The Hardest Piano Piece Ever Written

Stop what you’re doing and listen to the hardest piano piece ever written

By Elizabeth Davis, Classic FM London

Sorabji’s Opus Clavicembalisticum is thought by many to be the most difficult piece ever written for piano – it’s well beyond most pianist’s abilities.

image: http://assets9.classicfm.com/2016/33/opus-clavicembalisticum-sorabji-1471449566-article-0.jpg

Oh and it lasts for FOUR HOURS. So there’s that.

But one pianist, the legendary and unique John Ogdon, made this piece his calling card.

Here's John, deep in concentration at the piano:

image: http://assets.classicfm.com/2016/33/john-ogdon-1471449746.jpg

One YouTuber has combined John’s legendary recording of Sorabji’s completed ridiculous work with the score – so you can both see and hear the number of notes actually involved.

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Maybe the Hardest Piece of Piano Music Ever Written

We think this might be the hardest piece of piano music ever written

By Daniel Ross, Classic FM London

Pianists everywhere, prepare yourself for possibly the most demanding piece of piano music ever written. *gulps*

image: http://assets1.classicfm.com/2016/25/kaikhosru-shapurji-sorabjis-opus-clavicembalisticum-1466433188-article-0.jpg

This is a section of the score from Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji’s Opus clavicembalisticum. It’s hard to pronounce, but even harder to play.

image: http://assets.gcstatic.com/u/apps/asset_manager/uploaded/2016/25/kaikhosru-shapurji-sorabjis-opus-clavicembalisticum-1466431796-custom-0.png

For a start, it lasts for over four hours in total, spread across 12 movements. That would be bad enough if it was dead easy to play, but of course, it’s much worse. It’s  a fiend.

Don’t let the first bar fool you - here’s the opening movement:

And here’s the final one, about which the composer himself wrote: “The closing 4 pages are so cataclysmic and catastrophic as anything I've ever done—the harmony bites like nitric acid—the counterpoint grinds like the mills of God.”

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