... it isn't beatiful for me.
For Sorabji, it will never be random notes. What you are hearing in the last one is one of the motifs heard early on in the cadenza. Like many other contemporary composers, it is the old classical forms, with the new devices such as atonality, polytonality, and of course chromaticism.
@@Lordversus44it’s also being played with a crappy MIDI recording. sorabji has a dinstinct and extremely complex harmonic style (somewhere between Messaien and Finnissy) and writes gargantuan pieces with diverse structures. this section is the climax at the end of one of his biggest works, so it’s expected that it’s gonna be rather inaccessible to most listeners
he’ll write some of the ugliest stuff you’ve ever heard, but then he’ll also write some of the most ethereal/beautiful czcams.com/video/uFyZ7rgKaXc/video.html
I see symphony for solo piano, I click.
The first half sounds incredibly difficult, the other half sounds like a transcription of a simple improvised solo by a pianist, easy to play but difficult to reproduce.
I highly agree with the placement of the Sorabji, Alkan, and Finnissy pieces (especially Fantaisie Espagnole). However, I would argue that Liszt's Transcendental Etude No. 5, "Feux Follets" deserves a place on this list.
also paganini caprice 1
@@Cheng-nm4cc those much easier
Liszt youtube fans are mad, they thought La Campanella was the hardest piece ever.
liszt youtube fan here. Anyone who thinks La Campanella is liszt's hardest piece needs to check again.
Showed them how hard feux follet is and they still saying la campanella is harder 💀
Not even close to be Liszt's hardest piece
paganini caprice 1 listz etude 4:
Nice selection. I've never heard of some of these before, but the Sorabji and Xenakis ones are especially crazy. I also like to recommend Liszt's Spanish Fantasy which deserves to be on the list. Not sure where it fits though, probably just under the first Finnissy piece, or Hamelin etudes. Another composer I'd recommend would be Skalkottas, his pieces are hell.
as a person whos played the spanish fantasy, id probably say somewhere in between la clochette and the hamelin etudes
@@ethanmclovin1310 Nice to meet someone who's also played the Spanish Fantasy as I have. :)
And I definitely agree. At first, I thought it would be just under Finnissy, but the Hamelin etudes are a nightmare, and yeah, it's definitely under the Hamelin.
im curious , how hard is mereaux's "scherzo alla napolitana " compared to these? i am not nearly good enough to judge the difficulty of pieces of this caliber of difficulty but maybe someone knows
Pretty damn difficult, I would out it right below the La Clottche by liszt
im sad it's not here 😢 my favorite piece
Here before this explodes 🫠.
Good job 😂
4:08😐☠☠ The moment you know you are done.
Holy shit who played the Thirds etude at that speed?
Edit: of course it’s Cziffra. Who else is crazy enough to pull off feats like that lol
Yeah, he is insane lol
Pogorelich did too
hear josef lhevine recording
@@halokoko7638 which is also way more beautiful!
The last pieces may just as be spamming random notes onto it and adding the most complex polyrhythms you've seen, besides sorabji sonata V as it is still listen-able due to not being that atonal
yeah man these are damn hard ,some bordering impossible....xenakis, sorabji....lol
Nice job! But any Ligeti's piece?
Yep, it’s in my previous video!
sorabji fantasie espagnole: carey sounds so good
7:24
When you open a chest in a Zelda game:
Hi, I’ve been playing piano for two years and my last pieces were: Prelude in E minor; Moonlight sonata mov.1; Consolation n.3. So I wanted to know if you could recommend me some piano pieces, because I’m a little lost on what I should play.
I would start at Beethoven’s “simpler” sonatas like like g Minor sonata op 49 no 1 or op 49 no 2. You should continue to do more Liszt consolations and start some Mozart sonatas like the one in C Major no 16! :)
@@acactus2190 I also saw chopin raindrop would it be manageable? Either way, I’m gonna explore the pieces that you mentioned. Thank you for your help and excellent video :)
@@GuglibugliPT thanks! Yep, raindrop should be manageable for ur skill range, good luck! :)
Y’know what scares me?
The notes. I’m sure most can agree.
just 8 😂
The "Prelude and the Last Hope" one scared me because it is not giving its full potential y e t.
From the excerpt, it seems that Alkan's Symphony for piece should be at most 3 on the list. The difficulty stems from the speed of the piece. IMO, isn't harder than what's required for even some parts in La Campanella. Still, it would be quite challenging regardless.
He’s talking about the whole symphony. This section is only one of many difficult passages, and none of them are comfortable under the fingers, read the score out on the piano, and you’ll see what I mean by that. Alkan has written easier pieces than this, thankfully.
I placed the last movement, and it’s horrifically difficult. The finger patterns are extremely awkward, especially at this speed. (Which I can never achieve).
