A True Keyboard Duel: Organ vs. Piano

"Mephisto Waltz" by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt is considered one of the most technically challenging pieces for pianists. Pianist and organist Lee Minjun will perform this piece on the pipe organ at Lotte Concert Hall on August 20.

This concert is part of the "Organ Odyssey" series planned by Lotte Concert Hall, which houses the largest pipe organ in Korea, and carries the subtitle "Battle Organ." It is a stage where audiences can compare organ and piano performances in turn. Pianist Kim Kyungmin, a senior at Korea National University of Arts and a close colleague of Lee Minjun, will play the piano.

Lotte Concert Hall "Organ Odyssey"... Lee Minjun and Kim Kyungmin to Hold "Battle Organ" Concert on August 20

The two performers will alternate between the organ and piano, showcasing the unique charms of each instrument. After Lee Minjun performs "Mephisto Waltz" on the organ, Kim Kyungmin will follow with another of Liszt's notoriously difficult works, "Faust Waltz," on the piano.

At a press conference held at Lotte Concert Hall on August 13, the two musicians stated, "Since this concert is in a competition format, we selected technically demanding pieces to clearly highlight the differences between the two instruments."

Lee Minjun arranged "Mephisto Waltz" himself for the organ. He said, "Although it's a difficult piece, I've loved it so much that I've played it often since I was in sixth grade. This is my first time arranging and performing it on the organ, so I was quite worried. However, as I worked to make the organ sound similar to the piano, my imagination expanded, and I found it fun to realize the possibilities of performing such a piece on the organ."

"Performing Both Instruments in a Competition Format... Playing Pieces of High Technical Difficulty"

Although both the organ and piano are keyboard instruments, the way they produce sound is completely different. Lee Minjun explained, "The piano produces sound in a percussive way, with hammers striking the strings, while the organ has a wind instrument structure, where pressing the keys supplies air and opens valves to produce sound." With the piano, sound is produced immediately when a key is pressed, but with the organ, the sound travels through distant pipes, resulting in a slight delay.

He added, "There is a difference in the time lag depending on whether the sound is loud or soft. Loud sounds come out more quickly, but for soft sounds, it takes about 0.5 seconds after pressing the key for the sound to be heard." Kim Kyungmin also remarked, "When I first played the organ last year, I was quite taken aback by this delay. It was confusing because the sound didn't come out immediately after pressing the keys."

Additionally, the organ continues to produce sound as long as the keys are held down, whereas the piano only produces sound at the moment the key is struck. Lee Minjun explained, "With the piano, the timing of pressing the keys is important, but with the organ, the timing of releasing the keys matters more."

In this concert, Lee Minjun will also perform Rachmaninoff's "Prelude" and Liszt's "Liebestraum" in addition to "Mephisto Waltz," while Kim Kyungmin will play Liszt's "La Campanella" along with "Faust Waltz." After an intense musical duel, the two will conclude the concert with a joint organ and piano performance of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.