Unspeakable Beauty: Chopin

Photo taken in the year that he died.

What can I say? I was in love with Chopin's music from the first time my piano teacher introduced me to a Chopin Polonaise when I was eight. It was a simplified version, no doubt, as I was but a beginner on the piano. But my appreciation for Chopin's music has never wavered. 

Here are a dozen or more quotes about his music with some links at the end.

"Chopin wrote poetry that only a soul could hold."

-- George Sand

"Each of Chopin’s compositions is a conversation between two souls; one never perceives a distinction between a soloist and an accompanying instrument."
-- Robert Schumann

"Chopin's work is one of the peaks in the development of piano music. You could say he was a prophet of the piano. He was different from the people of his time. He created a new epoch."
-- Vladimir Horowitz

"Chopin was a kind of creator who valued ideas and emotions more than anything. He was always eager to provide unexpected harmonies."
-- Ignacy Jan Paderewski

"Chopin is the border between romanticism and modernism."
-- Artur Rubinstein

"Chopin spoke in his music directly to the hearts of the people. His music is direct, spontaneous and clear."
-- Arthur Honegger

"Chopin's music resembles a universe. It is self-contained, it is perfect, it is complete."
-- Leopold Godowsky

"Chopin has written some waltzes that are actually love letters." 

-- Wilfrid Mellers

"Chopin is the only soul who has revealed the genius of that instrument."
-- Franz Liszt

"Chopin is the greatest of them all – he reached the highest point of enlightenment and I have the feeling he is speaking directly to me with each piece."
-- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

"His creation was spontaneous, miraculous. He found it without searching for it, without foreseeing it. It came to his piano suddenly, complete, sublime, or it sang in his head during a walk, and he would hasten to hear it again by, tossing it off on his instrument. But then would begin the most heartbreaking labor I have ever witnessed. He would spend six weeks on one page, only to end up writing it just as he had traced it in his first outpouring."
--George Sand

"After playing Chopin, I feel as if I had been weeping over sins that I had never committed, and mourning over tragedies that were not my own."
--Oscar Wilde

 * * * 

Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; (1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leading musician of his era, one whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation" --Wikipedia

"The most vigorous applause seemed not to suffice to our enthusiasm in the presence of this talented musician, who revealed a new phase of poetic sentiment combined with such happy innovation in the form of his art."--Franz Liszt

* * * 

You may remember this from The Truman Show, where Truman first meets Lauren, the girl who captures his heart.

Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.
--Frédéric Chopin

TW0 MORE FAVORITES

ETUDE  Opus 10 No. 3

PRELUDE  Opus 28 No. 4

Saturday Snippets: Fragments of Imagination and Observation

The other night I decided to do something useful: cleaned some of the debris and scraps of miscellany off my desk. What follows are various notes, interspersed with a few quotes from other sources. Every once in a while you just gotta do it.

* * *

"Well, my sense of humanity has gone down the drain
Behind every beautiful thing there’s been some kind of pain..." Bob Dylan, Not Dark Yet

* * *

His method: Following an idea as far as it would go.

* * *

Don't gather 'round people
don't go out and roam.
Please stay in your houses 
and please stay at home.

* * * 

As I was walking into town
I met a man whose head was down;
He used to be a happy clown
But now he only wears a frown

* * * 

I'm so old I can still remember when it was illegal to break the law.

* * * 

She gave him a tornado and said, "Let's go for a ride."
"I'm a little burned out, and it's late," he replied.

* * * 

One good thing about reading a lot of Solzhenitsyn & writing about it
is that you learn how to spell his name without having to look it up.

* * *

How did it happen that people created a special day to be tricksters?

* * * 

The next person who asks me for for a glass of pineapple juice mixed with grapefruit is gonna get a punch.

* * * 

"The best conversations... start over good food." 
Printed inside lid of Mezzetta Imported Capers

* * * 

"Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art."
--Frederick Chopin

* * * 

"The truth is too simple: one must always get there by a complicated route." --George Sand  

* * *

Meantime life goes on all around you. Make the most of it.

