Chopin

[kriskicksass]

Basically everything he ever wrote is still in the repertoire (except for maybe the 1st Sonata, and even that gets played every now and then). I don't think that there's any other composer you can say that about. Why do you think that is?

[le_poete_mourant]

Because anybody who can't connect to Chopin has no heart. 

I mean, he will range from flashy & virtuostic to thoughtful and lyrical.  His music covers essentially every possible emotion I can imagine.  And in terms of technique, his etudes are (in my opinion) the best.  Passion, romanticism, genius.  Really, I can't think of an unpleasant or disappointing Chopin piece. 

But, if you think about it, Bach wrote so much it's hard to cover all that.  Liszt as well wrote volumes and most of his is incredibly difficult if you average it.  Chopin is accessible in that respect - there is "easy" Chopin. 

And Chopin wrote basically only for piano.  His orchestral works really aren't brilliant, but the piano parts make up for that in his concertos.  Then you have people like Mozart and Haydn and others who wrote lots and lots of symphonies and other sorts of pieces.  Their range makes it difficult to keep it all going at the same time.  People have favorites that they like to hear that keep certain pieces played more than the rest of their body of work. 

[phil13]

Really, I can't think of an unpleasant or disappointing Chopin piece.

Well, I can. His Allegro de Concert.

Other than that, I agree completely with everything else you said. Chopin has always had a place in my heart, and I play his music daily, always adding to my list of works.

Phil

[jas]

His Bolero and Tarantella are comparatively rarely played, too. But I agree with you that almost everything he ever wrote is still in the repertoire. Not too bad for a composer some believe to be substandard (but we don't listen to them; they're clearly in need of a padded room ).

Jas

[bench warmer]

Below is a link to an mp3 of a  "reurrected prelude" of his called "the devil's trill"  I don't think it's been published in sheet music yet.

(Sorry if this is old news to all, but a search on this site didn't turn up anything)

It's Chopin but it's an excursion from his "normal" stuff. Here's the article:


Penn Music Professor Resurrects Chopin
July 10, 2002
 
PHILADELPHIA -- Jeffrey Kallberg, a professor of music at the University of Pennsylvania, has instilled life to an incomplete sketch of a prelude from Frederic Chopin that has remained silent since 1839.

Wrought with fever, Chopin was living on the island of Majorca with novelist George Sand, attempting to finish his 24 preludes. Using E-flat minor and a left-handed trill for what was intended to be the 14th prelude, the unfinished piece reflects the Baroque influence, namely the "Devil's Trill" Violin Sonata by Tartini. Chopin hastily scrawled the notes using his personal shorthand.

Kallberg first studied the piece in the Morgan Library in New York more than 20 years ago while working on his doctoral dissertation.

It wasn't until 1999, in preparation for the 150th anniversary of Chopin's death, that he made another attempt at cracking Chopin's thoughts. Kallberg recreated the prelude by transcribing Chopin's shorthand and by attempting to feel out the abbreviated piece to its completion.

Kallberg, a renowned expert on Chopin, has studied the composer's manuscripts and published widely on him, developing an understanding of Chopin's composition process.

"Chopin knew what the piece sounded like in his head," Kallberg said. "He always had trouble trying to get things down on paper. He felt the inspiration was disappearing as he was trying to get it from his fingers to the music paper."

While, this is a minor work in Chopin's repertoire, Kallberg said it "gives us insight into Chopin experimenting at a particularly important time in his life. But it was too experimental, I think, and that was one of the reasons why he decided not to use it."

In July, the French pianist Alain Jacquon will perform the piece at the Newport Music Festival in Rhode Island.

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NOTE: A link for the MP3 Recording of "The Devil's Trill" by Jonathan Bellman, chariman of the music history department at the University of Northern Colorado:
https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~kallberg/Prelude.mp3

[pianistimo]

that was interesting and played so well.  i happen to love chopin more as i'm getting older.  not to say that people can't enjoy it when they're young, but the depths of depression that he reaches in some pieces were too much for me when i was younger.   *hmmm should i reword this?  but, he does amazing things by almost consoling himself and writing these amazingly 'breakthrough' parts that become etherial (as liszt did) and making u feel the depths of sadness to euphoria.