8 ms·

Chopin's Small Miracles

107 points by grellas 16y ago

dill_day 16y ago
Thanks for the link- I love romantic music especially, and Chopin is the epitome of that...beautiful. The études are also some of my favorite music.
troymc 16y ago
If you want to sample assorted full-length recordings of Chopin's Preludes, do a search on YouTube.
- igravious 16y ago
  How about these (in four parts) performed by Evgeny Kissin in Tokyo in '98. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK3xmiBwVSU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK3xmiBwVSU
- LURK 16y ago
  Don't miss this performance by Valentina Igoshina of Chopin Prelude Op. 28, No. 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_Pbbcfjw4c#t=1m20s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_Pbbcfjw4c#t=1m20s
  - erikpukinskis 16y ago
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R3pjDWRKmQ&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R3pjDWRKmQ&feature=relat...
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - pivo 16y ago
    I just learned of her (were've I been, I guess). Anyway, for me at least it's Chopin played in a whole new way, and a lovely way at that.
RiderOfGiraffes 16y ago
Earlier discussion about Chopin can be found here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1147880 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1147880 He is clearly a favorite among HNers.
dschobel 16y ago
Thanks for the link! Chopin's preludes are just staggeringly beautiful.
cageface 16y ago
Over the years I seem to have lost my taste for a lot of the romantics and have been listening a lot more to music from Bach and earlier. Chopin still captivates me though, as do Ravel and Debussy.
davepeck 16y ago
I became fascinated with Chopin's preludes about two years ago, and have devoted some part of my free time to studying them. Of all the recordings I've found, the recent recording of Rafal Blechacz is by far my favorite. [1] Blechacz took first prize in the International Chopin Competition in 2005. Entertainingly, he was considered so much better than his competition that no second place prize was awarded. Contrast: in 1990 and 1995, the field was considered sub-par; no first place prizes were awarded! [2] To follow Blechacz's performance with the actual score [3] is a special treat, and was the start of my interest in these great works. --- [1] http://www.amazon.com/Chopin-Préludes/dp/B0017QJO44/ http://www.amazon.com/Chopin-Préludes/dp/B0017QJO44/ [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Frédéric_Chopin_Piano_Competition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Frédéric_Chopin_P... [3] http://imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/8/83/IMSLP00485-Chopin_-_Preludes__Op_28.pdf http://imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/8/83/IMSLP00485-Chopin...
- cageface 16y ago
  Alexandre Tharaud's recording is good too: http://www.amazon.com/Chopin-Pr%C3%A9ludes-Op-28/dp/B0012X2CXM/ http://www.amazon.com/Chopin-Pr%C3%A9ludes-Op-28/dp/B0012X2C... The preludes seem to me to prefigure jazz in some passages.
aarghh 16y ago
This NPR recording with Murray Perahia further explores the connection between Bach and Chopin: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125180686 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1251806...
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
mds 16y ago
Also Amazon sells an MP3 collection of "The 99 Most Essential Chopin Masterpieces" for $5. I bought them because they were on sale for $1 -- that was the start of my real appreciation for Chopin. I've started collecting recordings of different performances of some of my favorites. It's interesting to listen back to back and try to pick out the nuances of how different performers interpret the same score.
nphase 16y ago
I was lucky enough to catch a ticket to see Pollini at CSO this spring. He played all of Opus 28, along with a few assorted favorites. I have yet to hear a more authentic yet passionate performance of Chopin ever. If you get the chance to hear him before he retires (he's 68 and still going strong!), I would strongly recommend it.
- jacquesm 16y ago
  I am so jealous. He's probably the best Chopin player alive today (not that he's limited to that, but I'm not aware of anybody playing Chopin as beautiful as he does) To hear him perform live must be amazing.
icarus_drowning 16y ago
In college, my music history teacher always told us that "every instrumentalist harbors a secret desire to be a singer". (It was always startling when he said this-- he was the school's orchestra conductor and a semi-famous Cellist, and was often dismissive of singers as "lazy musicians"). More than any other composer (at least for piano), Chopin seems most gifted in his ability to write music that, for all intents and purposes, is singing with the piano.
knowledgesale 16y ago
I find it to be waste of time when people put conscious efforts to listen to more classical music and to educate themselves about it. Music is usually considered to be an intellectual endeavor like art and science. But there is a crucial difference for music. Science and art (at least the best of it) give us new insights to the world we live in: ideally we understand things and people more as a result. But the ultimate purpose of music is a physiological/emotional response, something utterly subjective and that does not enrich our objective understanding of the world. In this sense, music should be considered to be an indulgence like drugs, sex or delicatessen food, in all but the delivering mechanism. Not that there is something wrong with them, but these are pleasures, not a meaningful activity. Thus the whole notion of the special kind of music that bears higher value is of no more sense to me than, say, meth of higher culture. Life is too short for it. For me if you can avoid listening to something, do it.
