Super-Virtuoso Breaks Down 9 Impossible Piano Pieces (ft. Marc-André Hamelin)
Marc-André Hamelin breaks down the most difficult piano music ever composed.
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0:00 "Circus Galop"
0:40 Hamelin's tonebase videos
1:51 1. Beethoven - "Hammerklavier" Sonata
3:13 2. Ives - "Concord" Sonata
5:38 3. Liszt - "Don Juan" Fantasy
7:27 4. Balakirev - Islamey
8:50 (Interlude: Slow Practice)
9:34 5a. Ravel - Gaspard de la nuit: III. Scarbo
12:31 5b. Ravel - Gaspard de la nuit: I. Ondine
14:00 6. Rach 3 ("Black Ink" page)
14:46 7. Alkan - Concerto for Solo Piano
15:35 (Interlude: Alkan's Barcarolle)
16:28 8. Busoni - Piano Concerto
17:56 9. Scriabin - 7th Sonata
Recorded Jan 30, 2023 (WGBH Fraser, Boston)
Producer/Editor: Ben Laude
Production Assistant: Sasha Kasman
Videographer: Daniel Kurganov
Audio Engineer: Alan Mattes
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• Website: www.marcandrehamelin.com/
• X: / marcandreham
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Marc-André Hamelin is such a treasure. Besides his obviously incredible abilities, he speaks about music in a way that makes me want to listen to him for hours.
The way he speaks about music and the way he speaks about his wife are beyond touching. He doesn't mention Cathy here but he has in many other interviews. The man is an absolute treasure of humanity, I love him so much.
He's also super humble for someone with his abilities, and that makes him very approachable
Yeah also he is very funny lol
He is wonderful
“No self censorship” is the cutest thing you can say about a composer in either case whether or not you like one’s music:-)…”I find that refreshing” :-)beats the previous line
The fact he decided to go to a tangent just to show how beautiful Alkan's music can get really shows how much he appreciates Alkan, and I find that simply awesome.
And 345k people now know more about Alkan!!
I really loved this part
I love Alkan, and the best interpreter of his work is Hamelin by far. And i have heard many
That story of Rachmaninoff practicing that Chopin étude slowly had me dying. What a great channel.
The original story was him playing the Hungarian Rhapsody 2
I literally laughed out loud at around <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="720">12:00</a> when he is asked, "What is that like" and he just looks at the interviewer and drops it like he's practiced it all day today. Just incredible personality.
The interviewer has to visibly swallow after seeing that performance... look at him ...
Honestly that's what decades of growing yourself in the ways of music and playing the piano can do for you. It's truly your soul that can love the instrument though, and it's clear his does.
HAHAHAH Same Wave Lenght! Here i was thinking OOoOOOOHHHHH!!!! WOW!!!! Anyone else think that was LEGIT amazing! What a display!
Good to see ives, alkan and Scriabin included, not just Beethoven, Liszt, Ravel, Rachmaninoff as always (no depreciation to these amazing composers), great video.
Totally agree! In fact, it would have been nice to include more unknown composers as well, such as Godowsky, Feinberg, Szymanowski and some others. Especially considering this is based on difficulty…
@@advikthepianokid4583 Don't forget about his original compositions. I rank Hamelin's piano pieces as highly as my very favorite pieces by Scriabin, Feinberg, Sorabji, etc. His "Twelve Etudes in All The Minor Keys" album on Hyperion is an absolute must own, it's my favorite set of etudes of all time, hands down. #12, the A-flat minor etude especially.
He has pioneered the recording of so much incredible music that might have otherwise been entirely forgotten by history.
@@kingconcerto5860Sorry I totally forgot! And yes you’re right, his etudes are amazing!
The 3 etudes that make up Allan’s Concerto for Solo Piano comprise one of my favorite pieces of all time, from the first time I was ever lucky enough to discover it many years ago on an FM radio broadcast. That anyone can actually perform it, is a wonder to me. (But I’m not as surprised that Hamelin can!)
