Chopin: Barcarolle in F# Major, Op.60 (Volodin, Dong-Hyek Lim, Zayas)
Музыка
This isn’t a barcarolle. I mean, sure, it’s in the name, but if you’ve actually listened to this and thought, “What a lovely Venetian gondola-song,” you’re insane. The Op.60 is really Chopin’s 5th Ballade - and it probably ranks alongside the Op.52. (I know only one water-based description of this work that doesn’t reduce it to kitsch, from Iwaszkiewicz: “We walk on water into nothingness.”)
The work is fairly self-explanatory, but a couple of notes about what makes it stand out. First: the sheer consistency of its lyricism. The Barcarolle is so relentlessly lovely that it contains significantly less contrast than all of Chopin’s large-scale works. There are only two points where lyricism takes a backseat (about which see below).
Second: the use of ostinato and pedal points. My first real memory of the Barcarolle was hearing its opening LH figuration and thinking it was the most beautiful thing in the world. Throughout the work, the LH has a gentle insistency - both in the rising/falling line of the outer sections, or the pulsing warmth of the middle. As for pedal points - the two non-lyrical sections of the are marked by startling LH pedal points on E (4:50) and F# (7:00). Both moments are extraordinary. The first features one a kind of stasis knit out of chromatic voice-leading, which suddenly opens into the famous sfogato (Ravel: “From the depths, a quick luminous trail rises…). The second is sublime in the Burkean sense: something so intense it passes through beauty into something like terror (or awe). Over that grinding F#, the music modulates into wild territory (A# major, anyone?) before spinning out of control into a Neapolitan augmented 6th (/tritone sub) resolving to the tonic.
Third: the prevalence of unusually dense textures (even by the standards of late Chopin). Nearly every bar features some striking counterpoint, which is never repeated in exactly the same form. The gentle opening LH figure thickens into tectonic octaves at 5:50, while the coda obsessively develops what first appears to be a passing outer/inner voice in the B section (compare 3:01 and 7:00).
Fourth: harmony. Can we talk about the augmented 6ths? There’s the (French) A aug 6 at 2:59, gently dropping the passage from A to G# major; the (German) D aug 6 at 3:23, congealing over a C# pedal, the A (German) aug 6 at 4:24, adding in passing C# minor colour, followed almost immediately by a C (French) aug 6 that reverses that shift; and of course that epic, hallucinatory G (German) aug 6 at 7:29. One other moment I especially love is the B# dominant 7th poking up at 6:38. It’s a secondary dominant (leads to E# dom 7, then A# minor - which, by the way, slips back into C# via yet another A aug 6), but also a tritone leap from the immediately preceding F# harmony.
Because the Barcarolle is so pretty, it’s actually quite rare to come across a bad interpretation of the work. That said, these three performances are spectacular.
00:00 - Volodin. Volodin’s got a marvellously energetic approach to Chopin, and his playing here is both free and intense (those arpeggiated chords at 2:13!). That’s not to say there isn’t a lot of careful musicianship: listen to the way the arc is shaped at 1:28, how he clears the air starting from 4:06, or how the lower trill on the A# enters as an unbroken continuation of the inner voice at 5:49. But the defining quality of this performance is ecstasy: it’s one of the few that is not afraid of the pedal F# at 7:00, and actually follows Chopin’s sempre f instruction.
08:16 - Dong-Hyek Lim. A perfect archetype of “modern” pianism (and I don’t mean that pejoratively!) - incredible control of voicing, dynamics, and lots of sparkling detail. At 9:17, for instance, he nails the notoriously tricky staccato/pedal/leggiero sixth sound (you can even hear the slur over the last four notes of the descent). And starting from 9:47 there is some lovely voicing - first the lower voice in the RH, and then (in the second run) the LH top line transfers to the RH. The rising chords at 10:40 are played like a single long inhalation, while the middle section features fine pianissimo playing and very clear separation of primary and subordinate musical elements. The same hierarchisation features in the exceptionally clear coda (15:28).
16:50 - Zayas. Zayas’ playing is marked by a quality that’s become a bit scarce these days - intimacy. The introduction is laden with rubato and dies away in a long overhang of pedal, while the B section’s theme is taken in a rapt, beautifully voiced whisper. There are little improvisatory gestures scattered about, such as the staccato on the RH turn at 17:44 or the LH voiced nudged forward at 22:34. And there is also a surprising sense of large-scale structure: Zayas holds back for much of the piece until the main theme makes its return at 23:11; and in the coda she comes close to matching Volodin’s intensity.
