The Chopin Project » Polina Khatsko

Mazurka in B Major, Op. 63 No. 1 (1846)

roman — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:23:18 +0000

Listen to Polina Khatsko play the Mazurka in B Major, Opus 63, No. 1, by Fryderyk Chopin

Ancient trees at Nohant Manor from "Chopin's Europe" courtesy Hanna Komarnicki

The first of this group of three mazurkas, in the key of B Major, was conceived in Nohant in 1846, and begins with a defiant theme, a real mold of Mazur as played by country musicians in some village tavern. The character changes with the second theme and from then on the mazurka oscillates between these two contrasting moods. Those moods could also be regarded as musical illustrations of two contrasting characters: it seems to me very often that in his mazurkas, more than anywhere else, Chopin portrays the male and female character either in conversation or on a dance floor of a tavern. Here the second theme is a vivid description of a dancer’s stomping feet, with a characteristic accent on the last beat.

“None of Us Are Free” – Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1

bkr — Mon, 19 May 2008 04:59:29 +0000

Cross-posted from our companion daily blog site The Chopin Currency: By “Currency” we mean just how contemporary – and how powerfully it resonates in our own time, nearly 200 years since the composer’s birth.

This month we’re getting a compelling reminder of just how “current” Chopin’s music is from, of all places, MTV Networks, who commissioned this powerful and moving PSA/Web film called “None of Us Are Free” to raise awareness for disaster relief in Myanmar (a/k/a Burma). The film begins with Chopin’s Nocturne in C Minor, Op. 48, No. 1 (as well as a bit of the Fantaisie-Impromptu at the end…)…to dramatic effect:

None Of Us Are Free- the Burma Film

Now that you’ve heard that snippet,

Hear pianist Polina Khatsko play this poignant Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1 in a Chopin Project live performance at the University of Michigan’s Britton Recital Hall.

Now, some details as to how Fryderyk C’s music got involved, courtesy of motiongrapher.com:

When and how the music was incorporated?
The music played a huge role in setting the tone and pacing of the piece. We knew that it would be huge in setting the right mood so it had to be perfect. We listened to a lot of tracks when we were cutting the first previz [sic] edits and when we heard Chopin’s nocturnes, we knew we found the right music. It had all the right elements, movement, and form.

Dante Nou who was working in—house with us took the two pieces we had roughly cut together and started tweaking them. Nate, our editor had some ideas about cadence and drawing out notes and keys and we just started fucking with it. By the time we finished the edit, the music had developed equally—it was then the foundation of what we took to Good Sounds. They replayed the original pieces and put their own loveliness in the mix—more sound design and tweaking, and by the time we finished the picture the music had finished as well.

There’s more about the “making of” the PSA on Gossipfeast.com as well, quoting from the MTV Press Release: “With the powerful melody from the feted virtuoso pianist Chopin, viewers will watch the beautiful red flowers float and dance towards Burmese soil.”

Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1

bkr — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:26:27 +0000

“Magnificent in its breadth, it profound expression, and its tremendous sonority.” Dr. Frank Cooper’s summation of this Chopin Nocturne, composed in 1841, just about says it all. But if you want to know more, click here. Or else check out the marvelous collection of Chopin early editions at the University of Chicago library.

Hear pianist Polina Khatsko play this poignant Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1 in a Chopin Project live performance at the University of Michigan’s Britton Recital Hall

Waltz in A minor, Op. 34, No. 2

bkr — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:32:56 +0000

Chopin’s third waltz has been called a “piece full of melancholy, gloom and grief, expressed in mournful simplicity.”

Though, according to the Vancouver Chopin Society,

The composer Stephen Heller related that Chopin called this slow (Lento) waltz his favorite. When Heller told the Pole that he, too, loved it best, Chopin immediately invited him for lunch at a fashionable cafe. Frederick Niecks wrote of this piece, “The composer evidently found pleasure in giving way to this delicious languor, in indulging in these melancholy thoughts full of sweetest, tenderest loving and longing.”

Hear pianist Polina Khatsko play this poignant Waltz in A minor, Op. 34, No. 2 in a Chopin Project live performance at the University of Michigan’s Britton Recital Hall.