If any of you fellow pianists desire to play this masterpiece of a song but are discouraged by the complexity and appearance of the sheet music, don’t be. My wonderful piano teacher helped me decipher this piece, and showed how logical all the parts are. First of all, you should obviously be using both hands for the kind of phrases found in the beginning. Also, most of the piece follows scales that repeat the same notes going up and down, the scales just change throughout the music. Most of the piece is not hard as if you inspect each “difficult” section like the part around the middle before the scale change when everything goes down, you’ll find all the patterns and tricks Liszt used to compose the piece. Good luck to all you pianists learning this intimidating piece!
@Devin Belver I would definitely recommend you watch musicians that play with an overhead view of the hands, such as Rousseau and Paul Barton for this piece. Just sit down with the sheet music in hand and take notes while making observations. It might be boring, but it will pay off for all the time you won't have to spend fiddling around with fingerings! :)
I learned this (very badly) as a 17 year old right before I entered music school, I even performed this at a recital by memory.... re-learning 7 years later & I still find it extremely difficult. But totally worth learning... multiple times over my life time. Maybe when I am 80 years old I will play it half as beautiful as this recording...
I remember the first time I heard this I made a new friend and she was a very skilled pianist and she began playing it and literally 2 seconds in I was blown away and completely mesmerized it's one of my most treasured high school memories
Marc-Andre Hamelin, one of the greatest pianists of our time, playing the music of one of the greatest pianists of ALL time. And this is LIVE! Beautiful music wonderfully played. Thank you for posting this!
You know the music is extremely beautiful, when the sheet is looking beautiful as well. Just the first pages, you can see how perfect this left hand is...
One of the most beautiful strings of thoughts anyone has ever had. Such music and the contemplation that comes along with it is, IMHO, a gift from God.
I have been listening to this piece whenever I need to calm down. When I listen to this piece, I don't need to think of anything else or daydream. The music itself generates a heavenly moment. It brings me peace. No, I'm not a mystic.
I have loved this wonderful piece my whole life, but Hamelin makes me think I have never heard it before! Melting gold and sparkling diamonds. Amazing ...
I just created a youtube account and the first thing I did was come to this video so I can like it. A great performance of an even greater composition. Liszt definitely got it right by naming this piece "A Sigh". I don't know about you guys but I always find myself sighing at the end of this piece because of the sheer beauty i just heard.
The German 6th chord after 1:52 always gives me chills. You can hear it echo throughout the entire cadenza. What an astounding interpretation by Mr. Marc-André.
Thank you for posting with the sheet music, it makes listening so much more valid. I wanted to play this, before I realized there were three staves...Maybe 7 years from now or something.
@BNstudios1 Ideal fingering depends on ur hand size and shape. I use 5321 for the left. Someone with smaller hands might use 5212. Ideal is what's ideal for ur hand.
@ShinichiKudou2008 It is a for a lot of the piece. What you do for the beginning bit and the rest with that same general theme going on is that you alternate which hand plays the melody. Left plays while the right does the upper half of the arpeggio and the right hits the melody while left plays the lower half of the arpeggio. You'll notice this if you check out the direction of the stems
Yes, but it wasn't written. And it doesn't sound like an alternative to what is written, it sounds like a bit which has been added on. Perhaps a different edition?
Ben Emberley "Liszt also wrote down... the following mysically hovering conclusion with major triads on each of the six degrees of the descending wholre-tone scale... to be performed ab lib. in place of the conclusion in the principal text."
I'm usually not a big fan of Hamelin when he plays pieces that require lots of colors, rubatos or long lines of melody (for example Debussy). And yet, this is one of the best performances I've ever heard in my life. I guess I stand corrected about Hamelin.
Exactly. Most piano teachers push their students to continue on doing what they love in college and for the rest of their life. The piano exams are what makes a student stand out when applying to a conservatory or university. They help students get into college so they can continue with music for the rest of their life. That's the main reason all the piano teachers I know push their students to take the exams. And as you said, they help students find challenging material that will benefit them.
@TamaNewb @tangycheezexists There is sustain pedal used. Most professional scores don't include it because specific instructions for how to pedal is very amateurish.
at 1:35 I feel that the pianist somehow clips off the very high notes or he/she somehow plays all of those high frequency notes at the speed of light, because they are clearly missing. other than that, great performance.
