[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 (21–30)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev, a composer who epitomizes the 20th century in Russia.
He was a composer with a gift for creating everything from unconventional, boundary-pushing works to classical, formally traditional pieces, and he also boasted exceptional skill at the piano.
Among his works, one piece renowned for its overwhelming difficulty is the Piano Concerto No.
2 in G minor.
It demands extraordinarily ferocious leaps and immense stamina, and it’s said that even professional pianists cannot play it with ease without a significant amount of practice.
Etude ‘Railway’ Op.27bCharles Valentin Alkan
Charles-Valentin Alkan, one of the leading composers of French Romanticism.
His Étude “Le Chemin de fer” (The Iron Road) Op.
27b is considered one of his most difficult works.
The key feature of this piece is, above all, its dramatic shifts in tempo.
Right from the opening, rapid passages evoking a steam locomotive burst in.
Written largely in sixteenth notes, it keeps the right hand relentlessly busy and demands exceptional finger speed.
It’s a straightforwardly high-difficulty piece, so if you’re confident in your fingerwork, be sure to check it out.
[Ultra-Advanced] Even challenging for advanced players! A curated selection of highly difficult piano pieces (31–40)
Etude Op. 25 No. 6Frederic Chopin
Frédéric Chopin, the great French composer who created numerous beautiful masterpieces.
He is also known as a composer of many highly demanding works, and among them, the Etude Op.
25 No.
6 ranks among the most difficult.
The main challenges of this piece are undoubtedly the right hand trills in thirds and the chromatic scales in thirds.
Thirds are already difficult as they are, but in this piece you must also play a dramatic melody with the left hand.
Although the difficulty level is considerable, practicing it is recommended, as it strengthens finger independence—a fundamental technique essential for playing any piece.
Study No. 7 for Player PianoConlon Nancarrow
This Etude No.
7 for Player Piano is a work composed by Conlon Nancarrow, a contemporary music composer from Mexico.
It’s extremely obscure, so many of you may be hearing it for the first time.
Initially, performances were limited to a rapid-fire delivery that gradually increased in speed, but over time it was arranged into even more difficult renditions.
The most challenging aspect of this piece is undoubtedly its rhythm.
The rhythmic subdivisions are so intricate that it is said to be impossible for a human to perform—hence the use of a player piano.
Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30Sergei Rachmaninov
Composed by Rachmaninoff in 1909, the Piano Concerto No.
3 is renowned for the extreme technical difficulty and musical demands it places on the performer.
Its duration is about 40 minutes.
Although it is a concerto, the piano plays almost continuously, and the sheer number of notes requires considerable stamina.
Yet it is not merely difficult; it is also a celebrated masterpiece, among the most popular of all piano concertos.
In the first movement’s cadenza, there are two versions; while they do not differ in difficulty, the so‑called “big cadenza” strikes me as the most grand and passionate among cadenzas found in concertos.
Comparing the different cadenzas chosen by performers may be one of this work’s great pleasures.
The first movement develops a single theme in various forms; the second moves from a poignant introduction toward increasing brightness; and the third brims with lively, folk-like Russian character.
In each, one can sense Rachmaninoff’s characteristic beauty, sonorous weight, and monumental architecture—a true masterpiece.
Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major, Op. 106 “Hammerklavier”Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven, a master who shines brilliantly in the history of music.
Among the masterpieces he composed while losing his hearing, the “Hammerklavier” is hailed as the Everest of piano sonatas for its grandeur and technical difficulty.
From the powerful opening of the first movement, through the grief-laden third, to the fourth movement capped by a complex fugue, it is a work that truly reaches the summit of musical achievement.
It demands not only formidable technique but also profound emotional expression, making it an ultimate challenge for pianists.
Its monumental scale and innovative musical language leave listeners in awe.
Toccata in C major, Op. 7Robert Schumann
A piano piece by Robert Schumann, a composer who epitomizes the German Romantic movement of the 19th century.
Completed in 1830 and revised in 1833, this work is regarded as “one of the most difficult pieces ever written.” It brims with virtuosic elements—alternating chords, rapid single-note octaves, advanced chromaticism and syncopation.
Its fingerwork-rich construction demands precise touch and swift hand crossings.
Because it calls for a tone that is both lucid and powerful, it poses a kind of challenge even for renowned pianists.
Aiming as it does for brilliant outward effect, a performance that captivates the audience can bring an immense sense of accomplishment.
Advanced pianists seeking to push their technique—by all means, give it a try!