Пікірлер: 97
00:00 - Introduction. (Rhythmically deceptive - you hear the beat entering an eighth earlier than it should - i.e., on the RH E#.) PART A 00:13 - Theme 1. Two-voice duet over rocking accompaniment. (The two voices move largely in parallel until 00:42, when they diverge.) 01:00 - An important motif (Motif 1) comprising a semiquaver alternation between a static upper and descending lower 6th is introduced. This motif always serves to confirm the local key - here C#, 3 bars later B, and after another 4 bars, D#m. 01:40 - Theme 1, repeated with more decoration (after a hallucinatory and daring move from the A# to F# chord over a set of double trills). Diverted after 4 bars, and does not receive the extensive development it got the first time around. PART B 02:34 - Transition, F#m. 02:50 - Theme 2, in A. moves into Ab (spelled G#) via an augmented 6th, then into F# and F#m (3:22). The F#m portion features a grating D aug 6th chord over a C# pedal. Theme 2 then repeats in octaves. The intervallic shape of the descent at 3:41 will become important in the coda. 04:12 - Theme 3, in A (quite similar to Theme 1 in both melodic contour and LH accompaniment). 04:46 - Transition, part 1. A doleful and pretty bizarre RH over an E pedal. Lots of clever voice-leading, but essentially the F of a E dominant flat 9 becomes reinterpreted as the leading-note of F#, before we modulate suddenly into C#. 05:20 -Transition, part 2 (dolce sfogato), in C#. One of the most magical moments in Chopin’s output. (Aside: “sfogato” is a very rare performance instruction - this is the first time, as far as I know, that it is used in the common practice period. It means something like “vented”, “let loose”, “unburdened” - essentially to escape after being held in for a long time. There is a chance Chopin meant “sfocato”, meaning “out of focus”, but whatever Chopin intended the passage certainly feels sfogato.) PART A 05:50 - Theme 1. LH now in octaves, and the RH later joins in too. We never hear the first “original” version of Theme 1, but instead move to the truncated version directly. 06:25 - Theme 3, triumphant CODA 07:00 - Part 1. An intensely contrapuntal modulating passage over an F# pedal, leading to some wild dissonances (G/F#, Em/F#, Cmaj7/F#, and (enharmonically) Bb/F#). The passage borrows heavily from the descending motif in Theme 2 (3:41). Culminates in a G augmented 6th - expressed as a fioritura - over F#. 07:35 - Part 2. This is where the first real sense of release/stability occurs. Motif 1 confirms the key. The LH begins a melody that recalls Theme 3, while the RH rises and falls. Closes over two emphatic dominant-tonic double octaves.
@dvmas
2 жыл бұрын
Rc
@nihil8471
2 жыл бұрын
thank you for your analysis, they're always great!
@mahbtiu
2 жыл бұрын
I appreciated you elaborating on the "sfogato" part. It's more than words can describe.
@jhNic
2 жыл бұрын
How can u commented 1 month ago
@suzannetaichert8872
21 күн бұрын
Thank you for the very useful analysis
Chopin's Barcarolle is a Ballade not only in a narrative sense but also in the sense that in every Chopin Ballade, there is a main climax based on the second theme.
@KingstonCzajkowski
4 ай бұрын
What a great observation!
@stacia6678
Ай бұрын
Also why the Polonaise Fantaisie is another great example! (though the second theme is truncated in the climax)
Someday I’ll do a video about this piece - my favorite Chopin composition.
@GICM
2 жыл бұрын
that would be awesome!
@LukeZX4
2 жыл бұрын
!!! Looking forward to it!
@amitbenhur3722
Жыл бұрын
YES.
@thegreenpianist7683
7 ай бұрын
It's such a loaded piece!
@Dodecatone
4 ай бұрын
Please do!
Marvelous playing! This piece is often in my head on waking in the morning. Watching the notation w/ the thrilling 🎹 technique can be a meditation in the possibilty of perfection 🤗
Ngl it really made me feel better when I read in your description that those “staccato/pedal/leggiero sixth(s)” are “notoriously tricky” because they’ve really been damaging my ego this last week
I love how Zayas brings out certain details I may not have realised before like the two notes in the left hand at 25:09 which result in the following passage that ends the piece.
