anyone has a crazy page of music to share?

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pedrodealcantara
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2012 10:54 am

Post by pedrodealcantara » Tue Mar 06, 2012 10:59 am

I'm publishing a book on musical pedagogy. One of the topics is the importance of knowing how not to freak out when you look at a seemingly impossible score. Does anyone have a copyright-free page of actual music that looks laughably difficult to play, for instance at the piano or on a string instrument? I'd like to be able to reproduce such a page on my book. You'll get a free copy of the book, plus acknowledgment! The book is INDIRECT PROCEDURES: A MUSICIAN'S GUIDE TO THE ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE, and it'll be published later this year. Many thanks! Pedro de Alcantara


dvorak888
Posts: 29
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2009 9:55 pm

Post by dvorak888 » Tue Mar 06, 2012 9:21 pm

A few suggestions:

(These are all solo piano pieces)

Islamey: an oriental fantasy - Mily Balakirev
Gaspard de la nuit - Maurice Ravel
Concerto for Solo Piano - Charles Valentin-Alkan

(You should be able to find free public domain versions of all of these pieces on imslp.org.)

The best fit for your needs that comes to mind is Opus Clavicembalisticum by Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji. It's insanely difficult to play (not to mention sounds like complete crap) and certainly looks "crazy" from a purely visual standpoint. I'm not sure whether or not it's still under copyright, but I have a copy and if you want could email it to you.

pedrodealcantara
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2012 10:54 am

Post by pedrodealcantara » Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:07 am

Many thanks for your suggestions. Sorabji died recently, I'm fairly certain his works are copyright-protected . . . it's a pity, because his music (from what I've read on the Internet) sounds sufficiently insane for my purposes. "Gaspard" seems like a possibility, I saw a page in it with enough tonal and rhythmic complications to make one go cross-eyed.

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