Chopin mazurkas

[pk]

What do you think of chopins mazurkas ?
I think chopin wrote 58 mazurkas too many 
I have never heard a mazurka that sounded interresting, and have never bothered learning one.

[healdie]

I agree with you but I don't really get the point of this topic

[franz_]

I'm very sorry, but Chopin's Mazurka's are great music, and should be seen in their context, as marzurka's, pure salon music. I played some of them, and plan to learn more of them.

[healdie]

I get the context I just don't like them In fact I like very little of chopin, I was jsut wondering if there was a point to this topic

[pk]

Well, where should a topic like this be then 
thought this was a place to have opinions and discuss  great composers piano music   

I agree with you but I don't really get the point of this topic

[ahvat]

I'm still new to the mazurka. I finished 67 3, now I'm learning op 7 no 1

[dolly lo]

Chopin is my favourite composer and, obviusly, I really like his mazurkas. Like his other pieces, they've a great sensibility and an extraordinary beauty.

I think you have to consider to hear them again 

[csharp_minor]

I'm very sorry, but Chopin's Mazurka's are great music, and should be seen in their context, as marzurka's, pure salon music.

I completely agree .

I just don't like them In fact I like very little of chopin,

Well if you don't like Chopin's music much you will probably have a hard time trying to like his mazurkas, they are very 'Chopin' and I suppose are an acquired taste, because of the nature of the dances. 

I'm still new to the mazurka

I'm new to them too I only bought a cd of them a few days ago! and can say there are some really lovely pieces out of the 25 I have on the cd. I plan to learn some in the future, they sound like they would be really fun to play.   

[Petter]

I like this one.

Maybe I'll be that good when I'm 85. 

[csharp_minor]

nice video

I like this one:

Nothing to see in this one but its one of the mazurkas I like. I can hear ballade 2 in there some where, lovely theme very folk. .

[pk]

The op 33 4 in bm is really beautiful actually, perhaps Ill study it someday 
The op 68 3 in F is a nice little piece too, Chopin was only 19 when he wrote it. I think Rubinstein played it better than it is usually played, he played it a little bit slower, and that worked for this one I think

[njalli]

i've never listened to hes mazurkas exept this one

[anne126]

All of them are very boring to me. Boring, like an exaggeratedly romantic Scarlatti sonate. Faux-sentiment. Simply "mood" setting music.

I can't say that I care for any of Chopin's music to be honest, with the exception of a handful of pieces, which must have been composed in one of his rare fortuitous days.

"In one ear and out the other" I suppose.



an edit: op. 59 is ok

[healdie]

"In one ear and out the other" I suppose.

couldn't have put it better myself

[csharp_minor]

All of them are very boring to me...I can't say that I care for any of Chopin's music to be honest...
"In one ear and out the other" I suppose.

 

couldn't have put it better myself

 


* C# minor's reaction to these hurtfull comments regarding Chopin's wonderfull music * v




meeooooooowwwwwwwwwww hissss spit.

 

[pianowolfi]

Yes I second your kitty's reactions.

[csharp_minor]

Its nice to know someones on my side.

[m]

I have never heard a mazurka that sounded interresting, and have never bothered learning one.

Well, maybe that's the biggest problem. Instead of bitching about how many Mazurkas (BTW, the beautiful pieces, many great masters were fond of) Chopin wrote too many, it would be nice to bother to learn at least an Opus or two and make them sound interesting... just for sheer reason of knowing what are you talking about.

Best, M

[pk]

Well, like I said later in this thread I will maybe learn op 33 4 in bm someday, and that one is definitely way above the rest of his mazurkas.
And I really dont have to learn a piece to know that I dont like it.
Do you really have to do that  

quote author=marik link=topic=33801.msg393243#msg393243 date=1240469672]
Well, maybe that's the biggest problem. Instead of bitching about how many Mazurkas (BTW, the beautiful pieces, many great masters were fond of) Chopin wrote too many, it would be nice to bother to learn at least an Opus or two and make them sound interesting... just for sheer reason of knowing what are you talking about.

Best, M
[/quote]

[m19834]

And I really dont have to learn a piece to know that I dont like it.
Do you really have to do that  

I know that this question wasn't directed towards me, but I want to say that sometimes it really does take that you learn a piece in order to realize a love for it.  This can happen with pieces and even styles you believe you don't care much for, then you learn it and find out that there is actually value within it that you just hadn't appreciated before.

