The 24 Etudes of Chopin – Opus 10 and Opus 25. (I've never tackled the 3 little ones at the end of the book.) I keep coming back to them. Even now over 30 years since I first played them, they exercise an endless fascination. I wonder if I shall ever master them. Certainly I have got to a reasonable level of competence on one or two of them. There is my favourite Op 10 number 4 with its rapid tempo , rabid chords and thundering ending. There is the languid elegance of Op 10 no 1 , the meandering difficulty of Op10 no2, not to mention the melodic beauty of Op10 no3. At the other end of the book I always like the challenge of the octaves of the B minor etude in Op 25 – I think it’s no 10. Number 11 I have never tackled frightened by its difficulty. And then of course there is the one for the left hand – Op 10 no 12 in C minor with is rolling ocean for the left hand and the stormy chords of the right hand.
I wonder why I keep coming back to them….
They are like old friends. Despite all of lifes vissicitudes – and there have been a few – they sit their and await my too infrequent attentions. I wonder what Chopin was thinking, feeling, hoping for when he wrote them. One day I must find out, but for now I will enjoy the music.
When I get the chance.
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A blog where, unlike the musician who studies the score to understand the composers intention, or the jazz musician who weaves a fantastical harmonic tapestry around an established chordal structure, I just make it up as I go along.
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