The epithet “super virtuoso” is well-deserved in Marc-André Hamelin. He is one of a kind - a true piano wizard; the "Merlin" of piano. It’s like having a conversation with something which shouldn’t be possible.
Yes 🙌 amazing piano machine
Cziffra still >>>
Met him once, lovely guy. And yeah his technique is absolutely uncanny, almost impossibly skilled
If someone asked me who I'd put on a list of "super virtuosos" the first name I'd offer is Hamelin's.
@@thypie He is absolutely a fine pianist, but in technique as well as range of repertoire he comes nowhere near Hamelin
He plays things he played 40 years ago like nothing. Incredible. He truly completely gave himself to music.
My jaw hit the floor when Hamelin admitted to memorizing the Concord Sonata at 13
...by ear!
For real! I started playing guitar around that age and while I was a "natural" and progressed well it took serious dedication and obsession. I can't imagine learning an equivalent on guitar at that age. That's not simply talent, work and intuition; it's gifted.
@@CynHickstheres 12 year olds knocking out Polyphia tunes nowadays. This is a direct result of growing up with KZhead at your disposal 💯
@@poindextertunesGuitar tabs made it easy. And easy to get accurate tabs now not like in the past. Those guys before the internet had to learn mainly by ear. I wanna see those same kids now compose something equivalent. At 16 I learned Eruption by van halen without even knowing where the notes on guitar were.
;)
Calling MAH a super-virtuoso is quite fitting. He legitimately scares me sometimes with how good he is.
Yeah he's singularly impressive. He's polite, pleasant, well-mannered, and totally unstoppable. Even the manner in which he speaks is precise and controlled. He basically made his career tackling pieces that were collecting dust because everyone else was too afraid to perform them. Somehow it wouldn't surprise me if, many years after his passing, it was discovered that he was a hugely prolific CIA assassin.
@@paulmayerpiano his manner of speech makes him incredibly attractive
I put him and arcadi volodos as the best pianists alive today
His live Gaspard is ridiculous and competes with studio versions by even Pogorelich... but he has also explored modern composers, played chamber, we don't realise how complete a musician he was, just the GOAT.
This man is ridiculously good at the piano, I will never reach a tenth of his skill (or handspan lol). But he's also so knowledgeable, eloquent, likable; and I find he even looks better now than in the shown recordings! Amazing production quality on this one, thank you for providing it to us for free :)
His technique and musical understanding are both incredible!
Don't feel bad, I'm still at one finger 80s synth player level.
Lovin' the "impossible" music reference, and this video!
well look who it is
Look it’s the guy who has no idea who any of these composers are
@@LisztAddictbruh 😂
@@ryzikx lmfao
True@@LisztAddict
What a delight and true privledge it is to have this video of Hamelin deposit such knowledge over these absolutely gargantuan pieces!!! Thank you Tonebase piano for bringing him to light once again!
Marc-Andre is a national Canadian treasure. His analysis and technique in difficult piano repertoire is unmatched !
Thank you to Hamelin for breaking these pieces down and thank you tonebase for making this video!
Marc-Andre has developed all of his amazing gifts to the maximum. When one hears him speak of music, it is never from a lofty, privileged position - it always seems to come from a place of profound love for the work in question and a genuine desire to share his fascination with the wonders of composition. And then, he’s so down to earth - forgive the cliché. This is the kind of teacher we would like to see in the world’s great conservatories. A true genius who in my opinion, doesn’t seem to be as impressed with himself as we are!
When he played the opening measures of Ravel's Ondine exactly as he described --- ultra-pianissimo, incredibly even, the melody integrated fully into the texture while at the same time given expressive depth as a melody --- it seriously brought tears to my eyes. Thanks for this video --- it's really well-edited, and it's a pleasure to hear an artist as articulate and "super-virtuosic" (agree) as Marc-André Hamelin talk about his craft in such close detail!
I'm obsessed with these videos. This is the new Medici for me... and it's free! Ben, you surpassed yourself with this one.