[Petter]

I love this one aswell.

Sokolov played it when he was in Stockholm and that was the highlight of the evening, at least for me.

[pk]

I know what you mean, but thats more what happens with longer pieces and sonatas, at least for me that is.
The mazurkas are too short I think, and I dont like the rhythm. I just dont care much for that kind of music, too bad he didnt do 58 preludes or etudes instead.

I know that this question wasn't directed towards me, but I want to say that sometimes it really does take that you learn a piece in order to realize a love for it.  This can happen with pieces and even styles you believe you don't care much for, then you learn it and find out that there is actually value within it that you just hadn't appreciated before.

[csharp_minor]

Anyone know if you can hear a recording of Raoul von Koczalski playing a mazurka?

I recently heard him playing the ballades 1 & 3 and found his playing very unique from other interpretations of Chopin’s works; perhaps more authentic and closer to how Chopin’s playing would be like, refined and delicate.

[alchavez]

They are the coolest sh*t ever...

[bsd300d]

So....what you're telling us is that you have no ear for music?

[shaulhadar]

Hello, i must say you have a controversial point there.  I myself, got the hang of the mazurkas only after about 16 years of playing piano.  And to tell the truth, i like all of Chopin's music, but when i was younger the mazurkas always sound to exotic and weird to me and i couldn't find what's so special about them.  Anyway, today, after playing the piano so long, i must say, that the mazurkas are harder and more demanding than they look, and their beautiful elements and genre has to be played sometime and listened sometime so you can be familiar with it's little nuances, and thus have the capability of playing these pieces.  Most of the mazurkas are short, but there are some that rival ballades in length.  In my opinion, the mazurkas have so much glimpses of special musical treatment that Chopin put only in this genre and not in others, that i am hooked to them big time. ,
But again i must admit that it did take me sometime to get familiar with them.

[stevebob]

I don't understand your motivation to revive so many old threads.

Also, the claim that "there are some [mazurkas] that rival ballades in length" is untrue if you're referring to the ballades of Chopin (and probably untenable even if you mean ballade in the generic sense).

[shaulhadar]

Hello Stevebob, well, i am reviving old threads, because i am interested in writing and contributing about Chopin.  And i was referring to the length of the pieces of course, musically a mazurka is drastically different from a ballade, yet Chopin wrote some longer mazurkas, which have a balladish element to, at least IMHO. Check out Mazurka op.56 no. 3, it takes about 7 minutes to play, and it has broader than most of the mazurkas, also check out op. 50  no.3, it's about 5:30-6 minutes long.  Another good example is op. 24 no. 4, it's about 6 minutes long. 

[keyboardclass]

Never mind the quality feel the width?

[stevebob]

Hello Stevebob, well, i am reviving old threads, because i am interested in writing and contributing about Chopin.

I completely understand that, and you’re not alone.  Fortunately, Chopin’s stature as one of the most important, beloved and commented-upon composers for piano provides many ongoing opportunities.

And i was referring to the length of the pieces of course, musically a mazurka is drastically different from a ballade, yet Chopin wrote some longer mazurkas, which have a balladish element to, at least IMHO. Check out Mazurka op.56 no. 3, it takes about 7 minutes to play, and it has broader than most of the mazurkas, also check out op. 50  no.3, it's about 5:30-6 minutes long.  Another good example is op. 24 no. 4, it's about 6 minutes long.  

You’re right, and I stand corrected.  I hadn’t considered performance times, and was thinking instead of length in terms of number of pages or measures (and the fact that the mazurkas don’t quite match the ballades’ musical weight or complexity).

By the way, I’ve just now skimmed some of the earlier posts in this thread  

[ch101]

What do you think of chopins mazurkas ?
I think chopin wrote 58 mazurkas too many 
I have never heard a mazurka that sounded interresting, and have never bothered learning one.

you suck.

[ch101]

the first mazurka is AMAZING

[keyboardclass]

What do you think of the scherza section?  I heard some recordings the other day they really wasted the grace notes.

[ch101]

What do you think of the scherza section?  I heard some recordings the other day they really wasted the grace notes.

i liked it

[pianisten1989]

you suck.

OMG! WHAT A GREAT ADD TO A TOPIC THAT'S ONLY 1 YEAR OLD!!!!!

[ponken]

Personally, I love Chopin's mazurkas. I need to learn more of them.