Alkan Grand Etude "Hands Reunited" Op 76

[LongtomBacon]

This is really good but his demeanor is so douchy 

[harpsichording]

The sequencing and repeat structure sound like something J.S. Bach might have written if he were a high romantic composer... And a sadist.

[harpsichording]

How to make any musician feel jealous and inadequate:

Step one: Get musician.

Step two: Be seated at keyboard.

Step three: Do that.

[pianoman0341]

get it issac. how come your ass never comes to cu anymore?

[hanstopo50]

Man, that's AMAZING...

[badnewsbearer]

TUNE THE FREAKIN PIANO!

[Botchlae]

25 people do not like repetitions.

[CBasie2856]

This video never gets old, i like seeing speedy fingers

[Forteklapek]

I do not believe thate people play it.

[outterspaces]

This was awesome, man! Hamelin... who? :)

[bethanylovesdan]

how big are your hands

[bethanylovesdan]

sheet music???

[OriginalBasaliskos]

"It's still recording, you're going to have to cut it."

haha, guess not.

[chutdigadut]

that piece is just stupidly difficult..... WTF Alkan, why were you such a dick?! Congrats on being able to get through that bullshit. Extremely impressive

[OrangeSodaKing]

@chutdigadut It's very difficult, but it's not much worse than some of the difficulties Chopin's etudes throw at you (Op. 10 No. 2 for example!) I have been flirting with this piece and it is extremely easy to read, learn, and memorize the part. The only tricky part is speeding it up. On top of that, many pianists exceed Alkan's metronome mark of 160. Now, if you CAN play it faster, by all means, go ahead! I really like Bogdan Czapiewski's playing of it a lot.

[offcenteredpotter]

this is just amazing. awesome.

[cammywatt95]

3:37 - 3:50 my favourite bit

[wamadeus]

hey did you record the audio with the camera? sounds weird, but great!

[wamadeus]

how much time did you spent studying that piece?

[phantomxr]

the piano is not out of tune!! but your ears are out of tune to the speed of the piece !!who cares if the piano is off tune (which it isnt) no. you have to practise this piece quarter speed, turn every semiquaver into a quarter note and go slowly!! you cant learn this piece at a blistering pace , muscle memory rules O,.K.

[pianolvr09]

hot DAMN isaac that was amazinggg!!! i'm proud to have been on staff with you =) remember me when you're famous. or at least re add me as your facebook friend. whore. roflcopter.

[wborgstro]

MARVELOUS. A tuned piano would help stir your performance toward perfection. Bravo.

[4bimmers]

Amazing playing....nothing hotter than Alkan, and you're just the handsome man to play it. ;-) Tell me you're single.......

[micheldvorsky]

excellent stuff! congrats on the performance!

[Huffinearts]

Wow you've got chops bro: but the piano is poorly tuned so, as music, it was difficult to enjoy.

[SiK0Fuzz1es]

For Christ sake. o_O

[funfor1life]

This is humiliating for any pianist! :)

[jamesh625]

around 3:20 it sounded like Chopin's Aeolian Harp etude...

[NOSEhow2LIV]

Really enjoyable, and humorous (mis)start. The fact that some passages are a struggle add to the excitement, rather more than a perfect performance would. Spitty the piano's badly out of tune altho it doesn't make so much difference in this kind of SONG,(sorry, can't resist it, the idea of anyone singing it just cracks me up!).

[davicello]

thousand notes ....and where is music??

[cammywatt95]

holy shit

[FranzLisztian]

What kind of grand is that?

[lovesGenet]

Busoni chose Alkan over Scriabin.Either man seems to have unhealthy minds one furthered music while the oher just wrote alotta notefast "junk" i adore much of his work but its like this immature desire to move da fingers faster amd make fff of bad piano tone.  This is wht u do when you dont have the judgement and taste whole body technique ,ear for color,pedalt know how to play a Mozart andante .Sure twiddle fingers!Even yo pets recognize da difference!

[twooffour]

Yea, Alkan just wrote fast notes.

...

[OrangeSodaKing]

Have you not heard the Symphony for Solo Piano, the Nocturne in B Major, or the Chants? They're wonderful pieces of music to complement etudes like this one here.

[wborgstro]

I believe you must have the strongest wrists and fingers in the business. This was incredible. Never heard of this piece before, and I see why------no one wants to tackle it !!

Bravo on a wonderful piece of music.

[asdlkfjghklawuieg]

Bravo, very good. I really want to have the score of this piece.

