# Conquering Beethoven, One step at a time



## caters

I am a very advanced pianist if you don't know already. I have decided that on some days, I will play the most challenging piece by Beethoven that I know of. It will only be on some days because the first movement alone is exhausting even when played slow. No, it isn't a sonata. No, it isn't a concerto either. Let me give you a hint. It is a transcription of one of the most well known pieces. Got it yet? No? Well this will give it away:

*Ba Ba Ba Bum, Ba Ba Ba Bum*

That's right, I'm tackling Beethoven's fifth symphony. Specifically, the Liszt transcription.






I played the first movement of it yesterday hands separate, and believe me, it is hard. Way harder than the Pathetique Sonata hard. But since when has a hard piece stopped me from learning it? Never.

In a way, the left hand is much easier in the first movement. Sure, it is almost all in octaves. But there are a lot of long notes, unlike with the right hand. Even when I play it very slowly, my fourth and fifth fingers of my right hand get quite tense. And it is hard to find a place to release that tension because there are way fewer rests than there are for the left hand.

In the places where a 10th or larger interval is written, in the left hand, I simply double the bass note which happens to get my left hand into comfortable octave position every time. For the right hand, I still need to figure things out. Some of the diminished 7th chords are pretty uncomfortable as well, especially those that have the root doubled an octave higher. So I omit one of the notes.

Do you have any suggestions for finding a place to release the tension? Because my first go at it, looking for rests hasn't really helped, at least not for the right hand. For the left hand though, that combined with the long notes seems to work to release the tension. But the right hand has way more short notes and fewer rests than the left hand.


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## Schoenberg

Although this piece is certainly very difficult, it is definitely maneagable for a very advanced pianist. Although you say it is the most challenging, I would consider it to be easier than some of the other transcriptions and also the Waldstein, Hammerklavier and 28th sonata. I however find it interesting that you compare it to the Pathetique sonata in terms of difficulty although the pathetique is one of the easier/midrange sonatas.

Difficulty aside, the main issue with increasing in tension in this piece is due to the repeated notes and chords that are often played. I do not see many ways of resolving this, though you might want to try putting a slight pause on the first chord of each bar to release a bit of tension there.


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## chu42

Schoenberg said:


> Although this piece is certainly very difficult, it is definitely maneagable for a very advanced pianist. Although you say it is the most challenging, I would consider it to be easier than some of the other transcriptions and also the Waldstein, Hammerklavier and 28th sonata. I however find it interesting that you compare it to the Pathetique sonata in terms of difficulty although the pathetique is one of the easier/midrange sonatas.
> 
> Difficulty aside, the main issue with increasing in tension in this piece is due to the repeated notes and chords that are often played. I do not see many ways of resolving this, though you might want to try putting a slight pause on the first chord of each bar to release a bit of tension there.


Despite the OP's claim that they are an "advanced pianist", I have serious doubts about the OP's ability to play any sort of challenging work at the moment- their only Youtube recording is a very under-tempo Chopin Nocturne and that was only 8 months prior to this post. Furthermore, based on the OP's "analysis" of the Chopin etudes (placing 10-1 as an easy etude without playing it), I highly suspect that the OP has neglected the basics and have jumped straight towards whatever seems most interesting.

With that being said, if the OP wishes to just play piano for the heck of it then who am I to impede their enjoyment? And as to the actual work itself, I would have to agree. The 5th Symphony is not on the same level of the 7th or the 9th Symphonies in terms of technical difficulty, and there is no question that it is easier than the Hammerklavier and some other late sonatas.


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## chu42

If you're at the level of the Liszt-Beethoven transcriptions, you should require no advice on technical issues as basic as tension while playing octaves and such. These pieces were written for pianists with flawless octave technique and supreme endurance. It wouldn't hurt to post a video of some of your playing so I can see exactly what kind of problems you are having in terms of fingerwork.

Otherwise, I would suggest that you leave the Liszt transcriptions be, especially if you don't already have a solid foundation in basic technique. What piece did you work on before playing the Liszt-Beethoven? There are a hundred and one pieces that should be played before the Liszt-Beethoven transcriptions.

And another note: The Liszt-Beethoven 5th Symphony is not Beethoven's hardest work, nor is it Liszt's for that matter. There are still the 7th and 9th Symphony transcriptions of Liszt, as there are the 4th and 5th Beethoven concerti and the later Beethoven sonatas. If you _really_ want to play the hardest Beethoven piece, then you'd have to go with the Sonata No.29 "Hammerklavier"- especially the 1st and 4th movements.


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