Dear Edna,
I am back
in THINQon!
As usual, I
am struck by both the intelligence and the sensitiveness in your posts (like in your interpretations!) that enables music lovers and/or amateur pianists to question and
enrich their approach to music. And what you
say about the 3rd Ballade is
very interesting and enlightening “A
rhythmical movement that is flexible yet stable, flexible through its dancing
quality and stable thanks to its strong
first beats” makes me think about
rubato, one of Chopin’s
characteristics, something new he brought to musical expression. Liszt gave
this famous metaphorical definition of rubato illustrating this
idea of stability and flexibility :
“Look at the trees : the leaves and twigs are swayed about by the wind, but the branches and trunk
stand firm”.
In the
post “Bach’s equivalent in
painting”, I remember, quoting the poet
Novalis to express a similar idea, “In a work of art, chaos must shimmer through the vail of order”.
I like very
much Chopin’s Ballades and , of course, Edna, since you were lucky to work with Krystian Zimerman (whose Chopin’s Ballades wonderful CD I have), I would be curious
to know if, consciously or unconsciously, Krystian Zimerman’s teaching
or approach to Chopin rubbed off on you and how?
As for
Nietzsche’s quotation “a pure ode to beauty”, curiously, I do not really
see a big contradiction with what you
say. All indeed depends on the definition one
has of beauty. For me, chaos and revolution are firmly and intimately associated with the
idea of beauty. They are an inner
part of beauty.
As for what Nietzsche says about Chopin’s aesthetics in respect
of convention and traditional forms of
melody and rhythm, I partially agree. He complies with traditional forms in
some extent but he brought something new...and revolutionary to expression and
technique for piano (rubato, a use of ornamentation, polyrhythm, virtuosity... different from what was
done before)
And
whereas revolution and heroism are
usually associated with Chopin’s virtuosity, you are so right to mention
through Schumann’s quotation that they are present in the simple strains of his
mazurkas as well.
I am
looking forward to listening to your
Chopin as I am looking forward to listening to your Mozart with Auvergne
Orchestra. Do you know when these two CD will be released?
Edna, I would have one suggestion concerning your website : could you update the page about your concerts? :)
