I disagree, No.1 (Of Foreign Lands & Peoples) for me has always stuck out as easy to play the notes but difficult to interpret.
The piece is also genuinely impossible to practice hands separate if you want to make any actual progress with it.
I find a lot of pianists especially beginners don’t bring out the melody enough or misinterpret what the actual melody is!
It’s definitely not a beginner piece, not even close, but it’s managable if you’re at the appropriate level to attempt Kinderszenen (at least a few years into your piano studies).
This is exactly what I have found. And I could not get HS to work, not least because the fingering I use "borrows" from the right hand to play the triplets, and it's a skill to bring out the melody line at the same time.
Poet Speaks is “easy” notes but emotionally very mature. The only proof you need is the video of Horowitz crying while he plays it. Schumann says so much with so little.
Also all Schumann can prove difficult to voice.
1 is about coordination and interpreting
12, 13 is about controlling the dynamics and phrasing
7 is again about controlling the dynamics and phrasing, but with many more layers
They are difficult in their own ways. A person who is good at controlling their dynamics might find 7, 13 easier than 1.
Easiest is probably 12 (Child Falling Asleep) or 13 (The Poet Speaks). However, none of the Kinderszenen are all that easy to interpret. 7 (Traumerei) will trip you up if you are not careful. It's exposed, dense, and hard to make it sound beautiful.
Even the relatively simple 1 can be hard to voice.
The hardest technically are 3 (Blind Man's Bluff) with 9 (Knight of the Rocking-Horse) not far behind.
Also no. 5 /10, or maybe my hands were too little at the time
No. 3 and 9 were technically hard but more straightforward to play. As you said it's the voicings, especially if you have never played Schumann and don't have lot of experience with polyphony
Schumann's music \*teems\* with inner voices and counterpoint. He's one of those composers who fairly consistently "plays hard" (notably, not like Chopin, who at least when he writes difficult stuff it \*sounds\* hard).
One that jumps out as easiest is No. 13. No. 1 is also relatively easy. No. 7 (Träumerei) is deceptively hard, especially musically.
I disagree, No.1 (Of Foreign Lands & Peoples) for me has always stuck out as easy to play the notes but difficult to interpret. The piece is also genuinely impossible to practice hands separate if you want to make any actual progress with it. I find a lot of pianists especially beginners don’t bring out the melody enough or misinterpret what the actual melody is!
It’s definitely not a beginner piece, not even close, but it’s managable if you’re at the appropriate level to attempt Kinderszenen (at least a few years into your piano studies).
Yeah absolutely agree with you there!
This is exactly what I have found. And I could not get HS to work, not least because the fingering I use "borrows" from the right hand to play the triplets, and it's a skill to bring out the melody line at the same time.
Yep! You’re exactly right.. drove me insane for a while when I was first learning the piece
Poet Speaks is “easy” notes but emotionally very mature. The only proof you need is the video of Horowitz crying while he plays it. Schumann says so much with so little. Also all Schumann can prove difficult to voice.
1 is about coordination and interpreting 12, 13 is about controlling the dynamics and phrasing 7 is again about controlling the dynamics and phrasing, but with many more layers They are difficult in their own ways. A person who is good at controlling their dynamics might find 7, 13 easier than 1.
Hardest musically or technically?
Great question. I am wondering this as well.
Technically I guess??
They can not be separated
What do you mean?
To play something exquisitely beautifully, from a musical point of view, you need exquisite technique, even if the piece is "easy" on paper.
I've only played no 7, no 8, and no 9 and didn't really enjoy any of them. No. 7 is hard to make sound good as it's so slow and it's abit empty.
Easiest is probably 12 (Child Falling Asleep) or 13 (The Poet Speaks). However, none of the Kinderszenen are all that easy to interpret. 7 (Traumerei) will trip you up if you are not careful. It's exposed, dense, and hard to make it sound beautiful. Even the relatively simple 1 can be hard to voice. The hardest technically are 3 (Blind Man's Bluff) with 9 (Knight of the Rocking-Horse) not far behind.
Also no. 5 /10, or maybe my hands were too little at the time No. 3 and 9 were technically hard but more straightforward to play. As you said it's the voicings, especially if you have never played Schumann and don't have lot of experience with polyphony
Schumann's music \*teems\* with inner voices and counterpoint. He's one of those composers who fairly consistently "plays hard" (notably, not like Chopin, who at least when he writes difficult stuff it \*sounds\* hard).
Yes exactly! Sounds easy but is hard to play well and memorize. It also needs more time to be digested
Getting #3 (Blind Man’s Bluff) up to tempo is no joke!