Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Online Chopin Prelude Recital TODAY! :)

Imagine light rain, some water droplets drip on a "metal" gutter and make that A-flat or G-sharp tone.

Remember he wrote it during the Majorcan Misadventure. The sound is probably that of leaks falling into a bucket.

It's funny but I know Chopin supposedly did not care for names being given to his work but I really do like the "raindrop" analogy given to the prelude. The image of Chopin on that island playing in the wet gloom with dripping water really puts me in the mood for playing it.

Was it really Von Bulow that gave it that name? Wouldn't that have been years later then?

I also like the name "uncertainty" for No 5 because I still don't know if I can come up with an acceptable performance of it by next week.

I read in a couple of different places that it was actually George Sand who gave it the name "Raindrop", much to Chopin's irritation.

I don't know if she actually named it that, but she certainly did suggest that it was inspired by the sound of the rain -(I prefer to think of the sound of the drips)- which irritated Chopin because he felt it trivialized his composition.

I can understand why Chopin did not want names given to his compositions.

Anyone who plays them (even after a hundred times or more), will hear something different each any every time. That is, if the mind and ear is open to the nuances and tone colors that lie within. Putting a name on them just sort of boxes it in and that's that. It doesn't allow for the imagination to take flight or worse yet, allow the inner emotions of the pianists to put a part of themselves into the work. I know this sounds bizzare, but that's how it works for me.

Sorry, but I prefer a number to a title.

Kathleen

You're right. It really depends on how you're feeling. Perhaps I should record my preludes several times, whenever I'm feeling some sort of strong emotion. Would be fun to compare them.

28/15 is too sublime to fit into that narrow box. As proof of this, before I knew it had been nicknamed "raindrop" I thought of a hot lazy afternoon in a charming Southern home, followed by a fire (the buildup being more like smoke). That was before I learned I was "supposed to" imagine a rainstorm. Very, very different interpretation. And that is my humble testimony to the emotive power of this work.

So yes, apart from writing the piece in the first place Chopin had a strong leg to stand on in disdaining these program titles.

Well, I've been ready to record for awhile now. Our piano got its tuning today, now it's just the long, agonizing wait for the two studio microphones to arrive. I checked the "Express Delivery" box on the order form and was willing to pay extra, but a typo in credit card # necessitated I redo part of the form, and apparently that also unchecked the "Express Delivery" box.

REALLY, REALLY want to get this over with, but I can't now until at least Monday. Arrrgh!

I am REALLY looking forward to this Prelude recital! :p
Gerg, exactly how will it work? Will you have everything available in one place on the 17th to download and/or play? Forgive me if you already explained this, which I'm sure you must have.... I just want to make sure I get to hear everything!

Hey, I'm looking forward to it too! I just want to cross my name off the checklist!

No, it will just be a thread here on ABF. I can find a place to put a ZIP file containing volume-normalized versions of all the contributions, in addition to the BOX.NET links.

Actually, since it looks like we're in the process of starting a regular recurring thing, I already bought the domain www.chopinrecital.org, but I also have to rent webspace to create a site to which to point it, something able to withstand the traffic of, say, up to 100 people dowloading 50Mb of MP3's would cost me up to $35/mo. Kathleen offered to split the cost. Putting together a simple HTML-only site would not be hard (would take someone with basic HTML skills perhaps an hour or two), but anything fancier than that would take more time and skill than I have available. If anyone wants to help out, we could make it a reality, but I just don't have the time/money to do it alone...

Greg: I just posted a reply but every time I hit the "Add Reply" button, I get that error page.

Anyhow, I know others will want to contribute. Wait a bit to see, but in the meantime, let me send you a check to cover a portion of it.

What do we want on the web page? Something about Chopin, a short biography perhaps. And then a section where people can hit a link to hear each performance? And perhaps something about us, the Adult Beginners on the Piano World? I think this might be interesting because we want to let people know we are not professionals but just amateurs who love Chopin's music and are submitting our performances purely on a "non-professional" basis.

I don't think we want a link where people can respond because (from what I've seen on you-tube), I think we will be opening ourselves up to some nastiness.

Anyhow...just my initial thoughts...

Kathleen

Congratulations to ALL the participants! We each strove to stretch our abilities in a labor of love for our dear Frycek.

And now, the fruit of that labor.

http://chopinrecital.org

Chopin forever!

Greg--What a beautiful website! This is great, and I really appreciate all you did to make it happen. This is a wonderful community to be a part of!

Nancy

You are part of it - congratulations to you! Your recording did work from the website.

I just listened to all 25 Preludes. I must say .

Congratulations from a Chopin lover! All of those recordings are beautiful!

For when an etude recital?

Etude Euphoria? Yes, I like!

Mazurkas are next. KATHLEEN is managing that one, due for March 1, Chopin's (thought-to-be) birthday.

Hmm. I want do to Etude Euphoria!
I won't make the mistake of waiting until August to start my piece next time!