I don`t really care about the hardest piece, that`s highly open to opinion, but what about the fastest piece, or the fastest passage in history, what about that? That could be vaguely interesting to hear

Possibly Revolutionary Etude...maybe...but i look for it...

I take that back....Alkan`s Opus 39 Concerto for Solo Piano. In the first movement, for example; there`s that repeated sixteenth-note section that not only requires every single note to be as articulate as possible, but also is played at the speed of 60 per dotted half note. The first and third movements are to be taken at inhuman speeds as well; much of the first movement is to be taken at 160 per quarter note whereas the third movement is to be taken at 100 per quarter note.

Not sure, but definitely not the Revolutionary Etude. There are tons of pieces faster.

Have any of you played/heard Sabre Dance? That songs pretty dang fast!

well technically any song that has a quick glissando down 4 octaves... I know what you really mean though. It`s pretty hard to say considering I have not heard every song ever written but I reckon it will be by listz or someone like that.

I just listened to that alkan piece, it isn`t the fastest by a long way.

and i thought "bumbleebee" was fast...

what about Sonata No. 14 C# minor, Op. 27/2 (Mondscheinsonate) movement 3 by beethoven?

okay....i guess this topic is pretty silly...everyone has their own opinion. and of course no body really knows. try searching google...see if they can come up with anything at all.

Alkan must be the fastest composer. Try listening to Alkan`s `Comme le Vent`. It makes Flight of the Bumblebee look quite pedestrian.

The problem is that with piano more than just about any other "speed instrument" is that pieces can and are written at very very slow beats per minute. In Jazz or Metal, the beats per minute almost always start at 120 per minute, wich is probably the defacto standard of modern music. But in piano, it is common to have a piece written at 60 beats per minute (or slower!). Needless to say the amount of notes per second must be compared at similar bpm to have any useful comparison. By the way, 32nd notes at 120 bpm is 16 notes a second. 16th notes at 120bpm is only 8 per second. And at 60 bpm, a 16th note solo is only, you guessed it... 4 notes per second. So it would help if the people posting in here would mention the bpm, as well as the note rate. (8th, 16th, 32nd etc.)

I dunno, but I guess it would have a BPM greater than 600 (Bartok Suite Op. 14). Ok...I don`t think it was intended to be played that fast, but that`s how I did it. Nobody cared.

I`m with Rob. It depends on the tempo and rate speed.

I believe that Pasqalinte in G minor is the quickest song that was ever performed on the piano.