So I just discovered this wonderful, complete recording of Chopin’s songs, played on a Pleyel piano from 1848 and although I don’t understand the polish language (very unfortunately) yesterday I was a sobbing mess listening to all these beauties ;_;
Although I love them all so much, my favorites are Wiosna, Spiew z mogily andPierscien. I looked up for an english translation of some of the songs and when I read the translation of Pierscien I instantly thought about Maria Wodzinska, because the poem is about giving your beloved a silver ring only to see her marrying another man, and then my heart shattered while listening to this song, not only because it is beautiful, but also because Fryderyk wrote it when Maria’s family broke their engagement. And I just can’t imagine how heartbroken he must have been when he composed it
Grigory Sokolov plays Chopin Prelude No. 11 in B major op. 28
I fall in love with Chopin a bit more everyday, and when I think I can’t love him much more than I already do, I discover pearls such as this. I’ve known this prelude for a long time, but when I heard it played by Sokolov, it was a revelation, I listenned to it with fresh ears, like if it had been the first time.
These little 50 seconds are so pure, so full of love and spring, that just makes me want to give Chopin a really tight hug for the smile he is able to put in my face everytime I listen to this.
Grigory Sokolov plays Chopin Prelude No. 1 in C major op. 28
This is the most amazing, seducing and mesmerizing interpretation I’ve ever heard of this prelude. It’s so much slower than usual, which really brings out the sensual quality of this piece.
I still think that these 46 seconds are the most bewitching and sensual thing I ever heard
Despite how often people say Brahms was a conservative (which is true to a point), I think a lot of people underestimate his intensity of expression. The volume, bombast, and sometimes theatrical or operatic drama, are all underscored by the more traditional minded attitude toward structure and making sure the musical components are “functioning” in a logical way. Take the old form, and make something new out of it. Brahms had preferred that view to the newer Romantic school of thought favoring free-form and new forms created by the musical ideas themselves. Because of that, Brahms will always be the old scruffy severe German looking down at you from his wizened beard. Tangential, but I’ve talked with people who don’t like Brahms and they seem to come from this popular image: “Old fashioned”, dull, too theoretical, no good melodies, and (one extreme opinion) not truly “artistic”. But if we ignore the baggage of academicism and the symphony as a serious genre for developing complex musical thoughts, we should be thrown at the edge of our seats from the sound of the orchestra, and the long emotional melodies that people say aren’t there. I’ll take a moment to be more personal: I was surprised to find out that I’d made blog posts about the other three Brahms symphonies, but not this one. It was the first one that I fell in love with way back in high school. I remember listening to it and imagining knights in armor and large gothic castles. Brahms would turn in his grave. I got the idea from the bold and majestic opening movement. It begins with a statement of F-Ab-F, standing for Brahms motto “Frie aber froh”, Free but Happy. Somewhat leaning toward the 19th century trend of cyclical works, this symphony’s opening idea comes back in later movements as well. The motto of free but happy seems to radiate strongest in this opening movement. My favorite moment here is when the music quiets down a bit and teh flutes and bassoons play a an arabesque-like wavy melody over the strings fragmenting the same material, growing into a loud and stormy proclamation with chromatic lines (a very “Romantic” sound from a ‘Classicist”). The andante builds out of a chorale theme introduced in the winds. This more pastoral sound reminds us that this was a “vacation” work written while he was staying by the Rheine in Wiesbaden. The next movement, despite the unassuming title ‘poco allegretto’, has one of the more gorgeous melodies Brahms had written. It sings out of the cello and is punctuated by longing harmonies. Typical of Brahms, these harmonies are written out through counterpoint of fragments based off the contour of the melody. The last movement brings back the heaviness of the opening through a modified sonata. In the minor, it opens with a long and somewhat bouncy melody that could be like a Bach fugue subject. The music builds up energy into more drama, before shifting right into the “happy” counter melody. You could imagine this theme coming back with golden brass chorales. Instead, despite the dizzying effects done with the themes, and the noisy development that doesn’t let up in tension, the piece starts to sizzle up in agitated strings. A soft chorale brings back the opening motif, and then the symphony sighs away into a soft F major chord.
