Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Just for those totally devoted to Chopin

Thanks for the direct quote, Frycek. I am often too lazy to hunt down his exact words. I'm lucky to be able to remember them!

Hi Pevawi:

A hero, in my opinion, is a person who takes on the "impossible" and makes it probable and then possible, and who is dedicated in doing so. So...a hero, you are!

Another book: This one by Konrad Wolff. The book covers several composers and is more of an analyses of the theory and the technique used by these composers. So, it got a little complicated for me.

But in the chapter on Chopin, I came across a few sentences by Wolff that made my jaw drop.

I am paraphrasing here....

**********************

Chopin's music, when looked at intellectually, is French. When looked at musically, is Polish. WHAT?? Does he mean that Poles are intellectually inferior? Has he not heard of Copernicus? Or maybe Marie Curie? Just to name a couple...

Chopin, unlike so many other composers, often wrote about his music in his letters. WHAT?? Chopin hardly EVER wrote about his music. Is he referring to the same F. Chopin, born near Warsaw and responsible for composing the world's most beautiful music for the piano?? :rolleyes:

We are fortunate that a lot of Chopin's belongings have survived. WHAT?? Most of Chopin's things were either lost or destroyed during the wars.

*************
I am at a lost as to how Wolff could make such ridiculous statements. I know he is an extremely well-respected expert in the field of musicology. But I question where he gets his facts about Chopin's life.

Good Grief!!

Kathleen

Well, I guess I got a bit overheated (witness the above), but some days certain things just rub you the wrong way. I'm certain Mr. Wolff is a scholar and a gentleman.

Currently I have learning 5 new pieces: all Chopin. I keep saying to myself that I am not getting a broad enough base, but the other part of myself says: "Who cares?" Since "myself" is whom I play for, then it doesn't matter.

One of the good things about getting old (and there are just a few things) is that one tends to wake up early in the morning, like 3:30 a.m. In the past week I gave up the ghost and decided to use these wee small hours for practicing.

I have to use my digital (don't think hubby would be happy otherwise), but I am very pleased that I've made more progress (learning-wise) these past several days than when I've tried practicing during the day...when the sun is out and not the moon.

Anyhow, just wanted to bump us up a bit and also to recommend C.C. Chang's book, which I am rereading for practice techniques. Excellent tips.

Regards to everyone,
Kathleen

Kathleen,
Aside from the 48.1 Nocturne and a mazurka, what else are you currently working on?

Arrrgghhhh, my computer is having a heart attack. I just wrote out a full reply to you, Chardonnay...and it disappeared when I went to post it.

Thank you for your question. I was beginning to think I was alone here. Just kidding, I know other people have a life, while I can languish away in my retirement.

Aside from the 48.1 (which will be a long-term project for me)...I just got to the "poco piu lento" section...

the C# m nocturne (posth)...I've started a Study Group for this one. It is Chopin at his best, in my opinion. Please check out the main page on the forum and give some thought to joining.

the Larghetto (Romance) section of Chopin's concerto in E minor

the 13th prelude, which I had started in the spring, but had to put it aside to practice the 17th for the recital

mazurka 68/2 for the marathon

I've discovered that working on so many at a time keeps me from getting bored. But it is slow going, a measure or two at a time.

Please consider the nocturne in C# m. I would love to have you join in.

My best,
Kathleen

Actually, I learned it (C#m) with my teacher about 3 yrs ago- and played it for a recital! I'm sure I didn't do it justice, but I did get through it passably well...even had it memorized. (Of course, ask me now to play it and you would think I had never seen it! I am really bad at maintaining repertoire.)
I got the sheet music for this piece shortly after watching "The Pianist"- the movie which turned my Chopin bias into a full-blown addiction, from which I fear I will never recover
But some addictions are healthy, right??
I will chime in from time to time in this new study group and see how you are all doing- and offer encouragement/advice when I can, however foggy my memory has become. This nocturne is beautiful and impressive and not terribly difficult, so you will get quicker rewards for your efforts than with the 48.1. You're smart to have longer-term and shorter-term "projects" going- one will reinforce the other.
Good luck!

That's super, Chardonnay. From the way things are going (or aren't going), it looks like I will be the only one in the study group, so you can be my mentor.

So happy to learn you are in the "full-blown" Chopin addiction mode. Addiction is a perfect term for how I feel sometimes. Can't get enough and can't get over it, nor would I want to.

