Alkan is every pianists dream musician. He combines the exciting virtuosity of Liszt, the accessible harmonies of Beethoven, and the delicate style of Chopin to create a very unique highly personal style of his own. He is truly a delight to listen to!
tommekobialka, I didn’t write this on your channel because here is better for me. I listen to all your music constantly, btw.
Hamelin does his best to play the music. He is a machine. But the best kind, the kind we enjoy. I love his music, as I could believe liszt or alkan himself could be playing this and we wouldn’t know. He shows us the meaning of the music and has unreachable mastery.
I am truly indebted to tomekkobialka for having posted this unique jewel. Piano at its very best. And in spite of all the praise Hamelin receives from the ones who really know pianistics, I think he still deserves a more universal applause. Who else could bring such pieces to life in our days?
Is there anything that someone else can play that Hamelin Can't? It seems that even if it's barely humanly possible, he finds it so easy... what the hell!?
I am listening to this because people said that it wasn't harder than Islamey. They must be referring to the difficult to grasp russian sound Islamey can convey. This piece technically is not confusing just challenging as heck. Islamey is doable but needs control, this piece has hands that work together better.
I take my hat off to Hamelin to master some of the most out-of-the-way, obscure music (not to mention some of the most difficult scores ever written), but this piece (like much of Alkan sounds like fluff to me.
But I just wonder if it's really worth the time it must have taken to learn this piece. Too many notes, which delivers few musical dividends.
Hamelin is an excellent pianist, but the problem I have with his performances, I have listened to, that I always get the impression " this piece is actually too easy for me", and I am not interested in how well one can play the piano or whatever instrument. I want to be bewildered by the music not the performance! I find Ronald Smith's performances compared to Hamelin's more subdued and more expressive.
Except some of the works that HMR plays that are leaps and bounds easier have hints of feeling. That is why we listen and hope for more from his music.
@tomekkobialka I disagree, wholeheartedly. "Some people", Hamelin said, "feel a sense of visceral struggle missing in my playing, that a given work may not sound difficult enough. To me, it's an element that does not enter into the equation. The important factor is the presentation of music with as few blocks as possible. Nothing should impair the original. I don't feel that people should be listening to me - they should be listening to the music itself. I am only the channel."
@madlovba3 To be absolutely honest, I have no idea what was going on in my mind when I wrote that comment. xD That's easily one of the stupidest comments I posted. Of course the music is worth listening to, Hamelin just plays it in such a way to make us enjoy the music in as easy a way as possible.
@JesuisChristie He doesn't want to interpret music, he's a showman. I'm not against acting in music, actually, but it has to be in connection with the musical meaning and expression, as it is in case of wonderful musicians like Kissin and Leonard Bernstein, above all. I’m not a fan of Stanislawski, who says “not the performer should cry but the audience.” If the performer is not moved in his heart enough then the audience won’t be moved either. But music is not for watching in general, methinks!
@madlovba3 Yeah, Lang Lang's theatricality holds the mentality that he should be more watched than listened to. It's entertaining, but it really detracts from his playing. I think Hamelin is definitely right about this. Or maybe Lang Lang is just a sensitive boy, easily moved like that, haha.
@aslkfja There is only one cure for this--listen to more & more Hamelin. Same thing happened to me. Hamelin's technique is so exceptional that it is natural to get awed by it. It is similar to Welles' Touch of Evil--his camera work & cinematography r so steller u almost forget about the plot. After all compositions do not call for wrong notes, awkward phrasing & other mistakes, & Alkan had technique of the highest order. Once u get over his technique, you'll start to listen to the music.
@auerod I always go by what Schoenberg says when it comes to listening to music, and that is to just listen and allow the composition to speak to you.
@aslkfja I would respectfully disagree. What exactly do you mean by "more expressive"? In any event, I would argue that in order to properly "express" the intent of Alkan, one needs a technique like Hamelin's. Somehow, critics (or the general listener) will equate a slower tempo with being "more expressive". I am forever perplexed by this persistant belief that bravura playing is somehow not "expressive". This isn't a Nocturne, for gosh sakes.
@IlCOLElI Hello, IICOLEII, good question - this piece does rather push the boundaries of acceptable terminology - Alkan is being quite playful, as usual, though you have to admit that this piece is definitely in the style of a concerto - if you look at the accepted etymology of the word 'concerto', id est: conserere certamen (to weave; competition, fight), you can see why Alkan finds the terminology effective here. The piece is very much in the spirit of a concerto, weaving about itself.
@VayDooble@IICOLEII I am afraid that I haven't finished yet - character limit - and so I shall continue here. A sonata, on the other hand, is merely a piece which is played rather than sung. However, the term generally means a piece for solo instrument (often accompanied, if it isn't, a piano). The structure is, generally, the same as a concerto - so you could suggest that it is in fact a sonata. However, as explained in the previous piece, it is a solo piano etude, in the spirit of a concerto.
