The most complex piece of music.

[The Diner]

What is it?

Thanks.

[Florestan]

Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini - Li puntigli delle donne

[DavidW]

What no poll Dave?

[karlhenning]

What no poll Dave?

Hah!

[The Diner]

No poll. Not a poll question.

[MDL]

As a total amateur, I couldn't begin to comment, but aren't James Dillon and Brian Ferneyhough famous for writing the most brain/finger/ear-boggling music around?

Stockhausen's Gruppen, with its three orchestras playing in different but interlocking time signatures, must be a tad tricky.

Right, I'm done here. I'll leave this to the professionals. 

[karlhenning]

As a total amateur, I couldn't begin to comment, but aren't James Dillon and Brian Ferneyhough famous for writing the most brain/finger/ear-boggling music around?

Stockhausen's Gruppen, with its three orchestras playing in different but interlocking time signatures, must be a tad tricky.

Right, I'm done here. I'll leave this to the professionals. 

Well, you're wrong: you have begun to comment ; )

A fine beginning, too.

I understand there is a Xenakis piano piece or two, notated on rather more staves than one normally expects . . . .

[Lethevich]

I believe Xenakis also wrote the first orchestral piece in which every player has a different line.

[ibanezmonster]

I understand there is a Xenakis piano piece or two, notated on rather more staves than one normally expects . . . .[/font]

I think it was one staff per finger or something, meaning 10 staves for piano...

I believe Xenakis also wrote the first orchestral piece in which every player has a different line.

I wonder if this one was Metastasis...


Theoretically, it seems any Ferneyhough orchestral work would be the most complex, although I can't say I'm familiar with any of them...

[ibanezmonster]

Why I say Ferneyhough:


http://www.youtube.com/v/1a7fyKqX5Wg&feature=related

[Todd]

Perhaps one (or more) of Conlon Nancarrow's player piano studies.  Only a machine can play them, after all.

[The Six]

All this craziness with multiple staves and wacky notation is nice, but the emperor of intricacy is still Bach.

[Cato]

You will not believe this, but the Xenakis piece was actually played on the Today Show in the 1970's!

It was of course billed as "the most difficult piano work ever composed."

Sorry, but the pianist's name has faded from the neurons!

And anyway, THIS is the most complex piece of music ever composed:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qADmHaVZ74M -

[canninator]

Well certainly not the most complicated piece ever written, but, Britten's Nocturnal for guitar famously moves to two staves for Section VII (Gently rocking), the Passacaglia, and the coda from Dowland's Come Heavy Sleep due to the density of notes. I'm not really sure why the coda doesn't move back to a single stave but hey ho, whatever. Looking at the score now I see it would be rather busy if not split.

Not to be outdone, Ferneyhough's Kurze Schatten II for guitar is split over 3 staves. Now that score is positively frightening, I just took a look and had to slowly back away.

[Szykneij]

(You knew this had to pop up here sooner or later.)

[snyprrr]

Every Thread should be a Xenakis Apologetics Thread!

[Philoctetes]

I'd wager this:

http://www.youtube.com/v/jk0bgYVB32Q

[Sylph]

(You knew this had to pop up here sooner or later.)

Is anything known about how this was created? An anecdote or something?

[Szykneij]

Is anything known about how this was created? An anecdote or something?

Here:

http://lostinthecloudblog.com/2010/03/

[val]

One of the works that I have a greatest difficulty to understand - and I listened to it several times, in concert and recordings - is the piano Sonata of Barraqué.