- delano 16y ago
  We're not machines.
- prodigal_erik 16y ago
  If the days of our lives are too short to spend on moving subjective experiences (and I'd put music on the same level as visual art and drama), what should we be reserving those days for? I am not a brain in a jar, though I have long neglected the needs of the animal which is carrying me around on his neck. I've come to think that's a recipe for depression, which sooner or later will interfere with whatever it is you're trying to accomplish.
  - knowledgesale 16y ago
    That is what I wanted to emphasize. There is a difference between drama and music. Drama or movies have a plot and a story. The author passes to us the thoughts and experiences that she has in her head, that is what makes it an intellectual endeavour. Affecting mechanism for music is different. In this case, composer is like a cook: she prepares the music by the emperically established rules (certain frequency fractions, tempo to match the heart pace for a specific mood).
pohl 16y ago
Bach's preludes, some of considerable length, need their fugues,... Each of Chopin's Preludes is self-sufficient, but they were composed, like Bach's, with one for each major and minor key. Since nothing follows them, one may ask what these works are a prelude to... Excellent article, but this little bit is inaccurate. The article gets the above almost exactly backwards, because one could make a case that it is the fugue that needs the prelude - but I say "almost" because both are self-contained pieces and neither needs the other. Rather, the prelude exists as an aid to audiences with untrained ears. That is, it is not the fugue that needs the prelude, but the audience who "needs" it, for it was intended to help them make better sense out of a fugue, which were considered to be sufficiently complex to warrant a little extra context prior to listening. The prelude helped them by being a less complex piece but in the same key as the fugue it precedes. Listening to the prelude prior to hearing the fugue helped to "establish the key". By the time the prelude was finished, it would have taken the listener's ear on a brief journey around the notes of the piece's scale, resolving to (and thereby drawing the listener's attention to) the note that serves as the key's tonic, and also to whether the 3rd was a major 3rd or a minor 3rd. Once the ear was calibrated in this manner, it was thought that the interweaving lines of the fugue would be easier to follow.
10ren 16y ago
The one that inspired the author: No. 7 in A major http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UTAmV54OWE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UTAmV54OWE
elblanco 16y ago
It has always been interesting to me that, while I can certainly appreciate that more "clinical" aspects of Chopin...the technicality of the writing, the skill of great performances, the difficulty of the music, Chopin's place in musical history, etc., and I can certainly appreciate the beauty of his music, I've never been able to reach a place with his music (and generally with most of the music of the Romantics) where it "speaks" to me -- where I can make a connection with it. I suppose it's because I've never found myself have an aesthetic chill to this type of music...but put on a decent record of Bach's Brandenburg 3 - allegro...and I feel instantly like the world and humanity was advanced forward two full steps by this one piece of music. Likewise with numerous pieces. But when analyzing the music, the clockwork precision of Bach's music "feels" cold and emotionless, sterile compared to Chopin, yet it's Bach's music that makes me feel an emotional connection and not Chopin. But I know plenty of people who are the opposite. Who fall into ecstatic bliss the moment some Liszt or Chopin plays. I've always wondered what this meant. (that being said....Beethoven's 7th 2nd movement almost always leaves me breathless and in tears).
- maxawaytoolong 16y ago
  I am exactly the opposite. I can (and often do) listen to Chopin all day. Bach sounds like weird robot music to me. However, Bach is fun to play, whereas Chopin is too hard...
  - elblanco 16y ago
    Right...it's like a sympathetic vibration ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympathetic_vibration http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympathetic_vibration )...but on an emotional level. I guess I'm "tuned" to Bach and you're tuned to Chopin. If anybody is interested, I've found this to be a very pleasurable way to listen to music http://www.youtube.com/user/smalin http://www.youtube.com/user/smalin Here's some Chopin http://www.youtube.com/user/smalin#p/u/7/Tj1hDqf8Pm0 http://www.youtube.com/user/smalin#p/u/7/Tj1hDqf8Pm0 And also here's a paper on Aesthetic Chills if anybody is wondering... http://www.springerlink.com/content/w50652r575n16342/ http://www.springerlink.com/content/w50652r575n16342/
  - ryan-allen 16y ago
Pistos2 16y ago
Chopin is my absolutely favourite composer. I hope I am not out of place in wishing for more such submissions (links) from HN (music-related ones, that is).

