Chopin

A general discussion thread about Chopin.

Launch!

Do you think Chopin's piano concerti are underrated? Why? Why not?

No one interested? Well, this should get some healthy debate going:

http://www.youngcomposers.com/forum/Fantas...omptu-t744.html

Read the first post, then listen to the fantasie impromptu.

Makes sense, doesen't it?

I think I'll launch in controversially with no! I don't think they are.

I don't think they are actually that great, especially when compared with the rest of his piano output (now this comparsion might seem a little unfair, as he was/is probably the pre-eminent piano composer, but there you go); this is obviously a purely personal view, but while (for instance) the nocturnes blow me away, the concerti always leave me a little cold; I'm not sure why.

I think perhaps it's because part of the depth of emotion that Chopin's piano works have comes from the fact that it's all funnelled through the sparseness of one instrument, taking it almost to its limit of expressiveness (for instance the opus 48 no.1), whereas when the same ideas get fully orchestrated they get a bit flabby. I don't know...

I'm happy to be shot down in flames!

I think perhaps it's because part of the depth of emotion that Chopin's piano works have comes from the fact that it's all funnelled through the sparseness of one instrument, taking it almost to its limit of expressiveness (for instance the opus 48 no.1), whereas when the same ideas get fully orchestrated they get a bit flabby. I don't know...

That's actually a rather incisive statement. Despite their beauty, I've often thought there was something "missing" from Chopin's concerti, and haven't been able to put my finger on it quite.

I've also read that because Chopin was of a frail constitution physically, despite his exquisite technique, he lacked the stamina to make the relatively lightweight instruments of his day resound the way his contemporaries could. His solution was to make his concerti more lyrical than loud and flashy, so they seem a little wan in comparison. This is also why he preferred to play in intimate settings.

I don't listen to a lot of his concerti but Chopin is one of my biggest influences in writing. I'm just really mezmerised by Ballad op23 in G Minor... it hit some spot in me, love it.