How long do you think it would take me to learn a piece of this caliber? The most difficult piece i have learned up to now is Beethoven's Sonate Pathetique Mvt. 1. If this piece is a bit out of reach for my level and experience, what would you guys recommend for me to learn? I self teach now since i don't have enough time because of school. (I passed ABRSM grade 8 with distinction last year, if that gives approximate experience representation)
To give you an idea of the difficulty of this piece's difficulty compared to the pathetique, this makes pathetique look like a piece written for a two-year-old. However, idk when you would be able to play it because I don't know you or what other pieces you are currently studying.
+Jaqueline Nazareth Pereira I know, I wasn't stating that the sonate pathetique is more difficult than the Etudes. I was simply saying that the pathetique is the most difficult piece i have played thus far.
+TheFishGoesRoar This piece looks & sounds extremely daunting but once you get started, you will find the piece isn't that difficult other than the odd section. After completing my grade 8, I then completed my ATCL the following year, after that, this piece took me around half a year to learn & perform. It is definitely possible with consistent practice :)
Liszt at some point composed an alternate ending that extended the chord progression 4 measures from the end. I think that the alternate version can be found in the Liszt collection edited by pianist Earl Wild for G Schirmer.
omg can't believe this is a Canadian pianist. Also something about the melody of the song during the first part of the song sounds very east asian, which is interesting because this was performed in tokyo! Amazing performance.
I almost like his writing here as much as I do Il Lamento, and his sacred works. Definitely, this set of etudes is one of the most composed sets written by the maestro.
Yes, in fact the average diameter of a piano key nowadays is roughly and inch and a half. give or take. Back in the day, piano keys were only half an inch, requiring a specialized hand contraption to play. It was only though mastery of this contraption that one could prove virtuosity.
what version does Hamelin have? because he plays extra notes there on the couple last bars. Was he just improvising there? does anyone if anyone know what publisher he is playing from that would be greaat
I don't understand which part is the title and which part is the composer's name. Liszt Three Concert Etudes S.144 No.3 "Un Sospiro" (Marc-Andre Hamelin) Someone please help
Hmm. Actually you right. I've just started this masterpiece 2 weeks ago. Just one week after the comment. If you memorize the hand moving and arpeggios, it's not actually that hard. La campanella seemed impossible to me, and sure most of pianists thinks in that way. But after working on huge jumps, now i can play it %70-80 speed...
34 people don't understand that if we are to ever reach for the stars and discover anything beyond this planet for ourselves we will be doing it listening to classical music.
My grandson has a great talent, he also is none yr old and has been playing for 10mos. He has been accepted into competitions and now is 4 levels under ARCT. I hope all of you enjoy life and always have hope ❤
@CziffraTheThird I have the solo Alfred sheet music for this piece and it includes, in addition to the regular ending, both the alternate, whole-tone scale based ending that Hamlin plays here and a slow, chordal section that would be inserted after the second cadenza, right before measure 53.
Particularly for virtuosic pieces like this one, technique is especially important. It's not for beginners in piano, it's for concert pianists and people who've been studying piano for an extended amount of time. However, you're right in saying that passion is needed for music. Without passion, there'd be no message to the music, the pianist would just be part of the machine. Levels are so teachers can assess how technically advanced you are. Not how musical you can be.
@dave8ization It's the optional ending Liszt wrote. So for some reason, the music that's shown in the recording has the first ending, Hamelin instead played the second ending. I like the second ending better. :D
![Hamelin plays Liszt - Un Sospiro [HIGH QUALITY]](/img/n.gif)
If any of you fellow pianists desire to play this masterpiece of a song but are discouraged by the complexity and appearance of the sheet music, don’t be. My wonderful piano teacher helped me decipher this piece, and showed how logical all the parts are. First of all, you should obviously be using both hands for the kind of phrases found in the beginning. Also, most of the piece follows scales that repeat the same notes going up and down, the scales just change throughout the music. Most of the piece is not hard as if you inspect each “difficult” section like the part around the middle before the scale change when everything goes down, you’ll find all the patterns and tricks Liszt used to compose the piece. Good luck to all you pianists learning this intimidating piece!
thank you!
Yonaseen
Many thanks to you!
most important tip: jump around, don't twist your wrist
Thank you!
@Devin Belver I would definitely recommend you watch musicians that play with an overhead view of the hands, such as Rousseau and Paul Barton for this piece. Just sit down with the sheet music in hand and take notes while making observations. It might be boring, but it will pay off for all the time you won't have to spend fiddling around with fingerings! :)
Probably one of the best musical compositions ever made by the man.
..and played by man as well ~!
koalah Beaeur972
IO meant played by a human .."by man" .. not by Liszt personally
I learned this (very badly) as a 17 year old right before I entered music school, I even performed this at a recital by memory.... re-learning 7 years later & I still find it extremely difficult. But totally worth learning... multiple times over my life time. Maybe when I am 80 years old I will play it half as beautiful as this recording...