[rukashawn]

wow

[pptcl]

--O--

[xpo186]

incredible!

[AnaSilvana]

really good!

[chutdigadut]

lol this does NOT look easy at all....WOW

[HjalmarGuitarMaster]

I think this is really good!

[RicAbapo]

wow! nindota oy!

[theBARman1312]

all i have to say is WOW

[colanthony]

fucking brilliant beyond belief

[EASYTIGER10]

Oh really! If you're going to post something on youtube, at least make it something technically challenging.

:o)

[twooffour]

Holy shit, Hamelin's HR2 cadenza pretty much exactly borrows from 2:53-2:58... it fits so well into that context, and has a different harmonical meaning above that (T instead of D).

Awesome :)

[pangaea611]

holly crap isaac this is fantastic! my friend from paris conservatory put in on facebk :)

-Anna

[Zebeldarebel]

Virtuambidextriosity!!!

[BuckshotLaFunke]

Stunning!

[f1f1s]

3:36 - 3:49 - bravo!! I wish I could maintain both hands as you do!

[lovesGenet]

One of my teachers gave me scherzo of Prokofiev second concerto as a sameossianotes n both hands music bu this is even better without the awkward stretchesthough the music is less interesting!

[SilkweeshughFilms]

u r a beast

[Xcelerate2]

that's gotta be so fun to play!

[Botchlae]

nice lamp !

[pslogge]

Congratulations to the pianist. All the best for his carreer. I do not find much music in Alkan's compositions. They need virtuosos, the market is full of them, maybe one day they are going to be replaced by computer musical execution programmes. A constructive approach in this kind music would be to give to this brilliant, 'show off' score a purpose of existence, find the nuances in it. Thx jpbracey for bringing my attention to this video.

[bowmanlz]

your funny

[jpbracey]

fucking stud playint!!!  jp

[Chieko98]

"did i fuck that up?".......omg....

my friend has the sheet music for this piece and i am just scared of it...

[Lortagreb]

You should see the sheet music for stockhausen's klavierstucke

[thunderbellyemm]

that was insane.

AMAZING!!!!! wow! awesome job!!! XD

[fanguism]

Youtube is invented for videos like this

[Und1ne]

wow epic

[ElSeventhSon]

holy jesus dude it was just awesome, you must be getting laid like a rockstar (but then again, I don't think you play because of that)

[DeltZKinetiX]

5:40-5:42 epic few seconds, wish it was made over a longer time period progression

[oscarconroy14]

That's amazing! Do you have the score for this? Could I please have it?

[DarkRaimundo]

Call the piano-firemen!!

[michael18276]

my ear is bleeding to this..

[Galaor1976]

that's the irony!

[pookiehohn]

I love how he can't remember if he's played it twice or not. Too good.

[ipvac1]

yours hands seems Berezowsky hands

[JlDsanity]

anybody got a hold of the sheet music to this song??

[oscarconroy14]

I do, but it isn't very good quality.

[kastlesucks]

I can Give anyone sheet music if they want it

[JlDsanity]

Kastlesucks: do you have the sheet music to this piece? may a have It please?????????

[kastlesucks]

Sure, just send me your email,

WARNING: the sheet a bit tough to read but easily learnable.

This applies to everone else

[TruNikkaz]

i want it lol

[kastlesucks]

just give meyour email

[visionfugitiva]

Hey congratulations for such effort! great results!!...you-re gifted man!, please if you have some time check my videos, Id like some feedback from you, great job!

[codonauta]

Why all these flags of the Brazil in the left side of the room? You are from USA, as I could read in the informatin in your channel.

[codonauta]

Believe me. All those flags in the left side of the room are of Brazil. There are almost 10 of them.

[nl25c]

hell yeah do your thing, great job

[codonauta]

Are the 2 hands in octave all the time in this etude?

[BRUTAL01x]

Bloody fucking hell, that my friend is soooo fucking epic, so precise with the notes from 1:25 onwards, wow, truely stunning and inspiring. As a few have said, I'd pay to watch you mate.

[jtandangie]

can u teach me or make a tutorial video because i can read notes but not tht good because i learn better by watching some play plz

[solbap]

aldebussy- U ARE JUST jealous, u cannot play this piece, so u get offended, and its just a typical example of someone who is unable to watch someone as talented as isaac,,so go and do something constructive like learning this piece urself, thats the way u can avoid posting envious and thoughtless posts, dont be a child!

op.76 hands reunited is doubtless a very difficult piece to learn...BUT THE FUGUE ON ALKANS ANS30 QUASIFAUST OP.33 IS INSANE, AND JUST FOR CALIBERS LIKE HAMELIN, NUFF SAID

[skeptikulo]

Esse abajur na cara do pianista... deve incomodar pacas.

