Chopin's last wish?

[ihatepop]

Chopin told his friend to burn all his unpublished works, but he did'nt. Although those works (including the Fantasy Impromptu) turned out to be quite brillient, is Chopin resting peacefully? Some of his officially published were destroyed.......by burning.

Although this leaves a scar in the repetoire of Chopin, the question is this:

Should the works that were meant to be burnt be burnt in the first place, if this action gives Chopin a peace of mind?

Opinions please.

ihatepop

[zheer]

Should the works that were meant to be burnt be burnt in the first place, if this action gives Chopin a peace of mind?

Opinions please.

ihatepop

   Its hard not to admire Chopins piano music, and ironicly his FI is the most loved piano compositions, similar to Beethovens Moonlight sonata, so burning the FI would have been very sad. Now personally am not a huge fan of his polonaise, though am sure others love it,anyway am sure many pianists agree that Chopin is a tressure, and possibly the most important composer for solo piano.

[prometheus]

Ravel destroyed most of his poor works. Paganini didn't give his work to anyone and most is lost.

No one whines about that. But people do whine about the FI. If it was burned it would have saved us a lot of whining...

[BoliverAllmon]

Ravel destroyed most of his poor works. Paganini didn't give his work to anyone and most is lost.

No one whines about that. But people do whine about the FI. If it was burned it would have saved us a lot of whining...

LOL good point.

[arensky]

Ravel destroyed most of his poor works.

Obsessive perfectionist.

Paganini didn't give his work to anyone and most is lost.

He didn't want other violinists to copy his technique. There were a few pieces published.

No one whines about that. But people do whine about the FI. If it was burned it would have saved us a lot of whining...

The only people who whine about FI are jaded professionals and semi professionals, for whom familiarity with FI has bred contempt. And of course, the snobs who look down at anything that is popular. 

FI is here to stay. Deal with it. If you don't like it, shut your ears and shut up. It gives  early advanced level pianists a challenge they can master without overextending themselves. And the public likes it. I wonder what it is about c# minor that people love, several of the most famous piano pieces are in that key...

Back to the book BBQ, who knows what Chopin said to Fontana. His life and death are the subject of heresay, perpetrated by sentimental writers who want a "good story", like journalists.

No the works should not have been burnt. It's great music, encompassing all his works from Op.66 (FI) on. As for Chopin's peace of mind, it's irrelevant. He's dead.

Here, read about the friend, Julian Fontana...

https://www.julianfontana.com/index.html

[quantum]

The only people who whine about FI are jaded professionals and semi professionals, for whom familiarity with FI has bred contempt. And of course, the snobs who look down at anything that is popular. 

FI is here to stay. Deal with it. If you don't like it, shut your ears and shut up. It gives  early advanced level pianists a challenge they can master without overextending themselves. And the public likes it. I wonder what it is about c# minor that people love, several of the most famous piano pieces are in that key...

I randomly totally agree.

[gruffalo]

Which polonaise was it that was supposed to be burned?

Gruff

[allchopin]

Chopin was most likely acting out of vanity in this order, but I feel that he knows what is best for his oeuvre.  If he found a piece unsuitable, then by all means the piece is trashed (in the worst case), just like any other composition that doesn't work.  Plus, this element adds a mystique to his life and work, because what had he written that we will never hear?  As for the burning of the beloved impromptu et al, you don't miss what you never knew.

[gymnopedist]

Chopins sister wrote out the first bars of a lot of the pieces that are now destroyed. I remember seeing some of the sketches at Chopinfiles...

[bench warmer]

I read on another board that Chopin's last wish was that his published music didn't end up as wrapping paper for butter.

 I also think that no matter what was done After Chopin died it wasn't going to make any difference to him personally anymore.

PS   below is a a little blurb and a link to an mp3 of an  unpublished Chopin prelude called  "the devil's trill".  I posted this somewhere before but this is for those that didn't see it.

Penn Music Professor Resurrects Chopin
July 10, 2002
Interview with Professor Jeffrey Kallberg.
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.

https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~kallberg/Prelude.mp3

[Waldszenen]

Chopin is dead. I'm not entirely sure as to whether he'll care if his "forbidden" works were published or not.