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Kathleen,

I've created a short improv of Chopsticks, with a distinctively Chopinesque emphasis. Trouble is I cannot play it well enough to record. I usually play the music in my head and then "learn" it at the keyboard.

Dear Greg:

As Mr. SH would tell you...you are missing the point. (I did the same thing. I actually started writing down some music. A real No-No!)

Supposedly, while it may be in your head, you have to get it on the keyboard as best you can. You can have some "ideas" on what you would like to do, but that's it. No crib notes allowed.

Even if there are some hesitations (I had several while my mind tried to figure out what might sound good, next.) And even those sour notes are allowed. I am so glad of this.

So get thee to the keyboard when you have a chance and go for it. Put the red dot on and just keep playing until coming "close" comes out. Remember this is an experiment, and what experiment ever turned out perfectly the first time around?

And thank you so much for keeping me company in my misery. Although I am certain your Chopsticks will sound good enough for the concert stage compared to mine.

My best,
Kathleen

Good Morning All:

Have any one of you noticed the number of threads now going on in the ABF about Chopin?? Wow! I can't remember ever seeing so many at a glance. A few study groups and some questions about chords and mazurkas, etc.

It brings a smile to my soul to see it all. I think we're getting out there to so many. And I hope that you will help in encouraging these people by answering their questions or posting a comment, whatever. If they see that they are getting some response from us, maybe even more people will start posting.

There is a question about a mazurka that I need to respond to now.

Hope you all are well. I had a sick day yesterday...eating my own cooking. Now I have to postpone recording my prelude for a few more days.

My best,
Kathleen

Yikes! Not fun- would you care to share with us what happened, so we won't make the same mistake?

Speaking of cooking, does anyone know what Chopin's favorite dish was?

Favorite dish? I suppose his mother would've known and maybe George Sand. In his letters he fondly mentions black Polish bread, gingerbread,
chocolate, coffee, Rhine and tokaj wines. He was known to like milk and ice cream and carried caramels in his pockets as a boy.

Kathleen,

I don't work like that with compositions. If I have to "fake it" on the fly, it means something has gone spectacularly badly wrong. So I suppose I am disqualified from Mr. S-H's challenge because my brain works differently.

The # of Chopin-related threads - quite encouraging isn't it? A piano music renaissance perhaps?

Woohoo to Hersh!!

Hey gerg, I was going to mention the same thing. Kathleen (and all others sharing on this thread) .. made more people interested in music and Chopin in particular. And we can all notice the eagerness for practice in the ABF with the huge number of threads.

Notice how passion can affect people.

Kudos to Kathleen and the rest of the gang!

Hi Chardonnay: Actually, I ate some left-over fried rice that we ordered out...from last Saturday. I said it was my cooking because I actually had to warm it up in the microwave. That's my idea of cooking. Wow! It is so good to feel good. And I will NEVER eat rice again.

Frycek: I do have so much in common with Chopin (ha!). His love for chocolate and sweets just makes him more endearing to me. And dark Polish bread. There is an old Polish saying: "The whiter the bread, the sooner you're dead." I guess that didn't quite hold true for our hero.

Greg: I "practiced" about 5 days before I could do that "improv." Kind of funny, :p for it certainly wasn't off the top of my head.

Bassio: You have been all over the place today, and I am so glad you landed on the DtC thread. I know I say this many times, but we certainly miss our regulars, like you and Sotto Voce, and Ragnhild, and Hershey (oh my gosh, my memory is giving out :rolleyes: ...well, you know who are.)

It's it something how Chopin has made so many appearances lately. Couldn't happen to a nicer or more deserving guy.

Best to all,
Kathleen

You can download lots of free music here.

Free Music (lots of Chopin, too)

I downloaded all of Chopin's 17 Polish Songs. Hard to find. And they don't look that difficult.

The link is from another thread.

Kathleen

I was just reading a book called "The Scottish Autumn of Frederic Chopin" by Iwo Zaluski and Pamela Zaluski. It's interesting but a bit sad. It says he appreciated the Scottish salmon and game - but I don't know what they base that information on.

WELCOME RAMONA:



Just what we need...another expert (or great researcher) on Chopin.

I also find it hard to believe that Chopin would like salmon and game (ugh!). I get the impression that he could very easily have lived on bread, chocolate and a bit of chicken (white meat, of course) once in a while. I think his stomach was very sensitive, and meat (in my opinion) would have upset his delicate constitution.

I recently ordered and finished "Chopin...His Life and Music" by Jeremy Nicholas, who is noted, principally, for being the biographer of Leopold Godowsky. Mr. Godowsky was famous for reinterpreting Chopin's etudes. Ala new techniques and variations.

Much of what Nicholas has written has been written before, and he often quotes other Chopin biographers. I guess the big difference is that the book comes with two CD's that are to be played when he specifically mentions particular Chopin compositions in the text. Sort of gives the book a bit more depth, I suppose.

