Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner What's a piece you just can't stand?

Well, you had to ask :

Islamey!

I would, but that would involve me learning an etude that I don't like in an experimental key change which may or may not yield positive results. Unfortunately, I'm not at a level where I can grab a Chopin etude and learn it with little time invested, not to mention the fact that I would have to sit down transpose and work out the fingering.

Just try out the first four bars or something, and see what happens, no?

Oh boy, I'll get back to you on that one....

Surely it's not THAT hard.

Sure it is -- he'd need to fabricate a special kind of piano in order for that to still be all on black keys.


(That is, of course, all black keys but 1.)

Huh?

(the one note in the R.H. near the end that isn't black)

And that's why, when I played this piece, I took that note with my left hand!

-J

I don't see the note you're talking about. The whole point of the piece is that the RH is composed only of black notes, aka the pentatonic scale.

Well, Jason knows the note!

Jason: Y'know, maybe Chopin intended it to be played with the L.H.?!?!?

I always thought the note was sort of a little joke by Chopin; I couldn't imagine him writing or playing it without giving a little wry grin -- y'know, like, "All this hard work to get the whole treble to be on black notes, then I toss it all into the toilet because of this stupid note."

But maybe the joke is, this note just looks like it's in the R.H. but it isn't -- and he's laughing at all of us who think he'd be stupid enough to throw it all into the toilet so carelessly.

I knew he wasn't stupid enough to do that. But maybe I got the joke wrong. Or maybe it's not a joke at all, I don't know....



I do think he was having fun (of some sort!) with that note.

Again, what note are you talking about?

Islamey
Chopin op. 28 no. 4
Chopin op. 17 no. 4

Trois Mouvements de Petrouchka. Surely a masterpiece, but if I have to hear this God damn piece one more time I think I might open fire.

Edit: and Islamey

Don't have my score with measure numbers handy, but....it's toward the end, just before the final "a tempo," in the 2nd measure of the pp "delicato e smorz." -- the "alto" F natural.


Me too -- for the same reason that I said for the Bach-Busoni.

4'33

Huh? That's in the lower staff.

Not in most editions.
FWIW I've never seen it in the lower staff.

In my Henle edition it's on the lower staff.

Islamey.