@screamingpiano Yeah right. You'll play it like a sloth
@@ronaldregan7388 damn dude
I believe you can do it
Lol
@@ronaldregan7388bruh
This just brought tears to my eyes. Literally one of the most beautiful compositions of Franz Liszt. So so beautiful!!😭😭😭😭
same
I remember the first time I heard this I made a new friend and she was a very skilled pianist and she began playing it and literally 2 seconds in I was blown away and completely mesmerized it's one of my most treasured high school memories
Did anyone ask?
If only you met a linguist.
@@MildSatireno one asked for your opinion either, yet we are forced to suffer your vitriol.
@@MildSatirelol
This is absolutely one of my favorite Liszt compositions of all time. Gorgeous!
MrNeilsy I know, me too!! This piece literally has me in a wreck right now from crying so hard, out of joy! 😭🎶Loved it!
Listening to Liszt's compositions always makes my heart ache. In a good way, of course.
Hamelin is that rare pianist that can make me hear a thousand new things in a piece I thought I knew completely...
Thats a very accurate definition for Hamelin!! Totally agree
**Sees beginning** Oh, this isn't too bad!
**Sees B Section** NOPE BYE
Story of my life
Never expect a liszt piece to be easy
Justin S. Only easy Liszt are consolations and liebestraum
+Bennett Lee and that's why they sound kinda nice compared to most of his other works
a lot of list's late works are pretty easy to play.
Even the sheet is nice, seems like a drawing.
It looks like a piece for three hands. Top line student, bottom two lines teacher.
🤣
... The last line of sheet music doesn't correspond with the actual part. Hamelin play's Liszt's alternate ending, you have the more common one.
kinglollypop87 Ok, I kept rewinding questioning my ability to read sheet music. Thank you for the clarification.
Thanks for the clarification. For a moment I thought I can’t read notes👌😅
@@BettyAlexandriaPride, I did, too! Glad to have the question answered.
Marc-Andre Hamelin, one of the greatest pianists of our time, playing the music of one of the greatest pianists of ALL time. And this is LIVE! Beautiful music wonderfully played. Thank you for posting this!
This piece is on my dream list.... *sigh
Dream Liszt...
+Franz Liszt The puns are real
un sospiro = a sigh
Sum Yung Gai omg
you guys are pathetique
You know the music is extremely beautiful, when the sheet is looking beautiful as well.
Just the first pages, you can see how perfect this left hand is...
One of the most beautiful strings of thoughts anyone has ever had. Such music and the contemplation that comes along with it is, IMHO, a gift from God.
*gift from Liszt
Credit otherwise bestowed would be a disservice.
I have been listening to this piece whenever I need to calm down. When I listen to this piece, I don't need to think of anything else or daydream. The music itself generates a heavenly moment. It brings me peace. No, I'm not a mystic.
Ten years later, I agree.
I have loved this wonderful piece my whole life, but Hamelin makes me think I have never heard it before! Melting gold and sparkling diamonds. Amazing ...
It almost sounds like a harp with just the piano playing the top part. Its so methodical and beautiful.
one of my friends has self teached himself for 9 years now and he plays this song so perfect it really is just beautiful
great story
*self-taught.
very moving
totally true story, i totally believe.
C'est la meilleure interprétation que j'ai jamais entendue. Très intense et poétique.
Just lovely, and thank you for including the score in this fine presentation.
I just created a youtube account and the first thing I did was come to this video so I can like it. A great performance of an even greater composition. Liszt definitely got it right by naming this piece "A Sigh". I don't know about you guys but I always find myself sighing at the end of this piece because of the sheer beauty i just heard.
Lol
The German 6th chord after 1:52 always gives me chills. You can hear it echo throughout the entire cadenza. What an astounding interpretation by Mr. Marc-André.
Liszt was one of the best of his day... without a doubt :)
Perfection doesn't even come close to describe it.
this song is the definition of tranquility
I’ve been listening to this on repeat, I can’t get it out of my headdd
This is gorgeus. It feels like a dream
How do you even do that! My fingers, aaaaahhhh!!!
It is with a lot of practice and experience. I am about to play this piece even though I am 13 but their’s a lot of practice to do like I said
And most of all, the pianist is MAH...
I absolutely love this piece. The first time my piano teacher showed me I never forgot and now I wanna learn it
Thank you for posting with the sheet music, it makes listening so much more valid. I wanted to play this, before I realized there were three staves...Maybe 7 years from now or something.
It’s been 9 years. You’ve gotten to this piece yet?