Some information that I hadn't read before (and I always have that grain of salt handy whenever I read anything about Chopin) is that Julian Fontana comitted suicide 20 years after Chopin's death. I found this rather sad. In fact, I found the whole story about Fontana rather sad. I have to admit that I was angry with him for not honoring Chopin's wishes about destroying all his unfinished works. But then I read that he did publish them with the approval of Chopin's sister and family. So...? If he didn't publish those pieces, we would have never heard them. So, again???

Also, I remember posting the question why Chopin never dedicated anything to a member of his family. Well, according to Mr. Nicholas, Chopin did dedicated a piece called "Lento con espressione in C sharp minor" to his sister, Ludwika, published in 1875. I haven't heard this piece, that I recall, but I will look through the recordings that I have. Maybe it's never been recorded.

More trivia (again, according to Mr. Nicholas,) was that whole silly thing about the mind-reader finding the money that Jane Stirling left. The whole thing was a hoax put on for whatever reason.

And then a tidbit about Jane Stirling. She really had her sights set on marrying him, but Chopin said that she was too much like himself. (Now what does that mean?) What was it about her personality that so resembled Chopin's? He also said (among other things) that it would be "like kissing himself."

More later,
Kathleen

Did she look like him?

Funny...there could have been a very slight resemblance. Both had blondish hair (although I think hers was blonder and longer.) They were about the same stature. But she had money, and he did not. And he could play the piano; whereas, she did OK, but certainly not up to the master.

Kathleen

Their noses were similar.

Frycek: From the prints I've seen of her, her nose didn't stand out as being a bit large. She had a very pleasant face from what I remember.

Boy, I would really like to know why he thought she was so like him? Maybe that's why he wasn't attracted to her (you know, opposites attract, ala Sand). And Jane was 100 times better looking thatn Sand although I am not that certain if she was so intelligent. Maybe Chopin thought their intellectual ability was about the same.

I don't know, just guessing.

Kathleen

Congratulations to Hershey! I check his website every few months to see if he's added any shows. I would love to see M. Chopin!

Last night I went to a Chopin Society concert that was great. It was a benefit for a school, so it was very child-friendly (not in the kids-running-around way, but in piece selection). The pianist, Piotr Folkert, was excellent and played a nice selection of pieces from Chopin and others. It was narrated by one of our classical radio hosts, and he told bits about the composers' lives, especially Chopin. The pianist played the Andanta Spiniato/Grand Polonaise in E Flat, the Nocturne Opus 9 #2, Berceuse in D flat, and the Poloniase in A flat Opus 53. In addition he played Mozart's Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star Variations, Bach's Jesus, Joy of Man's Desiring and May Sheep Safely Graze, and ended with Rhapsody in Blue. All that, and it was only $20 to get in! I took my three boys, and it was just enough concert for their age (11).

The next Chopin event involves a Piazzoforte Quintet. I'm not sure what that means, but the pianist won the Internatioal Chopin Competition in the 90s, so I'm sure it will be good.

Nancy

Nancy: That sounds so super that I am afraid I will have to tell my husband of 42 years that his wife has decided to move to GA. But he is certainly welcome to join me if he wants.

How super that you have such wonderful cultural events, especially for children and especially about the piano and naturally, Chopin. It is so important that children are exposed to the classics as early as possible and giving them a look into each composer's life makes it even more enjoyable and meaningful, for then the composer becomes a real person who actually was once a child just like them and who created something truly wonderful that has lasted for hundreds of years ( ..long sentence.)

I don't think Hershey is going to add any more Chopin this year. Buy hey, there is always NEXT year, and maybe you can also catch the Beethoven.

Regards,
Kathleen

Good early morning to all:

I am not going to be around for a couple of days. I have a date with the red dot and recording my prelude. But I wanted to add something I read about one of the mazurkas (you are aware of the mazurka thread, right?).

It's about the 17/4, "one of the best-loved and with good reason....Von Lenz records that 'Even in Chopin's presence we called it "the mourner's face" --he was quite happy about this name.' (Eigeldinger. p. 74)" from Eleanor Bailie's book

Now from what we know of Chopin, this is somewhat of a revelation (if it's true, of course). But it did come from the book most consider a very accurate account of Chopin...from his pupils, etc.

Anyhow, just thought I would throw it in, for what's it's worth.

My best,
Kathleen

Just another quote from the book mentioned about, regarding Chopin's burial place in Paris.

"A visitor to Pere Lachiase today will find Chopin's grave adnorned by a marble monument designed by Clesinger. It is situated in a crowded enclave near the Carrefour du Grand Round that also provides the last resting places of Cherubini, Bellini, Herold, Nehul, Gossec, Pleyel, Charpentier and Pierne. Their tombstones are silent and empty. Chopin's, no matter when you visit, is adorned with fresh floral tributes."

It brought a lump to my throat reading this.

Kathleen

An eerie little note about Chopin's plot: Chopin attended the funeral of his friend Camille Pleyel's mother. Pleyel cried in his arms. Pleyel's mother was buried in close proximity to where Chopin's grave was later to be. Chopin would have passed very close by his future grave, perhaps he even noted the spot.

They say that even during the dismal days of both world wars that not a single day has passed without flowers on Chopin's grave.