Difficult Piano Pieces | Even Pros Can't Play Them!? Classical Works Requiring Virtuosic Technique
There are countless classical piano pieces in the world that boast a level of difficulty that seems almost unplayable.
Their difficulty is downright diabolical!
Some works are said to be playable by only a tiny handful of even professional pianists.
This time, we’ve picked out famous masterpieces from among these most challenging piano pieces—works renowned for requiring transcendental virtuosity.
We’ll introduce them along with videos that showcase pianists’ superhuman fingerwork, so please enjoy them with both your ears and your eyes.
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- [Advanced] A Comprehensive Introduction to the Difficult Piano Pieces of Chopin, the Poet of the Piano!
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Difficult Piano Pieces | Even Pros Can't Play Them!? Classical Works Requiring Extreme Virtuosity (1–10)
Goldberg Variations (Aria and 30 Variations), G major, BWV 988J.S.Bach
The masterpiece “Goldberg Variations (Aria with 30 Variations) in G major, BWV 988” by Johann Sebastian Bach, the father of music.
Consisting of 32 pieces, it is known as one of the most challenging works among Bach’s compositions.
The particularly difficult aspect of this work is, above all, the octaves.
As the tempo becomes faster or more relaxed depending on the variation, the performer must handle wide octave spans amid complex tempo changes.
It’s a highly demanding piece that requires not only technical skill but also innate factors such as hand size.
Etude Collection for Piano, Volume 2, No. 13: “Devil’s Staircase”Ligeti György
The composer György Ligeti, originally from Romania, is the most recent among the composers introduced here and left a major mark on contemporary classical music.
His music is experimental, and in his Études in particular he repeatedly pushed the piano to its limits with a variety of challenges.
Among his works, a particularly recommended and difficult piece is Étude No.
13 “The Devil’s Staircase” from Book 2 of the Études for Piano.
Not only does it feature an extraordinary amount of ascending and descending scales, but the performer must sustain that state for over five minutes—truly a pianist’s nightmare.
Toccata in C major, Op. 7Robert Schumann
Renowned as one of Schumann’s most challenging works, the Toccata in C major, Op.
7.
The word “toccata” in Japanese conveys a sense of “touching,” and it seems Schumann conceived it as an improvisatory piece that could also serve as a finger warm-up for performers.
However, despite being a so-called warm-up, this piece is by no means easy.
On the contrary, it ranks among the most difficult in Schumann’s output.
In pursuit of maximum virtuosic effect, it is filled with treacherous passages, and both the first and second themes demand highly advanced technique.
Difficult Piano Pieces | Even Pros Can’t Play Them!? Virtuoso-Level Classical Works (11–20)
Chromatic Grand GallopFranz Liszt
Franz Liszt, a composer who produced many notoriously difficult pieces.
While Liszt created numerous masterpieces, he is also known as a composer with many mediocre works.
One such example is his Grande Galop Chromatique.
The label of “mediocre” is largely due to its emphasis on showy performance effects and a lack of depth as a composition, but in terms of difficulty, it is considered one of the most challenging in Liszt’s output.
The left hand is relatively approachable even within the advanced level, but the right hand is extremely flashy and packed with technique.
This is a must for anyone who wants to deliver a bold, exhilarating performance.
Three Movements from PetrushkaIgor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky, the great Russian composer who left numerous masterpieces characterized by primitivism, neoclassicism, and serialism.
His Three Movements from Petrushka is one of his signature piano works.
The piece is extraordinarily difficult; it was created after the great pianist Arthur Rubinstein asked Stravinsky to write “the most difficult piece ever.” It can be considered challenging in every respect—requiring agile fingerwork, stamina, wide leaps on the keyboard, and deep expressivity.
12 Etudes, Op. 10 No. 2Frederic Chopin
Among Frédéric Chopin’s works, the masterpiece Twelve Études is said to boast one of the highest levels of difficulty.
This time, I would like to introduce Étude Op.
10 No.
2 from that set.
Although its performative impact is not especially large, it is known for being extremely difficult.
The key point of this piece is, above all, the opening section: because the 1st and 2nd fingers must hold chords, the remaining 3rd–5th fingers have to play the other parts.
For these reasons, it is known as a high-difficulty piece that demands innate hand size and supple fingers.
Wanderer FantasyFranz Schubert
Franz Schubert, a great composer who represents Romantic music.
While many great composers are often blessed with instrumental talent from a young age, Schubert could hardly be called a virtuoso.
Even so, he did write highly virtuosic works, and among them the most famous is the Wanderer Fantasy.
It is said that even Schubert himself found this piece difficult to play and would often grumble, “Let the devil play a piece like this.”