107 points by grellas 16y ago

Thanks for the link- I love romantic music especially, and Chopin is the epitome of that...beautiful. The études are also some of my favorite music.

troymc 16y ago

If you want to sample assorted full-length recordings of Chopin's Preludes, do a search on YouTube.

igravious 16y ago
How about these (in four parts) performed by Evgeny Kissin in Tokyo in '98. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK3xmiBwVSU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK3xmiBwVSU
LURK 16y ago
Don't miss this performance by Valentina Igoshina of Chopin Prelude Op. 28, No. 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_Pbbcfjw4c#t=1m20s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_Pbbcfjw4c#t=1m20s
- erikpukinskis 16y ago
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R3pjDWRKmQ&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R3pjDWRKmQ&feature=relat...
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- pivo 16y ago
  I just learned of her (were've I been, I guess). Anyway, for me at least it's Chopin played in a whole new way, and a lovely way at that.

RiderOfGiraffes 16y ago

Earlier discussion about Chopin can be found here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1147880 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1147880 He is clearly a favorite among HNers.

dschobel 16y ago

Thanks for the link! Chopin's preludes are just staggeringly beautiful.

cageface 16y ago

Over the years I seem to have lost my taste for a lot of the romantics and have been listening a lot more to music from Bach and earlier. Chopin still captivates me though, as do Ravel and Debussy.

davepeck 16y ago

I became fascinated with Chopin's preludes about two years ago, and have devoted some part of my free time to studying them. Of all the recordings I've found, the recent recording of Rafal Blechacz is by far my favorite. [1] Blechacz took first prize in the International Chopin Competition in 2005. Entertainingly, he was considered so much better than his competition that no second place prize was awarded. Contrast: in 1990 and 1995, the field was considered sub-par; no first place prizes were awarded! [2] To follow Blechacz's performance with the actual score [3] is a special treat, and was the start of my interest in these great works. --- [1] http://www.amazon.com/Chopin-Préludes/dp/B0017QJO44/ http://www.amazon.com/Chopin-Préludes/dp/B0017QJO44/ [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Frédéric_Chopin_Piano_Competition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Frédéric_Chopin_P... [3] http://imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/8/83/IMSLP00485-Chopin_-_Preludes__Op_28.pdf http://imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/8/83/IMSLP00485-Chopin...

cageface 16y ago
Alexandre Tharaud's recording is good too: http://www.amazon.com/Chopin-Pr%C3%A9ludes-Op-28/dp/B0012X2CXM/ http://www.amazon.com/Chopin-Pr%C3%A9ludes-Op-28/dp/B0012X2C... The preludes seem to me to prefigure jazz in some passages.

aarghh 16y ago

This NPR recording with Murray Perahia further explores the connection between Bach and Chopin: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125180686 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1251806...

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

mds 16y ago

Also Amazon sells an MP3 collection of "The 99 Most Essential Chopin Masterpieces" for $5. I bought them because they were on sale for $1 -- that was the start of my real appreciation for Chopin. I've started collecting recordings of different performances of some of my favorites. It's interesting to listen back to back and try to pick out the nuances of how different performers interpret the same score.

nphase 16y ago

I was lucky enough to catch a ticket to see Pollini at CSO this spring. He played all of Opus 28, along with a few assorted favorites. I have yet to hear a more authentic yet passionate performance of Chopin ever. If you get the chance to hear him before he retires (he's 68 and still going strong!), I would strongly recommend it.

jacquesm 16y ago
I am so jealous. He's probably the best Chopin player alive today (not that he's limited to that, but I'm not aware of anybody playing Chopin as beautiful as he does) To hear him perform live must be amazing.

icarus_drowning 16y ago

In college, my music history teacher always told us that "every instrumentalist harbors a secret desire to be a singer". (It was always startling when he said this-- he was the school's orchestra conductor and a semi-famous Cellist, and was often dismissive of singers as "lazy musicians"). More than any other composer (at least for piano), Chopin seems most gifted in his ability to write music that, for all intents and purposes, is singing with the piano.

knowledgesale 16y ago

I find it to be waste of time when people put conscious efforts to listen to more classical music and to educate themselves about it. Music is usually considered to be an intellectual endeavor like art and science. But there is a crucial difference for music. Science and art (at least the best of it) give us new insights to the world we live in: ideally we understand things and people more as a result. But the ultimate purpose of music is a physiological/emotional response, something utterly subjective and that does not enrich our objective understanding of the world. In this sense, music should be considered to be an indulgence like drugs, sex or delicatessen food, in all but the delivering mechanism. Not that there is something wrong with them, but these are pleasures, not a meaningful activity. Thus the whole notion of the special kind of music that bears higher value is of no more sense to me than, say, meth of higher culture. Life is too short for it. For me if you can avoid listening to something, do it.

