Chopin Judo Chops His Way Into Hades (for Andy Fox)

[Zeno]

From a recent thread, now quiet and slumbering.

[ QUOTE ]
Music: Chopin's piano sonata in B-minor. Each movement is a tour de force, each outwardly very different, yet all subtlely related by shape and sonority. Chopin was the master of every aspect of musical composition--harmony, melody, rhythm, texture, counterpoint, form. The only thing he never mastered was orchestration, but he didn't need to--he had a complete orchestra at his fingertips every time he sat down at the piano.


[/ QUOTE ]


Sonata NO. 2 has:

Introduction
Scherzo
Funeral March
Finale

After listening to this smoldering heap of piano music I was singularly impressed. The impression deepens with each repeated listening session.

There are some elements that seem disjointed but perhaps Chopin's Judoist approach is part of the charm but this approach is intersperse with moments of tinkling that makes portions of the Sonata boarder on schizophrenia.

The Funeral March movement is exquisite and the solid bookends of music with a creamy center make the whole round and uniform like an Oreo Cookie. I think this is praise but some may doubt my sincerity. So be it.

Andy knows much more about piano music and composition than I so I bow to his superior knowledge and acumen. Chopin is Grand. Truly so.

-Zeno

[andyfox]

I didn't get the 1st movement for a long, long time. Too many notes and strange, jarring counterpoint.

The Scherzo is magical pianistic derring-do of the highest order, or at least one thinks it is until the Finale comes around. (Next time, listen for the "Good Evening Friends" near the end of the finale.) The cream-filled center of the Funeral March is as beautiful as piano music can be. I've heard the piece played live probably half a dozen times, and listened to recorded versions hundreds of times, played the movement myself endlessly, and I still get goosebumps when I hear the next-to-last chord in the movement.

BTW, the first biography of Chopin was written by your man Franz Liszt. Liszt's favorite Chopin was the Etude in A-flat, no. 2 from the Trois Nouvelle Etudes. If only one could hear Lizst playing that.

[John Feeney]

Okay, I'll have to listen to this thing sometime. Is it on Itunes? I'm listening to Joni Mitchell at the moment. Is that okay too?

BTW, Zeno, the mere use of the term "judo chop" dates you. It's, like, an early James Bond term.

[andyfox]

The one with the funeral march is the sonata in B-flat minor. Also a great work, but my piece is the one in B-minor. The slow movement is a largo, not a funeral march, and the middle section of it blows away that of the B-flat minor sonata.

[John Cole]

John,

ckeck out Madeleine Peyroux singing "River" and Diana Krall's version of "Case of You."

[Rick Nebiolo]

[ QUOTE ]
The one with the funeral march is the sonata in B-flat minor. Also a great work, but my piece is the one in B-minor. The slow movement is a largo, not a funeral march, and the middle section of it blows away that of the B-flat minor sonata.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think Classical Music would sell better if the songs had catchy names such as "Stairway To Heaven" or "Whipping Post".

~ Rick

[Rick Nebiolo]

[ QUOTE ]
John,

ckeck out Madeleine Peyroux singing "River" and Diana Krall's version of "Case of You."

[/ QUOTE ]

There's a bunch of Madeleine Peyroux on YouTube but not "River", She's very good, plays a style I love and yet I never heard of her which depresses me (the depression concerns my growing awareness of my cultural cluelessness).

From Googling around a bit it seams Madeleine Peyroux is supposed to be similar to Billy Holiday. So I wonder if I'll get to her by plugging in Billy Holiday into Pandora or last.fm.com (two of the music discovery and streaming sites).

Anyway, just tried Pandora and didn't get her after five tries (but my newly created Billie Holiday station looks like it will have good stuff)

Now I closed down Pandora and loaded up last.fm and after putting in Billie Holiday into search it comes back with about forty tags of "similar artists". One of the smaller ones was Madeleine Peyroux but they arn't playing her stuff; it could be a problem with license or whatever. The music they are playing is great stuff from the Billie era.

Now I went back to Pandora and created a new station titled "Madeleine Peyroux". This of course violates the point of music discovery services such as Pandora and last.fm; i.e., I discovered Madeleine Peyroux by reading John Cole's post. The way these things are supposed to work is I discover Madeleine Peyroux by starting from Billie Holiday.

Sorry if I'm rambling here; it's past my bedtime and I'm trying to bore myself to sleep. Maybe I should try lying in bed and reading the geography book I started rather than sitting in front of this machine with seven windows open, a video playing, and music streaming. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

~ Rick

[John Feeney]

Thanks John. I have the Diana Krall version of "A Case of You." (I played it and Joni's version for my mother-in-law a while back. She's a bit Krall fan. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] ) I'll look into Madeleine Peyroux.