Chopin thought very highly of his opus 9 no 1 Nocturne in E-flat, and it's become world famous, partly because it's accessible to students.
Don't forget 4th scherzo. Moisevitch does a great performance.It contrasts well with 4th Ballade.
The problem is, when I try to play it, it seems like a different piece!The slower sections contain one of his most heart rending melodies.A million years ago, one of the first records I ever bought was of him performing all the scherzos and ballades. So it is my foundation.
i=d-uUrTWuvoXB0SjSThe problem is, when I try to play it, it seems like a different piece!The slower sections contain one of his most heart rending melodies.A million years ago, one of the first records I ever bought was of him performing all the scherzos and ballades. So it is my foundation.
At the risk of predictability, yes, F minor Ballade, Barcarolle, E major Scherzo, Op. 62 Nocturnes...
Ballade No. 1 in G minor. Obviously. Why is the 4th ballade getting more attention? It's nothing compared to the beauty of the first ballade.
What recordings have you listened to that gave you that opinion?
The 1st ballade is an early work - sketches started in 1831 - Chopin was 20. Completed in 1835.The 4th ballade is only from 7 years later but is considered a more mature work. Composed in 1842.The 1st ballade is full of fresh ideas, vigor and beauty. A clear example of Chopin's genius.The 4th ballade is all this and an even more sophisticated rendering of how beautiful the piano can sound, wonderful contrapuntal writing, unexpected shapes and contours, a grander scheme and deeper pathos.To say one is better than the other is rather ridiculous, but to say that you like one better than the other and "this is why - - " works:
The Gm melody is full of power and beauty, and it deeply resonates with me. On a surface listening, Fm sounds more jumbled and has a less clear direction; I'm sure it has structure but it's hard to hear the structure on a first listen-through. Gm constantly returns to the same theme, developing it, and has a clear story arc that culminates in the awesome coda (it's ab-ab-ab structure reminds me of La Campanella).
Gm constantly returns to the same theme, developing it, and has a clear story arc that culminates in the awesome coda (it's ab-ab-ab structure reminds me of La Campanella).
Thanks for being transparent with your exposure to these pieces (not "songs", lol).You clearly resonate with the gm ballade - that's awesome.The 4th ballade is more complex and subtle - it takes more listens than the 1st to fully absorb it (I think most would agree with me on that).
Off-topic, but if you want to talk about incredible codas, I highly recommend Alkan's Concerto mvt. 3 (video 1), Liszt's S. 140 no. 3 (video 2), Saint-Saëns' Op. 111 no. 6 "Toccata d'Aprés le Cenquième Concerto (video 3), and Liszt's S. 420 La Clochette (video 4).
Yeah "pieces" I know. Not sure what happened there on my end.Good to know about Ballade 4. I'll keep listening to it.
"Fun to play" might be another criteria in considering enjoyment. I recently took a few looks at his 2nd Scherzo and was surprised at how much I could do. It's lots of repetition and fits under the hand really well.
Yes, I have always had fun playing this. But the bit you had on instagram I always found very tricky - maybe because I was trying to emulate Moiseivitch and others who play it at twice the speed you were playing, with a rythmic LH and tinkly RH.
In my opinion, the greatest of Chopin’s output is found in his later compositions. His polonaise Fantasie op 61, op 62 nocturnes, Barcarolle op 60, the fourth Ballade as well as his fourth scherzo, and of course his third piano sonata are all undoubtedly masterpieces.
This is a pretty overdone conversation, but I keep having more things to say about it. One thing I realized with Chopin is that I'm kind of starting to gravitate more and more towards the later works. I used to think I straight up didn't like Chopin because of some of the simpler preludes and early nocturnes (I still like 9/3 though @pianistavt). Ballade 1 is kind of wearing off on me a lot, and even Ballade 3 isn't my absolute favorite Chopin piece (though it's around even with 4). The Polonaise Fantaisie, Ballade 4, and F minor Fantaisie are all really growing on me. I don't know how I'll feel about those in a couple years, but my taste is starting to get more and more contemporary.
Topic: Chopin's best composition? 