@@acactus2190 imo godowsky/chopin etudes should be placed ahead of alkan's solo piano symphonie
@@Jennynan09 debatable, but everyone has their opinions. For me, his symphony is harder
when the canniest one was la campanella i knew i was in for a ride xd
Do one for cello
My piano teacher actually knows thibaudet person
are y'all sure that Sorabji's pieces are more difficult than all this new complexity stuff? Because the latter seems barely legible to me
Sorabji was listed near the end, finissy too. And yeah sorabji is messed up to play, check out some cadenzas
Yes
La Campanella: 7/10
Double Thirds: 8/10
Chopin Sonata: 8.3/10
Mirroirs: 8.5/10
Rach Sonata: 8.8/10
Diabelli Variations: 8.8/10
Scriabin Etudes: 8.6/10
Barber Sonata: 9/10
Godowsky Etudes: 9.4/10
Alkan Symphony: 9/10
Liszt La Clochette: 9.2/10
Cage Solo: 8.5/10 (I don't know if it is so so difficult to play, but it's a very long piece and it's extremely difficult to reading)
Hamelin Etudes: 8.8/10
Xenakis Herma: 9.6/10
Finissy English Country Tunes: 9.5/10
Stump Prelude: 8.2/10 (Not very difficult, but the reading contributes to that grade)
Sorabji Fantasie Espagnole: 8.6/10
Opus Clavicembalisticum: 9.7/10
Finissy Verdi Transcriptions: 8.9/10
Sorabji Sonata 5: 9.2/10
Fun fact: I can play English country tunes, Verdi Transcriptions and Grande Fantistia Di Bravura Sur la Clochette de pagAnnini
WHERE CAN I FIND THE STUMP SOLO¿¿?
My mom wanted me to do la capenella or whatever so many times when i was younger.
I have quit piano.
But Alkan's piano concert and Liszt/Beethoven 9th symphony are still hardest. And that the most difficult pieces on this list are... not listenable music🙃
nice
I've been thinking, I assume that's not a real thing but how would Piano DUELS work? Not duet, DUELS.
As in How would a Piano 1v1 look? What would be the criteria/rules for it? I assume the goal would be to try to play the most impressive sounding music for the longest time, if both or either critics and audience doesn't like you then you're out and opponent wins. But the issue here is that idk if this would work, it's a duel so both must play at the same time so I assume they would ruin each others music. Also improvising on fly could be another criteria.
Dueling piano bars are a thing in the US at least. I’ve never been to one though.
It would be awesome that if Amedee Mereaux's piece there.
As a Miroirs you've put fragment of Une Barque sur l'océan which is in fact much easier than rest of others pieces in this list
could anybody explain the stump: solo for piano?
i don't understand anything
Yeah, I can’t even read the music 😭
Ahhh! what craziness! not for the meek. I've never seen anything like it 4:09
Why does it say Pasini for la clochette?
Idea: do a video of just mr incredible becoming uncanny to Beethoven songs, like start with moonlight sonata first movement to appasianata 3d movement.
Good idea!
I wonder, where does rush E place in all of this? From my lack of understanding of being a pianist, I would have to guess it's no where near the last music pieces.
rush E is a meme piece that’s impossible to play. And if you take the version that is playable(which is normally what you see when actual people play rush E), then the piece is actually pretty easy; and wouldn’t even be considered challenging for the average classical pianist.
@@jpocallens6776 Oh I see. Thank you for letting me know what Rush E actually is! Thank you very much!
One last thing, do you really think it's impossible to play it, or the most skilled of pianists can?
@@VassionCo yes, the impossible version is impossible to play, as it requires more than 12 hands
@@Jennynan09 Oh! I see. 😆 I didn't know that.
Just to gauge it, about how many hands can the best of the best almost have? Like let's say the best can almost play as if he/she has four hands
Okay what is actually going on in "Stump Solo: Thomas" though, it looks and sounds to be some kind of joke but I can't be certain - can someone explain?
Stump was a weird guy because he didn’t follow the “general” way of composing, and produced many satire works that are impossible. And yea, his “Solo for Piano” is a real work that is played by actual people.
@@acactus2190 Interesting, thank you very much for the info. Did the sheet actually look like that as well?
@@cksupreme yep!
Interesting selection. Thank you.
Just as a little fun game, here some other suggestions:
1) Stravinsky, Petrushka
2) Messiaen, “Vingt regards sur l’enfant Jésus
3) Beethoven, Hammerklavier
4) Bartok, Etudes
5) Prokofiev, Sonata N. 8
6) Albeniz, Iberia
7) Ravel, Gaspard de la nuit
8) Brahms, Paganini variations
9) Schulz-Evler, Arabesken über „An der schönen blauen Donau“ von J. Strauß
10) Balakirev, Islamey
They are all past the point of no return for any pianist.
I put some of the pieces, like the Brahms variations in my other videos! Thanks for the suggestions!