Volodin handles the breaks and silences so well, it's unbelievable (that lovely flourish and diminuendo of the chords at 2:16!). The way he handles the octaves in the left hand under the thirds at 5:55 as well as the return of theme 3 at 6:25 is so transparent -- even more so than the Pollini and Zimerman recordings (and he does it with more pedal too!)! It's recordings like this that continue to convince me that we have not yet plateaued in terms of creativity and execution of these works. And it excites me to think about all the recordings that will be made in my lifetime.
The dolce sfogato segment is sublime. It's (in my opinion) amongst the most beautiful bits of piano music ever written. I can hear it again and again and never tire of it.
@i34p
Жыл бұрын
How come sublime?
@jedrzejsteszewski6694
Жыл бұрын
Scriabin had to be in deep love with this segment 😊
@nandovancreij
Ай бұрын
@@jedrzejsteszewski6694oh yes i hear his piano concerto there for sure
The Barcarolle has always been one of my favorite Chopin pieces. That music looks scarily difficult to play.
Man, I love it when Chopin uses suspended chords as in 24:20, he can really do it effectively. I think he is really unique - as a romantic composer - in how much he is exploring what can be evoked in major keys.
6:25- 7:00 : "The glory of the sum of things/Will flash along the chords and go"- Tennyson
@i34p
Жыл бұрын
What do you mean?
Absolutely beautiful! These 3 performances are absolutely stunning
this is one the most beautiful thing that exist in the world
Dolce sfogato is the most beautiful passage in all Chopin , alongside with the second half of the Polonaise-Fantaisie.
This is my favorite Chopin piece, thank you so much for compiling these performances and for the analysis!!!
Important moments 2:15 Gorgeous ascent 6:21 The same ascent but much more magnificent (14:49 each chord is a splash of euphoria) 7:09 Layered counterpoint. This whole section from this point on is mind blowing
@dpetrov32
2 жыл бұрын
wow, thanks for the tips! really shows how deep Chopin is, layered counterpoint is my fav
@samaritan29
Жыл бұрын
7:17 chords are so thick rachmaninoff would love this writing
Volodin's has quickly become my favourite op60 recording
@quarkonium3795
2 жыл бұрын
It's so bright!
@PieInTheSky9
2 жыл бұрын
Kate Liu is my favorite, but Volodin is a close second.
@willardsteele4857
2 күн бұрын
This performance glows!
I am playing Barcarolle op.60 now, and I can say that Volodin's recording is in the top 3 of Barcarolle interpretation imo (alongside with Zimerman and Pollini).
I can't get over how cool 17:43 sounds
@supasayajinsongoku4464
2 жыл бұрын
How did you comment 9 days ago??!?
@zakzaki9542
2 жыл бұрын
Time travel
@DariusMo
2 жыл бұрын
@@supasayajinsongoku4464 Hehe
@GICM
2 жыл бұрын
@@supasayajinsongoku4464 he's scriabin
@leonlinton634
2 жыл бұрын
@@supasayajinsongoku4464 I assume the video was unlisted previously.
Oh man, the voicing…just yes
Ooh you're right, Zayas does produce quite a unique sound. Might like it the most out of the 3, though Volodin is very enticing sa well
the indication in italian "leggiero" is one of the most appropriate and cute ever - I always like to compare how pianists perform that. thank you Ashish for comparing these three marvelous interpretations - Zayas is the one that convinced me more (today, that will change for sure)...
What a lovely Venetian gondola-song!
Well curated, as always.
A perfect composition from the master 🙌
Simply beautiful .
@benthrandish2706
2 жыл бұрын
yep, agree
Volodin is outstanding! This articulation-centric approach is extremely to my taste.
So sublime!
Maybe it's just my mood, but I feel like Zayas' rendition is by far the most satisfying to listen to compared to the others, which are also quite excellent. Her intimate approach to playing (which - dare I say it - I feel is the case with the majority of female concert pianists) compliments this piece quite well. Incidentally I feel the same with Kate Liu and Tiffany Poon's renditions.
@thegreenpianist7683
7 ай бұрын
I wonder if there are any tendencies of playing depending on gender? I think that would be fascinating to explore
Clever calling it a 5th Ballade. I love the almost-atonal coda. Dong-Hyek Lim is a fantastic pianist; thanks for introducing me to him!