After probably listening to this all the way through (that includes buying the complete recording) at least ten times, realizing what Alkan was trying to do, realizing just how well he accompllished what is his apparent goal, and then realizing that it was not only as surgically prepared and structured as... well a surgery, but it was beautiful as well, I went from hating it, to liking it, to listening to it over and over in sheer, unbounded fascination and admiration.
@MasterAzunai Yes, it took me a while for Alkan too, he is on another level. However I don't know if I understand it enough at this point. I will say, looking and hearing his music, I am reminded of late Scriabin. Scriabin uses some of the effects, but for other purposes. The only thing I really know is that I can listen to Scriabin forever, but Alkan I cannot listen to for a long time. If any one could explain it, thanks in advance. I do think that Alkan is quite a genius.
@MasterAzunai I'm glad, because it certainly a lot more than a smattering of the most difficult techniques in piano. That may be an accurate statement, but it is also an organized piece of music, I would say, filled with great themes, development, and a great sense of "orchestra" parts and piano solo parts.
Hamelin obviously has the best technique of any living pianist. Absolutely flawless. Absolutely mindboggling. Absolutely divine. Now... How about he play some music and not just this overblown and longwinded pianistic nightmare (I don't hate all of Alkan's music, but this really is nothing more than a smattering of the most difficult notes that he could come up with).
something about this piece alters time..i could have sworn i was listening it for like 10 mins but when i check the time it was barely halfway through.
Type- Douze Études Dans Tous Les Tons Mineurs, Op 39: No 08. Part 1 into youtube to here the first movement. It's amazing. I thought this movement was good but the first movement is breathtaking.
I noticed that there were a little over 750 views for the first movement. DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE MISSING! ? That movement alone made this concerto my favorite piece out of all the repertoire I've listened to. Here's the audio plus music.
nur in UK = schreiben ? ! ja ! verruckt ! warum = ? ich finde das so spielen = sehr Spezial = kalität = übermann, wunderschön = für hören. . .. Bravo, kongratülieren. Danke.
I've got to play this! You have no idea how many times I watched this video lol...My only concerns are 1:48-2:00 & 3:00- 3:02 . The rest is just incredibly difficult lol don't think I'd be able to play it exactly this fast though : (
@tomekkobialka yesterday is dawned on me that this is only the first movement. Now I know I wont learn it haha I thought this was a single movement piece cause it was difficult enough but there's more?!!! Could you upload the rest like you did this one? Pweeez
@cedricrlongreen Ooooooo... you should see the first movement! This is the third and final movement. KastlesucksTDOTS uploaded the first movement (which is 30 mins long btw and just as difficult!), first part can be found here: /watch?v=5hQ1D-6nZ7c . I've already uploaded the 2nd movement in two parts, first part: /watch?v=3lnkXpw6rjc
@tomekkobialka Oh.........My..........God. I listened to 1st movt.................words can not express how I feel about that movement. I words can express how I feel about the whole concerto. It's my favorite piece of music. Thank you because I never would have known this existed if you didn't post this on youtube.
I sooo wana learn this for the competion I'm going to be in 2013... but it feels a bit ambitious I mean I just learned Franz Liszt's transcendental Etude no.10 but this is like multiplying the Liszt by 2 lol
@tomekkobialka not really, being a composer (in training :P ) i was just shocked that he had SOME tonality (in the beginning of the piece) then it becomes quite atonal (which i love btw, that's like all i write (correctly i might add :D ))
@300musicmaster Does it become atonal? It sounds pretty tonal to me (F-sharp minor then A major (relative major of course)), but then you're the one with training in composing so I'll look up to you :D
@300musicmaster yea it is, the shock was mainly from the fact that before hand i was listening to Preludium to an Imanginary Symphony :P so yea and i sorta wrote the becomes atonal thing before i realized that i was talking about another Alkan piece... i was tired when i replied :P opps! but regardless, it's an amazing piece!
Jack Gibbons was right. this takes repeated listening to appreciate it fully. After about the 5th listen I suddenyl realized how awesome each and every section is.
Can I just remind everyone listening, this is one Piano and two hands only. I've just conquered Liebestaume but clearly that was Mont Blanc with Everest to go!
No one can polish those syncopated rhythm to perfection @ 00:40-00:41 & 00:54-00:55 like MAH. Alkan could be forgotten again in the 1990s without Hamelin... He brought him to shiny glamorous CDs in 44 kHz and 16 bits...
He is the only who could depict Alkan's madness, despair and seclusion. Gibbons coudn't. Feel like cry where Alkan's condition was the maddest - 1:48-1:53, 3:07-3:17, 4:26-5:10, 8:43-8:47.
The whole piece is a long fall into the whirlpool or the precipice of insanity.
It sounds as if Chopin, Horowitz, Godowsky, and Schumann started out with something pretty and simple, then took turns trying to make it more and more difficult until it became this.