[eduardosteppenwolf]

amazing, i don't have words you are a great musician good job!

[alexmanzo19]

really nice!!!!!! where could i get the music sheet? Congratullations guy, its incredible what you did.

[anonymousQ45]

i didnt know jocks play piano. good job

[Androslav]

so gaddamn good !

[S2HVU]

I'd pay to hear you preform. Luckily, Youtube is free!

[shubus]

This piece is very difficult for small hands to play--I can span only a 9th, but yours are sure up to the task! Isacc, tell us what prep work you did in that year prior to learning this.

[orlandirafael]

I'd like to know the answer to that question too, because that's the same thing I was looking for. Some preparation pieces or even other alkan works to archieve your level (even if that's impossible). I can reach only a 9th too, unfortunately.

[JShawtyKim]

We have the same lamp, freaky. :o

Nice playing.

5/5

[faith543]

dude u r so great, i love melody what is the name of the song !?

[terryregnar]

my heart will go on - celine dion , read the freakin video name maybe?

[pianoman1974]

Isacc. that blew me away. i have been trying to increase my speed for years and i cant seem to get anywhere. any suggestions for me. oh, i love the fact that you've got a piano that size in your room. my fiancee and i found it very amusing and very cool. brilliant piano work. greetings from scotland.

[Isaacholbrook]

thanks!

[aardvark2468]

how long did it take to learn this song?

[Isaacholbrook]

This piece took me about a month to learn... but about a year of a lot of practice. Its a really fun piece to play

[mcshymenator]

Mad Skillz Man

[aardvark2468]

i'd love to get my hands on the sheet music.

any suggestions?

[chrisjordan83]

this video is soooo ghetto... I wonder what happen to that piano. The bass sounded so good on it. When are you ever going to have a 9 foot piano in a one room apartment? you must have been high and drunk when you played this. Cause it sounds unbelievable still!!! I can only try to play it this well. but you might see it soon...

In the words of the best Alkan player I know...

faster, faster, faster.....

[regiear1991]

Nice! Do you happen to know any of Alkan's op.35/39 etudes?

[anonymousQ45]

this makes beethoven look like amazing grace!

[PhoenixFlowerSophia]

You shouldn't make such comparisons. The fact that it is faster doesn't make it of higher quality. Beethoven has different kinds of difficulties. (Not that Alkan was bad or of low quality.)

[anonymousQ45]

yeah iknow i was just messing around. it was a joke. beethoven is awesome.

[moneyjr1122]

piano souds out od tune but great playing XD

[talonboy5432]

I hate Alkan because he's hard to play...Ironically enough I like him because of those technical demands

[mdeonx16]

44,444th view XD

[Lukecash12]

You have pretty fair technical skill, but i see no genius in the phrasing, dynamics, or tone. But i don't mean that as an insult, you are probably either still polishing up on that piece, or the piano was out of tune and the tone suffered. i still am fairly confident that there is no individuality in the either the phrasing or dynamics.

[zealot32167]

This sort of sounds like cpe bach's solfeggio

[123eldest]

1:28

[ManWithManyShurikens]

that was just awesome!

is left hand playing same notes as right? looks like it :3

[123eldest]

insane^^ good job!!

[Skygrapped]

Chopin etudes are nothing against Alkan

[llamasownyou]

Is it just me or is this etude pretty much copied from Chopin's 10-4?

Still awesome though, just noticed that.

[grdiii]

Must be you.

[highlatitudes]

you rule

[88alan8800]

sick dude. get ur piano tuned lol

[e57uard0]

Thats a very good etude, meybe Ill learn it! 5 stars.

[TruNikkaz]

way sick dude

5 stars

[neophilla]

im amazed!

[heidiqi]

This an excellent performance. Just look at the volo-city of the piece. Do you no how to play 'Allegro Barbaro'? I think hardly anyone can play that. Anyway, hardly anyone are able to play Alkan's pieces!!!

[mukeshcuster]

I'm a bit of a newcomer to the Alkan world, so correct me if i'm wrong but that was absolutely incredible!!!!?

[gadabout11]

Magical! Thank you so much for this. :)

[rach90skrjabin]

how much time did you spend on this etude?

[hedgehod]

great job! bravo!

much better than the soulless hamelin version of this piece

[Malaka57]

3:00 is such a typical Alkan moment.

