Anyone like listening to Chopin ?

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I love Chopin's music. After many months of listening, my favourite piece is still 'Lullaby'. It takes me somewhere beautiful.
When I was depressed, I used to hear it in my head, more slowly than usual. It got me through a difficult time.
His piano concerto no. 2 is very uplifting.
I haven't found another composer whose music touches me so deeply.

When I was young, I had a radio in my room, and there was a magazine called "Forecast FM" which gave playlists for the local radio stations. I'd close my door, open my window, turn off all the lights, and listen to Chopin nocturnes late at night.

Thank you for reminding me of this. It was a beautiful part of my young life.

Chopin is amazing!

Rubinstein is the go-to performer of all things Chopin!

If I'm not mistaken, this is the actual recording that I listened to, all those years ago (early 1970s, and he recorded this long before then).

Esmeralda, how lovely to get my first reply since joining Wrong Planet a few days ago. It made me smile.
I could imagine Chopin's gentle tones wafting through the night sky from your window !
Thank you so much for sending the Arthur Bernstein's Chopin attachment. I hadn't listened to these recordings before. Really beautiful. I usually listen to Idil Biret's interpretations, though they are not exclusively nocturnes. I think Bernstein's versions are very deep and rich in tone.
It's strange to think that in those days, pianists created music that was specifically for night time listening. Imagine a life with no street lights, radio, TV and no technology, how peaceful it would be. Time to really feel the music, reflect, imagine and get in touch with your own emotions (unless of course you had to get up at 5am to work a 15 hour day in a mill...)

Hello AspieUtah
So pleased to get a response from two people who also love Chopin !
He had a tough time, in terms of his health, as many people did in those times. And to die so young...but what a legacy.
I'd love to go to Warsaw to see the spot in the wall where Chopin's heart lies, preserved in French brandy. Do you have a favourite piece ?

chopin is an absolute gENIUS

Thank you, CC!

I don't have a favorite piece, but as with much of Bach, I enjoy Chopin's linear melodies most. They show up often in the nocturnes. Single note after single note is amazing, and my autistic mind loves the keys, succession and rapidity.

Playing the nocturnes was my therapy as a child. They spoke to my deepest feelings, and the first time I heard one - in E Flat - I knew that there had been at least one human being on the same wave length somehow. Along with cats, Chopin got me through a very difficult childhood.

The barcarolle is my favorite. I listen to it constantly and as sort of a ritual when I am shaving. When my son was very little he used to beg me to play "the raindrop" (prelude no. 15 in D-flat major), so that is also very special to me.

Hi! I'm sorry... I didn't check this thread for a bit. Glad you've met some kindred spirits here

There are two other composers who can bring me to a dead stop - out of sheer delight - but they're as different from Chopin as humanly possible.

You actually reminded me of one of them when you spoke about music designed to be listened to at night. I feel that way about Charles Ives, too. "Central Park In the Dark" is literally music designed to be heard at night, because it's a walk through Central Park (back when that was safe to do) in the evening, and it's... indescribable. Then there's "The Unanswered Question" which... well, you've heard of the Voice of God? I swear, Ives had the Ears of God...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34AqNvhBfVQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXD4tIp59L0

The other composer is Lou Harrison. God again. He just passed away in 2003, and his music is so beautiful that I feel as though I will crack apart, or explode into flames, when I'm listening to it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmTZPPNok0Y

I've deliberately not embedded these as YouTube files, just as links, because I don't want to hijack your thread, only to share music that you might find compelling. - and it's OK if you don't; these guys are not everyone's cup of tea. But they do seem to write for humans who find ourselves sitting alone in the dark, with the whole universe deep and luminous above us; and that is where the connection to Chopin is. For me, at least.

Hello everyone
Sorry haven't been on Wrong Planet for over a week.
I started back at work on Monday...a primary school. Finding the transition, and the run up to it difficult, been very agitated.
It's getting a bit easier now I've got some structure and predictability. I just act really, which I'm sadly very good at.
Back to Chopin. Maybe there's something about Chopin's music that appeals to autistic souls ?
How lovely you introduced your young son to Chopin. It will leave a lasting impression on his little brain.
I will certainly listen to the musicians you mentioned, EW. I'll pencil it for the weekend.

I'm taking my daughter to see the 2nd round of Leeds International Piano competition tomorrow night. An 18th birthday present. Never been to anything like it before.Excited and nervous, the stalls will be cramped.
Speak to you all soon...
CC

Yes! Les Sylphides especially. Chopin is stimulating, not at all relaxing to me. His music is simple yet spins my mind into other worlds somehow.

I generally like listening to classical music. It's not my main favourite genre, but I definitely enjoy it.

My favourite is probably Moonlight Sonata.