An Art Gallery, a Grand Piano and Chopin's Raindrop Prelude

It really is a grand piano. 

Yesterday afternoon I visited the Tweed Museum of Art on the campus of UMD. I'd been looking forward to seeing the new exhibit of Russian art that had been installed earlier this fall. Art museums are a great way to spend a slice of any day, but especially so when accompanied by live interpretations of Liszt and Chopin.

After one of the Tweed's recent opening receptions it was decided to leave the grand piano there for a spell. This past week one of the students has taken a shine to using it. Why not? The setting is perfect, both acoustically and aesthetically. (Thank you, Jessica)

Chopin's Prelude, Opus 28, No. 15 is one of 24 Chopin Preludes, very likely written while the composer and George Sand were staying at a monastery in Valldemossa, Majorca in 1838.

When I first took up piano at age 8 I had a wonderful piano teacher who introduced me to simplified versions of classic like the Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven) and this Chopin Prelude. I've been in love with Chopin ever since. She would likely be criticized by some for having allowed me to play as much as I did by ear. What I'm grateful for is how she helped me fall in love with the beauty of the music.

I'm similarly grateful for my father's interest in classical music. Sunday mornings he spent time reading the newspaper, which was sprawled around him on the floor as he sat in his easy chair listening to Beethoven's 5th, Echoes of Offenbach or Dvorak's New World Symphony.

George Sand purportedly once said that Chopin was proof that there is a God. In her memoir of her life she wrote specifically about Chopin's exquisite Preludes, which she called masterpieces.

Raised in Apple Valley, Jessica is a student in the economics program. 

He made a single instrument speak a language of infinity... He could often sum up, in ten lines that a child could play, poems of a boundless exaltation, dramas of unequalled power... His creation was spontaneous, miraculous. He found it without searching for it, without foreseeing it. It came to his piano suddenly, complete, sublime, or it sang in his head during a walk, and he would hasten to hear it again by tossing it off on his instrument. But then would begin the most heartbreaking labor I have ever witnessed.

In another place she wrote, "Art is not a study of positive reality, it is the seeking for ideal truth." This is certainly what many artists aspire to.

Let it take you away. 

Related Links

Friday Night at Rest (A Poem)

Impromptu (A film about George Sand and Chopin)

Can We Talk About Beauty for a Minute? 10 Pieces of Classical Music That Can Lift You Higher

Today In History: March 31 Happenings

One way to learn a little about history is to write about it. An even better way is to teach it. Today I am just going to write about it.

1596

French philosopher Rene Descartes was born on this day in 1596. Descartes wrestled with the notion of self and knowing, famously declaring, "I think, therefore I am." Truth be told, his actual words were in French, and the statement above is a bad translation of what he actually said, which was "I am thinking, therefore I am."

1732
Austrian composer Franz Hayden was born on this day in Austria. I took my first piano lessons at age 8 and was introduced to simplified versions of compositions by great composers, including Chopin, Beethoven, Liszt and Franz Hayden.

1809
Russian author Nikolai Gogol was born on this day in 1809. Though his career overlapped Dostoevsky's he was a forerunner of sorts for the great Russian authors who followed. Most of us who studied Continental literary figures have read his story "The Overcoat." Another of his stories was titled "The Nose," which happens to be the title of one of my own stories which you can read here.

1878
Boxer Jack Johnson was born. Jonson would become the first African American to become World Champion and you can bet he was much hated for this achievement. He reigned supreme from 1908 to 1915, the most famous black man of his time. He married a white woman at a tine notorious for the Jim Crow laws in the Deep South. His cavorting resulted in getting sentenced to prison for violating the Mann Act. He fled the country for seven years but finally returned to serve a year in Leavenworth. 105 years later he received a presidential pardon for this injustice, from Donald Trump.

