[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!
- It’s so cool if you can play these on the piano! A selection of irresistibly charming masterpieces.
- [Masterpiece Classics] A special showcase of gem-like masterpieces so beautiful they’ll move you to tears
- [For Advanced Players] A Curated Selection of Classical Masterpieces to Tackle at Piano Recitals
- Rachmaninoff’s masterpieces. Recommended pieces by Rachmaninoff.
- Chopin’s masterpieces. Popular classical music.
- For Advanced Players: Showstopping Classics to Play at a Piano Recital
- Cool classical masterpieces. Recommended classical music.
- Piano Masterpieces: Surprisingly Easy Despite Sounding Difficult!? A Curated Selection Perfect for Recitals
- Classical piano masterpieces: legendary performances from around the world you should hear at least once
- Timelessly beautiful classical masterpieces. Recommended classical music.
- Beginner to Intermediate: Chopin pieces with relatively low difficulty. Recommended works by Chopin.
- François Couperin Popular Songs Ranking [2026]
- [Obituary] Hôko (Hiroko) Nakamura Passes Away: A Collection of Quotes from the International Pianist
[Ultra-Advanced] Even challenging for advanced players! A curated selection of highly difficult piano pieces (21–30)
60 Etudes, No. 60: Allegro assaiJean-Amédée Méreaux
One of the emblematic musical works of 19th-century France is the final piece of the album “60 Great Etudes.” Highlights of this piece include the rapid-fire octave repetitions in the left hand and the dizzying moments created by hand crossings.
It exploits the full range of the keyboard, truly the pinnacle of virtuosity.
Premiered in 1855, the work is also known for astonishing the pianists of its time.
Marked by a brisk tempo and powerful rhythms, it has a percussive impact, as if one were playing a set of drums.
Its dazzling passages offer ample opportunities for virtuoso pianists to showcase their skills, captivating audiences throughout.
Highly recommended for pianists with advanced technique and for classical music enthusiasts seeking a challenging etude.
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?
60 Grand Etudes No. 24 “Bravura (Heroically)”Jean-Amédée Méreaux
This work pursues the pinnacle of dazzling, powerful piano performance.
It is a piece from the album “60 Grand Studies,” renowned as a large-scale composition that demands heroic playing.
Published in 1855, the piece unfolds at an Allegro maestoso tempo and requires advanced technique from the performer, including passages where both hands cross simultaneously, rapid scales, and wide leaps.
It was adopted as teaching material at the Paris Conservatory, and its artistic value was highly praised by the music critic Antoine Marmontel, who stated that it holds importance on par with Clementi’s “Gradus ad Parnassum.” Highly recommended for pianists with strong technical skills or those seeking a new challenge in piano performance.
Eight Concert Etudes, Op. 40 No. 8: FinaleNikolay Kapustin
A masterful piano piece that brilliantly fuses classical music and jazz, composed in 1984.
Its up-tempo character, woven from swing rhythms and classical structures, demands overwhelming technical prowess.
Explosive presto passages are layered with intricately crafted jazz harmonies in an exquisite balance.
With a kaleidoscope of colors, meticulous expressiveness, and fingertip control so precise it scarcely seems the work of a single performer, this piece poses a challenge that can make even virtuoso pianists gasp.
It is a work that distills Nikolai Kapustin’s musicality to the fullest—truly the pinnacle of piano literature.
Highly recommended for advanced piano enthusiasts and musicians who value traditional forms while seeking innovative expression.
Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka, Op. 214Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II’s 1858 masterpiece, Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka, Op.
214.
It’s characterized by a light, spirited style and is often used at elementary school sports days in Japan.
While it’s not a piece that showcases a wide array of complex techniques, the speed of its passages is unquestionably at an advanced level.
Though it’s a relatively minor work, it has strong performance impact, so I believe it’s perfectly suitable as a piece for recitals or competitions.
Be sure to check it out.
3rd movement from PetrushkaIgor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky, the great Russian composer who left numerous masterpieces characterized by primitivism, neoclassicism, and serialism.
Petrushka: Three Movements is one of Stravinsky’s representative works for piano.
It is said to have been composed at the request of the great pianist Arthur Rubinstein, who asked for “the most difficult piece ever,” and it demands highly advanced technique.
In every respect—finger agility, stamina, keyboard leaps, and expression—it can be considered a challenging work.
Gaspard de la nuit, No. 3: ScarboMaurice Ravel
The masterpiece Gaspard de la nuit by the great French composer Maurice Ravel is an exquisitely beautiful work based on three poems.
I believe its difficulty lies above all in expression.
Of course, it is also technically demanding; in particular, the third piece, Scarbo, requires a level of virtuosity that Ravel himself said surpassed Balakirev’s Islamey.
But beyond that, simply playing the notes does not make it true music—you must perform it with a firm understanding of the work’s deeper intent.
It is therefore a piece of exceptionally high difficulty if you aim to sustain a high level of expressiveness while playing.
It also readily reflects the individual characteristics of each performer, so I encourage you to compare multiple interpretations.