Hardest piece you know?

For me it would have to be Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12 in C# minor. I started learning sophomore year in high school and finished in by the end of my senior year. What a year! Defenitely my favorite piece and most difficult that I can play. Very emotional piece as well, so it's very straining on my mind after I hit the last chord with a fortissimo.

EDIT: It's for piano :)

Oh, this is intresting. I've got an etude that's HARD, but it's far from impossibly hard. Hm.... no idea :) I'll come up with something once I find anything

Etudes are supposed to be hard :)

The hardest piece I've ever tried is Grieg's piano concerto. It's really the edge of what I can do with my piano. Although there are many other, harder pieces. I can't think of any harder pieces than Stravinsky's Firebird suite for the moment.

i can't play it obviously, but Arkady Volodos' concert paraphrase on Mozart's Ronda alla Turca is extremely hard. The second half anyway.

Some of Scriabin's piano sonatas require absolutely sick technique...

Hardest Piece, I've played so far - Op.53, Sonata in C Major "Waldstein" - Ludwig Van Beethoven. :P

For piano, anything out of Czerny 740 is insane. I mean, sure, I can play. But I will NEVER reach the required tempo, and I am still in high doubt if anyone can. Seriously, sixteenth notes at 108 HALF NOTES per minute?

The Berio sequenzas... if you mean to play exactly what's written... are damn near impossible

I can't recall who wrote it, but there was this one piece I played that was a Trumpet solo with Piano acc. called Grand Russian Fantasia. I have the .MUS if anyone wants to view the solo portion, but that was definately the hardest piece I have played.

Currently it is Concertino for Marimba and Orchestra by Paul Creston. I don't think it's that hard, but everyone else does. Tchaikovsky's Dance of the Jesters isn't that hard, persya, but it's frickin flying. I had a xylophone run with the clarinets of 16 measures of 16th notes at like 196 bpm. In the key of C. Which sucks on xylophone.

Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 is a bit of a pain - I mean, too many flats!! The Waldstein Sonata I think is really good - though I can only kinda play the first few pages. Get bored with Beethoven after a while when he begins to repeat everything in a different key. Haven't fully converted yet to classicalism :blush:

The hardest piece I ever perform was a piece under 2 minutes. It is an old russian folk song called, "two guitars". It was rather fast. Of course, my hand may have already been tired after the 24th caprice but I truly believe that "Two guitars" is quite difficult

Havergal Brian wrote a violin concerto that is supposedly the single most difficult piece in the violin repertoire.

The Berio sequenzas... if you mean to play exactly what's written... are damn near impossible

For sure.

Sorabji's Opus Clavicembalisticum is of course the hardest piece of all. It is for piano.

I can guarantee that no one will even like the piece. Look it up, and listen to clips, and you will see what I mean.

Opus Clavicembalisticum

Before I quit playing, the hardest thing I ever played in an actual solo performance in front of an audience (besides a freaking judge) was probably Debussy's Premiere Rhapsodie (clarinet). I had performed it two weeks prior and it was a disaster because I was late and had to run there, and was all out of breath. Finally though, in my last performance, it all came together, despite my nerves of death. In terms of fingerings and such it's not THAT hard, but to really play it well it's a real workout, huh?

Technically, I've had a great time (and a great struggle) playing the clarinet transcription of Prokofiev's Sonata Op.94. That piece is a monster! I LOVE it though, too bad my jaw finally broke down before I could do anything with it. Humbug. I can't even listen to it now, it makes me cry within the first 5 measures of any movement. I'm a total mess (lol). Andrey Bielov plays it fantastically on violin, though.

That's it.

Lincolnshire Posy for an entire ensemble. My wind ensemble is performing that piece this spring, and it's taking forever to put together.

The Paganini Violin Concertos: Paganini was to the violin what Liszt was to the piano.

Paganini was to the violin what Liszt was to the piano.

Pointlessly virtuosic ;)

I think one of the hardest pieces for an ensemble to perform is a piece known as summer dances. It does not look too tough at first glance- being in 6/8, though it is tough and one reason is because articulation and such is just wierd. Also Lincolnshire Posy. I am in symphonic band though my wind ensemble is doing it, my friend told me it is like impossibly hard- the guy who wrote it was insane.

For me it would be Flight of The Bumble Bee by Rimsky-Korsakov and Ballade in C minor by Chopin.

Toccata and Fugue in D minor by Bach is actually quite hard to play.

Toccatta and Fugue in D minor? It's not that hard.

The hardest piano compositions I know are "Llafthgin" (Arthur Reglay [me]) and "Revolutionary" from Chopin. Also, I have the "Maple Leaf Rag" and the Chaplin's favorite: "The Entertainer", both from Scott Joplin.

Toccatta and Fugue in D minor? It's not that hard.

The hardest piano compositions I know are "Llafthgin" (Arthur Reglay [me]) and "Revolutionary" from Chopin. Also, I have the "Maple Leaf Rag" and the Chaplin's favorite: "The Entertainer", both from Scott Joplin.

I do agree, Toccatta and Fugue in D minor is not at all hard. I've played it for organ and the transcription to piano. Not such a challenge

Toughest piece I know that I am playing currently? Ooh, good question. Either La Valse or Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C sharp minor. La valse is very tricky musically and technically as is the Rhapsody, so I'm not sure...