Just jaw-dropping😱! I speak of the entire video, but the term popped into my head after the Scriabin White Mass syncopated and irregular LH under quintuplets etc. in RH; and he plays it so beautifully and with ease! I just love how, even with such natural talent and rare brain-power, he speaks of how this piece gave him quite a headache when he was learning it. Hamlin gives off no airs of superiority in these videos. He’s in awe of the music just like all the rest of us are. Many thanks!
Marc-André Hamelin… Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
In Dante's "The Divine Comedy", the spirit of Virgil guides us through the 9 layers of Hell. Marc-André Hamelin now guides us through 9 layers of pianistic torment. A grand tour of piano purgatory that only the best can traverse. Bravo!
I was lucky enough to see him perform the Paul Dukas piano sonata, several works by Faure, and his original work Suite à l’ancienne live last year. Out of the dozens of concerts I've been to in my life, it was by far the most transcendental and surreal of them all.
Ben: This part makes me close the book Hamelin: Why? The chromatic thirds? Ben: Yeah Hamelin: It's easy. Look! Ben (probably) and definitely me: 😐
He's right though. This like those require practice and patience, then you will play them wherever you want wherever you find them. The other examples in this vid are either too specific, like Hammerklavier, or require constant attention, like Scarbo.
Chromatic thirds - in right hand - are in Chopins Berceuse which many non-virtuoso pianists play - I can myself after a fashion.
That pick had me confused as well. Most serious pianists would at some point study Chopin 25-6 and after that you should know your chromatic thirds pretty well.
RH chromatic thirds were a requirement for grade 8 in one variety of Australian piano exams. Once you have the fingering down it's not so bad - of course, bringing it up to a fast tempo with the control of Hamelin is something else, but it's the least scary example from this video I daresay.
A great collection of "impossible" pieces! Hamelin's commentary on these pieces is fascinating and illuminating. Thanks so much to Tonebase for this great video.
Thanks, Ben, for dropping another gem into the mass of KZhead content! Even as a non-musician, I find your videos both instructive and celebratory - breaking down the music and showcasing the talent required to do it justice.
Very entertaining to see such a craftsmen speaking joyfully about these complex works. Quality content.
Thank you very much for posting this. Marc-André Hamelin has contributed greatly to my love of the piano, especially these works of great substance & difficulty. I was pleased to observe that all of them are in my regular listening discography. Thank You very much.
Marc-André Hamelin is a gift to this world. Seriously is there any other pianist out there who can memorize such a quantity of diverse and often extremely demanding works??
Yes
Who? You?
Don't know if any could but also don't know of any that have attempted.
Most concert pianists. I, an amateur, had to memorize 3 h of pieces for school recitals at tye end of secondary school.
@@yetao5801No way. In comparison to MAH most pianist have a smaller repertoire than him.
He’s so calm, and utterly brilliant.
I was fortunate enough to see him play the Hammerklavier just a few months ago in Chicago. I wouldn't say he made it look easy, because that would be impossible, but he was in complete command with a combination of power and grace that was difficult to believe.
What a stunning experience. Got into the video out of curiosity, stayed through it because of sheer appreciation. Thank you!
This is super great, I admire this pianist a lot. Glad to see Alkan included!
Awesome to see Marc Andre-Hamelin on here! Arguably the greatest piano virtuoso of the last 30+ years. He's also devoted a considerable time and effort to exposing audiences to unknown/overlooked composers. I'm especially appreciative of his Godowsky, Alkan, Busoni, and Medtner recordings. Besides his immense technical gifts he's also a superb interpreter of piano music; a player who always knows how to highlight the musicality of pieces rather than the technical fireworks. His Liszt Sonata is one of the most subtle of that amazing work.
not to mention his HANON 'The Virtuoso Pianist' [3-DISC SET]
not to mention his HANON ‘The Virtuoso Pianist’ [3-DISK SET]
It's not arguable, and change "last 30+ years" to "all time".
