First Large Scale Chopin work?

[alistaircrane4]

So after finishing the f minor nocturne op 55 no1 the c-sharp minor op 27 no1 the military polonaise and the etude in e major op 10 no3 ive decided to treat myself to a large scale work. Im trying to decide between the f minor fantasia or the a flat major ballade. Which is the technically easier one Im inclined to believe the f minor is easier. but what is the concensus.

[future_maestro]

The Scherzos and Ballades are some of his greatest works.
Scherzo no. 2 is probably the most popular Scherzo, and, in my opinion, the best sounding one. It's also not the hardest Scherzo, and the Scherzos are not as hard as the Ballades.

Ballade no. 4 is the most popular ballade, but it's also the hardest Ballade, I wouldn't attempt this great work yet. Ballade no. 1 is my favorite, and it's not as hard as the 4th, but it's still not the easiest Ballade.

The Sonatas are also nice, aside from being ridiculously hard!

Good luck

[mjames]

It'd be a bad idea to start with the fantasy, it's way harder than it sounds and it's incredibly difficult to make it sound coherent (at least in my opinion). Go for the early Chopin, or the early Polonaises.

Rondo Op. 1 Cminor
Rondo Op. 5 F major(fun piece)
Bolero Op. 19
Polonaises Op. 26 (beautiful works)

Also, try playing one of his harder Waltzes the Aflat major and F major ones from the Op. 34 set and the Op. 42 Waltz.

Try your hands at some more difficult Nocturnes, especially the Op.48 No. 1(I would consider it as a large scale work, difficult to pull off). If you really feel up to it you can try his first two scherzos, although very very difficult, I think they're manageable given that you proceed it in a correct way.

Interesting etudes:
Etudes Op. 25 no. 7
Etudes op. 10 no. 6
Etude Op. 25 no. 2



Preludes Op. 45(beautiful!!!!!)

 I feel that it's too early for you attempt his late Scherzos, Fantasie, Polonaises, Ballades etc. This is just my advice, if you really feel up to working on those challenging works then it's up to you. Follow your heart. Have fun!

[visitor]

Just a thought, as training ground for more Fred, try one of the dope polanaises by his student Mikuli. Unsung genius, and I actually like his style  more and how he took what he learned from Chopin and ran further with it in some ways.

Worth exploring if you're a fan of Chopin. I like Mikuli more than Fred most of the time.

As for playing more Chopin, I would actually suggest you set out to play a large set or complete cycle of his smaller works before the extended form ones. I.e all the Mazurkas by memory to performance standard. That would be pretty rad.

[quantum]

Just a thought, as training ground for more Fred, try one of the dope polanaises by his student Mikuli. Unsung genius, and I actually like his style  more and how he took what he learned from Chopin and ran further with it in some ways.

Worth exploring if you're a fan of Chopin. I like Mikuli more than Fred most of the time.

Where would one obtain the score for that?  Seems IMSLP doesn't have much on Mikuli.  I'm liking this music.

[visitor]

Where would one obtain the score for that?  Seems IMSLP doesn't have much on Mikuli.  I'm liking this music.

hi quantum.  No worries, his scores are phenomenally difficult to track down. I do have this and the groovy no 2.  Let me pm you when I get to my other comp hat has the file so I can figure out a way I get this to you.

Ie this one too is so rad.

[david456103]

i would pick the one you like better, regardless of whether its more difficult.

[gapoc459]

My teacher says that the F minor fantasy is one of Chopin's hardest pieces. In general, you should probably stay away from late Chopin (even the F minor nocturne; although I have not played it, I would imagine that it's much harder philosophically and musically (though I hate to use this overused, ambiguous term) than many earlier pieces of similar technical difficulty). In my mind, anything past 1838-9 (ish...) seems much more difficult to make sense out of than earlier works. Early Chopin is beautifully comprehensible, but requires an almost Mozartean sense of clarity; the stuff in the middle (around 1833-1838) has a nice balance of depth and elegance, but ultimately it should come down to what you like.