Meh, Islamey isn't that bad imo. I'd say Scriabin Sonata 6 instead, personally
@@sebastian-benedictflore Good for you! You must be a very skilled pianist and I am happy for you. I remember playing both Balakirev and Scriabin and always found the first way more difficult to play. Of course, this is just my personal experience.
I guess Liszt’s Don Juan would settle the disagreement immediately 😉
YESS Rachmaninoff’s Piano Sonata 1 deserves a mention!! I prefer this to his second sonata
Why are Hamelin's etudes that high? Isn't Fantasie Espagnole the easiest Sorabji piece? Isn't Tract the hardest piece?
Not really, the espagbole is around the same level as Liszt’s Beethoven transcription of the 9th symphony according to many. Sorabji 5 sonata is pretty much universally agreed to be the hardest piano piece ever written, Barrett Tract is a close second. And yes, Hamelin etudes are pretty hard, but I don’t think I put it unreasonably high.
Yuja should play some Sorabji it would fit her
Xenakis the best
For real! Thanks for watching!
Bartok totally belongs on here.
It’s in my other video!
5:15 End of true music on the video
What happened to Ravel songs like La Valse and Balakirev? Islamey exists too…
La valse is in my other vid, may add islamey in the future
Everyone is talking about Finnissy as just banging on the piano but lots of his pieces are actually quite listenable and even beautiful. Try his Gershwin Arrangements
4:42
Ya need to know about godowsky's unfinished study 50, which is Hamelin's etude 1 on drugs
hi! this scares me
5:41 yo bro listen to these English country tunes
Hamelins hands probably died after playing Alkans Symphony for piano
his hands immortal, that's why he composed his extremely virtuosic etudes, and freaking re-wrote the last movement of the alkan symphony mvt 4 to play again
Funny how the more difficult it gets the less tonal.
the tonality suddenly comes back with OA
Sorabji is trolling
Ravel was nuts
0:00 | F. Liszt - La Campanella
0:16 | F. Chopin - Etude Op. 26 No. 6 “Double Thirds”
0:37 | F. Chopin - Piano Sonata No. 1
1:05 | M. Ravel - Mirroirs
1:16 | S. Rachmaninoff (Russian: Rachmaninov) - Piano Sonata No. 1
1:47 | L. V. Beethoven - Diabelli Variations Op. 120
2:12 | A. Scriabin - 3 Etudes in Different Intervals
2:37 | S. Barber - Piano Sonata
2:44 | Chopin/Godowsky - Studies After Chopin Etudes
3:11 | C. V. Alkan - Symphony for Solo Piano
3:51 | F. Liszt - Grande Fantasia di Bravura Sur La Clochette de Paganini
4:08 | J. Cage - Solo for Piano
4:42 | Hamelin - Etudes in All Minor Keys
5:16 | I. Xenakis - Herma
5:42 | M. Finnissy - English Country Tunes
6:17 | J. Stump - Prelude and The Last Hope in C and C♯ Minor
6:24 | Sorabji - Fantasie Espagnole
6:44 | Sorabji - Opus Clevicembalisticum
7:04 | M. Finnissy - Verdi Transcriptions
7:24 | Sorabji - Piano Sonata No. 5
That scary moment when La Campanella is when Mr. Incredible is at his most canny...
I was sweating🤣!
I think that many of the last ones are more difficult to hear than to play.
I can't find the song at 1:05 someone help plz
It's "Une Barque sur L'océan" from "Miroirs"
If you'd like a more colloquially understandable rendition of "VII. Cadenza I" from Opus Clavicembalisticum: czcams.com/video/2_U6orbD_4g/video.html
Also, please don't use the Ogdon rendition. It's a terribly inaccurate representation of what Sorabji's music actually is.
Great list though I'd say Fantaisie Espagnole is MUCH easier than Herma and ETC
Yeah, I noticed that after I posted the vid lol
Sorabji funny composer name
What's the criteria used to rank pieces? There's so many things to take into account for this, like number of notes, accidentals, tempo, phrasing, techniques, dynamics, harmonies, rhythms, time signatures, and much more. One piece could look easy but be extraordinarily difficult and another could look impossible, but be substantially easier.
All difficulty is biased yknow? One thing could be impossible for one person and easy for another
Probably the hardest piece for me to play would be the etude in thirds. I can't coordinate the muscles in my hand to play clean thirds for some reason ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Fun fact: Sonata V might be just the 2nd hardest Sorabji piece
What’s his hardest?
@@acactus2190 symphony 0
Sorabji is the aisle of more or less acceptable traditional pianism in European academic music. Next comes a new complexity with the most complex rhythmic and structural structures. Sorabji is still pleasing to my ears.
where is scarbo?
No Islamey or Gaspard de la Nuit?
Man I didn’t even see Gaspard or Islamey here :(
I put gaspard de La nuit in my other video, I will try to put Islamey in a future vid :)
they didnt make it to this difficulty stage. lol. at least not to the end pieces.
Imagine if the last one was rush E
Oh no