So... what's so great about Chopin?

[chopinfan_22]

What the hell. 

[Mozartian]

His mazurkas, obviously! 

[canardroti]

His Etudes

[chopinfan_22]

In my opinion.... Everything. 

[JCarey]

For me, the Ballades... and that's about it.

[elevateme]

the preludes. every one a gem

[steve jones]

His ability to balance knifes on the end of his nose while whisking a egg?

SJ

[alzado]

I like the waltzes and preludes.

Chopin was a pianist's kind of composer for the piano.

When playing his music, the chords seem to fit the hands, and the technique falls easily into place. 

One feels with Chopin that he is writing to make performance a pleasure.

I hate the contorted or "strained" fingerwork that some composers seem to demand of the pianist.

[canardroti]

I like the waltzes and preludes.

Chopin was a pianist's kind of composer for the piano.

When playing his music, the chords seem to fit the hands, and the technique falls easily into place. 

One feels with Chopin that he is writing to make performance a pleasure.

I hate the contorted or "strained" fingerwork that some composers seem to demand of the pianist.

Hey I agree with this, I always thought that Chopin's pieces fit the hand easier than some other composer. Although , some of his pieces can bes quite unconfortable too :-D

[notturno]

The Nocturnes, and everything else.

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that love of the piano and love of Chopin are inseperable.  He had a perfect feel for the sounds and textures of the piano and the piano's ability to stimulate the mind and the soul.  To me, his melodies often follow unexpected paths and yet the notes are perfectly chosen.  For example, why the F# in the third bar of the Nocturne in C Minor (posthumous)?  It's so perfect for the phrase and for the piece. If I had a scanner I'd post it.

Chopin was a pianist's kind of composer for the piano.

Amen brother.

Joseph

[mcgillcomposer]

The preludes...a totally unprecedented take on the form (if I may call it that). Highly original harmonies, incredible development of themes, even though each work is quite short, and most importantly, some of the most idiomatic music ever written for the piano. His works fit like a glove.

[invictus]

His pianistic works

Ballades! =D

Scherzo

Sonatas
 
ETUDES

Polonaises

ETUDES

Nocturnes

Mazurkas

ETUDES

George Sand 

Waltzes

His gayness 

George Sand 

ETUDES

Impromptus

Preludes

His gayness

George Sand again

ETUDES DAMMIT

[jas]

His pianistic works

Ballades! =D

Scherzo

Sonatas
 
ETUDES

Polonaises

ETUDES

Nocturnes

Mazurkas

ETUDES

George Sand 

Waltzes

His gayness 

George Sand 

ETUDES

Impromptus

Preludes

His gayness

George Sand again

ETUDES DAMMIT

I couldn't have put it more eloquently myself.

[Barbosa-piano]

 Chopin is revolutionary.

[kriskicksass]

Chopin was the most individual pianist in all of history. His radical new configurations and harmonies took the world by storm and finally broke the bonds of classicism (even if they'd been straining for a while anyways). Most notably, he was entirely self-taught and pretty much a mature artist before he met any of his significant contemporaries. Chopin was a perfect genius who didn't need anyone (other than George Sand to mother him).

[gymnopedist]

Most notably, he was entirely self-taught and pretty much a mature artist before he met any of his significant contemporaries.

Chopin wasn't self-taught. He was taught by Adalbert Zywny from the age of seven, and later went to the Warsaw conservatory.

[chopinfan_22]

Chopin wasn't self-taught. He was taught by Adalbert Zywny from the age of seven, and later went to the Warsaw conservatory.

Where he went under the instruction of Joseph Elsner, who was to become his last teacher, before he left Poland.

[jas]

There wasn't much they could teach him that he didn't already have a grasp of, though. Elsner wanted him to compose a Polish opera. If Chopin had listened he might have been a very different composer. Plus he hit maturity as a composer very early, before he reached Paris aged just 21. I'm 21 and it's yet to happen to me. Sigh.

[super5james]

Well yeah of course his piecies aslo whats so good about him is that he was really the frist composer to stick to the piano as the main thing he wrote for. Aslo we find that Chopin is one of the few pianist that was a composer that look at every one esles pieices as a composer.

[steveie986]

There is a huge gap between how Chopin wanted his music to be played and how they are actually played by most subsequent performers.

First, Chopin did not at all consider his music a part of the Romanticist movement. Second, his application of rubato was much more conservative than commonly believed; he hated misplaced lingering and dragging. Third, he rarely made his students learn his own music, insteading focusing primarily on Mozart and Bach.

I believe the way Chopin played his own music would sound much more "classical" to the modern ear.

He wrote some brilliant things every now and then in his smaller works. But most of the larger works are transcendent, like the ballades, polonaise-fantasie, the concerti, and the sonatas.

But the problem I have with Chopin is that when new learners hear Chopin, they are so naturally drawn to the Romantic sound that they expect all piano music to sound like Chopin. That, unfortunately, often leads them to dislike Bach, Mozart, and the like.

[supertonic]

But the problem I have with Chopin is that when new learners hear Chopin, they are so naturally drawn to the Romantic sound that they expect all piano music to sound like Chopin. That, unfortunately, often leads them to dislike Bach, Mozart, and the like.

Agree! I know someone who can play Chopin pieces reasonably well, eg Polonaises, FI, but just cannot play Mozart or Bach at all. He seems cannot play without the paddle and cannot produce a clear sound like the scale. Don't know how to fix it because it is probably too late (A 40 yo adult now). This is the problem because he started to fall in love with piano because of Chopin, as a beginner and he was too focused on Chopin since then. That's why he can do impressive showoff Chopin pieces in front of the audience but cannot pass higher grades of piano exam since that requires a more balanced repertoire.

[jas]

But the problem I have with Chopin is that when new learners hear Chopin, they are so naturally drawn to the Romantic sound that they expect all piano music to sound like Chopin. That, unfortunately, often leads them to dislike Bach, Mozart, and the like.

I did the same when I first started playing. It was years before I began to appreciate composers other than him, Beethoven and Rachmaninoff. My left hand is still nowhere near as strong or flexible as my right, which is annoying, but it's my own fault! It's improving, slowly.
I still love Chopin, though. I forgive him for my rubbish left hand.

Jas

[henrah]

His Mazurka Op.30 No.4 in Csharp minor.


Especially when played by Horowitz, I'm transfixed...
Henrah

[houseofblackleaves]

...... what's so great about Chopin??


That's a stupid question.... EVERYTHING.