[Ultra-Advanced] Even challenging for advanced players! A curated selection of highly difficult piano pieces
The piano is an instrument that allows a single performer to play an enormous number of notes while skillfully using delicate motor skills in the fingertips and arms, interpreting the composer’s intent along with the notated instructions, and expressing the pianist’s own sensibilities.
There are many pieces that call for beautiful, nuanced expression, as well as passionate works where the keys are struck almost like a percussion instrument.
This time, we’ve selected and will introduce pieces from among the vast piano repertoire that are said to be difficult even for advanced players and professionals.
We’ve picked everything from famous works generally regarded as challenging to lesser-known pieces that may not dazzle in performance but are extraordinarily difficult.
Be sure to check them out!
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[Ultra-Advanced] Even challenging for advanced players! A curated selection of highly difficult piano pieces (11–20)
Polonaise No. 3 in A major, Op. 40 No. 1 “Heroic”Frederic Chopin
When it comes to the polonaises of Frédéric Chopin, the poet of the piano, the first that comes to mind is this Heroic Polonaise.
After a long introduction, the piece unfolds in grand, glittering anticipation, as if announcing the arrival of a hero—a work that even those who don’t usually listen to classical music have likely heard at least once.
As you can tell, its performance demands advanced technique and expressive power, truly befitting a hero.
Among Chopin’s works it is particularly famous, but it is also known for its high level of difficulty.
Many pianists take on the challenge, yet sustaining an orchestral level of impact on a single piano throughout is no easy feat.
The more famous the melody, the more conspicuous any mistake becomes.
It’s a piece you want to carry off stylishly all the way to the end.
Transcendental Études, S.139 No. 5 “Feux follets” (Will-o’-the-Wisps)Franz Liszt
The piece Onibal, known worldwide as an overwhelmingly difficult piano work.
Composed by the great Franz Liszt, it’s a devilish composition.
Its difficulty lies above all in the sheer density of notes.
It features a great deal of rapid passages and extreme leaps across the keyboard, making it unplayable for anyone but advanced pianists.
It’s a work that demands fundamentals like technique and stamina rather than expressive nuance.
If you want to test the limits of your technique, give it a try!
Island of JoyClaude Debussy
“L’Isle joyeuse,” a piano piece emblematic of the French Impressionist composer Claude Debussy, is a dazzling and fantastical work marked by its brilliant trills and ornamental figures.
Its performance not only demands high technical proficiency, but also tests the performer’s sensual and emotional expressiveness, making it one of the most challenging of difficult pieces.
Although the opening may appear to be a beautiful, straightforward piano piece at first glance, the writing grows increasingly virtuosic as it progresses.
Moreover, as an Impressionist work, it requires playing each note with a landscape-like image rather than merely striking them strongly; instead of a realistic approach, the aim is to evoke nuances as if something is falling within a dream—always dreamlike.
Achieving this is difficult, and it is a masterpiece by Debussy that truly probes the pianist’s sensitivity.
Transcendental Études, S.139 No. 4 “Mazeppa”Franz Liszt
This piece is one of the signature works by Franz Liszt, a towering master who shines brilliantly in the history of classical music.
Composed when he was just 15 and later revised to its final form, it portrays a grand narrative inspired by Victor Hugo’s epic poem, employing transcendental virtuosity.
With bell-like sonorities, hoofbeat-like figures, and a complex three-stave layout, it is a work of formidable technical and musical difficulty.
Within roughly seven and a half minutes, it condenses the fierce adventures of Mazeppa, making it a highly recommended piece not only for those seeking to master pianistic technique, but also for anyone wishing to savor the art of storytelling through music.
8 Concert Etudes, Op. 40 No. 1: PreludeNikolay Kapustin
A masterpiece that pushes the fusion of jazz and classical music to the limit.
From an opening as dazzling as the Rio Carnival, the piano surges ahead with ferocious momentum.
Elegant classical technique and the vitality of jazz are beautifully balanced, offering a groundbreaking expressiveness that feels as if two musical worlds are unfolding simultaneously from a single piano.
Composed in 1984, it continues to challenge world-class pianists such as Marc-André Hamelin.
While it employs transcendental virtuosity, it never loses its musicality, making it highly recommended for ambitious performers seeking to explore the piano’s possibilities.
It’s also a must-hear for inquisitive listeners eager to pioneer new frontiers in classical and jazz.
Piano Concerto No. 2, First MovementSergei Rachmaninov
It’s the first movement of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.
2.
It was featured in the drama Nodame Cantabile, so many of you may be familiar with it.
It’s a piano concerto performed with orchestra rather than solo piano, and it features Rachmaninoff’s characteristically sweet melodies and beautiful lines.
The harmonic blend with the orchestra is superb, and the sense of “spinning” the sound is particularly captivating.
While the piano part is beautiful, it is, of course, highly challenging.
Many pianists who dream of performing with an orchestra take on this concerto, but beyond technical skill, it’s difficult without an invitation or direction from a conductor and orchestra—so it’s not just about playing; the musical environment also matters.
One of the joys of a concerto is the experience of playing with a conductor, but because you can’t rely solely on your own tempo, there’s also the challenge of coordinating with others.
Etude Op. 10 No. 4Frederic Chopin
Chopin’s demanding piece, Etude Op.
10 No.
4.
It requires a combination of techniques and presents difficulties throughout.
Among them, the most challenging spot is probably the right hand in measures 29–30.
You have to handle the fingering while keeping the wrist supple, but because it’s hard to connect legato, the performance tends to become stiff.
Even professionals often end up sounding rigid with this etude, so be sure to check it out.
8 Concert Etudes, Op. 40 No. 3: ToccatinaNikolay Kapustin
A masterpiece selected from a compendium of études that brilliantly fuse classical and jazz.
Composed in 1984, it seamlessly blends Latin rhythms, syncopation reminiscent of Gershwin, and passionate melodies in the vein of Scriabin.
Distinguished by wide-leaping repeated notes and intricate rhythmic patterns, it weaves together styles such as jazz, blues, and ragtime.
Demanding a high level of technical skill, it is ideal for pianists who value the formal beauty of classical music while embracing the expressive freedom of jazz.
Totentanz, S.555 R.240Saint-Saëns=Liszt
A work in which Franz Liszt arranged for solo piano a symphonic poem by the French composer Saint-Saëns.
The original depicts skeletons dancing a sinister waltz to the violin played by Death.
Arranged in 1876, the sounds that colored the otherworldly realm portrayed by the orchestra are faithfully reproduced in the piano version as well.
The rasping of bones, the clattering as skeletons bump their bones while they dance, the cock crowing to herald the dawn…
Why not imagine the story and take on the challenge of performing it with advanced technique?
Etude Op. 10 No. 12 “Revolutionary”Frederic Chopin
From its intense opening, the storm of sound that races forward in Étude Op.
10 No.
12, “Revolutionary,” is truly worthy of its title and stands as one of Frédéric Chopin’s signature masterpieces.
The slight-framed Chopin is said to have turned his small hands into an advantage, excelling at intricate, fast pieces.
Although the rapid passages from the very beginning can feel overwhelming, it’s astonishing that even some elementary school students take on the challenge and manage to play it.
It’s a famous piece, but its difficulty is high, so anyone who can play it is a very skilled pianist.
Be confident in yourself.