@@kingconcerto5860 Such things are always arguable, and once you go all-time you're running into other virtuosic titans like Richter, Horowitz, Rachmaninoff, and Rubinstein.
@@jonathanhenderson9422 I hear you, I own a ton of recordings by all of these pianists... However, Marc Andre Hamelin is who I find myself listening to for recreational purposes far more often than any of the other 4 you mentioned.
amazing! kudos to the tonebase team 👏
This is absolutely amazing! Please do it again! I could listen to MAH talking about pianism for hours!
A staggering genius of a musician. Awe inspiring!
If you haven’t listened to Alkan’s Concerto, just take a minute to check out the cadenza, around 6 minutes before the end of the first movement. Absolutely incredible music. Just an impossible onslaught of virtuosity, but brilliant and beautiful, so much more than sheer technical effects. The final statement of the theme in major is one of the most epic and well-earned phrases in the entire virtuoso reportoire.
Most excellent video. Thank you!!! Mr Hamelin comes across as a humble, super knowleageable respectful person. He is alone on the podium👏👏👏
Very well edited! Golden moment at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="443">7:23</a>. Very nice video. Thank you!
Passionnant ! Quelle maîtrise, et sans précipiter le tempo !
Alternative Title: 9 pieces that I will never play
Hammerklavier is approachable for amateurs, Don Juan should be possible for most people too. The rest is sketchy haha
@@jordidewaard2937hammerklavier is certainly not “approachable” I would say not just technically but in terms of musical maturity required to express it but also the sheer lenght
I think we are using a different definition of 'approachable'. I meant that the piece is possible to play in one's lifetime as an amateur if they get professional (classical) lessons. Of course, it is a life goal to be able to play a piece such as the Hammerklavier. I just think the other pieces are fully out of reach for an amateur, hence my comment. @@zerois2801
@@jordidewaard2937I think you meant to say intermediate with a great teacher
@@alexisgoogle1997 What do you mean? I didn't specify a skill level. 'Amateur' is not an indication of skill. I said something like the Hammerklavier is achievable in one's lifetime, of course it requires many years of proper learning with a good teacher, it is a lifetime goal.
Enjoyed this immesurably. Thanky you both.
I grew very fond of Scriabin and his music in the last year and it’s always good to hear it played on such a nice channel. Congrats
That is the best tonebase piano video ever!
Definitely
What an absolute privilege you have provided for us! Thank you!
Perfect mix of knowledge and skills. Merci Énormément M. Hamelin.
really enjoyed this production -- thanks so much!!
He seems like a great guy. I had the pleasure of hearing him play one of my favourite pieces in Dublin a number of years back - Schumann's Fantasie in C. I was mesmerized.
I can't be more grateful for Hamelin to be with tonebase! I hope he can get more recognition this way🥰
Merci pour cette vidéo extraordinaire ! Merci Marc-André Hamelin d'être si généreux!
Excellent. A true joy to listen to. Insights upon insights upon insights.
i love listening to true piano experts talking about gaspard de la nuit. it took me a good three years to get ondine and le gibet down, and i truly don't know if i'll ever get anywhere close with scarbo, but i'm always so happy to hear these pieces get the appreciation they deserve
Shame he didn't talk about sorabji with all his crazy rhythms. I'm very grateful that we have a channel like this, where we can better understand the best musicians of all eras
I think he stopped playing Sorabji a long time ago and claimed that it just isn't worth it
@@pavlenikacevic4976Not exactly, it was more that Sorabji wrote very long music, and he'd rather diversify his repertoire with other music than spend 2 years learning a major Sorabji work. Also for some reason the video creator decided there was no value in including works outside the standard repertoire.
@@pavlenikacevic4976 Luckily we have the incredible Jonathan Powell who is pioneering the most amazing recordings of so much of Sorabji's music.
@@imdarealanialkan, busoni, and ives isn't really standard repertoire tbh
@@SofiAmadeus Very true, Wolfie.
