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Topic: Chopin's Ballade No.2: musical direction?  (Read 2353 times)

Offline kellentia

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Chopin's Ballade No.2: musical direction?
on: June 23, 2005, 01:12:54 PM
Hello! I've been learning Chopin's Ballade No.2 in F major for quite some time.....started learning in January and memorised it by end of April. Now I'm working on getting out the musical aspect and still struggling with some technical parts. The thing is, i know how it should sound like, yet, i still can't produce that sound if u get what i mean. Like, I can't bring out the music, the expression etc properly no matter how much i try. And I get really frustrated coz the direction doesn't come and the music i produce doesn't sound like how i want it to. Is there anything i can do to make myself more musical or something, so that i can play the piece properly?

Also, i can't seem to play the coda at a really fast speed. My fingers tend to get out of control and the notes don't come out properly. Instead, with the pedal, it becomes one whole blur sound......not articulate. And my hands get tired by the time when it gets to the climax so the climax sounds really weak. How can I practice to improve my stamina? I need to master this piece latest by mid August.

And another problem is that i have sweaty palms especially when its cold so my fingers tend to slip of the keys, especially when I play large and fast chords. Is it possible to rectify this situation?
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Offline Selim

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Re: Chopin's Ballade No.2: musical direction?
Reply #1 on: June 23, 2005, 07:03:53 PM
Concerning the musicality:

Do not forget that this piece is composed on the idea of Mickiewicz The lake of the willis, so the first part must really sound like water(impresionism lol Debussy:D  ) The second presto con fuocco must be a little bit stronger than the first( so do not play the first too loud!)

during the scales, the legato is really important!

The coda is often played too loud, in fact it begins F and it souhld go crescendo.

Offline etudes

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Re: Chopin's Ballade No.2: musical direction?
Reply #2 on: June 30, 2005, 04:16:06 PM
btw for me i would start coda Forte then subito piano and build it up with crescendo until the end of coda.
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