Here's to You, Chopin

I have begun to learn one of my favorite Chopin ballades, Ballade #1 in G minor.  Click on the following link to hear one of piano's greatest, Vladimir Horowitz, perform this masterpiece in Carnegie Hall.   It is lengthy, but it is worth the time. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhnRIuGZ_dc

This is an incredibly difficult piece so it could take some serious time for me to learn it.  I will never play it like Horowitz.  Yet, when I sit down to practice it, I thrill at the challenge and am transported by the dissonance and gritty harmony of the work.  It's one of those experiences that defies description.

I first fell in love with this piece one weekend night when I was a senior in college.  My roommate Jolee and I had decided that we weren't in the mood to participate in the party that was happening in our townhouse that evening and opted instead to curl up on the floor in our room and watch a flick.  I don't remember how we decided on the Pianist or where we even got it, but I do remember that we made comfy beds on the floor, propped Jolee's laptop on a chair so that the screen was angled just right, connected my computer speakers to the thing, and settled in for what we hoped would be an inspirational film. 

We were not at all disappointed but had no idea beforehand what we were getting ourselves into.  The movie was incredibly sad.  It followed the life of a Polish Jew who was a renowned pianist during the late 1930s.  Once the Nazi deportation of the Jews began, the Pianist fled and hid over and over again until he nearly came to the end of his sanity, becoming completely hungry, frigid, and all but hopeless.

At that point, he stumbled into a deserted, tattered house that boasted a grand piano.  There, a Nazi soldier ran him down, presumably in order to deport or kill him until he discovered the Pianist's unbelievable piano talent.  When he heard the battered man play, the soldier was moved by the performance and showed mercy to the Pianist.

The first part of this clip shows the front end of this scene before cutting to a different video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEuWoa4bwLw&feature=related  The full scene used to be available on YouTube but I couldn't find it today.  It's too bad.

One thing I remember for sure: that scene rocked my world.  Jolee and I were both a mess of tears watching that movie, especially at that point.  The amount of emotion in Chopin's music by itself is significant, but when it was coupled with a heartbreaking true story, the experience was overpowering.  The ballade stuck with me and I remember searching to find out what it was some time after watching that movie.  I had to hear it again. 

It's been six years since I was introduced to this Ballade in G minor.  It's time I tried my hand at it.  And so it is that I will tackle it the best I can.  It's my musical goal for this semester.  I'm both excited and curious about this venture.  Excited to learn an enchanting piece of music; curious to see if I'm capable.  No matter the outcome, the challenge of the experience alone will be worth the time and effort.  Of that I'm sure.