Today is the first day of Spring! To mark the beginning of the new season I thought it would be nice to share this beautiful, dreamy song, composed in 1838. It’s unfortunate that Chopin’s songs are so rarely performed and recorded; they are little precious gems coming from a composer who wrote almost exclusively for the piano, and here, he grants us the rare opportunity to witness his music sung by a human voice, which he loved so much.
Poem: Stefan Witwicki (polish poet and friend of Chopin)
Happy birthday dear Frycek, I just want to let you know how important you are to me, and I hope you, from Heaven, can see how much you are still loved today and how many lives you have changed for better.
Thank you so much, and a big kiss, hoping it will reach you one way or another. <3
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRYCEK!!!
I just hope he can somehow feel all the love vibes, all the loving thoughts, all the smiles and wishes of happiness that millions of people are sending out to him today. I just want him to know that he and his music are not and shall not ever be forgotten and that they made this Earth a more beautiful place. I already teared up a bit today just by knowing that I can’t give him a big hug, omg
But nonetheless, today I feel so grateful (today and everyday), because his art is what makes me truly aware of the beauty of nature and the beauty of the tiny little things around me, and knowing that he dedicated his life just so I can live these moments of true happiness, makes me feel forever grateful, more than I can say.
A few days ago, at night, I went to my window, to see the stars and the moon, while listening to a couple of his nocturnes. Although the night sky is always a beautiful sight, I feel like it wouldn’t have half of its beauty if I didn’t have his music playing on my mind; I will never find the words which can possibly express how grateful I am for this.
Thank you so much Frycek for all that you have given to us, and since I cannot be with you today, I am blowing a kiss towards Heaven, in the hope that it finds you well and happy. <3
Whenever I’m sad I just remind myself that Chopin was so sensitive and precious that he would cry upon hearing beautiful music even as an infant
And then I get a lot more sad
OK THIS MAN was super homesick that he started crying in the middle of teaching because the piece his student was playing reminded him of Poland (which he couldn’t go back to) and just. Oh my god. That’s so precious and yet heartbreaking
Be still my heart
If you want to shed another tear just remember that around 1840 Chopin adopted a stray little puppy which had been following him on the street and George Sand describes how he spent the whole day looking after the puppy and hugging him, I mean just picture 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
Frédéric François Chopin was a beautiful man, and his music was and is still beautiful. What I would give to go back in time, even for just one day, and listen to him play on the piano.
“Portrait of Fryderyk Chopin(1810-1949)”by Louis Gallait (1810-1887)
■ In 1830, the last concert by Fryderyk Chopin took place in Warsaw, Poland. Chopin had to leave his native Poland which was under Russian rule at that time. The composer could never return to his homeland but he never forgot about Poland.
■ During his final days, famous Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin, with fawning Parisian women fainting all around him, made the gruesome request that his heart be taken out from his corpse and sent back to his native Poland, knowing very well that his body would never leave France. When he passed, Chopin’s eldest sister, Ludwika, complied with his request, taking the heart before his body could be buried and secreting it back to Poland in a jar of booze. Most likely cognac. Ludwika hid the hearty package under her cloak, avoiding officers and agents that might ask too many questions about the body part she was carrying, and was able to smuggle it to the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw where it was buried beneath a small monument.During World War II, the Nazis, knowing the power the composer’s legacy held over the people, stole the heart (as well as outlawing playing his music). However, after the war they gave it back.
