Beautiful. Chopin's music is subtly powerful exactly as you say, but I couldn't agree more about the melancholic feelings it can bring over you.
If you really sit down and listen to them, the power is just immense. The Ocean No.12 in particular made me stop in my tracks, and I just had feelings of sadness and desperation wash over me for the two minutes, and then it was gone.
Coming back to baseline after that is a strange feeling, but it's pieces like that which have given me a stronger appreciation for Nietzsche and his writings on music - which I had read, but never fully grasped until quite recently.
I really enjoy the cues for what to listen for in each piece as well, it gives me an excuse to re-listen with a closer attention to the details - and the comparisons of each artists interpretation of the pieces.
I was discussing this recently with my girlfriend, who couldn't understand how there could be differences in how pieces were played if it's all coming from the same original sheet music - I will use this post to illustrate why.
Great edition as always, looking forward to the next!
I'd consider Chopin the dessert. Intense flavors but if you consume nothing but, he's unsustainable for a balanced diet.
Perhaps that's the reason he's adored by everyone. It's what you put on when you want a condensed "shot" of classical music.
Obviously, not trying to take away from his superior technical abilities. If anything, he's one of a kind in that regard. He was a prodigy, an accomplished soloist, and composer.
He knew the piano like no one else. In fact, I'd say he is the modern piano. Before him, music didn't really take advantage of the light and chromatic capabilities of the mellow piano.
In the previous era, people were still using fortepianos and clavichords. The sound they produced sort of forced specific modalities.
Nietzsche had his teeth in every part of life, haha. Glad you're enjoying this.
As far as interpretation goes, consider the sheet of music a book containing a story. The story will of course always remain the same but how the character looks, the atmosphere, the places, the moral decisions are subjective and up to the reader to use his imagination and bring them to life.
"Perhaps that's the reason he's adored by everyone. It's what you put on when you want a condensed "shot" of classical music." - That's a very interesting way of putting it!
His playing does really stand apart, even to a layman like me. Listening to the complexity of it reminds me of a quote from your first newsletter:
"After WW2, there was an unprecedented discontinuation of the linear progress in music.
For 1000s of years, we’ve been consistently building on top of our history and theory, up until the early part of the 20th century, where we broke the chain.
It’s not only that the quality started degenerating but the very way of composing changed.
That’s not to say we don’t have good music today. We certainly do. But in my opinion, we haven’t been able to progress beyond the peak of the late 17th to late 19th century."
With all of the classical music I've been listening to (this morning, it was Brahms symphonies 1 through 4), this is becoming more and more apparent. It's almost as though we need two separate words, as the difference between the two forms of music is so staggeringly different.
It's not that I don't love a lot of modern music, even simpler music - all I've been obsessing over on guitar for months is the blues and that's based around 3 chords - it's just the disparity is becoming more and more apparent.
Actually, ended up looking up both the fortepiano and clavichord after reading this and it's truly fascinating how instruments develop over time. Particularly fond of the inverted key colours, would be a nice touch for style points in a future home - if it wouldn't be too off-putting to play.
I'm thoroughly enjoying these pieces every week, and the pieces that I get to add into my weekly rotation, however the sheer vastness of the history of each aspect of classical music is somewhat intimidating.
Have you considered a post going in-depth on your background in music and how you came to be so knowledgeable? I would love to hear more about it.
"As far as interpretation goes, consider the sheet of music a book containing a story. The story will of course always remain the same but how the character looks, the atmosphere, the places, the moral decisions are subjective and up to the reader to use his imagination and bring them to life."
Now that is just beautiful. Writing it down and putting it in my notes immediately haha
Beautiful. Chopin's music is subtly powerful exactly as you say, but I couldn't agree more about the melancholic feelings it can bring over you.
If you really sit down and listen to them, the power is just immense. The Ocean No.12 in particular made me stop in my tracks, and I just had feelings of sadness and desperation wash over me for the two minutes, and then it was gone.
Coming back to baseline after that is a strange feeling, but it's pieces like that which have given me a stronger appreciation for Nietzsche and his writings on music - which I had read, but never fully grasped until quite recently.
I really enjoy the cues for what to listen for in each piece as well, it gives me an excuse to re-listen with a closer attention to the details - and the comparisons of each artists interpretation of the pieces.
I was discussing this recently with my girlfriend, who couldn't understand how there could be differences in how pieces were played if it's all coming from the same original sheet music - I will use this post to illustrate why.
Great edition as always, looking forward to the next!
I'd consider Chopin the dessert. Intense flavors but if you consume nothing but, he's unsustainable for a balanced diet.
Perhaps that's the reason he's adored by everyone. It's what you put on when you want a condensed "shot" of classical music.
Obviously, not trying to take away from his superior technical abilities. If anything, he's one of a kind in that regard. He was a prodigy, an accomplished soloist, and composer.
He knew the piano like no one else. In fact, I'd say he is the modern piano. Before him, music didn't really take advantage of the light and chromatic capabilities of the mellow piano.
In the previous era, people were still using fortepianos and clavichords. The sound they produced sort of forced specific modalities.
Nietzsche had his teeth in every part of life, haha. Glad you're enjoying this.
As far as interpretation goes, consider the sheet of music a book containing a story. The story will of course always remain the same but how the character looks, the atmosphere, the places, the moral decisions are subjective and up to the reader to use his imagination and bring them to life.
"Perhaps that's the reason he's adored by everyone. It's what you put on when you want a condensed "shot" of classical music." - That's a very interesting way of putting it!
His playing does really stand apart, even to a layman like me. Listening to the complexity of it reminds me of a quote from your first newsletter:
"After WW2, there was an unprecedented discontinuation of the linear progress in music.
For 1000s of years, we’ve been consistently building on top of our history and theory, up until the early part of the 20th century, where we broke the chain.
It’s not only that the quality started degenerating but the very way of composing changed.
That’s not to say we don’t have good music today. We certainly do. But in my opinion, we haven’t been able to progress beyond the peak of the late 17th to late 19th century."
With all of the classical music I've been listening to (this morning, it was Brahms symphonies 1 through 4), this is becoming more and more apparent. It's almost as though we need two separate words, as the difference between the two forms of music is so staggeringly different.
It's not that I don't love a lot of modern music, even simpler music - all I've been obsessing over on guitar for months is the blues and that's based around 3 chords - it's just the disparity is becoming more and more apparent.
Actually, ended up looking up both the fortepiano and clavichord after reading this and it's truly fascinating how instruments develop over time. Particularly fond of the inverted key colours, would be a nice touch for style points in a future home - if it wouldn't be too off-putting to play.
I'm thoroughly enjoying these pieces every week, and the pieces that I get to add into my weekly rotation, however the sheer vastness of the history of each aspect of classical music is somewhat intimidating.
Have you considered a post going in-depth on your background in music and how you came to be so knowledgeable? I would love to hear more about it.
"As far as interpretation goes, consider the sheet of music a book containing a story. The story will of course always remain the same but how the character looks, the atmosphere, the places, the moral decisions are subjective and up to the reader to use his imagination and bring them to life."
Now that is just beautiful. Writing it down and putting it in my notes immediately haha
I'll be announcing a QnA this Sunday, so I'll include your question!