[Raffzeee]

it is isn't it. it is very similar to a similar part of chemin le ferr.

[Malaka57]

and a little bit like the second motif in the 1rst movement of the Concerto. Alkan is really immediately identifiable. Unique language.

[prandtastic]

Its always the people who don't look like pianists that are the best. I know that's a generic statement but I just felt like saying it. Take it with a grain of salt

[Achtelnote]

on every video i watch i can find comments like yours.why dont you write comments on things you understand.

what do you mean with "But it's clear that you can't play [P]iano!"?

many of this stupid comments come from young americans like you.i think the bad education of americans is a true case.

[Obakedake]

Awesome playing!! Great piece!

It almost seems like your hands are separate from the rest of you at that point. As a previous poster mentioned... You just PLAY. Great job, great skill! Bravo!!

[moneyjr1122]

i wish i could play one of alkans songs

[Malaka57]

There are some very simple ones.... the Barcarole or Vision

[mvs1312]

yes u can play his last equisse! pretty easy and good!

[teoakinyel]

nice piece. good job.

your best parts are when you bring out the contrast between adjacent parts so maybe more stark contrasts. but very impressive. this inspires me to learn some alkan or finish what I sort of approximated ha.

[phantomxr]

if you practise hard and long enough,anything is possible,you will struggle thats for sure,there will be times when real tears will flow,and then the elation when it starts to come together,as Horowitz once said "After many hours of practising i look down at the keyboard and see my hands playing this tremendous piece but they are not my hands, its just a figment, of my imagination and my imagination is greater than any pianist alive today."

[ink24571]

somebody's voice in the background reminds me of my friend Tariq from James Madison Memorial High School

[VerdeBrilliante]

Simply awesome.

[DonFrankos]

damn that´s insane!

[regiear1991]

EXCELLENT!! Bravo on your performance :).

[fabioso82]

Well said pianolise!

[BlackMasterJoe89]

wow thats a little harsh, dont you think?

[picalib]

you are really crazy.how can you play such a piece?

im playing f.e.chopin op.10no.4,5,8,12,op.25 no.2,12,and its really hard for me,but i think all this pieces are easy for you.

how long did youd need to learn it,i mean in this tempo.

and why dont you make any mistakes:)

5 stars

[tourquenoise]

super j adore cette etude je vous ecoute tous les jours je vais essayer de la jouer ca sera bien sur moins vite thank you very much ALEXIS FROM FRANCE

[Galaor1976]

MAN, I'd give my left arm to play like this!

[Galaor1976]

BREATH TAKING

[mvs1312]

yea its like an exercise because this etude has 3 movements

1 mov: Left hand only

2 mov: Right hand only

3 mov: Both hands

[Isaacholbrook]

Aww.. somebody got a little sand in their Va-JJ cause their technique sucks?? :(

Chill out pianolise.

[remyrem12]

Don't listen to this idiot.Trust me, Isaacholbrook, your technique is fine.I would know, I'm a professional pianist.

[Isaacholbrook]

yeah no joke- not on that piano...

[martinstrabal]

U have to check ur technik in ur right hand, isn't ok, I really like to hear some other piece! I think u r a great pianist ;)

[picalib]

technik isnt ok?....blablabla.you would not be able to play so long,so extreme difficult,so fast,so clean and all without any mistake if your technik is not nearly perfect.

youre are really silly.

[Lionno31]

Oh My Good !!! gg !!

[RobertJV24]

Amazingly played man! Love the camera work too, it follows the hands real good. :-P

[ExVash]

Dear god!! Why is it that everything Alkan wrote was virtuoso, vitriolically so even?

[OrangeSodaKing]

ExVash, you should listen through all the etudes in the major keys Op. 35. Some are quite lyrical ;)

[remyrem12]

That was fucking brilliant!I'm learning this song now and I will be using your version as an inspiration.

[Rach3Freak105]

I very much enjoyed your playing. All I have to say is pay more attention to dynamics. The pianissimos sounded like fortes to me. Otherwise, great job!

[christianroccard]

omg wtf hax

six stars

[Svaple]

wow..

[mrvexingparse]

i don't have the sheet music for this but are there major dynamics in the piece? i can't seem to hear them.

otherwise. it's exquisite.

[morphasesystem]

One of the things you'll find with many microphones is that they compress the sound they recieve; or in other words, make soft sounds louder, and loud sounds softer, so unless they're using studio equipment, it's hard to judge dynamics.