1914 

Saddleback Mountain, Monterrey. 1980.

Mexican diplomat and poet Octavio Paz was born. In 1990 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. In 1945 he went to Paris as a diplomat and wrote "The Labyrinth of Solitude." Labyrinths are a recurring theme in the writing of Argentine Jorge Luis Borges, who influenced numerous 20th century authors including Umberto Eco (Name of the Rose), Gabriel Garcia Marquez (The General in His Labyrinth), Italo Calvino and myself (Duel of the Poets.)

1948
Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. was born in Washington D.C. to a Tennessee congressman who would later serve 18 years as a senator from Tennessee. Born into politics he became a two-term VP under Bill Clinton. He was derided many ties over the years for having claimed to invent the Internet. These cheap jabs were based on a false interpretation of what he had said. In reality, Gore actually did cast an important vote that enabled the Internet to come into being. He never once said or hinted at having invented it. He was treated like a chump for something he never said. He's more famous now as an environmentalist. In 1998 I attended an Environmental Expo across the street from Disneyland in Anaheim where he was the keynote speaker. I attended in person; he was piped in by satellite.

1918
101 years ago today Daylight Savings Time went into effect for the first time in U.S. history.

1916

Old Mexico

On this day in General Pershing and the U.S. Army invaded Mexico with whom we were not at war and routed Pancho Villa. From 1910 to 1920 the Mexican Civil War (or revolution) was an ongoing disruption. After Victoriano Huerta was ousted Pancho Villa and Venustiano Carranza vied for power. The U.S. chose to take sides with Carranza so Pancho Villa got even by executing 16 Americans living in Northern Mexico and 17 more in a New Mexico town. Pershing took 10,000 troops deep into Mexico to deal with Pancho Villa, but after a year Mexicans got tired of this American army cat-and-mouse game and Pershing was dispatched back to his home turf. Three years after the Revolucion someone assassinated Pancho Villa on his ranch during peacetime.

EdNote: Reading this brought to mind a 5-mile long underground tunnel from the center of Matehuala to Pancho Villa's hideaway. For a pair of interesting films about this period of Mexico history see Viva Zapata! (Marlon Brando) and The Old Gringo (Gregory Peck, Jane Fonda) based on the powerful novel by Carlos Fuentes. (The film was weak but I enjoyed it because I'd read the book.) FWIW, the Viva Zapata! screenplay was written by John Steinbeck. (Bet you didn't know that.)

1889 
The Eiffel Tower in Paris officially opens as part of the Exhibition of 1889. Hopefully it will still be standing after all this Yellow Vest protesting of the past several months in France.

1880
Wabash Indiana is first city in the U.S. to install street lamps.

1790
Maximilien Robespierre is elected president of the Jacobin Club. When I was in seventh grade I did a report of Robespierre, who played a central role in the bloody French Revolution. He came to exemplify the saying, "He who lives by the guillotine dies by the guillotine." They didn't call it a reign of terror for nothing. You might just say this is one more reason I'm not a fan of mob rule.

* * * *

2019

This won't get you in to tonight's show. But
it's pretty cool. Courtesy Bill Pagel Archive.

Tonight, Bob Dylan is performing in Dusseldorf, Germany. The European leg of his Never Ending Tour is in full swing.

1995
Bob Dylan performed at the Brixton Academy in London.

1964
The Beatles were filming A Hard Day's Night.

1965 
The Beatles filming their sequel, Help!

* * * *

Happy March 31. 

Art Garfunkel and Bridge Over Troubled Water

There's a scene in the film Impromptu in which George Sand says something to this effect: "When Chopin plays, it's proof that there is a God." She is speaking of the exquisite beauty with which he plays, the pure, unfettered beauty of his music. Whether literal or figurative, the statement is an effort to categorize the the feeling it generates. This is how I feel about Art Garfunkel. His voice carries such an evocative purity, tinged with melancholy, elevating listeners to some transcendent place.

