I've come to the conclusion about the Etudes Op.10 and Op.25
Easiest Etude - Op.25 No.2 in F minor
Hardest Etude - Close call between Op.10 No.3 in E, Op.25 No.6 in G# minor and No.10 in B minor.

That's just MY personal opinion mind you, I could be wrong.

What do you think??

IrisH - LoonY

P.S. I'm not going anywhere near these ghastly pieces....yet !

So how can you tell whether they are easy or hard?

By looking at the music and trying little snippets for fun...that's how

What I mean is by not going near them is even making any effort at all to learn them! I'll probably play through a few bars of a few of them for fun when I'm bored or whatever...

IrisH - LoonY

thats no way to be able to tell anything about a piece.

Clearly somebody on say, grade 5 pass cough 112 standard

The difficulty of a piece is not just defined by the notes you have to play

Hey Loony

Have you pondered on playing Liszt's Complete Etudes incl the Transcendental Etudes? *she says dabbling Penhaligon's Opus 1870 behind her ears*.

exactly... you need to know the notes and have a considerable musical understanding of the piece. It probably helps if you have let the piece go and refreshed it a few times and performed it as well. You cannever tell the difficulty of a piece until you have performed it..deffo not

Well obviously you have to get the technique "perfected" before even CONSIDERING bringing out the emotional side of things...

...What I'm getting at as being "easiet" and "difficult" is by its technicality. E.g. 6 pages of minor 3rds chromatically up and down the piano at a fast speed in G# minor is no easy task!

IrisH - LoonY

[/quote]
...What I'm getting at as being "easiet" and "difficult" is by its technicality. E.g. 6 pages of minor 3rds chromatically up and down the piano at a fast speed in G# minor is no easy task!

IrisH - LoonY

[/quote]

Em. well, actually, it is one of the easier etudes. The E major is one of the simplest (after the Eb minor one) etudes to play for notes but you have to make it really squawk...I mean sing.

well maybe someone else finds that easier

How about me, cos I have actually performed this piece, along with the rest of op 25 and quite a lot of op 10.

Only someone ignorant of the subtleties of the technical difficulties (ie someone who has never actually played them) of all these pieces would talk in terms of 'easier' and 'harder'.

Steve

Too true.

Of course, you're forgetting that people have the mistaken impression that finding any excuse to talk about reputedly difficult pieces, no matter how ill-formed their opinions, makes them look big and clever .

Has this individual done this before?

They like to give the impression that they can play them all!!

I've clearly given off the wrong idea.

I'm talking about physical technicalities here! Of course there's a huge amount of emotion that is needed to really bring out the "Chopinesque" of his music. But really, the technical side needs to be accomplished BEFORE adding the emotional/psychological side.

Freddy Kempf once said that the Op.10 No.5 in G flat is one of the easiest to play, but one of the easiest to lose the skill etc required for playing this piece.

You don't actually have to be able to play a piece of music to tell how difficult it is...really...an in depth reading of the music and testing a few bits out is perfectly acceptable...but that's just my OPINION, to you guys, you may see it differently but hey we're entitled to our views...yes?

Now theoretically, these are ETUDES (studies) we're talking about here...so you COULD actually just use them as a technique developer, focusing on technique rather than emotion. But obviously it also comes down to how the pianist interprets them as well i.e. play them with Nocturne like passion or play them as just normal studies (which was their original intention!)

IrisH - LoonY

The Études are romantic minatures like much of Chopin's other repertoire - they are to be played as such, without any concessions for technical difficulty. Chopin's intention, I'm sure, was that they'd serve to develop technique and one would know if one had succeeded if the technical issues don't get in the way of how one interprets the pieces. And, of course, if one doesn't have to mask poor technique with 'interpretation'....

Hey,YetAnotherPianist, recieved your email, my emails wont send for some reason So here goes nothing.

Erm, offhand, my repertoire includes

Introduction and Polonaise Brilliante in C for Cello and Piano (intro so far, the cellist I'm working with isn't ready for the polonaise yet )

Cello Sonata in G minor 2nd and 3rd movements

Piano Sonata No.2 in B flat minor 3rd and 4th movements

Preludes No.4,6,7,9,10,15,16,17,20,24

Nocturnes No.1,2,6,7,8,11,13,15,18,19,20 (i think some of these may have actually deteriorated over the last few months, not too sure on 1,7,8,13 and 18)

Polonaises in G minor and B flat (his first polonaises) and No.3 and 4

Various Mazurkas

Berceuse in D flat

Trois Ecossaises

That's all I can think of...There is probably more.

