chopin

i think i need to dispel the stench of angst that was left in the air after the last post. that was written under the influence of a particularly virulent bout of self-loathing and Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground. Read it; the sheer vehemence of self-hatred will shock you to the core. =) thx also to my loyal readership lol.

so, today's really bright and sunny, no point wallowing in depression, and i had waffles with ice-cream for breakfast (w00t) so that feels good. i've been wondering if my fitness is dying (esp. with the enlistment letter just in -.-) but went and did 9 pull-ups on the bar at home so that proves i haven't turned into a fat slob just yet. and i had a good run on the piano just now: chopin ballades 3 & 4 and some granados, in keeping with the cool and froody mood today.

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chopin is known for the rubato you're supposed to put into the music. like, stretch certain beats, rush thru others, give a lurching rhythmic sensation. if you do it properly you make the sound kaleidoscopic and funky. if you suck it makes the audience go seasick. it's quite common for most romantic-era music. and can be very funny when really overdone properly... like the time i screwed ike over accompanying him on sarasate's carmen fantasy.

but i had an epiphany while sightreading the ballade no. 4 earlier. about what chopin's rubato is actually for - it's for people to figure out the accidentals.

cos, get this, the ballade no. 4 is in F minor but starts in, i think, C major so everything is naturalised. then you launch into some exquisite F minor thing that is faintly reminiscent of B&W still life photos of early 20th century whirling turkish dervishes, don't ask me why. and then after that theres some modulations which take you to exotic keys, sharps flats all over the freaking place.

so the idea is, you linger over the previous note, pause slightly, artistically... while you figure out what the next note actually is. like there's a bar where chopin has an A-double-flat fetish or sth. that calls for a serious amount of rubato, and maybe a bit of deep breathing too to calm your nerves. see, when you pause and breathe it sounds musically authentic, when actually what's running thru your mind is "fuck how long more to the end? can't stand any more of this shit. damn you chopin." and stuff like that.

i stopped on the 3rd last page though. couldn't bear to sightread the chromatic semiquaver runs. lost my patience with the chopin crap. some people like chopin; i think the accidentals are a nuisance so i mostly can't stand the music.