That's it. I can't take it. After 17 years of toying with the idea of learning this piece I started working on it 2 days ago. This is a staggering performance by Hamelin as usual, but sometimes i wish he would stop worrying about pianistic blemishes and just rip. Like so many Alkan works, there is a combination violent, almost mocking fury combined with an innocence of sarcasm and wry humor. The pianist i think needs to spill their guts and just bring out the wildness of this piece.
can you imagaine how fun this would be if you could play it? .listen to that voice at the sostenuto cantando section 2:17. genius in every respect: originality virtuosity and in musicality.
This is definately harder than Rach3, and is the most pre-modern piano piece other than Mereaux's etudes. Some modern, atonal music is more difficult than this.
Argerich never played Alkan, but she is an incredible pianist and I'm sure she would be capable of playing this, although probably not with Hamelin's speed and accuracy (her interpretation might actually be better). Hamelin's technical skill is inhuman.
@llamasownyou ...and there are no parts where the pianist can relax. Immense difficulties on almost every page. 121 pages. The first movement i think is one of the greatest pieces of musical architecture ever penned. This piece can easily stand next to any piece of the Romantic movement. I totally agree with you. Can you imagine walking on stage and having to confront this piece. I would damn near soil myself.
@Aul1kki Stephen Hough is one of the best pianists on the face of the earth. I heard him in recital several years back and not only was the playing amazing, but he answered questions from the audience for about an hour. He had to get up at 5:30 AM to catch a flight to Minneapolis and he was so gracious and humble. have you heard "The Piano Album". Amazing! His Dohnanyi Capriccio completely blows every other recording out of the water. it took me many an hour to master it!
I prefer Raymond Lewenthal's Dohnanyi Capriccio, not as technically polished but much more raw (perhaps because it was live).
Interestingly enough he was a Nyiregyhazi fan...
And interesting story: when he was in his youth and had just finished playing in a competition, he spoke about Alkan to Nyiregyhazi , who promptly went to the piano and played the fastest and clearest first movement of this Concerto for Solo Piano Lewenthal had ever heard.
I agree. His performances of Alkan, Rubinstein, Gershwin, Henselt, and countless other composers; They are of the same caliber as names like Richter, Horowitz, Ashkenazy, Cortot, Rubinstein, Kempff, Gilels, etc.
What? That doesn't make any sense. Did Hamelin sell his soul to the devil for musical talent, or did the devil sell his soul to Hamelin for musical talent?
Seeing the score and hearing his seemingly effortless playing helps me understand the towering virtouso Mr. Hamelin is...clearly one of the greatest pianists of the 21st Century.
OK you're not to shabby with the maths. I'm just advising those that are. Here's a teaser for you. I was born 25th April 1973. Can you tell me the day of the week I was born without a calculator?
Alkan is every pianists dream musician. He combines the exciting virtuosity of Liszt, the accessible harmonies of Beethoven, and the delicate style of Chopin to create a very unique highly personal style of his own. He is truly a delight to listen to!
AcePro 3 weeks ago
tommekobialka, I didn’t write this on your channel because here is better for me. I listen to all your music constantly, btw.
Hamelin does his best to play the music. He is a machine. But the best kind, the kind we enjoy. I love his music, as I could believe liszt or alkan himself could be playing this and we wouldn’t know. He shows us the meaning of the music and has unreachable mastery.
Rachmaninoffkid 3 weeks ago
I am truly indebted to tomekkobialka for having posted this unique jewel. Piano at its very best. And in spite of all the praise Hamelin receives from the ones who really know pianistics, I think he still deserves a more universal applause. Who else could bring such pieces to life in our days?
brooksiefan 1 month ago
Is there anything that someone else can play that Hamelin Can't? It seems that even if it's barely humanly possible, he finds it so easy... what the hell!?
monobrow638 1 month ago
I am listening to this because people said that it wasn't harder than Islamey. They must be referring to the difficult to grasp russian sound Islamey can convey. This piece technically is not confusing just challenging as heck. Islamey is doable but needs control, this piece has hands that work together better.
trynity7 2 months ago
I take my hat off to Hamelin to master some of the most out-of-the-way, obscure music (not to mention some of the most difficult scores ever written), but this piece (like much of Alkan sounds like fluff to me.
But I just wonder if it's really worth the time it must have taken to learn this piece. Too many notes, which delivers few musical dividends.
Malcolm64 4 months ago
Some of the softer parts in the first half remind me of Chopin's Allegro de Concert a little.
forgottenbooks 5 months ago
Chopin's musicality and lyricism mixed with Lisztian virtuosity.
somnynightin78 5 months ago 11
sonata - any musical instrumentation with one voice
concerto (a) - a musical piece that has more than one instrument, with most instruments accompanying a main "solo" instrument
ap478771 5 months ago
Hamelin is an excellent pianist, but the problem I have with his performances, I have listened to, that I always get the impression " this piece is actually too easy for me", and I am not interested in how well one can play the piano or whatever instrument. I want to be bewildered by the music not the performance! I find Ronald Smith's performances compared to Hamelin's more subdued and more expressive.
aslkfja 5 months ago
@aslkfja This is exactly how I feel about Hamelin - makes it look so easy that it's almost like it's not worth listening to.
