So, Chopin. I love to listen to Chopin's music. I think it's very personal and quite beautiful. Playing it, on the other hand, I can usually do without. Playing Chopin feels so awkward to me. Music that looks like it should be easy is often deceptively very difficult and who really wants to read all of those tiny little notes in odd groups of say 28?! Maybe it's because he didn't write technique for technique's sake. It's odd virtuosity and odd technique. His technique is always musically based and this, in my opinion, makes performance harder. Whereas in Liszt, you can gloss over sections of filigree, the luxury is really not there in Chopin. Maybe it also has to do with the size and shape of my hand, I don't know. I would like to see a mold of Chopin's hand. I firmly stand by my thought that playing Chopin feels awkward and angular to me.
As far as his technique, I'll buy it 100% money back guarantee. We are now free to use our whole arm!!! It makes perfect sense (as we all know) to change position of fingers (lengthen/curl), to move the wrist laterally and to use the forearm and arm to execute the musical passage. Welcome, pianists, you are now free to roam about the keyboard. I think it would be beneficial for students (including myself) to listen to some of the vocal music of the time to truly understand the vocal quality of his music...
Maybe as I get older, I'll appreciate the value of playing Chopin's music. It is really great music and if I absolutely had to, I guess I could suck it up and play some Chopin.
I also feel difficult to play the Chopin's work. In my case, I am not sure this feeling is right or not when I played Chopin's music. So, I usually read the background of the piece and the reason why he composed this piece before playing Chopin's music. It is really helpful for me to understand the piece which I am going to play. I think you do not feel awkard to play Chopin if you previously know those things.
ReplyDeleteYes, Chopin's music looks not that horrible like Lizst or other 20th century composers. But it is hard to demonstrate. The reason is what you mentioned that he didn't write technique for technique's sake. His technique is always musically based. And his deep national root is usually forgot by some pianists.
ReplyDelete