@FrostDirt
2 жыл бұрын
Is it really atonal? Doesn't feel that way.
@Dodecatone
2 жыл бұрын
@@FrostDirt not quite, but kinda. the section at "sempre f" with the pedal point feels like early-midddle Scriabin imo. Horowitz's performance brings that quality out more than others, so does Volodin's.
Dong-Hyek Lim's chord at 14:49 (the one with the low c-sharps in the left hand - the downbeat of its measure) has an incredible resonance that I've never heard before - it sounds like it could carry on glowing for hours (easiest to hear what I'm talking about with headphones on). I've come back to this video a few times just to listen to that chord and a few measures on either side of it. Thanks to Ashish Xiangyi Kumar for bringing his recording to me - I hadn't heard it prior to your upload.
@isaactan339
2 жыл бұрын
After seeing your comment I went and looked up several recordings and I 100% agree. The entire recording has a great deal of lovely resonance.
New video. Very nice
Dinu Lipatti's performance is my favorite. In fact, the relatively few recordings he made before his untimely death are outstanding.
@stacia6678
2 жыл бұрын
Agreed! He’s too unknown today.
Sehr schon!
I still remember hearing the opening for the first time and mistakenly thinking it was early Debussy.
@GICM
2 жыл бұрын
i mean i guess it sounds _kinda_ similar to the prelude from suite bergamasque
I wish you had included Garrick Ohlsson's version--the one that literally rocks and glides like a boat, together with the water around it. He doesn't have to exaggerate to get it there...he just never cuts the connection between body, intellect and emotions; in fact, his playing of it is entirely in service to that--nothing more, nothing less.
👏
Hey! I notice your Brahms op. 10 video is no longer available, do you plan on another upload?
Дякую.
I love how the chords that end the section A, at 2:16 are supposed to be played diminuendo and crescendo when the A section repeats itself after the middle one (at 6:22)! Chopin would have been like, "I'll save the climax for later".
this just reminded me of a documentary about Anderszewski that i watched about like last week, where he comments on this piece while playing and singing it: (according to the subtitles) "One immediately thinks of a plateful of macaroni. That is beautiful! It really is. But I find... it's as if a drunken gondolier was singing. It's very vulgar, in thirds, it's like French variety music of the worst kind. But this is beautiful."
@PieInTheSky9
2 жыл бұрын
What a terrible quote
@GICM
2 жыл бұрын
@@PieInTheSky9 just thought it was cute
@CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji
2 жыл бұрын
Awww Anderszewski sounds scared...wonderful interpreter of Germanic composers though
Will you make ever a video on Chopin Sonata No. 2? (I think you should use Kissin's version if you do)
@GICM
2 жыл бұрын
he already made a video on chopin sonata 2 (performances by Pogorelich and Fialkowska), but it was taken down due to copyright
20:49
24:37 very interesting progressions for the 1840's
Dinu Lipatti!!!!!
역시 임동혁
Too bad I missed the premiere
@GICM
2 жыл бұрын
timezones am i right
@segmentsAndCurves
2 жыл бұрын
no baron?
@GICM
2 жыл бұрын
@@segmentsAndCurves baron is too good for this
I probably need an MA in English Literature AND musicology to understand Ashish's lengthy explanations and descriptions🤯🤯🤯
Zayas bass like rachmaninoff
@user-ry6pp3js2b
2 жыл бұрын
Zayas!
Maybe im alone on this but i think the first performance is not so good… a bit harsh for a barcarolle and maybe even too fast
this piece doesnt have the evocative to be a "5th ballade" barcarolle fits
Listen to Kumar's other set of pianists who are far better than this group. If this is Chopin's 5th ballad, why didn't he give it that title if he meant it to be? Surely, in bar 4, there is the sound of water lapping, as it would be in Venice where the gondoliers punt their barcas (boats)? Only Argarich gives a hint of this in her playing!!
It almost sounds like Rachmaninov at points
@CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji
2 жыл бұрын
And Medtner
Dear Ashish: Thank you so much for all these remarkable score-videos, and especially for your intelligent, thoughtful, and insightful comments (so much more interesting and useful than the vast bulk of youtube padding). I look forward to many more of these, and learning much more from you.