tomekkobialka 5 months ago
@tomekkobialka
Except some of the works that HMR plays that are leaps and bounds easier have hints of feeling. That is why we listen and hope for more from his music.
trynity7 2 months ago
@tomekkobialka I disagree, wholeheartedly. "Some people", Hamelin said, "feel a sense of visceral struggle missing in my playing, that a given work may not sound difficult enough. To me, it's an element that does not enter into the equation. The important factor is the presentation of music with as few blocks as possible. Nothing should impair the original. I don't feel that people should be listening to me - they should be listening to the music itself. I am only the channel."
madlovba3 1 month ago 8
@madlovba3 To be absolutely honest, I have no idea what was going on in my mind when I wrote that comment. xD That's easily one of the stupidest comments I posted. Of course the music is worth listening to, Hamelin just plays it in such a way to make us enjoy the music in as easy a way as possible.
tomekkobialka 1 month ago 3
@tomekkobialka Hahaha okay, I'm glad you "changed" your mind! xD
madlovba3 4 weeks ago
@madlovba3 I wonder how Lang Lang would feel reading this...
JesuisChristie 3 weeks ago
@JesuisChristie He doesn't want to interpret music, he's a showman. I'm not against acting in music, actually, but it has to be in connection with the musical meaning and expression, as it is in case of wonderful musicians like Kissin and Leonard Bernstein, above all. I’m not a fan of Stanislawski, who says “not the performer should cry but the audience.” If the performer is not moved in his heart enough then the audience won’t be moved either. But music is not for watching in general, methinks!
madlovba3 3 weeks ago
@madlovba3 Yeah, Lang Lang's theatricality holds the mentality that he should be more watched than listened to. It's entertaining, but it really detracts from his playing. I think Hamelin is definitely right about this. Or maybe Lang Lang is just a sensitive boy, easily moved like that, haha.
JesuisChristie 3 weeks ago
@aslkfja whether or not it is true his clarity in expression is astounding.
somnynightin78 5 months ago
@aslkfja There is only one cure for this--listen to more & more Hamelin. Same thing happened to me. Hamelin's technique is so exceptional that it is natural to get awed by it. It is similar to Welles' Touch of Evil--his camera work & cinematography r so steller u almost forget about the plot. After all compositions do not call for wrong notes, awkward phrasing & other mistakes, & Alkan had technique of the highest order. Once u get over his technique, you'll start to listen to the music.
auerod 4 months ago
@auerod I always go by what Schoenberg says when it comes to listening to music, and that is to just listen and allow the composition to speak to you.
somnynightin78 2 months ago
@aslkfja I would respectfully disagree. What exactly do you mean by "more expressive"? In any event, I would argue that in order to properly "express" the intent of Alkan, one needs a technique like Hamelin's. Somehow, critics (or the general listener) will equate a slower tempo with being "more expressive". I am forever perplexed by this persistant belief that bravura playing is somehow not "expressive". This isn't a Nocturne, for gosh sakes.
Frozentoes1 3 weeks ago
How petty of 39 people to care about the suposed typo "concerto". You do know in other languages other than english people say concerto?!
Anyways, enjoy this beautiful piece. I know i will...
xakoviski 5 months ago 2
@xakoviski thankyou someone with a brain. LOL
somnynightin78 5 months ago
@xakoviski Well you missed the fun part. People like that comment because of franzlisztian
addeex1 5 months ago
Marc-Andre Hamelin: Owner of the world's most overworked metronome
JohnEBPiano 5 months ago
omg, no wonder Hamelin was able to play his Chopin-Triple Etude ._. this piece would be really good practice for something like that.
TheExarion 6 months ago
Why isn't Alkan widely known? There must be some conspiracy involved.
SuperRezyser 6 months ago 3
Is that a tiny bit of Quasi-Faust at 4:55?
TheWanderingNight 6 months ago
@IICOLEII a sonata is way different from this read wikipedia
2hyeok 7 months ago
I've never seen concerto for a solo instrument before. wouldn't this make it a sonata instead?
IlCOLElI 7 months ago
@IlCOLElI Hello, IICOLEII, good question - this piece does rather push the boundaries of acceptable terminology - Alkan is being quite playful, as usual, though you have to admit that this piece is definitely in the style of a concerto - if you look at the accepted etymology of the word 'concerto', id est: conserere certamen (to weave; competition, fight), you can see why Alkan finds the terminology effective here. The piece is very much in the spirit of a concerto, weaving about itself.
VayDooble 7 months ago
@VayDooble @IICOLEII I am afraid that I haven't finished yet - character limit - and so I shall continue here. A sonata, on the other hand, is merely a piece which is played rather than sung. However, the term generally means a piece for solo instrument (often accompanied, if it isn't, a piano). The structure is, generally, the same as a concerto - so you could suggest that it is in fact a sonata. However, as explained in the previous piece, it is a solo piano etude, in the spirit of a concerto.
