Chopin Nocturnes and Preludes

Nocturnes

"Chopin was a genius of universal appeal. His music conquers the most diverse audiences. When the first notes of Chopin sound through the concert hall there is a happy sign of recognition. All over the world men and women know his music. They love it. They are moved by it. Yet it is not Romantic music in the Byronic sense. It does not tell stories or paint pictures. It is expressive and personal, but still a pure art, even in this abstract, atomic age, where emotion is not fashionable, Chopin endures. His music is the universal language of human communication. When I play Chopin I know I speak directly to the hearts of people!" ---Artur Rubinstein

The diversity Rubinstein speaks of here can especially be seen with Chopin's nocturnes. It's got it all: the lyricism, the imagination, the passion, the virtuosity. Each nocturne creates a different mood: some are calm and simple (Op. 9 No. 1; Op. 15 No. 2; Op. 72, No. 1); some are turbulence and dramatic (Op. 15, No. 1; Op. 48, No. 1; Op. 62, No. 1). There are also others that start quite and sweet, yet turns into quite a storm in the B section (Op. 15, No. 1; Op. 27, No. 1; Op. 62, No. 2). There are couple of strange ones: Op. 32, No. 1 has an uncalled for pause at the end of section A, ending on an inconclusive C-sharp minor chord (ii of B major). The music just stops for a brief second, before a new idea is introduced, without any transitional material. This happens three more times at the return of each A section! Chopin is also quite adventurous harmonically in these nocturnes. For example, in Op. 27, No. 1, the beginning of the piece opens with C-sharp minor accompaniment while the right hand E-sharp clashes with it. Many of these nocturnes follow song forms, with a contrasting B section through changes in meter, tempo, and texture. B section is often times passionate and virtuosic.

As Rubinstein commented, Chopin's music moves audience. They are full of sentiments and to a certain degree, spiritual. In Op. 15, No. 3, a section towards the end is marked religioso, a choral, hymn-like melody that is peaceful and without disturbance. Listening to Chopin's nocturnes, in many ways, is an otherworldly experience; as if the music has transcended us into a higher place...of course it helps to have someone like Rubinstein, the master interpreter of Chopin's music, whose playing touches everyone's heart.


Preludes, Op. 28

What an exciting set of pieces! I like the perfect blend of emotional turmoil and undisturbed tranquility. The preludes, as some of us know, are based on the circle of fifths, using all the related major and minor keys in ascending number of sharps and descending number of flat keys: resembling Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. What is different from Bach's well known preludes and fugues is first of all, how succinct each selection is. They are also, in my opinion, even more dramatic contrasts between each number. I read once that these are really more like tone poems than preludes. Each has a different character and speaks in a poetic way. Like the nocturnes, these are quite diverse. Some of them are etude-like with its daunting technical difficulty: No. 3 (evil left hand ostinato), 8 (voicing out inner voice while there's everything else!), 12 (bass leaps!), 16 (bass leaps!), 19 (bass leaps!), and 24 (descending double thirds). Nos. 13 and 15 sound like nocturnes. No. 7 is a miniature mazurka. Nos. 9 and 20 are hymn-like. No. 6 is a lament. No. 14 is written in quite a low register (only 4 bars plus a beat is written on treble clef), which gives the dark, turbulent character.