Add to this Chopin’s apparent discomfort with familiarity, – “ he did not understand, or would not understand anything, that was not personal to himself” as Sand put it – and we have the elements of Chopin’s character in a nutshell.Īs Chopin grew older, his anger and outbursts of rage only intensified. This startling lucidity and self-awareness can be safely described as Chopin’s Polish “ zal.” Chopin reveals, in almost clinical terms, the depth of his nature – a nature exacerbated by illness as his symptoms increased with time. Then suddenly vivid memories arise and torture me: hatred, bitterness, a frightful mixture of unhealthy sensations which attack me and leave me exhausted.” Sometimes I feel indifferent to everything and sometimes a prey to the most intense homesickness I long to live as much as to die and sometimes I feel a sort of complete numbness which incidentally is not without a certain pleasure but which makes me feel away from everything.
#Liszt opinion on chopin scherzo 2 full#
But, at the root of my being I am suffering an indefinable torment – full of presentiments, uneasiness, nightmares, when it is not insomnia. But I hurry back to my room, where I can give rein to my suppressed emotions by sitting down at my piano, which now is only too well accustomed to the expression of all my sufferings.”Īs for the level of admiration which Chopin elicited, one cannot do better than the Marquis de Custine, a neighbour of Chopin’s in the “New Athens” district in Paris: “ Not only do we love him, we love ourselves in him.” Despite this perhaps overly romantized description expressed by the Marquis in a letter to Chopin following Chopin’s debut concert in 1831, Chopin confessed the following to his beloved friend, Titus: “ Outwardly I am gay, especially among my own, I mean by ‘my own,’ all the Poles. I have, of course, to dress for these receptions with a reasonably contended countenance.
I feel so sad, lonely, and abandoned here. From his stay in Vienna, Chopin gives us an opening into his state of mind in a letter to his childhood friend, Titus: “ It is only the various dinners, evening parties, concerts, and balls that I am obliged that sustain me a little. Liszt, who understood this well, was probably not far off when he described Chopin’s bearing as “princely.” Despite Chopin’s intense social activity, however, Chopin craved solitude. This is where Chopin acquired the habits of scrupulous politeness, considered essential to the maintenance of style in social relationships.
It must also be remembered that Chopin’s fame as a young man allowed Chopin to be welcomed as an equal in the highest levels of society. Instead, he learned technique by creating it and refining it, ultimately revealing a poetic virtuosity which has never known a rival. Consider this fact for a moment – Chopin had no elementary instruction in the piano or piano technique. Perhaps due to his status as a refugee, afraid to reveal himself to his French or Polish hosts, as well as his chronic, debilitating illness, Chopin hid his real personality and thoughts behind a veneer of “ courtoisie.” As Liszt said of him, “ Chopin’s character is composed of a thousand shades which in crossing one another become so disguised as to be indistinguishable.” Or as the biographer Louis Esnault remarked: “ Chopin lent of himself sometimes, but gave of himself never.”Ĭhopin – of whom the Princess Belgiojoso said “ is greater than the greatest of pianists, he is the only one” – was entirely self-taught. The intensely private nature of Chopin – his desire to keep personal matters to himself – cannot be overlooked. As Debussy himself observed, “ By the very nature of his genius, the music of Chopin escapes any classification.” As Jane Stirling, Chopin’s friend and ardent admirer observed: “ he was not like other men.” While devoid of any particular depth or subtlety, her description is revealing. He was a mixture of the Polish “ zal,” or spleen, and the French “ bon usage et bonne manière.” Anguished, yet aristocratic.
In order to understand Chopin’s music, one must first acknowledge his twin Polish and French roots. What about Chopin’s artistry, his music? What did Chopin’s contemporaries say? What insights can be gained from those that heard him play? A voluminous and sometimes misleading literature on Chopin already exists, in particularly regarding Chopin and Sand and their tortured relationship, of little importance to a musician. Marquis de Custine, in a letter to Chopin, April 1831.Īs a pianist and connoisseur of Chopin, I have always been fascinated by how Chopin’s contemporaries perceived him, be they friends, admirers or critics. ”It is not the piano that speaks, but a soul.”
Long read guest post by Walter Simmons Witt