VayDooble 7 months ago
you can find piano sheet music @ sheetsearch . com
Ir0nman86 8 months ago
@Ir0nman86 or u could jsut go to imslp.org
TripleRhu 7 months ago
Epic
kylelandry 8 months ago
After probably listening to this all the way through (that includes buying the complete recording) at least ten times, realizing what Alkan was trying to do, realizing just how well he accompllished what is his apparent goal, and then realizing that it was not only as surgically prepared and structured as... well a surgery, but it was beautiful as well, I went from hating it, to liking it, to listening to it over and over in sheer, unbounded fascination and admiration.
MasterAzunai 8 months ago
@MasterAzunai Yes, it took me a while for Alkan too, he is on another level. However I don't know if I understand it enough at this point. I will say, looking and hearing his music, I am reminded of late Scriabin. Scriabin uses some of the effects, but for other purposes. The only thing I really know is that I can listen to Scriabin forever, but Alkan I cannot listen to for a long time. If any one could explain it, thanks in advance. I do think that Alkan is quite a genius.
trevjr 8 months ago
@MasterAzunai I'm glad, because it certainly a lot more than a smattering of the most difficult techniques in piano. That may be an accurate statement, but it is also an organized piece of music, I would say, filled with great themes, development, and a great sense of "orchestra" parts and piano solo parts.
kylelandry 8 months ago
Hamelin obviously has the best technique of any living pianist. Absolutely flawless. Absolutely mindboggling. Absolutely divine. Now... How about he play some music and not just this overblown and longwinded pianistic nightmare (I don't hate all of Alkan's music, but this really is nothing more than a smattering of the most difficult notes that he could come up with).
MasterAzunai 8 months ago
Very impressive technique. A little music would have been nice - this refers more to Alkan than to Hamelin, actually.
Spiritakis 9 months ago
@Spiritakis what is your definition of music?
amxmachine 8 months ago
@amxmachine
A highly organised form of sound, if you must know.
Spiritakis 8 months ago
great
boxbob07 9 months ago
you can find free piano sheet music @ sheetsearch . com
Ir0nman86 9 months ago
@stuffcluster Just what I was thinking too!
lleeaannnnee1 9 months ago
something about this piece alters time..i could have sworn i was listening it for like 10 mins but when i check the time it was barely halfway through.
Jman0101 10 months ago
now THIS is how you actually break your hands.
FlyingBlackAndWhite 10 months ago
WOOW...he's quite good :D
muhapeti 10 months ago
@muhapeti undisputable
FlyingBlackAndWhite 10 months ago
my hands hurt just by watching lol this ist amazing and very beautiful
shadecross 10 months ago
9:14 Black Keys :D
Liszt31 10 months ago
Who else than Hamelin...
cldbsy 11 months ago
8:05 - 9:22 Just insane!
exelpaperclip123 11 months ago
PArtes de esta canción, me hacen acordar a Tom&Jerry.
lucas6534 11 months ago
super piece and superb performance..
12345qazx1 1 year ago
super
12345qazx1 1 year ago
fuckin mad alkan lol
21436587abc 1 year ago
Amazing. I love the cantabile section.
BlueEnigma34 1 year ago
who ever played this is a god
9yurii 1 year ago
really fast lol
abokadoSM 1 year ago
Type- Douze Études Dans Tous Les Tons Mineurs, Op 39: No 08. Part 1 into youtube to here the first movement. It's amazing. I thought this movement was good but the first movement is breathtaking.
cedricrlongreen 1 year ago
I noticed that there were a little over 750 views for the first movement. DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE MISSING! ? That movement alone made this concerto my favorite piece out of all the repertoire I've listened to. Here's the audio plus music.
youtube.com/watch?v=5hQ1D-6nZ7c
cedricrlongreen 1 year ago
hamelin is so underrated it should be a crime. how do you even begin a piece like this it just seems so impossible.
garth813 1 year ago
this is a polonaise, isn't it?
organgrind 1 year ago
@organgrind No, it's Allegretto alla Barbaresca from Alkan's concerto for piano solo.
Laudan08 1 year ago
easy!!!! ....that's just me warming up
19kjarvis 1 year ago
Sounds Gypsy like
cedricrlongreen 1 year ago 13
@cedricrlongreen You REALLY love this piece, don't you? :D
tomekkobialka 1 year ago 30
@tomekkobialka lol yeah and I listen to the first movement almost everyday haha
cedricrlongreen 1 year ago
@tomekkobialka yes. And me and the first movement are engaged.
cedricrlongreen 1 year ago
@tomekkobialka That can only be a good thing :P
OverFjell 10 months ago
You all should hear the 1st movement. Unearthly amazing.
cedricrlongreen 1 year ago
I wonder wonder what would it be like to be in Alkan's brain for a day...