delano 16y ago
We're not machines.
prodigal_erik 16y ago
If the days of our lives are too short to spend on moving subjective experiences (and I'd put music on the same level as visual art and drama), what should we be reserving those days for? I am not a brain in a jar, though I have long neglected the needs of the animal which is carrying me around on his neck. I've come to think that's a recipe for depression, which sooner or later will interfere with whatever it is you're trying to accomplish.
- knowledgesale 16y ago
  That is what I wanted to emphasize. There is a difference between drama and music. Drama or movies have a plot and a story. The author passes to us the thoughts and experiences that she has in her head, that is what makes it an intellectual endeavour. Affecting mechanism for music is different. In this case, composer is like a cook: she prepares the music by the emperically established rules (certain frequency fractions, tempo to match the heart pace for a specific mood).

pohl 16y ago

Bach's preludes, some of considerable length, need their fugues,... Each of Chopin's Preludes is self-sufficient, but they were composed, like Bach's, with one for each major and minor key. Since nothing follows them, one may ask what these works are a prelude to... Excellent article, but this little bit is inaccurate. The article gets the above almost exactly backwards, because one could make a case that it is the fugue that needs the prelude - but I say "almost" because both are self-contained pieces and neither needs the other. Rather, the prelude exists as an aid to audiences with untrained ears. That is, it is not the fugue that needs the prelude, but the audience who "needs" it, for it was intended to help them make better sense out of a fugue, which were considered to be sufficiently complex to warrant a little extra context prior to listening. The prelude helped them by being a less complex piece but in the same key as the fugue it precedes. Listening to the prelude prior to hearing the fugue helped to "establish the key". By the time the prelude was finished, it would have taken the listener's ear on a brief journey around the notes of the piece's scale, resolving to (and thereby drawing the listener's attention to) the note that serves as the key's tonic, and also to whether the 3rd was a major 3rd or a minor 3rd. Once the ear was calibrated in this manner, it was thought that the interweaving lines of the fugue would be easier to follow.

10ren 16y ago

The one that inspired the author: No. 7 in A major http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UTAmV54OWE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UTAmV54OWE

elblanco 16y ago

It has always been interesting to me that, while I can certainly appreciate that more "clinical" aspects of Chopin...the technicality of the writing, the skill of great performances, the difficulty of the music, Chopin's place in musical history, etc., and I can certainly appreciate the beauty of his music, I've never been able to reach a place with his music (and generally with most of the music of the Romantics) where it "speaks" to me -- where I can make a connection with it. I suppose it's because I've never found myself have an aesthetic chill to this type of music...but put on a decent record of Bach's Brandenburg 3 - allegro...and I feel instantly like the world and humanity was advanced forward two full steps by this one piece of music. Likewise with numerous pieces. But when analyzing the music, the clockwork precision of Bach's music "feels" cold and emotionless, sterile compared to Chopin, yet it's Bach's music that makes me feel an emotional connection and not Chopin. But I know plenty of people who are the opposite. Who fall into ecstatic bliss the moment some Liszt or Chopin plays. I've always wondered what this meant. (that being said....Beethoven's 7th 2nd movement almost always leaves me breathless and in tears).

maxawaytoolong 16y ago
I am exactly the opposite. I can (and often do) listen to Chopin all day. Bach sounds like weird robot music to me. However, Bach is fun to play, whereas Chopin is too hard...
- elblanco 16y ago
  Right...it's like a sympathetic vibration ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympathetic_vibration http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympathetic_vibration )...but on an emotional level. I guess I'm "tuned" to Bach and you're tuned to Chopin. If anybody is interested, I've found this to be a very pleasurable way to listen to music http://www.youtube.com/user/smalin http://www.youtube.com/user/smalin Here's some Chopin http://www.youtube.com/user/smalin#p/u/7/Tj1hDqf8Pm0 http://www.youtube.com/user/smalin#p/u/7/Tj1hDqf8Pm0 And also here's a paper on Aesthetic Chills if anybody is wondering... http://www.springerlink.com/content/w50652r575n16342/ http://www.springerlink.com/content/w50652r575n16342/
- ryan-allen 16y ago

Pistos2 16y ago

Chopin is my absolutely favourite composer. I hope I am not out of place in wishing for more such submissions (links) from HN (music-related ones, that is).