@@Aaron-ou5mw lol Im
curious too
11 years later….give us the update my brotha
13 years, how it going?
the first time I heard this I fell in love and now I'm learning although I know I will never be able to play it as beautifully as this!
@BNstudios1 Ideal fingering depends on ur hand size and shape. I use 5321 for the left. Someone with smaller hands might use 5212. Ideal is what's ideal for ur hand.
OMG!!!I'm totally in love with this beautiful piece😍☺❣
Tunefull and experimental - love it. Years ahead of it's time.
thank you so much for posting! :D
Truly breath taking great performance from Hamelin.
i'm too lazy too pull up the sheet music, which ending is this? (its not number one)
Wow I never knew this piece went so crazily difficult in the middle. Thanx for uploading!!!
I’m getting the feeling of Melancholy and nostalgia when this is being played.
i learned this when i was 11.... im still proud of myself
3:00 gives me chills... gosh so wonderful o.O!
is this piece played by only one person??????
simplemente hermoso
@ShinichiKudou2008 It is a for a lot of the piece. What you do for the beginning bit and the rest with that same general theme going on is that you alternate which hand plays the melody. Left plays while the right does the upper half of the arpeggio and the right hits the melody while left plays the lower half of the arpeggio. You'll notice this if you check out the direction of the stems
Beautiful piece!
The Pianist didn't play what was at the very end??
Ben Emberley There is an ossia. Which is this. (I think much better)
Yes, but it wasn't written. And it doesn't sound like an alternative to what is written, it sounds like a bit which has been added on. Perhaps a different edition?
Ben Emberley "Liszt also wrote down... the following mysically hovering conclusion with major triads on each of the six degrees of the descending wholre-tone scale... to be performed ab lib. in place of the conclusion in the principal text."
Yup.I have noticed.Different ending.
omg! I love this! yay! thanks for posting.
An awesome etude!! An amazing composition! And very well played!!
Hamelin's cadenza's are my favourite, always imaginitive.
Hamelin’s interpretation and technique are unmatched. Un sospiro sparkles in his hands.
this is so good..
I'm usually not a big fan of Hamelin when he plays pieces that require lots of colors, rubatos or long lines of melody (for example Debussy). And yet, this is one of the best performances I've ever heard in my life. I guess I stand corrected about Hamelin.
To be able to play thisb would be such an overwhelming self experience. Lot of ways like Lebestraum.
This song is called..."A Sigh."
...now I know why.
-Rene
Exactly. Most piano teachers push their students to continue on doing what they love in college and for the rest of their life. The piano exams are what makes a student stand out when applying to a conservatory or university. They help students get into college so they can continue with music for the rest of their life. That's the main reason all the piano teachers I know push their students to take the exams. And as you said, they help students find challenging material that will benefit them.
@TamaNewb @tangycheezexists
There is sustain pedal used. Most professional scores don't include it because specific instructions for how to pedal is very amateurish.
Who on earth has big enough hands to play the the bass chord in the left hand,the final chord of the piece? Beats me!
Rachmaninov ;)
two hands for bass and then alternate hands cross to hit the top notes.....
Is amazing to be able to hear such "impossible" thing!
a little part of me just died, this is simply amazing
I agree. I also like the Ronald Jenkees approach also which is to have fun most importantly
so beautiful i feel that some tears rolling down soon
at 1:35 I feel that the pianist somehow clips off the very high notes or he/she somehow plays all of those high frequency notes at the speed of light, because they are clearly missing. other than that, great performance.
He or she probably just touched the key, but did not press down.
That's the three-hand-effect for ya. Mastered illusion. Fun stuff.
How long do you think it would take me to learn a piece of this caliber? The most difficult piece i have learned up to now is Beethoven's Sonate Pathetique Mvt. 1. If this piece is a bit out of reach for my level and experience, what would you guys recommend for me to learn? I self teach now since i don't have enough time because of school. (I passed ABRSM grade 8 with distinction last year, if that gives approximate experience representation)
To give you an idea of the difficulty of this piece's difficulty compared to the pathetique, this makes pathetique look like a piece written for a two-year-old. However, idk when you would be able to play it because I don't know you or what other pieces you are currently studying.
I don't think that sonate pathetique is Harder than this Liszt's Concert....
+Jaqueline Nazareth Pereira I know, I wasn't stating that the sonate pathetique is more difficult than the Etudes. I was simply saying that the pathetique is the most difficult piece i have played thus far.
