Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Op. 61

I believe this to be the most special of all Chopin's work. The are other contenders: opp. 52, 58, 60, 62... but I feel the Polonaise-Fantasy is the single most soul-bearing piece by this immortal artist. Rubinstein believed the Barcarole was the most beautiful, which I think is a valid opinion. I would be interested to hear your opinions about this. There really are just handful of options. Does one instantly come to mind for you, the way it does for me?

It would have to be the Ballade No. 4 at the top of the list with the widest range of emotions in the score -- followed closely by the Barcarolle and also have to include the Fantasy in F-minor and the Sonata in B-minor, Op. 58 (i.e., 3rd sonata) along with the Scherzo No. 3 and then the Polonaise Fantasy -- all of these works are great masterpieces although it is not that easy in order to compare "apples" with "oranges" and/or other fruits -- since the analogy here is that all of these pieces are completely DIFFERENT from one another in their own right -- and, while all of these pieces are quite unique and one can choose a personal "favorite" piece there really cannot be just ONE greatest masterpiece by Chopin due to these many differences in the details of these extraordinarily complex compositions.

Just my two cents!

For me, Op. 27 #1. The consolation offered for the desolation of mere existence I have not found anywhere else, music or otherwise.

My top 10 are probably:

Fm and Ab Ballades
Bbm and C#m Scherzi
Bbm and Bm Sonatas
F#m and Ab Polonaises
Barcarolle
Polonaise-Fantasy

I love the intro to op 61. I don't know what I think about the feelings I have upon closure of the piece. Maybe that is part of the magic, but I feel like the intro makes a promise that is never delivered upon, only wrestled with to a draw. Overall it is among my favorites because it is one of his 'ineffables' along with the Fm Ballade and maybe the Bm Sonata. Chopin finds these pockets of human emotion that, to borrow from Wittgenstein, exist in the spaces that words are unable to parse.

I think an interesting question is what are Chopin's greatest works not written in a minor key? The overwhelming majority of his most revered work were composed in a minor key.

My list of top 6 in a major key:

Polonaise-Fantasy in Ab
Ballade in Ab
Polonaise in Ab
Grande Valse Brillante Eb
Valse Brillante in Bb
Etude 10/3

I think the polonaise rhythm is used so sparingly in the Polonaise-Fantasy that this work is a de facto Ballade #5.

A recent NYT crossword puzzle asked which key was most frequently used by Chopin?

Regards,

Surely, all those are masterpieces. My favorite is the Barcarolle, I find it perfect, and in the end it is the only piece by Chopin that I never feel gets old. The only piece that I never grow tired of. The only piece that I can enjoy multiple verk different interpretations of and always find something new. It alone takes the first place for me in my heart. I can’t say the same of the Polonaise-Fantaisie personally, no matter how much I love it. Its best moments are among the best moments I know in any piano music, but unfortunately I can’t listen to anyone else playing it than Richter basically. And regarding the 3rd sonata, I prefer the best sonatas of Schubert and Beethoven. As for the 4th ballade, a great masterpiece, but it tends to sound old to me when I hear it these days... Op 62, also incredible. But there are other gems, like Op 55 No. 2 and the mazurka Op 56 No. 1, with its divine coda.

In the end, I must say that I am of the perhaps umpopular view(at least among listeners, not so much among performers) that Schumann’s greatest masterpieces for piano are richer and more endlessly interesting than Chopin’s. There is just more emotional layers and depth in his best music, I find. I didnt hold that view before, earlier I found Schumann difficult to understand. But once the enigmas of his music started to be understood by me more, wow... An endlessly fascinating world, that just becomes more and more interesting the more you dig in to it. I generally prefer his major works to Chopin’s... The Fantasie, Kreisleriana, Davidsbundlertänze... I just find his music more satisfying in the end these days...

So, how did they format the answer? AFLATMAJOR, AFLTMAJ, AbMaj, etc.?

Simply: aflat.

Regards

Of course I cannot leave out the Barcarolle in F#.

Chopin scherzo 4?

What should I say?