The Man who Made the Piano Sing

Today is Frederic Chopin's 200th Birthday! Chopin is one of my favorite composers for the piano--I am working on one of his preludes right now with my piano teacher. While I was working on the 2nd page (the part that starts on 1:13 of the video) my teacher told me that I needed to make the melody line sing, because Chopin always thought of the human voice when he composed for the piano, and you can hear it in his lush, lyrical works. (Beethoven always thought of strings, so that's what you have to imitate when you play his piano works.)

Chopin's work is featured in the excellent book and its movie adaptation, The Pianist, about pianist and Polish Holocaust survivor Wladyslaw Spilzman.

For some more lovely Chopin listening, try a Ballade, a Nocturne, or a Prelude