200 years after his birth, Chopin remains a key composer | Hacker News Reader

200 years after his birth, Chopin remains a key composer

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32 pointsedw51919 comments

There are a few composers that truly sing to me. J.S.Bach (with a few exceptions) is one, some of Beethoven's work, especially his later string quartets, and sometimes Mozart, because even though he sometimes seems a bit fluffy, sometimes that's what I want.

But I can get lost in Chopin, again and again.

There are others that occasionally hit the mark. Some Janacek, some Bartok, and a surprising amount of Joplin (which is surprisingly sophisticated).

But I always return to Bach and Chopin.

I resonate with most of your list, especially Bach and late Beethoven quartets. But I don't listen to much Chopin. Any recommendations?

No, I don't have any recommendations. I try to listen to it all, and I often don't even remember the names. Listening to it all means that I learn from the pieces that are too complex for me yet to understand, and I am soothed by those I know well.

Find a CD and listen to one track per day. Some people can find more than that a little overwhelming. I try to listen to the same track three or four times in a day, and get to know the piece.

Some people call me odd, but I would guess that many on HN fall into the same category, if not for the same reasons.

Try the nocturnes (You can get Daniel Barenboim's renditions with bittorrent: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4107877/Barenboim_-_Chopin_N...). That's what I started with.

For an assortment of great Chopin playing, check out this playlist of Rafal Blechacz at the Chopin competition in 2005. He on all 5 first prizes at the competition. http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=01CC65D4BAEF5E85

Try the Preludes. For anyone who might think of Chopin largely as a 19th C. salon composer they are shattering. They're also mostly quite brief. Some last only a minute or so. Epic especially are Nos 8, 12, 16, 18 and 24.

I'm partial to the Nocturnes, Etudes and Ballades

For six dollars, Amazon has an eight(!) hour Chopin collection for download -- 99 DRM-free MP3's, tracks vary from 192-256kbps according to one review. I bought it a while back (when it was on sale even cheaper) -- worth your while.

You can check out track samples from all tracks, read reviews and/or buy it here (this link only good for US):

http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Chopin-Masterpieces-Amazon-E...

Amazons for other countries should have it as well (e.g. UK (costs six pounds): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Essential-Chopin-Masterpieces-Amazon... Germany (3 Euros): http://www.amazon.de/Essential-Chopin-Masterpieces-Amazon-Ex... )

(Note: the track 55 problem mentioned in one review was fixed. Also note, you'll need to use Amazon's downloader, which installs in seconds--available for Windows, Mac and apparently they now have a Linux version too--you should be prompted; if not: http://www.amazon.com/gp/dmusic/help/amd.html).

Recommendations for good recordings of works from these composers?

I played for about 15 years and love a lot of the music I learned and performed. At the time though, it was so familiar to me that it never occurred to me to track down recordings of those songs. If I wanted to hear something, I'd just sit down and play it myself.

Now that I don't play so often, I'd like to hear some of those songs again, but I'm completely psyched out by the number of recordings available. Any suggestions for Chopin recordings and perhaps some Debussy and Rachmaninoff?

This is the same, admittedly silly, reason I don't go to many plays. There are so many out there and I don't want to waste time and money on a sub-par product.

Maurizio Pollini's recording of the Etudes & Preludes.

Henryk Szeryng's recording of Bach's Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin

the elasticity that Chopin allowed, and the fact that he never played a piece the same way twice (sometimes performing the polar opposite dynamics), have led to a tradition of performance in which his entire works are interpreted with Romantic freedom.

I find that this, plus the fact that many of his typical works are so short, makes Chopin the quintessential YouTube composer.

"We have been, let us say, to see the latest Pole/Transmit the Etudes through his hair and finger tips"

--T.S. Eliot, "Portrait of a Lady"

Chopin is the best French composer.

Sometimes I wish that HN had a "+1, Funny" button like Slashdot does.

He was Polish, despite his parisian history, hence his famous mazurkas.

To be clear, leaving aside his 'passport' status, he had a French father and a Polish mother. And it's interesting that he made no attempt to ever return to Poland after he'd arrived in Paris as a very young man. I think the French and Polish can make more or less equivalent claims on him.

It was a joke (I think); like saying "Mozart was the greatest Italian Opera composer." (Also true, imho).

And the second best Warner Bros composer, just after Rossini.

[splutter...] How can you have forgotten "What's Opera, Doc?"

You could make a game out of this: spot the composer.

I've even heard some Stravinsky in a Bugs Bunny cartoon; it was something from The Firebird.

They sure don't make 'em like they used to.

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