Need Inspiration for Chopin Interpretation

[dlu]

(Hey...the title rhymes!)...

I am learning Chopin's Andante Spinato and Grande Polonaise Brilliante. I am having trouble with the interpretation, not technically, but just with the interpretation. What images does this piece bring to your head....and what stories does it illustrate to you. I need INSPIRATION!!!!!

[IllBeBach]

I guess I don't think about music quite like that, at least most of the time.  Do you HAVE to have a picture in your mind?

I suggest getting a number of recordings by artists and listening to them comparatively.

Make every phrase sing by imagining how it would sound if you sang it---or imagine how it would sound if it was orchestrated.  Try exaggerating dynamics--experiment with the notes to see what you think sounds best--look for inner voices.  In other words, study the score and let IT inspire you.  Don't seek extra-musical inspiration.

[xvimbi]

What images does this piece bring to your head....and what stories does it illustrate to you. I need INSPIRATION!!!!!

Very good question! And yes, having a picture or a story in mind is absolutely essential to a good performance.

However, I think you are really asking for ideas, not inspiration. Inspiration leads to ideas and finally execution. Ideas come from somebody else and may not reflect your own feelings. However, listening to somebody else's ideas (e.g. by listening to recordings) can serve as a good starting point; along the lines "Oh great, I like how she is playing. That's what I would do too, if I could transform my ideas into a performance".

Having said that a story is vital, this story must not deviate too much from what the composer intended. To find a good story, one must consider the composers life in general, the particular circumstances (personal, societal, political) at the time the piece was written and then add ones own thoughts to express these issues.

In terms of "Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise" I'll say only one thing: Less bravura, more poetry!

The poetry part is your's to figure out. Use these pieces as an exercise to see if you can come up with a compelling story yourself. You'll need this skill throughout the rest of your piano playing career.

[dlu]

Why don't I just think of the movie the Pianist and of the story and where centain parts of the movies correspond with centain sections of the piece? Or would it be more beneficial to me to find a original idea?

[xvimbi]

Why don't I just think of the movie the Pianist and of the story and where centain parts of the movies correspond with centain sections of the piece? Or would it be more beneficial to me to find a original idea?

One thing that sets apart the stellar pianists from mediocre ones is the ability to come up - on their own - with a novel, compelling interpretation of a piece. Those are the ones that give the same old, thousand-fold played pieces, new spins. Think of Glenn Gould (not that I agree with his interpretations, but they were indeed compelling).

[IllBeBach]

Very good question! And yes, having a picture or a story in mind is absolutely essential to a good performance.




The poetry part is your's to figure out. Use these pieces as an exercise to see if you can come up with a compelling story yourself. You'll need this skill throughout the rest of your piano playing career.

I guess I come from a different school of thought.  I don't think it's necessary to have a picture or story in your head to create a successful performance.  I do think it is absolutely necessary to have concept in your head of the sound you want to produce in a particular composition.  I think the danger of using pictures and stories when coming up with an interpretation is that you might force the music into a mould that is very different from what the score indicates and what the composer intended.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't let music create pictures in your mind, but I see it more as a response to a successful performance than as the impulse of successful performance.

If you focus on creating a good sound image in your head based on score study, and then work to create your sound ideal as you work, a good interpretation will result.  This means careful score study of

    all markings by the composer
    form
    key and chord structure
    phrase and cadences
    articulation
    rhythm
    polyphony and inner voices
    points of emphasis, as well as places of tension and relaxation
    dynamics
    tempo, especially comparative tempi between sections
    composer's life and motivation for composition of piece
    comparative study with other works by the composer
    study of historical period performance practice
    comparative study of work in regards to similar works by composers of the same period.
    And probably other ways of study that I forgot to mention.

Do all this and you'll come up with a well-founded and professional interpretation of the piece.

I guarantee you won't play it better if you just think something like...."Now here is where little Red Riding Hood is walking through the peaceful forest.  The wave-like figurations of the right hand describe breezes gently stirring the boughs of the trees....etc. etc, barf, barf...."

Ok, I admit that was kind of a ridiculous story for the andante spinato, and probably not very valid.  But, seriously, read some of the Hans van Bulow descriptions of the Chopin Preludes sometimes--they can sometimes be as silly.

    So....what does Andante Spinato mean anyway....?

[xvimbi]

I guess I come from a different school of thought.

Not really. I was not necessarily talking about a "story" in the sense of "Little Red Riding Hood", I was talking more about a conscious, coherent train of thought. The points you list will provide such a train of thought.

So....what does Andante Spinato mean anyway....?

Here it goes:

The indication "spianato" is is not well known even amongst musicians. It comes from the Italian "spianare" and means to smooth over or flatten. So we are dealing with a broad Andante. That is surprising, as despite the calm accompanying figures there is a wide selection of expressional forms and exciting episodes. However the excitement is in a reduced, soft and calm way. If we translate "spianato" with "simple" or "plain" we are getting closer to the meaning, especially if we look at how the work evolved. The Polonaise was composed in 1830 or 1831 at a time when Chopin (he was only 20 years old) was celebrating his success as a virtuoso all over Europe. The introductory Andante was composed and added later in 1834 when Chopin had finally settled in Paris. Whereas the Polonaise is devised entirely for its vitality, brillance, drama and virtuosity - and therefore does not have the depth of later works - the expressiveness of the Andante takes on a maturity, yes, even wisdom. So both pieces are very contrasting in nature and yet they blend surprisingly well to a whole.


Chopin's opus 22 in the original form is actually for piano and orchestra whereby the piano introduction is played as a solo. The piece was premiered in this form in Paris on 26 April 1835 with Chopin himself at the piano. The orchestral accompaniment is so sketchy and even become obsolete, so the work has established itself as a piano solo with the pianist taking over the few orchestral insertions.

https://www.erik-reischl.de/text_chopin_en.htm

[dlu]

SOMETIMES.....I think it's good to have extramusical images and stories. What do you think of when you hear (Dukas') The Sorceror's Apprentice?.......MICKEY MOUSE of course.

(By saying this I am assuming you've all seen Fantasia and well....if you have'nt.....first, go see it....and then, realize I am not crazy for interpreting out of a piece a humanoid rodent)

DLu

[IllBeBach]

Oh, Ok, Xvimbi--

     I see that we are really talking about the same thing, just using different terminology.  I was taking the word 'story' literally--along the lines of some of the 19th century attempts to put prose stories or interpretive extramusical images to basically absolute music.  While I don't eschew completely extramusical images and stories, I was just saying that I think you shouldn't put the "cart before the horse".  An interpretation should be founded primarily on score study and historical study; if you find this study then suggests to your imagination some story (literally, I mean like red riding hood, etc.) or an image (not indicated by the composer as in the case of program music, i'm referring to absolute music here) then good for you.  Anything that helps you play musically is great.  Schnabel once said that there is only one interpretation for any piece of music--the musical interpretation. 

     My last question concerning the Andante 'Spinato' was aimed at DLU, with the hope it would spur him to do some research if he hadn't already done it.  Nice of you to provide some of the research for him necessary for him to arrive at his own 'story' or interpretation of the piece.