BaneLord333 1 year ago
We can't really compare this with Schoenberg...
cafity 1 year ago
nur in UK = schreiben ? ! ja ! verruckt ! warum = ? ich finde das so spielen = sehr Spezial = kalität = übermann, wunderschön = für hören. . .. Bravo, kongratülieren. Danke.
yvesguilland 1 year ago
I've got to play this! You have no idea how many times I watched this video lol...My only concerns are 1:48-2:00 & 3:00- 3:02 . The rest is just incredibly difficult lol don't think I'd be able to play it exactly this fast though : (
cedricrlongreen 1 year ago
@cedricrlongreen That's exactly what I said two years ago when I posted this video, and I still haven't gone past 0:21
tomekkobialka 1 year ago
@tomekkobialka yesterday is dawned on me that this is only the first movement. Now I know I wont learn it haha I thought this was a single movement piece cause it was difficult enough but there's more?!!! Could you upload the rest like you did this one? Pweeez
cedricrlongreen 1 year ago
@cedricrlongreen Ooooooo... you should see the first movement! This is the third and final movement. KastlesucksTDOTS uploaded the first movement (which is 30 mins long btw and just as difficult!), first part can be found here: /watch?v=5hQ1D-6nZ7c . I've already uploaded the 2nd movement in two parts, first part: /watch?v=3lnkXpw6rjc
tomekkobialka 1 year ago
@tomekkobialka Oh.........My..........God. I listened to 1st movt.................words can not express how I feel about that movement. I words can express how I feel about the whole concerto. It's my favorite piece of music. Thank you because I never would have known this existed if you didn't post this on youtube.
cedricrlongreen 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
my dead grandma can play this with only one finger
Roxasxaldin 1 year ago
my dead grandma can play this with only her pinky
Roxasxaldin 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
I sooo wana learn this for the competion I'm going to be in 2013... but it feels a bit ambitious I mean I just learned Franz Liszt's transcendental Etude no.10 but this is like multiplying the Liszt by 2 lol
cedricrlongreen 1 year ago
Comment removed
cedricrlongreen 1 year ago
This is my fav Alkan peice
openmindspace 1 year ago
This is the first time I've heard this piece and....HOLY S******* I love it!!
cedricrlongreen 1 year ago
Am I the only one that thinks this is a crosss between a hungarian rhapsody, and a Chopin polonaise?
nleguellec 1 year ago 4
2:29 - 2:35
A moment of heavy metal guitar solo, piano style.
Piggywarz 1 year ago 2
WOAH HE IS USING A TONAL CENTER! THAT'S ODD!
300musicmaster 1 year ago
@300musicmaster You've obvioulsy just learnt that term not long ago! :p
tomekkobialka 1 year ago 17
@tomekkobialka not really, being a composer (in training :P ) i was just shocked that he had SOME tonality (in the beginning of the piece) then it becomes quite atonal (which i love btw, that's like all i write (correctly i might add :D ))
300musicmaster 1 year ago
@300musicmaster Does it become atonal? It sounds pretty tonal to me (F-sharp minor then A major (relative major of course)), but then you're the one with training in composing so I'll look up to you :D
tomekkobialka 1 year ago 4
@tomekkobialka lol yeah. I think he meant really dissonant. Like Ravel's Jeux d'eau, because atonal is more like Gyorgy Ligeti. Now that's atonal.
cedricrlongreen 1 year ago
@tomekkobialka wats a tonal center LOL hi noob pianist here.
Piggywarz 1 year ago
@Piggywarz A tonal center is kind of like a key signature. Its the key (or certain notes) it "revolves" around, so to speak.
mickyj300x 1 year ago
@tomekkobialka This piece does not become atonal at all - Alkan utilizes scales and sequence all over the piece. Balkan & possibly klezmer scales
armydude84 1 year ago
@300musicmaster yea it is, the shock was mainly from the fact that before hand i was listening to Preludium to an Imanginary Symphony :P so yea and i sorta wrote the becomes atonal thing before i realized that i was talking about another Alkan piece... i was tired when i replied :P opps! but regardless, it's an amazing piece!
300musicmaster 1 year ago
@300musicmaster Yea... I don't know if I can agree with you at all. It's as tonal as any Chopin (which is to say, completely).
pianodan10 1 year ago
@300musicmaster if you think this is atonal listen to wild mens dance
huzzzzzzahh 10 months ago
@huzzzzzzahh i have, Leo Orienstein (sp?) is my favorite composer currently :D (my favorites change often)
300musicmaster 10 months ago
@300musicmaster Really? sonata no. 4 mvt. 4 is my favorite by him, also his ballade for saxophone and piano
huzzzzzzahh 10 months ago
7:14 and 8:30... look close and you'll see a triple-sharped note! There's another one around here somewhere, too...
OrangeSodaKing 1 year ago 3
the 4 people who rate thumbs down are stupid lozers
hjiuhfhrehui 1 year ago 2
i love the theme from 1:05 to 1:47 especially, even though it's all brilliant
CammehYaBams 1 year ago 2
I have Jack Gibbon's interpretation of the First movement, which seems to have been removed from youtube. Does anyone want me to upload it?
lordsummat 1 year ago
@lordsummat YES. YES.