Art Garfunkel met Paul Simon in sixth grade in an elementary school graduation play. But he'd been singing since first grade and his gifts were well on their way to being honed at an early age. When he was 15 he and Paul Simon began performing together as Tom & Jerry. They themselves idolized The Everly Brothers because of their intertwined harmonies. Like a lot of youth who were swept up in the music of their lives, they performed at high school dances and even recorded some songs. Each went off to college but they continued to perform together.

When we think of Simon & Garfunkel we don't picture them as anything other than musicians, but in college Garfunkel was a member of the tennis team, did fencing, skiing and bowling. After an art history degree he went on to get his masters in mathematics which he received in 1967. Paul Simon's initial studies were directed toward a degree in law.

But their natural gifts won out. Paul Simon was a gifted poet who would go on to write so many great songs that reflected the angst our youth was experiencing in the Sixties. "Save the Life of My Child," "The Boxer," "Only Living Boy In New York," "Sounds of Silence," "I Am A Rock"... songs that spoke of alienation and longing for hope.

"Bridge Over Troubled Water," which Paul wrote for Art to sing solo, became their biggest hit as a duo, hitting number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks straight, also topping the charts in the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and New Zealand. It eventually sold over six million copies worldwide. Wikipedia notes that it became one of the most performed songs of the twentieth century, with over 50 artists, among them Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin, covering the song.

Troubled waters speak of impassable rivers, places in life where we're thwarted, isolated. The turbulence is frightening. But we're not alone. Someone has noticed our sorrows, is reaching out... It's the voice of an angel.

It's Art's voice that elevates these simple images, making the song soar. And soar it does. Like a bird.

Bridge Over Troubled Water

When you're weary, feeling small
When tears are in your eyes I will dry them all
I'm on your site, oh, When times get rough
And friends just can't be found

Like a bridge over troubled water,
I will lay me down,
Oh, like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

When you're down and out, when you're on the streets
When evening falls so hard, I will comfort you
I'll take your part when the darkness falls and pain is all around

Yes, like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Oh, like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

Sail on, silver girl, sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way
See how they shine
Oh, if you need a friend,
I'm sailing right behind

Yes, like a bridge over troubled water
I, I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will easy your mind

The sheer beauty of the song is therapeutic.

His work with Paul Simon put him on the map, but his career didn't end with their breakup. In addition to numerous singles and albums he earned six Grammy's, including the Lifetime Achievement Award.

EdNote: Art Garfunkel was born in 1941, same year as Bob Dylan. Both will be 75 this year, Bob in May and Art in November. One of my favorite Art Garfunkel albums from his solo career is Up 'Til Now. I for one am grateful he chose to pursue a singing career instead of tennis. 

Eric Himy's Homage to Liszt

“Art is Heaven on earth, to which one never appeals in vain when faced with the oppressions of this world.” ~ Franz Liszt

I like surprises. Two weeks ago I discovered the Oldenburg House Bed & Breakfast. Located on the outskirts of Carlton it was the birthplace of Jay Cooke State Park. The Oldenburg House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, bordering not only the park but also the Willard Munger State Trail, the National Kayak and Canoe Center and Thompson Reservoir.

In addition to being tangent to a corner of North Country paradise, the Oldenburg House is also host to music and arts events, one of which is taking place May 9 when the world-renowned pianist Eric Himy performs here. Himy, who’s training from his youth is an amazing story in-and-of itself, has been compared to pianists as distinguished as Vladimer Horowitz. The “short list” of nations where he has played to critical acclaim include Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Malta, Monaco, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, and Slovenia… and, of course, the United States where he was born to immigrant parents in New York.

I’ll share a little more about Mr. Himy another time, but wanted to make sure you had a chance to put May 9 on your calendar because there are so many things happening in May with the inaugural North X North music and arts experience.