I wonder if there is some 12 step program somewhere. :rolleyes:

The first step would be gangsta-rap (shudder!!)

and the second step... country-western [breaking out in a hives]


Gosh, I hope no one is reading this who likes the above. I seriously doubt it. :p

Anyhow, I look forward to "calling on you" for some help, once in a while.

Many thanks,
Kathleen

Kathleen, that is so funny! I love your "12 steps to get over Chopin" program -- step 3 must be ....ABBA music?? (hope nobody is a rabid ABBA fan out there... ) fourth step....Whitney Houston????? what's next?

Sophia

Big Band Music

Well, it looks like we are going to throw caution to the wind and come up with some music some people might like ...(Frycek, I kind of like "some" big band music, btw)

6th step...opera

7th step ....Cajun

8th step ....chamber music


What's next?

P.S. Don't anyone dare say Barry Manilow.

Kathleen

Actually, with the exception of "gangsta rap", I like some of the music in each of those categories! Cajun/Zydeco has such an infectious rythym, and some "vintage" C&W works in the right circumstances (having a beer, sitting in a bar somewhere, etc.)

But, uh.... Barry Manilow?

I was once trapped on a sailboat over a long weekend with someone who loved his music, and played his greatest hits tape over and over and over ....
Jumping off the stern rail started to seem like a better alternative to enduring "Copa Cabana" one more time. But I figured they probably would have saved me in time and it would have been a wasted effort

And I like some country-western (bluegrass) as I was brought up on it.

Hm....Barry Manilow and jumping off the deck of a boat. Gosh, I guess he's not on your "fav" list.

And Frycek, I can certainly understand how being brought up on certain music makes it lovable. Now I know if I mention Frank Sinatra, I would get from many. But again, he's all I listened to while growing up, aside, of course, from Chopin. Quite a combination but both masters of their domain.

What's next:

Ah.... polka music :rolleyes: (except, of course, at a Polish wedding).

And...bagpipe music!! I once had to listen to a "concert" for an hour of this, and I thought I would go nuts. My sister's mother-in-law, who was Irish ,had a huge birthday party, and someone thought it would be great entertainment for her. Hearing "I'll take you home again, Kathleen," turned me off of what was once a favorite tune.

Kathleen

Kathleen, dear heart, I'm also an ex piper.

Good Gravy, how I have managed to put my size 10 foot in my big mouth.

I sort of have a slight suspicion, because of your ethnic background, that I was skating on thin ice here.

O.K....does everyone agree on barbershop quartet music?

Kathleen

Nocturnes and Waltzes, I'm sure like some people said and one of the Mazuraks--I think it's Mazurka in C Major--is failry simple to play.

I love Chopin, I think his pieces are a challenge because it's not only the technique that's doubly important, it's also the emotion and the touch and the way you interpret the music.

Great stuff.

Welcome Sweet Melody:

What a perfect name for an avid fan of Chopin.

What you say is so true. Technique is great (I wish I had more, or should I say, some), but it is in the interpretation that the genius of Chopin comes shining through.

Many can play his music but don't understand it on the emotional level, and thus, don't do it real justice. And while I love his music with all my heart, I doubt if I will ever possess what it takes to play it the way he would have approved.

What do you play of Chopin's? We'd love to hear more from you.

Kathleen

I got the sheet music for Chopin's Post. Nocturne in C#minor off the internet today, in public domain.

I know I'm juggling too many pieces but I can't get the beautiful melodies out of my head, starting at measure 5 with the high G#.

Could someone explain the proper way to do the trills in thus piece. Is it note, note below, note, note below. etc... or the opposite. or neither?

Hi vanityx3: I have the same problem about that melody haunting me. I hum it constantly.

The trills...gosh, I am playing the trills in measure 5, just f#, then g# (1,2,1,2,,,,all the way to the end of the measure. That's the way I hear it when I listen to a recording. In measure 11, the same thing....D#, E.

I could be wrong here, but again, I think it is a simple trill and NOT a turn, which would be the note, the note above, the note, the note below, the note and would be marked with a sideways S.

Hope I'm right because it sounds right to me.

Happy you are learning it. It isn't that difficult except for those major runs on the last page. I've just mastered the one in measure 15, which is comparatively easy to the others.

Good luck,
Kathleen

And now for our next step....

Yodelling!


(That is a form of music, isn't it?) Sorry to our Swiss friends. )

Kathleen

...followed by....Disco!!