OrangeSodaKing 1 year ago
those who "dislike" this, dislike music
richclayderman 1 year ago
Jack Gibbons was right. this takes repeated listening to appreciate it fully. After about the 5th listen I suddenyl realized how awesome each and every section is.
dasklavierleben 1 year ago
Can I just remind everyone listening, this is one Piano and two hands only. I've just conquered Liebestaume but clearly that was Mont Blanc with Everest to go!
Jim341046 1 year ago
No one can polish those syncopated rhythm to perfection @ 00:40-00:41 & 00:54-00:55 like MAH. Alkan could be forgotten again in the 1990s without Hamelin... He brought him to shiny glamorous CDs in 44 kHz and 16 bits...
He is the only who could depict Alkan's madness, despair and seclusion. Gibbons coudn't. Feel like cry where Alkan's condition was the maddest - 1:48-1:53, 3:07-3:17, 4:26-5:10, 8:43-8:47.
The whole piece is a long fall into the whirlpool or the precipice of insanity.
f1f1s 1 year ago
@f1f1s
Don't see any insanity there - just excitement, "romantic longing" and lots of irony/humour.
Like when he builds slowly into an exciting climax and then after a few seconds BAM, we're at the initial calm theme again.
twooffour 1 year ago 4
Am I the only one realizing the typo? Concert for solo Plano?
FranzLisztian 1 year ago
@FranzLisztian Am I the only one realizing your typo? No 'o' at the end of concert...:)
tomekkobialka 1 year ago 40
@tomekkobialka
I must say you got me there
FranzLisztian 1 year ago
@tomekkobialka
And in a more related message for the video - I love this concerto. I want the entire symphony by hamelin as well
FranzLisztian 1 year ago
@tomekkobialka My goodness, you are a douche-bag! The guy just tried to help when he pointed out your typo.
gilbertoagostinho 1 year ago
@gilbertoagostinho there was no typo
TripleRhu 10 months ago
@gilbertoagostinho I was only joking, of course! And I'm just helping HIM ny pointing out his typo...
tomekkobialka 10 months ago
@FranzLisztian ..as in liszts..concerto for piano solo...maybe you should change your name ????
MATTDUNCAN1 1 year ago
I love the chords at the beggining
openmindspace 1 year ago
It sounds as if Chopin, Horowitz, Godowsky, and Schumann started out with something pretty and simple, then took turns trying to make it more and more difficult until it became this.
Pianobyme 1 year ago 2
the ending reminds me of something from chopin..
thunderillusion 1 year ago
@thunderillusion Your right! i didnt go back and see what it was but it sounds to be like the ending of The Black key etude No.5
openmindspace 1 year ago
wow,, this probably would be the hardest piece that is ever writtem on piano! harder than feux follets and even in mazeppa!
BNM321zxy 1 year ago
Hamelin must have been so exhausted aftet playing this. My god, that was fantastic.
Keytaster 1 year ago
I ain't dying before trying this one
richclayderman 1 year ago
Love the modulation to E-sharp major at 7:14, with an f triple sharp in the lower staff on the second measure of the page. :D Alkan was truly daring!
HandyTheXxxX 1 year ago
@HandyTheXxxX I like 8.41 to 8.44 - wild. btw, everything from 6.56 onwards is unbelieveable.
Jim341046 1 year ago
Bravo!!!! The composition is apsolutelly briliant and beautiful!
mrharpsi 1 year ago
wow this is AWESOME!!
JeremyRayBorders 1 year ago
That's it. I can't take it. After 17 years of toying with the idea of learning this piece I started working on it 2 days ago. This is a staggering performance by Hamelin as usual, but sometimes i wish he would stop worrying about pianistic blemishes and just rip. Like so many Alkan works, there is a combination violent, almost mocking fury combined with an innocence of sarcasm and wry humor. The pianist i think needs to spill their guts and just bring out the wildness of this piece.
brianCIM 1 year ago
This piece is amazing! I do believe I have found a gem in the works of Alkan.
tylerofdenmark 1 year ago
It's staggering how harmonically complex the left hand part is compared to other Romantic pieces in this time period.
Lukecash12 1 year ago
can you imagaine how fun this would be if you could play it? .listen to that voice at the sostenuto cantando section 2:17. genius in every respect: originality virtuosity and in musicality.
anonymousQ45 1 year ago 2
HAIL
88alan8800 1 year ago
It's like CHOPIN on Acid!
johnnynoirman 1 year ago 3
Amazing Luke!
Can't believe your learning to play this, sounds like a difficult piece to master...
Yes, it cheers me!
jungian9111 2 years ago
very enjoyable!
Werwolf2x 2 years ago
LMAO....this is RIDICULOUS....I mean that in an awe-struck way.
How does this compare in difficulty to Rachmaninoff's 3rd concerto or 1st sonata?
I wonder if even Argerich (who mastered the Rach3) could play this.
Which begs the question - why isn't Marc-André Hamelin more famous? He's really quite an obscure pianist.
