The Hardest piece is the " Islamey Fantasy" for Belerkiev

Why is everyone asking what the hardest piece ever composed is? Any answer to that question would be subjective and almost entirely based on bias. If you want to know some hard pieces, sure I can name a few:
Stravinsky`s Petrushka
Ravel`s Gaspard de la Nuit
Rachmaninoff Concerto #3
Liszt Don Juan Fantasy, Trasncendental Etudes
Just to name a few..

Try the Prokofiev piano concerto #2 For sure it´s harder than Rachmaninov #3

This seems like a pretty stupid question to me, I mean how about fur elise played at 2000 bpm, in octaves, that would be hard, or how about the rach 3 but with an extra melody played in the middle with the players nose or foot or something, that could be tricky. Or how about a piece made entirely out of random notes with the left hand playing 13 notes in the same time that the right hand plays 23, I`ll shut up now.

it is a stupid question, you should never play a piece because of how hard it is, that`s just missing the point entirely. I will never be good enough to give the rach 3 any justice, and lets be honest, no one else here will be able to either if we`re talking about a proper performance. But even if I was good enough, I wouldn`t learn it, because I think the rach 3 is a load of over the top bull****. The hardest music is not the best, listz transcendental etudes - rubbish, not a scratch on chopin. Anyone who chooses to impress rather than play something beautifully is not a true musician in my opinion.

i agree ALTHOUGH the post starter ONLY said he was bored of playing easy pieces and wanted a to find out the hardest piece so it will bring back the spice. so really he wasnt saying that he wanted the hardest piece to impress thought that the hardest sounded the best. a tip is that you should double check what someone said before you criticise cuz you cant really take back a post.

Ya really, the hardest pieces depend on where your technique is weakest. There is no single hardest piece. Even if you can play a piece, most people can`t emphasize melody as well. Or shape a melody with dynamics that apply to the melody alone. bach`s CHromatic prelude and fugue forces people to juggle 4 melodies, which can frustrate anyone. THe piece isn`t fast, but unless you are good, you`ll play it pretty bad. For a brilliantly fast piece mephisto waltz #1, or some of liszts transcendental etudes will do the job. For A more subtle difficulty but still brilliantly fast, islamey by belakirev or however you spell it, or gaspard de la nuit by ravel can challenge even Julliard enrollees. These two pieces are beyond me and I havn’t played them so I’m not quite sure of their true difficulty. I’m still back with appasionata 3rd movement, debussy’s image #1, Pagganni’s etude #6 (lizst), and concert etude (mcdowell). The pieces I’m playing are strong enough to be virtuoso for most people but they quite aren’t the level of islamey or gaspard, which in my opinion are quite a bit harder than liszts meph waltz and transcendental etudes. Concerto’s usually aren’t technically diffucult, they are hard because they are so long and one has to match melody and rhythm with another instrument .

Does anyone else love Mozart`s

Ah! vous dirai-je, maman??? It may not be that hard...but I think it is sooo much fun to play...(all 12 variations). How bout anyone else?

You could compose something of your own. The idea of contributing is necessary. If it wasn`t for that you wouldn`t be asking that question to start with. It should really be difficult since no one imposes you a floor nore a cieling regarding difficulty. Voila, enjoy what you come across from there on.

I have to give shot outs to Mozart; he has to be the greatest composer to have ever lived. I don`t know what the hardest piece ever is, but if i had to guess, it would probably Mendelsohn`s Piano Concerto in G minor, first movement. That has a extremely fast melody, beautiful, and very very difficult. But thats just my opinion.

Am I the only one who thinks this stupid post has gone on long enough already? you`re just repeating old posts again and again or just writing out a list of pieces for no particularly good reason, WHO CARES WHAT THE HARDEST PIECE IS? It`s not as though any of us are good enough to play it

Just thought I`d chime in, and instead of commenting on what the "hardest piece" is, I can give you one that will present a very tough challenege. If you find this very easy to learn and very easy to play, you are the God of piano playing. I`ve read that even the professional classical pianists have to spend a good amount of time on this one.

Chopin`s Etude, Op. 10 No. 4 in C# minor, Presto con fuoco

Download a MIDI or an MP3 of that song, and if you haven`t heard it before, you`ll understand that it is a very, very, challenging piece. Some think it`s his hardest Etude, harder than the Revolutionary Etude. I`d agree with that.

hi man
its seem to me that you are a crazy man...
i like u alleady because u play 32 years!!! - king
im playing 1 and a half
bu here is something i asume u wont handle..
sherzo no.3 of chopin
i like this one
if you`d like a copy
http://www.sheetmusicarchive.net/index.cfm

Fantasy in D- by Mozart.

Yeah the Op. 10 No. 4 in C Sharp minor is a tough one.
But it sounds a lot harder than it actually is. Take the
Op. 10 No. 2 in A minor with chromatic scales and an
accompanying beat both in the right hand and the Op. 25
No. 6 in G Sharp minor with scales in thirds throughout.
Someone said earlier that the Scriabin Op. 8 No. 12 that
Horowitz played was the hardest piece ever. Well try playing
Op. 42 No. 5 as fast as Sviatoslav Richter did in Moscow.
Rachmaninoff said it was the hardest piece he had ever played.
He said it took him almost half an hour to learn it. Some
people have all the talent.