Download/listen here.
Apparently Chopin thought anything to do with 'E' should be slow, as the Emaj prelude is also Largo. I was turned onto this piece by a friend in Boston, and it's a fun one. I apologize for kind of botching the first trill, but alas. I can't find anything suitable on the web that explains it, but this piece is sort of a rhythmic oddity. The right hand plays triplets throughout, while the left hand plods along in a more standard meter. The weird thing is the inclusion of 16th and 32nd notes in the triplets against similar notes in the right hand. There is some debate about what Chopin really meant when he did this. This is a very hopeful piece, with nice rising action that leads to two big climaxes.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Prelude (Amaj - Andantino) - Chopin, Op. 28, no. 7
Download/listen here.
This is a wicked little piece. The tricky part is managing the pedal to blend the sound in some kind of appealing way. In previous attempts, I would actually "cheat" with the pedal and clean the sound in the particularly difficult parts. Hopefully by not doing that here, it doesn't sound cacophonous.
This is a wicked little piece. The tricky part is managing the pedal to blend the sound in some kind of appealing way. In previous attempts, I would actually "cheat" with the pedal and clean the sound in the particularly difficult parts. Hopefully by not doing that here, it doesn't sound cacophonous.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Prelude (Cmin - Largo) - Chopin, Op. 28, no. 20
Download/listen here.
Again, a sad and foreboding Chopin work. To me, this piece is basically a funeral march. It starts out loud and broad and then slowly fades, finally culminating in that last Cmin chord. I like the sense of tragedy that hangs over the whole thing. It was the first Chopin prelude I ever learned, and it's still a bit of a finger twister in places. I actually got in trouble playing this in a competition back in Houston, as it didn't meet the minimum number of measures, due to the 2nd half repeat. (Interestingly, the repeat isn't actually in the ur-text I play from today, but was in the cheap copy I had back then. I claim I was therefore unjustly accused.)
Again, a sad and foreboding Chopin work. To me, this piece is basically a funeral march. It starts out loud and broad and then slowly fades, finally culminating in that last Cmin chord. I like the sense of tragedy that hangs over the whole thing. It was the first Chopin prelude I ever learned, and it's still a bit of a finger twister in places. I actually got in trouble playing this in a competition back in Houston, as it didn't meet the minimum number of measures, due to the 2nd half repeat. (Interestingly, the repeat isn't actually in the ur-text I play from today, but was in the cheap copy I had back then. I claim I was therefore unjustly accused.)
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Prelude (Emin - Largo) - Chopin, Op. 28, no. 4
Listen/download here.
This is one of the saddest pieces I've ever heard or played. Really, it's a very simple construction - a series of suspensions - and can sound extremely droning if played badly (a fate I hope I avoid here). According to wikipedia, this piece was played at Chopin's funeral, but I consider it representative of a existential crisis (even though existentialism hadn't been "invented" yet). To me, the suspensions represent being out of rhythm with life, leading to the emotional explosion 3/4 of the way through, and then hitting some kind of (hopeful?) resolution with the Cmaj chord in the last line. That chord breaks my heart every time. From there, the resolution falls apart and the piece descends to blackness and a silence. (again, a fermata rest) Finally, the damning resolution.
This is one of the saddest pieces I've ever heard or played. Really, it's a very simple construction - a series of suspensions - and can sound extremely droning if played badly (a fate I hope I avoid here). According to wikipedia, this piece was played at Chopin's funeral, but I consider it representative of a existential crisis (even though existentialism hadn't been "invented" yet). To me, the suspensions represent being out of rhythm with life, leading to the emotional explosion 3/4 of the way through, and then hitting some kind of (hopeful?) resolution with the Cmaj chord in the last line. That chord breaks my heart every time. From there, the resolution falls apart and the piece descends to blackness and a silence. (again, a fermata rest) Finally, the damning resolution.
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