Chopin is pianist-friendly?

[Glyptodont]

This is just a notion I have, and perhaps others may not agree.

I stopped playing for years, and re-started playing a while back. In trying to get back my skills, I have been going to Chopin, especially his waltzes.  I am practicing three of them right now -- by and large, not his most challenging ones.  I have also mastered a couple and moved on.  Some of his Preludes worked out well for me, also.

It just seems to me that Chopin is very pianist friendly.  The logic of his left-hand chords seems easy to learn.  The runs fall together very nicely, and learn quickly.  They sound fast, but they are not that awfully hard.

Often I surprise myself at how quickly some of the walzes come up to speed. 

Not all composers are so pianist friendly.  For example, I have been playing parts of Moussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.  Some of these passages are very hard, even though they may not look that hard (slower tempo, etc.).   Some of the measures seem to be asking me to do strange things with my fingers.  So perhaps Moussorgsky is not very piano friendly.  Do you suppose Chopin wrote with consideration because he himself was a master of the instrument? 

Is this comment on Chopin just subjectivity on my part, or does it make sense?

[xvimbi]

It makes perfect sense, because Chopin was a pianist. Composers are usually "better" when writing for the instruments they know well themselves. Chopin didn't know the orchestra well, that's why his orchestrations fall short. Often, composers elicit(ed) the help of virtuosos for certain instruments to adapt the score, because they sometimes write passages that an instrument is not able to realize or nobody in the world would be able to play, or it's way too easy for a featured soloist.

[allchopin]

Often, composers elicit(ed) the help of virtuosos for certain instruments to adapt the score, because they sometimes write passages that an instrument is not able to realize or nobody in the world would be able to play, or it's way too easy for a featured soloist.

Like Wagner asked of Liszt for his Tannhauser.  But whether or not this score is pianist-friendly is up to you 

[xvimbi]

Like Wagner asked of Liszt for his Tannhauser.  But whether or not this score is pianist-friendly is up to you 

Are you sure?? I thought Liszt just transcribed this overture. Wagner didn't write a piano version of it, BICBW (But I Could Be Wrong).

[Dazzer]

i heard a story of how chopin's piano actually had the keys closer to the piano (shorter distance) so that he could play it faster? not sure if that's actually true though...

[nomis]

i heard a story of how chopin's piano actually had the keys closer to the piano (shorter distance) so that he could play it faster? not sure if that's actually true though...

It's likely that the key depth (what you're talking about, I think) was shallower on Chopin's piano. Also, the keys were lighter and smaller (width-wise) hence the many 10ths in some of his pieces.

[Sketchee]

Chopin did mostly write for the piano. His orchestral writing was not so impressive though.

He wrote a few songs for piano and voice that we're not so good. Liszt rewrote them as nice piano piecesm, however.

[SteinwayTony]

This is just a notion I have, and perhaps others may not agree.

I stopped playing for years, and re-started playing a while back. In trying to get back my skills, I have been going to Chopin, especially his waltzes.  I am practicing three of them right now -- by and large, not his most challenging ones.  I have also mastered a couple and moved on.  Some of his Preludes worked out well for me, also.

It just seems to me that Chopin is very pianist friendly.  The logic of his left-hand chords seems easy to learn.  The runs fall together very nicely, and learn quickly.  They sound fast, but they are not that awfully hard.

Often I surprise myself at how quickly some of the walzes come up to speed. 

Not all composers are so pianist friendly.  For example, I have been playing parts of Moussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.  Some of these passages are very hard, even though they may not look that hard (slower tempo, etc.).   Some of the measures seem to be asking me to do strange things with my fingers.  So perhaps Moussorgsky is not very piano friendly.  Do you suppose Chopin wrote with consideration because he himself was a master of the instrument? 

Is this comment on Chopin just subjectivity on my part, or does it make sense?

If you choose your Preludes and Waltzes in a certain deliberate way, yes, you'll find it very easy and pianistically written.  But try the D minor prelude (No.24).  Your left hand is making 1.5 octave jumps throughout the entire piece, and the right hand isn't exactly accompaniment either.

[aajjmb]

If you choose your Preludes and Waltzes in a certain deliberate way, yes, you'll find it very easy and pianistically written.  But try the D minor prelude (No.24).  Your left hand is making 1.5 octave jumps throughout the entire piece, and the right hand isn't exactly accompaniment either.

or some etudes