When college websites ask for "a romantic work demonstrating significant technical accomplishment" for part of an audition, would the F minor fantasie work, or are they looking for more difficult pieces?

You could try it and find out. The worst they could do is reject you with a lot of laughing and pointing!

Just kidding! It should be fine.

You say it as if the fantasie is not a hard work. It should be fine.

The Fantaisie is plenty difficult -- certainly would qualify as a demonstration of technical accomplishment for a college audition. IMO, really a pretty good candidate in the wealth of possible choices -- like all late Chopin, it is musically very rich and complex in addition to being appropriately virtuosic.

Right on !!!!

And Joel - I didn't learn/perform the Fantaisie until grad school. If you can truly pull the piece off as a high school senior, I'm betting the folks you play for in the audition will be impressed.

God, absolutely! I practically avoid early Chopin these days. Nothing compares to his later stuff IMO.

I am in a Masters in Piano Performance learning this piece! It is plenty difficult! It is not all about flashy technique. This piece requires extremely sensitive playing and a deep understanding of its structure.

It's about as difficult a piece as there is.

When I first came to this site, I noticed that this piece was one of the least-discussed major pieces of Chopin. Since it's one of my long-time favorites, I started a thread on it, and was shocked to find that one of the main views expressed was that it was one of the less-difficult major Chopin pieces -- like, that it was a piece that intermediate players could try if they didn't feel up to the Ballades or Scherzi. I know that such things are subjective, but.....not always. With all due respect to the other side.....OK, with at least a tiny amount of respect ....that's total baloney. I can sort of understand the view, if what they're thinking of is (as is sometimes the case) "except for the hard parts."
Or if they're not talking about aiming for anything beyond a cautious and timid performance.

You don't have to worry that the people doing the selection at the college will have that view. They'll regard the piece as it really is.

I'll add my voice to the choir. The f minor fantasie is a major work, suitable for any audition or competition in the world.

+1

In the last Chopin Competition, the Polonaise-Fantasie Op.61 seemed to be regarded as the ultimate test of a pianist's musicianship in this composer. Personally, I think the accolade applies even more to the Fantasie.

Ever since i first listened to it, it is my favourite Chopin long work. And the one of which i find the smallest number of truly great performances.

Egorov's being my favourite.

IMO the fact that you think this work might not be difficult enough either means you already have a high professional level technique more typical of a top conservatory graduate or that you don't understand how difficult it is.

And, another point of interest, I had many people suggest that I use this piece for my DMA auditions this winter, and I am in fact using it for that.

This is exactly why I asked you fine people.

The Fantasie in F Minor Op. 49 is substantial enough for any audition.

Also your Chopin-with-sunglasses picture needs a caption that says "Deal With It."

You know... I actually took that part out, but I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't have.

.. and I find that "signature photograph" a very annoying distraction. It could at least be reduced considerably in size.

So mature!

I think the Fantasie is every bit as hard technically as most of his non-sonata long works. Perhaps not as difficult as the schubert and schumann fantasies though i think few college applicants will have those under their belts!

(if your name isn't George Li, of course)

Bruce was practically begging for it. But then again it likely means nothing considering Bruce and most of PW probably don't know what that meme is. (or memes in general)

It isn't as musically demanding as the polonaise fantasie and I found the barcarolle to be harder technically.

I know what a meme is (both in the sense from a few years ago and the more recent Reddit-y sense), and I hate images in PW signatures, yours definitely included! Sorry! (And please do consider changing it because I bet a lot of us find it distracting. )

As for the difficulty of op.49, I think that given a few months, I could do it justice. I cannot say that for about 40-50% of the Chopin etudes, by comparison.


-J

You'd be surprised.

I "dealt with it". Adblock to the rescue. Someone else used a cartoon in their signature that I blocked. You can alternatively turn signatures off in your user preferences.

Actually harder than most of those other pieces, IMO -- technically as well as musically.


At least as hard.

Let's cut to the chase, okay, folks? Anyone asking this question is begging for compliments.

Right? I mean, really, he's saying, "I'm considering the F minor Fantasie. Do you think it's REALLY and truly hard enough and impressive enough for a college audition??"

Surely this student has a TEACHER who would advise him? Yes? Why not go there first for advice?

He's fishing. Perhaps, even trolling. The F minor Fantasie is big league stuff and we all know it. Any high school kid who could master this could get into any decent program. And any high school kid who has to ASK if it's impressive enough is a poseur.

I don't think so. Who knows, maybe you're right, but it doesn't give me that impression at all.


I guess that means you'd be surprised by the many other posters who've said it's not that hard.


Do you remember how you were in high school?

Be that as it may ....I first studied this piece when I was in college. After I just started it, I read that the piece was very hard (I still even remember the way it was put: "I know of no more difficult work...."), it surprised me, and I went and asked my teacher if it was really considered that hard.