F. Chopin -"Raindrop" Prelude no. 15 in D-flat major Op. 28 no.15- analysis. Greg Niemczuk's lecture

[@7omZ]

Chopin is the reason i started playing piano this year and even though its hard to start with his music i wouldn't change the aproach, this music its absolutely captivating and moving. Im learning this prelude at the moment and had to come and check your analisys which as all of them sheds light on this great masterpieces. Thabk you for this enormous work you do Greg 🙌✨️

[@gregniemczuk]

Thanks a lot!!! Good luck! Passion is the key to the success

[@ml4119]

Interestingly, when I listened to this piece 'Raindrop', as preparation to learn this piece myself, I found it difficult to imagine just 'raindrops' and I wondered why....your deep and interesting analysis is therefore a revelation for me! I think as I start to learn this piece I probably will come up with my own interpretation of what it was that Chopin was tormented with. Looking forward to an exciting journey! Thanks for your great insights on Chopin.

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you Maarten! I'm so happy to hear that! I was so proud of this analysis so it makes me extremely glad that it can be an inspiration for someone. And I'm sure you'll find your own deep interpretation

[@gregorypkampwirth8852]

Dziękuję bardzo pan Niemczuka!! 🎹🎼🎵🎶🇵🇱 from one Polish/American to another Pole 🇵🇱

[@gregniemczuk]

Pozdrawiam! Thank you!

[@Seleuce]

Thank you very much for this! I just finished learning the notes and need to work on the polish (probably for ages!): This helped a lot and talks so much more to me than the classic "Thunderstorm" interpretation! While I do not have any explanation of what Chopin could have actually felt/thought when composing this, I have my own humble guesses. The permanent a-flat always reminded me of a Tinnitus. And yes, passing time, clock ticking, this isn't the only piece of him with this sort of theme of time passing through a key pulse. Time running out, lifetime, this must have been on his mind a lot. I believe Frederic had been told far too often by far too many people from a young age on that he won't live long. Most people probably never meant any harm, but it is cruel to tell someone constantly that he/she will have a short life unless you are a doctor. He said it himself more than once as a young man in letters already, which is a sign of how present this sad expectation, to die young, was in him. What does that do to the psyche of a highly sensitive, emotional soul with an ingenious mind? It must be horrible. And I believe a lot of those tormenting thoughts and feelings are in his music. And irony wanted it that this delicate, frail man was incredibly tough, he probably lived much longer than most people had believed he would, even longer than he himself had believed. Didn't he make an ironic joke about speculating that he was immortal in one of his late letters because so many healthier and stronger people he had known had already died before him? He survived the most severe relapses of illness, when most people never lived through their first episode of hemoptysis in those days. A paradox, but we are so lucky that he was such a strong man and manage to live almost 40 years to give us his spectacular musical thoughts.

[@gregniemczuk]

That's so cool!!! You're such a poet with huge imagination. Thanks for sharing!!! Good luck with this Prelude!

[@Seleuce]

@@gregniemczuk 🎶🌹🎵

[@sylvestercoffee7212]

This brings back good memories of when my older brother gave me my first Chopin book for a Christmas present. I remember this being the first piece he showed me and I sight read. Happy memories!!! Come to think of it all my memories of the piano are warm and happy( well except the ones where I was terrified of playing in front of a roomful of people).

[@gregniemczuk]

Wonderful memories!

[@lindamcdermott2205]

Thanks so much for discussing the seconds (intervals in chords )...making the painful sound...never thought of that before...tomorrow i will diagram this ternury piece...so gorgeous...my teacher taught me this in 1971! So many years and types of music since! And now i pulled this out tonight ( pages all loosened from prelude book ). You are great teacher sir!

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you so much!

[@sonicboyPT]

Before I start to learn any Chopin piece i always watch and re-watch your video about it. This one will be next. Besides you being a marvellous pianist, I think Rubinstein might be correct when he says something like one has to be polish to deeply understand Chopin's music (in the case it was mazurkas). I loved that insight you gave me on nocturne op37 n1, about that part in the middle that sounds like a small polish church coral music. Thank you!

[@marie-cecileladaique9741]

Vous êtes fantastique...ne changez pas ....je n ai pas le niveau mais j ai vraiment envie de jouer toutes ces pièces de Chopin . C est un plaisir d écouter vos analyses même si cela me demande beaucoup de concentration.....Merci pour tous vos partages, un joli cadeau et un grand moment de partage musical qui nous fait vibrer ...ce morceau est magnifique et l analyse que vous nous offrez nous le rend encore beaucoup plus émouvant....❤❤❤

[@ΜιλτιάδηςΒιτσικουνάκης]

Another heavenly pearl of true music drops into our hearts, Mo Niemczuk, through your approach both, by words and play! Perfection imposes silence. Welcome to console and heal once more, our frustrated times ...

[@janethaist6581]

Beautiful interruption of this prelude. Love this piece even more now with the lecture. Thank you.

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you so much for watching!

[@correasilvio2010]

I agree! My personal interpretation this Chopin Preludes kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKjUiJuAlKh7iaM

[@zehuazhen9747]

This prelude is so attractive. Even my dog likes it😂. Every time I play raindrop, my dog will come and sit besides me.

[@davisatdavis1]

My cat does the same with op 27 no 2! 😂

[@JeanniefromChicago]

😂

[@meretekarkov2717]

thank you for this great analysis of the piece. Love what you say at the end, about it being tears raining down.

[@Zaba_the_Dogling]

che poesia… wonderful performance and explanation. thank you greg.