This is so precious, thank you…such humility, wisdom and humor and it’s amazing to see someone with such unreal abilities break things down so slowly and accessibly…makes me almost believe I can do it too. 😅
Fascinating! Thank you.
Simply wonderful!
The genius is apparent. Not many like this walk the Earth. What a treasure. Can't fathom having a superhuman ability like that.
I'd watch hours of this! Great content and wonderful insight!
If only I had been exposed to this wonderful music at an early age! I have never heard of any of these pieces before and I am now only slightly enlightened. I need to hear all of these from beginning to end!
What an awesome, fascinating video, thanks so much!🎹
Marc André is a treasure. One of the greats and inspiring to watch. Love his Godowsky (whom I share a birthday with). Marc's first wife Jody and I share an interest in the performance of Berlin Cabaret music and both Marc and Jody were so attentive and helpful when I was doing performance research for MM in piano and musicology. I also have all of Marc's amazing transcriptions.
So many great insights ! Awesome !
I saw MAH in recital at Severance Hall 2 weeks ago. He played the Ives #2, Schumann's Forest Scenes and Gaspard de la nuit. For encores, he played C.P.E. Bach's rondo and Debussy Reflets dans l'eau. Absolutely epic in every respect. Who else would play a program like it ?
I recently attended one of Mr Hamelin's concerts (he lives in/around my city so I go when I can) and his style is so uniquely recognizable.
Most humble gifted pianist I have ever seen or heard
MAH has such a commanding voice. I could listen to it for hours let alone his excellent playing
Awesome video. Hoping for a part 2 :)
Marc-Andre Hamelin, while not always my favorite interpreter of music, is arguably the greatest virtuoso who has ever lived from a purely mechanical and technical point of view.
great comment dude, couldnt agree more...
That is generally the consensus, but his musicality is something that is heavily underappreciated IMO. He's not just a technician like Lang Lang, and the more recordings (and especially interviews) of MAH that you listen to, the more evident that becomes.
Art Tatum might like a word ...
@@patrickmeyer2598 certainly a personal opinion of yours alone. Tiger Rag is waiting, you must be unfamiliar
@@patrickmeyer2598 These people are clueless, don't even bother trying to make them understand.
The Scriabin was wild. Seems like one of those “Rain Man” abilities. I recently overcame the 8 on 3/4 in the left hand in Ravel’s La Valse and the 5-tuplet over an off-beat 3/4 in Scriabin’s Poème Op. 32 No. 1. Both are child’s play compared to White Mass. The difficulty with those polyrhythms is really the fact that they’re slow, ‘cause when you have to play them faster, they’re easier, in my opinion. That all said, Scriabin’s always seems to be doable after enough tries, so I’m sure Scriabin tested their “doability” out himself before submitting the work for publication. And once you get it, it’s soooooo satisfying. You feel like a circus monkey. Like “Do it again! Do it again!”
Scriabin is the hardest composer I've ever studied. Every piece I've learned by him was a mind fuck in one way or another. I'm currently learning his Fantasie and it's giving me nightmares. 😜😆😆😆 Once I learn it will be the hardest piece I've ever learned. It's not only technically difficult but to bringing out the many voicings played at tempo has been fiendishly difficult for me.
I have a piece I play that forces you to do polyrhythms very slowly. It uses many different polyrhythms. Polyrhythms are actually quite easy to execute. When I started learning them, I could not do 2 against 3. But this piece has never been written down, only in my head...
@@Hervinbalfour Op.28? What an absolute masterpiece.
Glad to hear the Hammerklavier fugue mentioned. EASILY the hardest piano piece Beethoven ever wrote.
about a decade ago a guitar player friend of mine learned piano by teaching himself Scarbo by sight/ear since he didn't read music at the time, a true testament to his pure artistic brilliance!
Amazing! what a talent!
Yes! I was hoping you would include a work by Alkan! Especially since Maestro Hamelin is one of the great modern revivalists of his music. Very insightful video
Hamelin great as always. I especially liked his insights on technique vs mechanics vs musicality in one of your previous videos!
