Aman Ahuja wrote: >My curiousity is aroused, however. What pieces _are_ usually considered >the most "difficult" piano music? I may have missed it, but in the field of difficult piano music, Lepold Godowski shouldn't, can't be neglected, to mention a few, the studies on the Chopin etudes, the passagaglia on Schuberts theme from the "Unfinished", the sonata in e,which Marc Andre Hamelin in his notes in the booklet considers very difficult, and that must mean something for a virtuoso of Hamelin's stature!! And don't forget Alkan's Grande sonata op 33, "Les quattre ages", especially 1st and 2nd movements. I once read a description of Alkan's op 39,7, Concerto, first movement, as four Islameys piled on top of each other. On the other hand, what is difficult for one pianist, might be not so for another, I think, it will depend on the build of the hand, and the ability to stretch, the innate independence of the finger muscles and so on. My former piano teacher had very small hands, she barely could stretch an octave, she once told me, she couldn't play Rachmaninoff for purely physical reasons, and when she had to play Brahms's Haendel variations, she had to use a number of tricks, and special fingerings, to divide large stretches between the two hands. Peter Wisse [log in to unmask]