Chapter 9

Elsner’s suspicion that Kalkbrenner would want to use Chopin for his own ambitions at first seems considerate… but he too reveals his own ambitions by trying to direct him into opera rather than piano. We are fortunate Chopin did not take this advice…

…But I do like Elsner’s quote on page 145, “Those things by which an artist, always taking advantage of everything which surrounds and instructs him, arouses the admiration of his contemporaries must come from himself, thanks to the perfect cultivation of his powers…” For me this means that the influences of other people’s playing, teaching, etc., is to be encouraged, as long as it is not just a copy - it must integrate into one’s own already unique artistic personality.

“His desire to make good music predominates noticeably in his case over the desire to please.” (p. 149) Considering that Chopin did not even like to perform in public confirms this... His control of pianissimo dynamics, shading, subtle rubato, etc., set him apart from the other leading virtuosi of his day, and I would much rather have heard Chopin play than Liszt. Maybe this is a good place to debate Liszt’s [superficial?] showmanship by comparison? Rubinstein points out something similar on page 162, that “even the most difficult figurations of Chopin belong to creative music. Liszt cultivated technical preciosity; the difficulties he contrived were a camouflage, and he exploited them for greater effect. Chopin was interested only in the musical idea…” We have often heard comparisons of the technical aspects in the music of Chopin and Liszt - but why is Beethoven not included in these discussions? His music can be highly technically demanding, but as with Chopin I believe, only in service to a musical idea.

I love how Chopin would play Bach before giving concerts… I also often go to Bach to help organize my thoughts, sometimes before or after recitals. His music is so perfectly composed it always helps to solidify my fundamental musical understanding.

It was interesting to read Chopin's advice that “since each finger is formed differently it is far better to develop their special characteristics rather than attempt to destroy their individuality.” (p. 168) This struck me since I am sometimes guilty of practicing to make all the fingers work the same, rather than taking advantage of the uniqueness of each.