I took lessons in classical piano when I was a boy, falling in love with the staggering beauty of Chopin (whom I am listening to as I write this) and Beethoven and Tschaikovski at that time. Any comparison, however, between Mr. Himy and myself stops there. In additino to having the wonderful privilege of being able to obtain rich musical experiences and training at an early age, Himy followed it through to some great experiences on both coasts and all the way to Juilliard. Among his earliest teachers was a 90-year old Madame Rosa who claimed to be a student of the man who is clearly his hero, Franz Liszt.

This past week I asked Mr. Himy a few questions, one of which was to make a comment on each of several classic masters and what distinguishes them. Here were his replies.

Chopin: His soul, poet of the piano.
Beethoven: His defiance and will, triumph of the human spirit.
Gershwin: Cool independent unique genius, American par excellence.
Ravel: Craftsman, sensational piano writing and colors.
Tschaikovski: All heart and passion.
Rachmaninov: In the lineage of Liszt, pianist composer, thus knows how to write for piano, harmonies that overripe and wrenching.
Liszt: The MASTER pianist…. the ROMANTIC, the DEVIL, the VIRTUSOSO…. has it all.
Mozart: Music to get purged with after, such simplicity, honesty and purity.

In addition to being an amazing pianist he’s also an insightful writer. The liner notes to his Homage To Liszt CD make for an excellent reading experience even if you are not a lover of classical music. The essay begins with a gripping opening.

“To speak of Liszt is to speak of an immense force of nature. His music has been described as powerful, radical, enigmatic and spellbinding. With his music Liszt seems to have captured the very spirit, heart, soul and genuineness of humanity.”

For an even more satisfying experience I encourage you to set aside May 9 for this memorable evening of music. The program will be hosted by Keith Swanson, conductor of the Itasca Symphony Orchestra with cellist Jeffrey Erband opening. Purchase your tickets online at  oacc.oldenburghouse.com

Photo courtesy Eric Himy 

Five People, Five Questions (Part Three)

To understand the background on this series read my January 15 post.

The question again: If it were possible to have discussions with five people from history (past or present) … who would you want to talk to and what question would you like to ask them?

M.W. of Dublin, CA

I always thought that Isaac Newton or perhaps Albert Einstein would have been very interesting to talk to. Both thinkers way ahead of their time and little bit on the eccentric side of things. Imagine spending afternoons over a glass of wine picking their brains.

I always thought that Mark Twain would make a good person to have at a party. His skewed look at life would be very entertaining to listen to.

E.C. of Irvine, California

Hmmm, without prior thought (off the top of my head), I'd say Jesus Christ, the Apostle John, the Apostle Paul, Paul Tournier, and C.S. Lewis. As to what I'd ask them, well, it will take more time for that part, and I don't have it right now. Today is son Benjamin's 26th birthday--our youngest! How can it be?

D.T. of Duluth, MN

Person: Thomas Jefferson, Question: How much separation should there be between church and state?

Person: Jesus: Question: Is it a sin for people with equivalent sex chromosomes to have romantic love? The chromosomal distinction is important because this rules out the ambiguity created by those born with xxy or others who have the stereotypical physical appearance or live as the opposite sex of their chromosomal distinction. I am sure Jesus knows about these gray areas of gender but I would not want any arguing among his followers and chromosomes are the best way we have today to separate the sexes into categories. We sure use a lot of political energy debating this question. It would be nice to get an answer.

Person: Mohammed: Question: Does Al Qaeda represent you well?

Person: God... If God actually shows up we get away with getting answers to two questions. We know God exists. If a no show, that is just as good of an answer. The one question if God shows up: How literally should we take this version of the bible? (I would hand over the King James Version and we would go line by line.)

Person: Ben Bernanke: Question: How much will the fed change interest rates next time?

