Is there any musical piece that has been called, or agreed to be, the hardest to play?

stuthehistoryguy

Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto in D Minor (Op. 30) has been described as such more than once. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Concerto_No._3_%28Rachmaninoff%29 Mar 03 08, 4:50 PM

zbeckabee

No agreement that I can find on the most difficult piece...and then, there is no agreement upon which instrument this would entail? Thus, I'll offer up the following: Most Difficult Piano Piece? "The truth is, nobody truly knows. I personally feel that Mozart is the most difficult composer... and then there is Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji." His Opus Clavicembalisticum (OC as it is commonly called) is said to be "so horrendously difficult, it would be hard to imagine ANYONE playing it flawlessly." "It lasts for four hours, and is incredibly complex. That is why this piece is considered the most difficult piece to be recorded." http://www.8notes.com/f/36_104820.asp Mar 03 08, 6:44 PM

Arpeggionist

Brian Ferneyhough's chaconne for solo violin was designed to be a struggle for the performer. That the Rachmaninov 3rd piano concerto is the hardest piece for piano is a popular myth, perpetuated mostly by Hollywood. In fact, though Rachmaninov's piano pieces often involve a good deal of pianistic pyrotechnics, there's not a single moment in his music that's really all that complex for the performer or the listener to grasp. Personally I find the Brahms Variations on a Theme by Handel (op. 24) much more challenging, as well as his left-hand-piano arrangement of Bach's D minor Chaconne for violin. Mar 03 08, 9:35 PM