Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Chopin's Op. 28: 15th Prelude, 'Raindrop'

Right on wr,

All these dull musicologist chappies with their beady, research eyes vainly searching for some tone poem content (meaning) in the writings of Chopin are bound to come up short ... they just aren’t blessed with a liberal dose of social bonhomie to share the magic.

So maybe Chopin didn’t like his works to be nick-named by the motley ... but forgive later generations from seeing breathtaking images in the playing of his masterpieces ... here for example is what Rubinstein said of the Ballade in F, Opus 38:

"A field flower, a windstorm, the wind caressing the flower, resistance of the flower, stormy fight of the wind, pleading of the flower — the flower lies broken. Or, paraphrased, the flower can be regarded as a country lass, the wind as a knight".

By the way chaps ... I’m presently engaged in a new adventure ... making marmalade.

As a marmalade maker myself, some advice: don't let it stick to the bottom of the pan or it might burn. Just stir now and again. Hey, you ought to be able to do that!

Too late currawong ... while I was out giving my dog a pavement sniff ... blackened bits started emerging ... now I've got the makings of dark marmalade ... but thanks for the tip.

PS On the bottom of the pot ... I think I've invented a super-glue for fixing tiles to space-vehicles.

Perhaps he did have extra-musical ideas about his works; but if he didn't include it in the title of the piece, we have no way of knowing. If we refer to Op 28, no 15 as simply "Prelude, Op 28, no 15," is it any less beautiful?

Our dog-trotting, South African marmalade manufacturer cites Georges [sic!] Sand as an authoritative source for his point of view and then belittles others for finding sources that support their point of view. Double standard is foul play!

Regards,

No, it doesn't make it less beautiful. I wasn't advocating extraneous titles, but just pointing out that Chopin's music may not have been totally abstract "pure" music to the composer himself, but sometimes had specific associations for him.

Yeah! May his marmalade fail to jell!

Maxine, i too just learned this piece, i too took about two months on it( also on interpretation) and my suggestion for you is take smaller steps, and learn something easier. really.

However, if you insist on learning it, practice slowly, make sure the repeating A flat/Gsharp atay even and dont drown out the melody.

Just to let you chaps know that my black marmalade
(alternately super-glue, or perhaps even an antidote for scurvy) is not selling well ... but with half the ingredients over (using a small pot), I’m determined to get back on the bronco.

But in the interim, while reading in my morning bath (sudden chill in the Pretoria air) from Hadden’s "The Master Musicians", I came across these insightful words about Chopin:

"To play him and not sympathize with him — not to have something that spirit of romance that shines out in his compositions — is to court certain failure; and that is why so many players whose talent is chiefly executive have had to give him up and leave him to the appreciation of the far-seeing few."

Must get back to stirring the pot!!

Those 'whose talent is chiefly executive'. I shall remember that all day!

Perhaps he did, but since we don't know, we can't let that limit our performance of the music, or our reaction to it.

The issue is whether the Chopin's fingering should be ignored in order to better imitate rain drops. If he wasn't imitating rain drops (as far as we know), then his fingering should be respected.

How would the fact that Chopin was - or was not - imitating rain drops affect whether or not to choose Chopin's fingering? Or, to put it another way: could I not imitate rain drops using Chopin's fingering? It seems to me that whether one wants to think of this specific piece as programme music or whether one wants to think of it as purely abstract music, the recommended fingering is preferable because it is that which produces the most musical results consistent with Chopin's style of writing.

Regards,

Thanks. Your response is much more logical than mine. I hope it's OK to be logical, lest we be accused of being Vulcans, too?