Currently working on

Ballade No.1 in G minor
Concerto No.2 in F minor 2nd movement
Polonaise No.7 in A flat
Sonata No.1 in C minor
Barcarolle in F#

IrisH - LoonY

All I can say is:

All I can say is bull...*cough*

Wow, have you got a mic? It'd be great to have a couple of those for the recordings website

Just compare them with the Pollini versions before installing them

Once bitten.... .

Twice shyyyyyy, i kept the distance but you still catch my eye, I love you baby, do you recognise me, la la la doesn't surprise me.

Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast christmas I gave you heart but the very next day you gave it away oooooooh

Haha, not one that can extend 2 floors down to the piano no. Can't use the stuff in school either except for GCSE/A level recording.

IrisH - LoonY

How...convenient.

Hey, I didn't make the rules...if the rockers didn't constantly record all their rubbish and break the equipment in the process, I would more than likely have been able to record.

IrisH - LoonY

Seriously now...shut up!

Or poor interpretation with 'technique'.

Neither of these are likely to disturb the originator of this thread.

Steve

im sure he'll continue along his merry way.

As I've said, I'm not attempting the Etudes for several years to come!

In my eyes, they're like the Paganini Caprices of the piano world. And like the Paganini Caprices, one should preferably study other etudes to gain confidence in the technicalities involved in the Chopin Etudes in order to gain a very well respectable performance and get round the tricky parts a bit easier.

IrisH - LoonY

P.S. I am aware that there are studies by Liszt which presumably exceed the difficulty of Chopin's etudes, But really they're regarded as more "Concert Etudes" (Like Concert Etude No.2 "Waldesrauchen") Rather than technical development studies.

have you not noticed that this topic has lost all meaning. I think performers such as YAP and steve already know a lot more than you about the etudes, so just drop this "act" please.

Yes I'm sure they do know more about them in greater detail than me, but that isn't going to stop me from sharing my opinions on them, because it SHOULDN'T.

IrisH - LoonY

International Standard drivelling

Anybody seen the albatros lately?

Albatrosses live in the UK?

IrisH - LoonY

yeah in liverpool....some have multiple identities as well

Why would it live in a built up area on the west coast?

Wouldn't it live on the South coast away from built up areas?


IrisH - LoonY

P.S. There's nothing funny...

Have you not noticed u are the object of everyones laughter!!


" oooo no but i love the chopin etudes, the technicalities of op.10 no.3 bring out the chopinistic liveliness and extend to the liabilities of a pianist....and by the way im just making this all up"

That was quite a good impression i thought

Jealous?

Anywho, why don't you find something a tad more constructive to do? Or...block me

I've realised that composers from the Romantic era onwards had a "signature" incorporated into their music, in Debussy's case, the whole tone scale, Chopin's was the Neapolitan 6th, anyone else agree?

IrisH - LoonY

Jealous????? of you????????? pah!

I actually agree about the signature sort of chord....just i cant be bothered to think about it because i know it will start you off on some drivel-laden thesis about it.

And all tweet in drivel

Beg pardon?

Not you, Nat. You are not an albatros.

we are talking about chopin-obsessed drivel-laden scouse monkey irish loony.

Finally, something you agree with

Is the Neapolitan 6th Chopin's signature chord? I've never been 100% sure on this

And for the record, I can't go into a thesis about it since I don't know much about that kinda thing

IrisH - LoonY

[/quote]

Finally, something you agree with

Is the Neapolitan 6th Chopin's signature chord? I've never been 100% sure on this

And for the record, I can't go into a thesis about it since I don't know much about that kinda thing

IrisH - LoonY
[/quote]

shut up!!

[quote name='sl123451' date='Nov 23 2005, 10:48 PM' post='195629']
[/quote]

Finally, something you agree with

Is the Neapolitan 6th Chopin's signature chord? I've never been 100% sure on this

And for the record, I can't go into a thesis about it since I don't know much about that kinda thing

IrisH - LoonY
[/quote]

shut up!!
[/quote]

Now now, Temper!

IrisH - LoonY

Do you know what a Neapolitan 6th is?

Steve

Isn't it the one made up of a vanilla 3rd, a strawberry 3rd and a chocolate 3rd? .

Idiot. You weren't supposed to give the game away

Do you like Impromptu No/5 IL?