+TheFishGoesRoar This piece looks & sounds extremely daunting but once you get started, you will find the piece isn't that difficult other than the odd section. After completing my grade 8, I then completed my ATCL the following year, after that, this piece took me around half a year to learn & perform. It is definitely possible with consistent practice :)
I learn this piece now and before I studied the lieberstraum 3 of liszt and i think you should studied this piece !
my favorite
this piece is so great! i just finished learning the notes, but its a hard piece to polish up!
Anyone got the sheet for the alternative ending by Hamelin?
Liszt at some point composed an alternate ending that extended the chord progression 4 measures from the end. I think that the alternate version can be found in the Liszt collection edited by pianist Earl Wild for G Schirmer.
La ultima parte no concuerda, lo que toca con ésta partitura...pero fuera de eso, es hermosa, muchas Gracias=D!!!
omg can't believe this is a Canadian pianist. Also something about the melody of the song during the first part of the song sounds very east asian, which is interesting because this was performed in tokyo! Amazing performance.
The piano is known for how it makes people feel, I repeated this feeling over and over lol.
MY WORDS EXACTLY! :D
I have the same problem. I can also only make an tenth on the white notes.
I'd love to see my fingers grow just an inch longer..
I almost like his writing here as much as I do Il Lamento, and his sacred works. Definitely, this set of etudes is one of the most composed sets written by the maestro.
wow i have to find a song for a powerpoint by Franz Liszt. But because of this and Hungarian Rhapsody No.2, I think I can get into this music.
So which do you think is harder this or Les Jeux d'eau a la ville est.
speechless
Yes, in fact the average diameter of a piano key nowadays is roughly and inch and a half. give or take. Back in the day, piano keys were only half an inch, requiring a specialized hand contraption to play. It was only though mastery of this contraption that one could prove virtuosity.
what version does Hamelin have? because he plays extra notes there on the couple last bars. Was he just improvising there? does anyone if anyone know what publisher he is playing from that would be greaat
I don't understand which part is the title and which part is the composer's name. Liszt Three Concert Etudes S.144 No.3 "Un Sospiro" (Marc-Andre Hamelin)
Someone please help
One simply listens to his Totentanz to know Liszt was a very powerful composer capable of multiple emotions simultaneously.
Hmm. Actually you right. I've just started this masterpiece 2 weeks ago. Just one week after the comment. If you memorize the hand moving and arpeggios, it's not actually that hard. La campanella seemed impossible to me, and sure most of pianists thinks in that way. But after working on huge jumps, now i can play it %70-80 speed...
Probably the most moving pieces Liszt composed. What an amazing talent this Listz is!
@korlock3000 Yep, that's why it's a concert etude. Beautiful, and educational in technique at the same time.
34 people don't understand that if we are to ever reach for the stars and discover anything beyond this planet for ourselves we will be doing it listening to classical music.
Beautiful, just beautiful. I love it.
That was beautiful
My grandson has a great talent, he also is none yr old and has been playing for 10mos. He has been accepted into competitions and now is 4 levels under ARCT. I hope all of you enjoy life and always have hope ❤
@oranghilanghati No sir, there is an alternate ending based around a whole tone scale, which is the one that Hamelin plays :)
@CziffraTheThird I have the solo Alfred sheet music for this piece and it includes, in addition to the regular ending, both the alternate, whole-tone scale based ending that Hamlin plays here and a slow, chordal section that would be inserted after the second cadenza, right before measure 53.
3:00 is probably the most beautiful music ever created I'm the history of the human race imo
whats the ideal fingering for the first 3 left hand bars???
1:34 basically this is magnificent
Also big heart fosters perseverance, and hence discipline. Grades, in my experience, instigates passing instead of learning
@Jim341046 Historically liszt was said to have hands that could cover an 18th
@damgoodballers He's playing an alternate ending that Liszt wrote, a far superior one at that.
@e4e5sf3sf6 no he didn't. Lizt offered two versions for the ending, but it's only printed in a few sheets. Hamelin is playing the second one.
Particularly for virtuosic pieces like this one, technique is especially important. It's not for beginners in piano, it's for concert pianists and people who've been studying piano for an extended amount of time. However, you're right in saying that passion is needed for music. Without passion, there'd be no message to the music, the pianist would just be part of the machine. Levels are so teachers can assess how technically advanced you are. Not how musical you can be.
One measure at a time
@oranghilanghati Nah. Just an alternate ending that Liszt composed later. Sheet music for it is floating around somewhere...
such a gorgeous piece
@dave8ization It's the optional ending Liszt wrote. So for some reason, the music that's shown in the recording has the first ending, Hamelin instead played the second ending. I like the second ending better. :D
Thanks, I did wonder what was going on.