I played the first Scherzo a year before I did the second, and although I have been told my final performances were quite good, I was never happy because they are sooooo often played, it is difficult to compare. In this respect, for me personally, lesser known repertoire is far easier and ultimately more rewarding than the really popular works. The Op. 1 and op. 5 rondos are both great in this regard (I haven't heard them in a few months, but I would suspect the op. 5 to be considerably more mature; but listen to them and see if you like them). The op. 16 rondo is by far the best (one of my favorite Chopin pieces), but disgustingly hard. Plus, even if not many people play it, you will never hold a candle to Horowitz. (

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I do think you can play the first Scherzo far better...). You could do a set of mazurkas, the Op. 6 is quite fine, but I am not very knowledgeable about many of the later sets. You could also play almost any of the concertante pieces, if you are technically ready. They are all beautiful, and good enough even without an orchestra... Those are opp. 2, 11, 13, 14, 21, 22.

Or you might end up like me... Last summer, I determined that this year and maybe even the next would be devoted exclusively to Chopin. Then I discovered Beethoven... <3 <3 <3 

Anyway, I'm rambling. Ultimately just play what you like. As long as it's not waaaay above your level, your motivation will prepare you for most challenges. If you want a good introduction to ALL of Chopin, I cannot recommend Garrick Ohlsson's complete set highly enough.

https://www.amazon.com/Chopin-Complete-Works-Frederic/dp/B001F4YGUA/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1398536798&sr=1-1&keywords=garrick+ohlsson+chopin (when I got it 2 years ago, it was only $80... *sigh*).

I'm rambling by now... Feel free to PM me if you wish, Chopin was my first true love (until I started cheating on him with Ludwig  ).

[visitor]

Where would one obtain the score for that?  Seems IMSLP doesn't have much on Mikuli.  I'm liking this music.

check ur pm.

[alistaircrane4]

check ur pm.

I love the second polonaise by mikuli and id love to try it. Would it be possible for you to send me the sheet music or tell me where you got it?

[visitor]

I love the second polonaise by mikuli and id love to try it. Would it be possible for you to send me the sheet music or tell me where you got it?

i don't recall where i got it, it's been in my soviet and related territories folder for ages. i don't know if i have permission to post, so that's why if i share it, it's usually only through email or protected download link (single user by permission w email). i'll try to look into it, if i can get permission (or can find where i got it), then will consider posting. you can pm if an email if you like though)

[goldentone]

i don't recall where i got it, it's been in my soviet and related territories folder for ages. i don't know if i have permission to post, so that's why if i share it, it's usually only through email or protected download link (single user by permission w email). i'll try to look into it, if i can get permission (or can find where i got it), then will consider posting. you can pm if an email if you like though)

Just watch yourself in your music espionage, Visitor.  If you get in a jam, don't hesitate to call the base.

[alistaircrane4]

i don't recall where i got it, it's been in my soviet and related territories folder for ages. i don't know if i have permission to post, so that's why if i share it, it's usually only through email or protected download link (single user by permission w email). i'll try to look into it, if i can get permission (or can find where i got it), then will consider posting. you can pm if an email if you like though)

sure thing will private message you

[nbide721]

Instead of learning a larger piece, for now, you should learn a set of his smaller pieces to get to know Chopin a little better.  Maybe learn the rest of his opus 10 etudes or his set of 24 preludes (I think opus 28).  Even within those smaller pieces, there are plenty of technical demands that you will have to work on and help you get better.  And if you learn them all at once (I suggest you do at least for his preludes), they are about as long as (if not longer than) his larger works.  I can guarantee you will play Chopin so much better after you do this.  IF you still want to play his larger works, I would suggest his 3rd ballade (stay far, far away from his other ballades for now) or scherzo 1 or 2 (also stay away from scherzo 4 right now).  I hope I helped.