Nocturne No. 20

"... he had a rare gift of a very personal melody, expressive of heart-felt emotion, and his music is penetrated by a poetic feeling that has an almost universal appeal... Present-day evaluation places him among the immortals of music by reason of his insight into the secret places of the heart and because of his awareness of the magical new sonorities t0 be drawn from the piano."
- Arthur Hedley, biographer of Chopin, musicologist and scholar

Arthur Hedley is one of many that have followed brilliant artists, such as Chopin. He spent his career studying music, but mainly focused on Chopin. There are so many pieces of music written by Chopin that can be considered absolutely breath-taking, therefore, by choosing one specific piece can be rather difficult. Most of his music has such dissonance and chromaticism that there is not only one song that truly captures his talent. His music as a whole is a masterpiece.

In one of my personal favorites, Nocturne No. 20 Opus Posthume, is an interpretation by Sarah Chung with a violin. The violin creates such a stronger and more "heart-felt" understanding of the music. When I first heard this song, like many of Chopin's song, I could have felt an indefinite amount of feeling that Arthur Hedley had felt about many of Chopin's music, including this nocturne. After listening to this piece, there was so much emotion felt. I close my eyes, and just focus in on the violin and piano playing in unison creating such a harmonious and melodic nocturne. Because of such a complicated and dissonant piece, there should be many people listening to music such as this, to ease and free the mind.

Chopin was a living icon during his time, and influenced many aspiring pianists to work up to par with his music. It is just a matter of opinion on what his best works are, but most that know of Chopin will say there is not one piece that is less than magnificant. In my opinion, it is this nocturne that captures my heart and soul. It brings me peace, as well as, a feeling of the strongest emotions, but yet, still, not knowing what the emotion is. It is the epitome of romanticism.



" His playing was always noble and beautiful..."
-Friederike Muller. "From the Diary of a Vietnamese Chopin Pupil"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1tUdbknTeA&feature=PlayList&p=35AE60626A281A9F&index=9

(above is a link for the song)