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I've most frequently heard :

Po go' re lich

with the accent on the second syllable.

Here\'s Richter\'s Recording


This is not my favourite of Richter's recordings of this work, but it is still very good.

This work has etched a major (or should I say minor ) scar on my psyche. From the very first listen way back when (Pollini and yes he does include the posthumous variations) this piece cut deep and getting to know it even better thru working on it has only deepened it's mark.

Depending on one's technical proclivities, the various variations can be relatively easy to difficult. I could not do (well) without the posthumous variations and recordings that omit them are unfulfilling to me.

This piece makes me cry every time-even just the first bar cuts so deep. I can almost cry just thinking about it; there are times when I can't even listen to it because it's effects are so powerful as to be overwhelming at times. Schumann in the minor is glorious agony.

i recommend the 4 cd set of schumann by wilhelm kempff on Deutsche Grammophon. that's my favourite schumann recording and it's not expenssive. i've heard many recordings of symphonic studies but this stereo recording of kempff is the most elegant of all...

I'm learning symphonic etude op. 13 no. 11, and just wanted to know your opinion about the difficulty of this particular variation. I find it relatively easy technically, but have read comments about the set being difficult throughout. Henle's difficulty for the whole set is 9. Where would you put this particular variation, and which variation is the hardest?

Twenty year old thread here. But someone else just created a new thread asking a similar question. From my perspective the most difficult Etude (not Variation) is #3. #11 is easier to control, but still challenging to play musically. Taken as a whole, the Opus 13 is definitely a 9.

Thank you

A 9 well Schumann is rhythmically very difficult for me. Then all the 9th's and 10ths he loves become hard to play broken and yet do your best to make them sound whole. He along with Liszt have straight forward melodic line's but the harmonies then their execution can give you injuries. Its important to be experienced and also guide your tempos well. So many young pianist play his Transcendental Etudes too fast as per his metronome marking. They may say 120 but they are played at 150-160 and the beauty can be reduced. Claudio Arrau plays Mazeppa at 120 and its outstandingly brilliant while Lim plays it at 150-155 and its no longer so proudly majestic. Liszt wrote 42,24 finger for the measures 10+ and Lim plays them 4231 and 1324 because otherwise to play at 155 would be potentially injurious but it also loses the horse galloping affect Liszt wanted for this Etudes horse riding effect.

This work is for advanced players. In UK, this is for fellowship diploma exam. It also occasionally gets appeared in major piano competitions.

I like Pollini's playing most.

There are 5 additional variations, and exploring how pianists put none, 1, 2, ..., all of them into the work (sequence) is quite interesting.