JOYEUX ANNIVERSAIRE CHOPIN!
So, today marks the 202nd birthday of Frederic Chopin. With some composers, I have grown into their music - for example, Brahms, Schumann, and Mahler. However, there are others whose music has been with me from a very young age. Chopin is one of those composers.
The first piece of Chopin's that I remember enchanting me is the Raindrop Prelude, (Opus 28, number 15.) I can distinctly remember telling the other girls at a grade 7 sleepover who wanted to listen to loud rock music (which I didn't mind) that we should really give my classical music cassette a try. I remember fast forwarding to this piece and everyone becoming quiet. There was something different about this music. Something made us stop. One girl started to talk halfway through and the rest followed suit but I quiet stood next to the stereo - barely moving or speaking (a rare feat for me.)
That's my first encounter with Chopin's music that I can recollect. At that point, I had been studying piano for roughly three years and knew that I wanted very badly to play his music. When I was about 15 years old, I got my chance. I was able to play the Chopin Waltz in A-flat major.
I was hooked. Maybe it was Chopin's Polish heritage that was the factor which bound us together. Perhaps it was his uncanny ability to make melodies which drive straight to the soul. I'm sure it's a combination of both.
Between my last two years of high school and first year university, I took a break from piano lessons. Halfway through first year university, I decided to start taking piano again. My teacher asked me what I wanted to play, and of course, my enthusiastic reply was CHOPIN. I had chosen a gorgeous nocturne. I'd been playing it for a few months and was becoming very frustrated with the scalar run passages near the end of the piece. I was ready to pick a new romantic piece in fact when I went and saw the movie The Pianist with my two best friends, Beatrice and Geoff. The movie BEGINS with this piece playing. Tears filled my eyes and I knew that I had to continue with that piece. The Pianist continues to be my favourite movie of all time and this nocturne is certainly one of my top 5 piano pieces.
I ended up playing that Nocturne for my grade 9 RCM Piano Exam. This piece still haunts me when I listen to it and never fails to have a deep emotional impact on me. Maybe I'm associating the visuals from the film The Pianist but the nostalgia and sorrow in this piece are simply unlike what other composers have created.
Many have criticised Chopin for mainly having only composed for piano. To them I say : "Who cares. He remained in his field of expertise." To play Chopin, one needs exquisite delicacy, emotional sensitivity, and a true gift for sensing melodic direction. I guess you could say I'm fairly picky about who plays Chopin for me but I'll make that into another post (I promise.)
For now, I'd like to conclude with some thoughts about what Chopin's music has meant to me. It has been a comfort during some exceptionally long nights. I can count on it to be like a familiar companion. Even when I have not listened to Chopin for a while, as soon as the notes grace my ears there is a sense of the familiar. It's normally a melancholy, nostalgic sense of familiar - but familiar nonetheless.
As a pianist, I am biased about Chopin. He wrote for our instrument and we know it! But other musicians...take heart! There are gems for you as well! This cello sonata - for example, just stunning!
There are some composers whose music can lift your soul to new heights and make your heart soar with joy. (Yes, I'm thinking Mozart here. Duh, who else?) Then, there are other composers who are bold enough to meet you in your darkest hours (literally) and provide you with music that matches your most vulnerable and painful moments. Chopin does that unashamedly and I adore him for it. He courageously tackles the saddest moments of what it means to be human and does it all in a fully Polish, nationalist way. (And no, that point is NOT up for debate.)
So, here's to Chopin - on his birthday.
Please enjoy this amazing blog as well from the Chopin Project!
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