If Mozart`s concerto is an easy piece how come every professional is required to play it on every audition he or she takes. Panels probably wouldn`t chose an easy solo for the worlds best players to all try out on would they?

PS Mozart is a classical (classical period) composer. So romanticizing the concerto would probably offend some listeners.

I will second Bryan regarding the Mozart. The older I get the Mozart gets harder and harder. As a high school student, I was concerned with getting the notes. That came pretty easy. In college it was tinkering the technique. Now that I am a grad student, the darn piece is harder than ever. One missed or flubbed note just kills the whole thing. When I was in HS, the Mozart was the easiest piece, or so I thought. Now every time I play it it is a serious challenge. It comes with maturity.

Westlake, I will second you on the Lefebvre! I think I have a recording somewhere of him performing a piece. It is amazing at the fluid technique those guys had. You can def. see the influence on Bonade and his students.

What Dmitri said about the Mozart is very true; it`s not the notes that make it difficult, the piece is technically quite easy, but that fact that if you do just ONE thing wrong it will stand out.

I still don`t think Mozart is that difficult. I`m sure what he`s saying is true, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and mine is that I can play this "difficult" music with talent and feelings and not screw it up.

I don`t really find it that difficult either, to be honest. I just feel a bit more motivated to play it really well than I do with some other music.

I would have to say that the copeland concerto is very challenging. Like the Mozart the rhythms and notes are not hard but making that piece sing is incredibly hard. Gosh just getting the first note to sound right can drive me insane.

I put myself to shame... it is spelt copland.

The concertoes by these two guys are fiendish!!!

I`ve played the Francaix. I would agree that it`s probably the most technically difficult concerto for clarinet. So many notes, and in the key of B and E Major.

OK... here`s what I think...

I think that how difficult a piece shouldn`t be determined by how technical it is... really. I don`t know if the person who wrote the original message intended to equivicate technical and difficult.

The truth is that many pieces that don`t seem difficult can be more difficult than you think. Recently, I played the Poulenc Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, Movts. 1 and 2. Yeah, this piece isn`t really that technically difficult, just a couple of runs and akward fingerings here and there...

But if you ever listened to a recording of it, you realize there`s so much more involved. One thing is the high notes. Especially in the third movt. are they prominent. And you have to get them to sound pretty in context.

And one thing you will definitely hear is all the dynamic contrasts and the stylistic changes. I`ll tell you, it`s pretty hard to play Poulenc. You have to give all your passion to play it. I mean, in one measure, the music is soft and playful, and the next measure (literally), the music becomes agressive, as if there was an argument between the piano and the clarinet. Another spot in the second movt. is very solemn and melancoly. The next moment, you`re at a forte, and you`re ripping up a double octave A melodic minor scale in 64th notes, as if you`re angry, and can`t take the pain any longer.

Please consider this factor when judging how hard music is. I`m not saying that Poulenc`s piece is the hardest to play, but I`m giving an example of how you shouldn`t judge the music solely on how many black marks there are on the page!

I still strongly believe in what I wrote... but let me tell you that Poulenc`s Sonata wasn`t arranged for band... like I`ve said before, I was just giving you an example!

Les Preludes by Franz Lizst(sp). That gave me( I play the bass clarinet) and the other clarinet section a headache. You should try to play it sometime.

all those songs are easy with this new piezioelectric thumb cushion I found! It cost me $300, but it`s worth it

Like a $300 thumb cushion will help you play the copland concerto or anything else for that matter. Give me a brake.