I focused on only historical figures whose answers could have the greatest impact on the future of our universe (except for the last question, which merely sets me up for a big financial gain.) I also limited myself to one question per person. Historical figures such as Hitler or Einstein would be interesting but the answers to any questions I ask would probably have little effect on the future of our planet. Political leaders, scientists or explorers would have a hard time propelling the human race forward with their current knowledge. However, because folks take action (political and otherwise) to change the world while contending to be representing the mandate of dead leaders... well getting the mandate from the horses' mouth would be a nice change of pace and constructive. If Jefferson goes off on the separation of church and state, that could affect Supreme Court rulings as long as the United States exists. Mohamed could placate the Islamic world or kick problems up a notch... but at least we stop wondering. God... well let us get this existence of God issue settled. Is the bible an authorized biography, a road map or a fantasy? Let us move past the debate. The only problem might occur if Jesus, Thomas Jefferson, Mohammed and God all contradict each other in their answers. In that case, I think I would just edit the videotape to fit my agenda before I release it to 60 minutes.

J.T. of Solon Springs, WI

Easy one. I would like to talk to Nikola Tesla and work with him on sending and receiving electricity as particle waves so we could eliminate the need for power lines and extension cords.

M.L., another writer from Duluth area

I recall Bryan asking me a similar question when he was at Teen Mania. My initial response was to begin listing well-known authors and such. Then I thought further about it and realized that the question presents sort of a paradox.

The paradox is that the people I would most like to meet and chat with are not known to me nor to most anybody. Those that I think are the most interesting people on the planet are those who labor in the kingdom of God anonymously, in hidden places, behind the scenes, who never have their names recognized outside of their own little circle of family and friends but who exhibit a core strength of faith and grace of life in their work and ministry such that others are transformed by them.

On the other hand, I do know some of those people. Lots of them, as a matter of fact. I interact with some of them on a regular basis, and others I have known over the years. They exhibit varying degrees of grace, of course (“in proportion to their faith”, as Paul says), and some are probably more interesting than others. None of them, though, stand out as being well-known, or someone you would think to put on a list such as you are asking for.

I think if I were to ask them a question, it would be along the lines of the question Anita asked about Paul when last we met for Bible study (three months ago now?). “How did you get to be like this? What habits and disciplines make you able to give your life for others day in and day out?”

K.W. of Duluth

Definitely Jesus, #1, but then I think how great it'd be to hang out with him, but what kind of parable would I get in response to my questions?... And in my humanness, how frustrating would that be?

Mother Theresa, Does the part of you that is you/self/id decrease as you pour more and more of yourself out in selfless acts reflecting Christ's love...? Does it get easier? Did you EVER take time for yourself? How did you build in margins when you were surrounded by so much poverty (physical/emotional/spiritual)?

And finally, a few of my own questions which I wrote before receiving replies, lest I be unduly influenced by all these absolutely wonderful replies.

Friedrich Nietzsche: How much did your intense physical suffering contribute to the development of your philosophical ideas about God and truth? How would your world view have been different if your personal experience had been less dreary and more cheerful? (If you had not had migraine’s 230 days of the year, etc.) How and why do you think your work became so influential after you died?

The Apostle Paul: Did you have any idea that the letters you were writing would one day be taken as synonymous with or with the full force of the words of God? Is there anything you wish you had written/said differently? Are there any of these letters that shouldn’t have been included in the canon?

Leo Tolstoy: Looking back on your life, what was your most important work, the novels and stories you wrote, or the your efforts to promote the Gospel, love and pacifism?
(I would actually like to meet and talk with several writers asking each what they considered to be their most important work, but that would be a fairly long list.)

Jesus: The world is so big and so much is going on and there are so many people, needs, problems, issues… How much difference can one person really make today? (The rest of my questions are too personal to share publicly.)

Someone intelligent and perceptive in the South 100 years ago: How in the world did a supposedly Christian nation allow racial hatred to obtain such a vicious stranglehold on our people? (Not sure whom to ask, but it has been a lifelong question for me.)

Frederic Chopin: How did you create such original, richly beautiful music? Who, what, where were your inspirations and how did they influence you?

Thank you to all who contributed. Think deeply and reap.