I wonder how much Liszt in his middle/later years would have appreciated a virtuoso like Hamelin. Liszt had virtuoso contemporaries like Chopin, Thalberg but also gifted students who were super virtuosos of their days (Tausig, von Bulow) and even Busoni was a teenager when Liszt was near the end of his life.
Absolutely outstanding content, editing, sounding and everything you could possibly remark on (I guess the level and language detailed expression of Mr. Hamelin is deeply resonating on myself while texting 😅) Hats-off as usual! 🎓🙌 Thanks you so much #ToneBasePiano Your videos are truly inspiration for us music lovers. Such an online treasure!
Super excited to see him talk about Scriabin's white mass sonata at the end there! Hoping tonebase releasing content covering Scriabin's vastly underrated corpus.
Gripping. Awesome beauty. Exciting yet soothing. Please feel free to revisit this theme again, sometime.
I met Marc in New York many years ago and he was a complete gentleman, signed everybodies programs etc. Class act
Thanks for sharing this. It's amazing what humans are capable of, both the performance and the composition.
Marc-André is amazing! His dynamics and tremendous feel for the tempo, makes it sound so elastic and fluid, like the piano is alive. That was far more impressive to me than his crazy gymnastics, although some of that looked painful lol.
Great analysis! Would love to see an episode dedicated to the Busoni Concerto. I do think it's worth exploring further, and deserves a spot in the standard concerto repertoire.
Really great!! I love that it isn’t just romantic virtuosity. However, in regards to impossibility, new complexity must be mentioned (Ferneyhough, Finnissy, Xenakis).
Fantastic - Thank you!
Great professor! How he shakes difficult pieces out of his sleeve!
So enlightening! Bravo!
This person is astoundingly amazing!
Talented people are such a blessing.
Astonishing! In awe Thank you for this video. First time I spotted it and I will be recommending this to fellow pianists.
What a wonderful video presentation ❤
The Chopin Opus 25 #6 is an exquisite piece and though I once played it at mm=138 I really love playing it mm=86 for sheer aesthetic enjoyment and haven't played it fast in years.
I never cease to be amazed by Hamelin, who is kind of my musical hero. Such wisdom, fluency and charisma make him simply the best (for me). And what a delight to see Scriabin’s White Mass on that list. Awesome video!
I've played all those pieces (except for the Alkan) in concert. And I remember tears, cursing, and desperate frustration over many of those passages! I must say, it's very comforting to hear that we're all in the same boat.
I love his sense of humour, just can't get enough of it. Matches his own compositions perfectly!
MAH was the guest of my regional orchestra for a benefit concert. Several ensembles played that day. He had played the Quintet op. 44 by Schumann with the Alcan Quartet and then the Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2. Between his appearances, he was backstage reading a comic book. Truly a virtuoso down th earth, no big ego. Love him.
I'm far from a pianist but as an admirer of the piano literature and getting to know and hear what's out there that I may not have heard before is always dope and valuable educational resource too! Also, didn't know he made circus galop, I thought it was just a meme piece of music that someone randomly made on the internet and floated around on KZhead! The more you know!
Yes... this type of music goes through my head when I just let it rip on the keyboard... but the coordination just isn't there yet... I like watching this type of conversation... very useful... Thanks
great stuff; thanks for sharing. my friend is working on Gaspard de la nuit, which he will play in recital on his birthday in December.
Badass. It's refreshing to hear a high level person talk about rhythm. As a musician who works in the popular music world but comes into contact with musicians in the "classical" world, I hear lots of talk about difficult pieces, but the conversation rarely if ever focuses on the rhythmic aspect, and often when I hear those musicians play while I'm looking at the music I think "what the heck are they thinking" - rhythmically speaking. They're so often not even close to accurately playing the rhythms on the page IN TEMPO.
You would love the work of Edna Golandsky - check out her DVDs "Rhythmical Expression" and "The Forgotten Lines"
He makes it look so effortless 😮
honestly this truly made me step back and remember I need to do hours and hours more of slow practice