Chopin: What I listen to When I Write and Paint
Paradise: 80 degrees outside, tank top, shorts, barefoot, listening to Chopin. "Cannons hidden under roses," was how Schumann described Chopin's music. This is an all-Chopin weekend on BBC Radio 3. The Chopin Experience (now archived until next Saturday), was exquisite. Tamas Vasary, and Idil Biret playing live. I am hearing the side-by-side comparisons of early 20th Century renditions, with it's crackly noise, next to recordings of contemporary pianists.
Chopin improvised but disliked Listz's ad lib, wanting Listz to "get out of my garden." The early 20th players are a mere generation removed from Chopin himself: the students of Chopin's students. Lots of flourishes compared to Vladimir Ashkenazy, who abhors the pre-WWII style.
Can anyone not love Chopin? Perhaps someone who has trouble reaching for his own emotions. Chopin takes on an expansive journey in a short span of time. (Chekhov's literature does the same for me.) Chopin died at age 39 of tuberculosis. If he had lived, how would his music have developed?
Below, portrait of Chopin with his lover, the author, George Sand in an oil by Delacroix.
What do you listen to? Matisse put on Jazz as he made his papercuts when he was too weak to paint.
Jazz 1 by Belle
Jazz 2 by Belle
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Jessica Barksdale Inclan says:
You are a genius
Amazing work, Belle! Amazing.
I listen to nothing. I don't like too much sound. I have sound-a-phobia. I like birds and the lull of house sounds. I don't listen to music in my car, either. Silence. I don't listen to music when I run or when I work out. Silence, or street and gym noises. It makes me aberrant, but that's me.
J
Jessica Barksdale Inclan www.jessicabarksdaleinclan.com
Belle Yang says:
Silence is probably best, but
Try Chopin "Nocturnes" someday. It's the only thing I can listen to when I write. Everything else drives me crazy. When I draw, I try to listen to BBC Radio 3 programs. I guess I feel a real need to make the best of my days and learn. Maybe a bit too frenetic and desparate about it. The books in the used book store make me happy and , at the same time, sad, because I don't have all the time in the world. I wish I could slurp down books as quickly as raw eggs.
Jessica Barksdale Inclan says:
I think I have a music disorder
But I am coping. No one really believes me that I don't listen to music, but the good news is that Michael doesn't need to have it on while working, either! My former spouse had a sound track to his life, as do my boys. When we would drive on a trip, we took turns. It would go: CD for spouse, CD for child, CD for child, a half an hour silence for me. And then back to the CD spin. At least we had it worked out!
I want to learn, too, and there isn't enough time. I guess we have to do what we can!
J
Jessica Barksdale Inclan www.jessicabarksdaleinclan.com
Darlene Arden says:
Wonderful!
I love this topic! I adore classical music. I cut my baby teeth on classical music and classical ballet. As I write this, I'm listening to a tribute to Leonard Bernstein, Live at the Boston Pops.
Sometimes I listen to jazz, sometimes I have to listen to show tunes, or the Great American Songbook. But when I'm working, it's usually classical music that's playing in the background.
Belle Yang says:
Darlene,
I was thinking of you when I posted this. I truly was--I am tele-pathetic :)
Darlene Arden says:
Amazing!
Ahhh, telepathic! My mother was somewhat telepathic. I kept asking her for the lottery number but, alas, she could only predict when the phone would ring and who would be calling.
Darlene
John Daniel Orr says:
I love music
... and I find I can listen to music when I am working with images or designing. That is, using Photoshop or some page-building program, which is one of the things I do in life.
But I can't usually listen to music if I am writing or editing. Music takes up a lot of space in my brain, for one thing, and ... rhythm is involved in writing good sentences, and I have to let my writing brain conduct the orchestra and keep the beat. Can't let music take that control from my construction of sentences.
Eric Nichols says:
Did you hear....
They recently exhumed the body of J.S. Bach. They opened up the casket, and much to their surpise there was a shriveled old man busily erasing sheets of music.
Are you really Johannes Bach?" they asked
"Yes I am," he answered.
"Why are you erasing all those sheets of music?" they queried.
"I'm just decomposing."
Now you know.
Belle Yang says:
Makes
a lot of beautiful sense, John. I can pretty much listen to all the Chopin nocturnes but when he starts pounding loudly on the piano, I have to send him to his room.
"The Odyssey of a Manchurian," following the structure of a concerto. I'm not deeply knowledgeable about classical music, but I went through a period when I listened intensely and tried to find parallels in writing--and there are indeed similarities in all the arts. Whenever there is chance to learn more about music, I invariabley it--BBC Radio 3's purpose is to educate.
I think music the highest form of art. So, would I trade my writing and painting for music? Yeah, I think I would.
John, my Photoshop CS3 Extended just arrived in the mail. So excited.
Eric Nichols says:
If it ain't Baroque, don't fix it. :)
I'm partial to Vivaldi, Bach, and Scarlatti. I also have quite a collection of Yo-Yo Ma....because....There's always room for cello.... :)
(Father forgive me!)
Eric
Eric Nichols says:
I prefer
Back-to-back Bach.
Belle Yang says:
I love Bach Cantatas
My friend calls Bach, "sewing machine music." I've been listening to Bach since I was 17. We have the annual Carmel Bach Festival. Starts up in the summer. A childhood friend and I used to sneak in through the side door of the mission like mice and sit in the dark to listen.
You give Christianity a good name, Eric. I've loved the quotes you've picked out from the Bible and offer us in our posts
Eric Nichols says:
Why, thank you kindly!
I do try my best. I've always felt the Bible works better as a scalpel than as a sledgehammer. It's a lot more fun that way for all involved, anyway! :)
Eric
John Duir says:
You Asked
Other than listening to the beat of a different drummer, accompanied by the voice of my inner child, and the non-stop self-talk, I listen to everything from Beethoven to Aerosmith. Excluded: rap, dentist office, elevator, and polka ( except at weddings ).
Belle Yang says:
You
were missed, Semi.
Eric Nichols says:
A painter's forum
Hey Belle:
Here's a painting forum I'm on also: http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&webtag=ab-painting
Some of the folks there would love to see some of your work, I'm sure.
(Not that you don't have enough things to do already, of course!)
Eric