1980NewWave 2 years ago 4
This is definately harder than Rach3, and is the most pre-modern piano piece other than Mereaux's etudes. Some modern, atonal music is more difficult than this.
Argerich never played Alkan, but she is an incredible pianist and I'm sure she would be capable of playing this, although probably not with Hamelin's speed and accuracy (her interpretation might actually be better). Hamelin's technical skill is inhuman.
llamasownyou 2 years ago 5
@llamasownyou ...and there are no parts where the pianist can relax. Immense difficulties on almost every page. 121 pages. The first movement i think is one of the greatest pieces of musical architecture ever penned. This piece can easily stand next to any piece of the Romantic movement. I totally agree with you. Can you imagine walking on stage and having to confront this piece. I would damn near soil myself.
brianCIM 1 year ago 2
@llamasownyou i know of only one other pianist who could achieve this clarity. Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli.
brianCIM 1 year ago
@brianCIM don't forget stephen hough and yuja wang.
Aul1kki 1 year ago
@Aul1kki Stephen Hough is one of the best pianists on the face of the earth. I heard him in recital several years back and not only was the playing amazing, but he answered questions from the audience for about an hour. He had to get up at 5:30 AM to catch a flight to Minneapolis and he was so gracious and humble. have you heard "The Piano Album". Amazing! His Dohnanyi Capriccio completely blows every other recording out of the water. it took me many an hour to master it!
brianCIM 1 year ago
@brianCIM yeah, yeah, pretty amazing guy! Though so is hamelin.
Aul1kki 1 year ago
@brianCIM
I prefer Raymond Lewenthal's Dohnanyi Capriccio, not as technically polished but much more raw (perhaps because it was live).
Interestingly enough he was a Nyiregyhazi fan...
And interesting story: when he was in his youth and had just finished playing in a competition, he spoke about Alkan to Nyiregyhazi , who promptly went to the piano and played the fastest and clearest first movement of this Concerto for Solo Piano Lewenthal had ever heard.
RabidCh 1 year ago
@RabidCh is it on youtube? i definitely must hear this.
brianCIM 1 year ago
@brianCIM
If you are referring to Lewenthal's Dohnanyi Capriccio, yes.
You also might want to hear the one by Lympany, despite limited sound quality.
RabidCh 1 year ago
@brianCIM - have you listened to Hough's performances of the Hummel A-minor and B-minor concertos? brilliant.
1980NewWave 1 year ago
@1980NewWave yes i own the recording. A supervirtuoso who is actually a good MUSCIAN. Quite a rarity these days.
brianCIM 1 year ago
I agree. His performances of Alkan, Rubinstein, Gershwin, Henselt, and countless other composers; They are of the same caliber as names like Richter, Horowitz, Ashkenazy, Cortot, Rubinstein, Kempff, Gilels, etc.
Lukecash12 2 years ago
@1980NewWave he doesn't play famous tunes
mukeshcuster 2 years ago
F*** Ravel and Islamey. This piece is my Ferrari F40 - nitrous and turbocharged.
Great Piano used in this recording too.
Jim341046 2 years ago 7
lol
i agree
Kraviotho 2 years ago
A player piano would explode trying to play this piece the way Hamelin does it.
mdeonx16 2 years ago 7
you're so right. :D
listenwhatisayoh 2 years ago
Did Hamelin sell his soul to the devil for musical talent, or did the devil sell his soul to Hamelin for musical talent?
mdeonx16 2 years ago 60
This has been flagged as spam show
What? That doesn't make any sense. Did Hamelin sell his soul to the devil for musical talent, or did the devil sell his soul to Hamelin for musical talent?
lordsummat 1 year ago
Seeing the score and hearing his seemingly effortless playing helps me understand the towering virtouso Mr. Hamelin is...clearly one of the greatest pianists of the 21st Century.
ChesterFanningChorno 2 years ago 2
Higher difficulty =/= better piece.
However, this is a piece that I love, not for its difficulty, but for its sound.
Grayfog 2 years ago
I just noticed that the fingerings of the second-to-last measure indicate it to be played as a scale, but everyone just does a glissando.
llamasownyou 2 years ago
Yeah because it's easier
addeex1 2 years ago
Truly, it takes a monster of the caliber of Hamelin to give such an amazing piece the performance it deserves.
One of the most ridiculous pieces I've ever heard, Liszt can eat his heart out.
SilentViolins 2 years ago 2
I looooooooooooooove it !
COCOONFABULA 2 years ago
Why is no-one commenting on this? It's still the most amazing recording on You Tube. Nothing has changed!!
Jim341046 2 years ago 2
..can I also point out that 94 notes are played in the right hand between 2.29 and 2.35. That is very close to 16 notes per second.
Jim341046 2 years ago 18
@Jim341046 You don't say! :)
tomekkobialka 2 years ago 5
OK you're not to shabby with the maths. I'm just advising those that are. Here's a teaser for you. I was born 25th April 1973. Can you tell me the day of the week I was born without a calculator?
Jim341046 2 years ago