200 years after his birth, Chopin remains a key composer(post-gazette.com)

32 pointsby edw519vor 16 Jahren19 comments

200 years after his birth, Chopin remains a key composer

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10055/1038012-388.stm

4 comments

There are a few composers that truly sing to me. J.S.Bach (with a few exceptions) is one, some of Beethoven's work, especially his later string quartets, and sometimes Mozart, because even though he sometimes seems a bit fluffy, sometimes that's what I want.

But I can get lost in Chopin, again and again.

There are others that occasionally hit the mark. Some Janacek, some Bartok, and a surprising amount of Joplin (which is surprisingly sophisticated).

But I always return to Bach and Chopin.

brandnewlowvor 16 Jahren

Recommendations for good recordings of works from these composers?

I played for about 15 years and love a lot of the music I learned and performed. At the time though, it was so familiar to me that it never occurred to me to track down recordings of those songs. If I wanted to hear something, I'd just sit down and play it myself.

Now that I don't play so often, I'd like to hear some of those songs again, but I'm completely psyched out by the number of recordings available. Any suggestions for Chopin recordings and perhaps some Debussy and Rachmaninoff?

This is the same, admittedly silly, reason I don't go to many plays. There are so many out there and I don't want to waste time and money on a sub-par product.

jamesbrittvor 16 Jahren

Maurizio Pollini's recording of the Etudes & Preludes.

Henryk Szeryng's recording of Bach's Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin

jon_dahlvor 16 Jahren

I resonate with most of your list, especially Bach and late Beethoven quartets. But I don't listen to much Chopin. Any recommendations?

RiderOfGiraffesvor 16 Jahren

No, I don't have any recommendations. I try to listen to it all, and I often don't even remember the names. Listening to it all means that I learn from the pieces that are too complex for me yet to understand, and I am soothed by those I know well.

Find a CD and listen to one track per day. Some people can find more than that a little overwhelming. I try to listen to the same track three or four times in a day, and get to know the piece.

Some people call me odd, but I would guess that many on HN fall into the same category, if not for the same reasons.

qohenvor 16 Jahren

For six dollars, Amazon has an eight(!) hour Chopin collection for download -- 99 DRM-free MP3's, tracks vary from 192-256kbps according to one review. I bought it a while back (when it was on sale even cheaper) -- worth your while.

You can check out track samples from all tracks, read reviews and/or buy it here (this link only good for US):

http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Chopin-Masterpieces-Amazon-E...

Amazons for other countries should have it as well (e.g. UK (costs six pounds): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Essential-Chopin-Masterpieces-Amazon... Germany (3 Euros): http://www.amazon.de/Essential-Chopin-Masterpieces-Amazon-Ex... )

(Note: the track 55 problem mentioned in one review was fixed. Also note, you'll need to use Amazon's downloader, which installs in seconds--available for Windows, Mac and apparently they now have a Linux version too--you should be prompted; if not: http://www.amazon.com/gp/dmusic/help/amd.html).

vixen99vor 16 Jahren

Try the Preludes. For anyone who might think of Chopin largely as a 19th C. salon composer they are shattering. They're also mostly quite brief. Some last only a minute or so. Epic especially are Nos 8, 12, 16, 18 and 24.

dgrantvor 16 Jahren

Try the nocturnes (You can get Daniel Barenboim's renditions with bittorrent: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4107877/Barenboim_-_Chopin_N...). That's what I started with.

For an assortment of great Chopin playing, check out this playlist of Rafal Blechacz at the Chopin competition in 2005. He on all 5 first prizes at the competition. http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=01CC65D4BAEF5E85

[deleted]vor 16 Jahren

pivovor 16 Jahren

I'm partial to the Nocturnes, Etudes and Ballades

mechanical_fishvor 16 Jahren

the elasticity that Chopin allowed, and the fact that he never played a piece the same way twice (sometimes performing the polar opposite dynamics), have led to a tradition of performance in which his entire works are interpreted with Romantic freedom.

I find that this, plus the fact that many of his typical works are so short, makes Chopin the quintessential YouTube composer.

balding_n_tiredvor 16 Jahren

"We have been, let us say, to see the latest Pole/Transmit the Etudes through his hair and finger tips"

--T.S. Eliot, "Portrait of a Lady"

maurycyvor 16 Jahren

Chopin is the best French composer.

forintivor 16 Jahren

And the second best Warner Bros composer, just after Rossini.

balding_n_tiredvor 16 Jahren

[splutter...] How can you have forgotten "What's Opera, Doc?"

forintivor 16 Jahren

You could make a game out of this: spot the composer.

I've even heard some Stravinsky in a Bugs Bunny cartoon; it was something from The Firebird.

They sure don't make 'em like they used to.

proemethvor 16 Jahren

He was Polish, despite his parisian history, hence his famous mazurkas.

msluytervor 16 Jahren

It was a joke (I think); like saying "Mozart was the greatest Italian Opera composer." (Also true, imho).

vixen99vor 16 Jahren

To be clear, leaving aside his 'passport' status, he had a French father and a Polish mother. And it's interesting that he made no attempt to ever return to Poland after he'd arrived in Paris as a very young man. I think the French and Polish can make more or less equivalent claims on him.

michael_dorfmanvor 16 Jahren

Sometimes I wish that HN had a "+1, Funny" button like Slashdot does.

emilindvor 16 Jahren