Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-09-05
THE HARDEST PIANO PIECE.
Some Serious and Some Frivolous
Estimates by Musicians.

THE HARDEST PIANO PIECE.
Some Serious and Some Frivolous
Estimates by Musicians.
From, the Rochester Democrat AMI Chronicle.
among all known musical compositions
written for the piano. which is the most
difficult of executiony' To this often-asked
question lie Figaro has endeavored to OBJ
tain definite and final answer by inter-
viewing the best-known pianists and teach
ers of the piano in Paris. The attempt has
not been very successful. Some OF the
"virtuosi' interviewed saw in the question
only an opportunity to say something clever
and epigrammatic, and made no attempt to
really answer it. Others wandered from
the point by confusing execution with i'll
depreciation Those who rightly under
stood the question as referring solely to
mechanical difficulties and treated 1t :aeri-
ously in their replies were so far apart IN
their views that the discussion was prao-
ticaly unresultant, and left the question
but little nearer settlement. The palra of
difficulty was not definitely awarded, but
there was SO much in the discussion that
will probably be of interest to students OF
piano music that 1t has seemed worthy OF
review
No fewer than sixteen compositions and
groups of compositions are named by the
French pianists as among those presenting
performer. They are as follows: Beetho-
yen's sonatas, opera 81 and 1O6: Bach's
"Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue;" Brahme's
variations on Theme p, Of Pagan Mini
ladies'" first, third and fourth, and the finale
of his sonata In B fiat minor; LISTS
"Etudes" and twelfth Rhapsody" Schu-
manns sonata in sharp minor and his
"Etudes Symphoniques," st. Saens "Alle-
gro Appassionata," sonata by Thalberg,
and a sonata by Won Weber. Of these COM
positions only four have more than one
vote, and none has more than two. Only
ere composition has the undivided support
of it's adherents. This is Baiackireff's
"Fantaisie Orientale Russo" "Islamey,"
which both Louis Diemer and Francis
Plante declare to be pre-emnently the most
difficult to execute of all music yet writ
ten for the piano. Nine. RogerMiclos and
Marmontel the oldest of the professors of
the Paris Conservative, pronounce for
LISTS .Rhapsodie, No. H. among others;
the Beethoven sonata in b fiat. opus lO6.
end these two pianists are also agreed as
to the extraordinary difficulty of Schu-
mann's sonata in f sharp minor.
"Islamey," then, must be pronounced the
winner in LIE Figaros competition. This
composition is not yet very generally
known among American pianists. OF the
three other more familiar works named as
peculiarly difficult, American pianists gen.
orally will be inclined to rank the Beetho-
Ven sonata "fur Hammerklavier." opus JOG,
as the severest test of virtuosity. The
other Beethoven sonata that figures in the
list of the sixteen most difficult compost
TORS. opus 81, the familiar Sonata Ap-
passionate" is in the repertoire of about
every professional pianist. Opus Jog is very
seldom played in public AS practical proof
of it's difficulty 1t may be mentioned that
Won Bulow once publicly broke down in it
wfile playing it from memory some years
ago, at Chickerfng Hall. The breakdown
MAS covered up the audience being given
understand ba1
wrong with the instrument. The tuner I'm
attendance was sent on the stage with in
structions to spend fifteen or twenty min
utes in ostensibly putting the piano to
rights, while Won Bulow out Of earshot of
the audience. utilized the time thus gained
by furiously practicing, on upright
piano, the passage that had bafIled him.
AS for the difficulty of the List "Rhap-
sodie," it may be remarked that this per
pect pianist than whom no composer ever
knew better the capabilities and the limi-
tations of technique. wrote always "for the
hand" and presented no problems of exc
cution out of the range Of virtuosity.
Chasing one Of his compositions as pre-
eminent for technical difficulties is, there
fore, rather the reverse of a compliment to
this composer. The proverb in regard to
those who ask questions that the wisest
cannot answer may be not improperly
borne in mind while considering problems
of execution that the most skilled pianist
cannot fully solve, presented in musical
compositions intended to be played upon
the piano by mortal hands.
The epigramnatic answers of some Of
the Partisan pianists to LIE Figaros ques-
tions, though they have next to no rele-
vance. are sufficiently amusing and sugges-
tive to be worth quoting. c. de Beriot
holds that, since pianists are not provided
as they should be, with five thumbs on
each hand, and are forced to struggle all
their lives against the inequality of their
fingers, as to strength and length, and
especially rgainst the weakness of the
fourth finger, the technical feat that pian-
lists find the most difficult of all is PLAYING
the simple scale, as 1t should be played
with absolute evenness. Delaborde's opin-
ion, which, paradoXical as it Is, will be
shared by many a timid player at the mo-
ment he takes his seat on the piano stool
before his audience, is: For me the most
difficult of piano pieces fs whatever piece
l happen to be playing, while am playing
it. Andrew Crosse believes that the com
position most difficult of all to play witt,
entire correctness Is any composition that
one finds himself obliged to play in the
presence of its composer. COMPOSERS much
In the habit of hearing their COMPOSITIONS
played will probably II they are quite
frank fully indorse NJ. Gresse's view And
even the most skilled of pianists will own
that sometimes. bowling himself off the
stage amid storms Of applause for his sper-
feet execution" of some monumental work
or Bach, Beethoven or Schumann he has
mad much reason to rejoice in his heart
that the composer could not possibly have
heard his playing, being dead. Les morris
ne reclament pas!' as NJ. Andrew Gr.sse
puts it.