[@fruitlesslove1416]

There is a posthumous work by Chopin, which is very beautiful. It is called 《Largo E flat major》. I hope you can explain it!a! Your teaching is amazing!

[@laurie7357]

Another brilliant analysis! 👌🏻 This prelude was one of my first encounters with Chopin’s music. I remember when i first heard it as a child, the sad motive in the second phrase instantly brought tears to my eyes. It still to this day, remains the most beautiful melody i have ever heard. I once read somewhere, maybe in another analysis, that the repetitive accompaniment was Chopin’s thoughs about his incoming death, always following him and invading his mind. Thinking of this and and adding the dialogue between ghosts and the real world makes this piece even more deep and amazingly beautiful.... 😢

[@gregniemczuk]

It could be, who knows. There is so much depth in this music that there can be dozens of interpretations. Just pure beauty!

[@correasilvio2010]

Excelent explanation! My personal interpretation from Chopin Preludes kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKjUiJuAlKh7iaM

[@bigl5343]

I love your tempo in the final playthrough. Many perform this too fast in my opinion. A slower tempo allows one to really relish the savory harmomy throughout the piece.

[@gregniemczuk]

Yes!!! Exactly!

[@user-jr5fn7zy1v]

Again a big THANK YOU!

[@maryblendick830]

That was so helpful....thank you!!

[@renatoparonidecastro6498]

Thanks for the annalysis, I will play differently from now on!

[@joannawronska4100]

SO SOULFUL AND WONDERFUL AS ALWAYS!!!!! Thank you for my absolutely favourite Chopin's Raindrop Prelude in an excellent rendition and for your analysis/tutorial, I'm planning to learn this piece and your great video will be helpful for many pianists, Btw. already te second part of The International Chopin Competition, very exciting, as every day my best regards, have a nice weekend. Joanna

[@più_lento_28_13]

i am currently learning this piece, thank you so much for this heartfelt and passionate video !!

[@gregniemczuk]

Wonderful!!! I wish you a lot of pleasure with learning this masterpiece!!!

[@più_lento_28_13]

@@gregniemczukhi greg, i am back here 2 months later. I actually finished learning the piece last month, and there’s probably not a single day that has gone by without me playing it. It’s so interesting now that i rewatch your video, i have a richer look about it. I understand your point of view and things way better. Now it has become an analysis about a piece that i know how to play, that i can personally feel with my fingers and heart, and watching you talk about it now feels like exchanging with someone who truly understands you. Again , thank you for your passion my friend. Chopin’s music will never die !

[@gregniemczuk]

@@più_lento_28_13 how great to read these words!!! Congratulations! Oh yes, his music is IMMORTAL!!!

[@BRNRDNCK]

Here is my interpretation of the piece: Recording I used for reference: kzbin.info/www/bejne/enmqi4KkgcymjZY Although this piece is very popular, I find almost no pianists offering an acceptable interpretation. People play it too fast and with too much rubato. This is the only approximately correct version I could find online. To me, this piece is hauntingly beautiful. The superficial melody is only pretty, but the feeling “between the lines” is dark and serious. The pitter patter of raindrops begins immediately and remains through the coda. Despite this consistency and stability, the persistent A flat seems to be questioning the happy melody, as if to ask, “are you really as happy as you say?” This question is answered at (1:50) when the raindrops carry into a gloomy C# Minor section that expose the artist’s true despair. Even here he cannot escape the stormy A flat rain. When the rain finally settles and the music returns to its happy opening melody, we know it tells a lie to cover the artist’s true miserable condition.

[@gregniemczuk]

This is so beautiful! Thank you for enriching my video with your interpretation. It's fantastic and I appreciate it.

[@BRNRDNCK]

@@gregniemczuk My pleasure! Thank you for the wonderful video. You’re very talented at explaining the details of the music and showing how different parts relate to each other. I’m learning a lot and enjoying this series very much.

[@correasilvio2010]

Wonderful interpretation! Congratulations! My personal interpretation this Chopin Preludes; your comentary is much important for me: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKjUiJuAlKh7iaM

[@jbondy6395]

I play this prelude followed by Ballade #3, because I think they tell the same story. They have many shared emotions, and structural similarities.

[@finnianreilly1831]

I really enjoyed Greg's analysis of Prelude no. 15 which I am learning to play at the moment. Perhaps I put off learning this piece for so long because of the "trashy" nickname, so I am glad to learn that Chopin denied any imitative quality. I am still on the opening section A + B and so far finding it very satisfying to play. To my ears, the dark middle section has a Beethovian ring to it, and I was half expecting Greg to reveal some borrowing from a Beethoven piece. Does anyone else feel this association? Just for fun I asked Chat GPT about this, and while it did understand my question, it didn't offer a section by Beethoven that sounded remotely like it. (Adagio of the Tempest) One comment to make about Greg's analysis: around min 21 he says that the repeated note might represent time except it's a little too fast. By that I assume he means that it is too fast to be indicative of seconds passing. That is true, but what if we use the interpretation of the metronome marking proposed by musicologist Wim Winters ? Just saying .. Anyway, thanks Greg for your great work.

[@finnianreilly1831]

For a discussion of Wim Winters's theory in relation to Chopin's music specifically see these 2 links: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZvQoZaBqNmEeNU and also kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXLbgoxjqNNsorM

[@liviane109]

for me and what i feel, this piece is about facing the death. Left hand represents death,and time clock, beautiful like you said, right hand himself. In Part A the death is coming, slowly arrived. It is there where the smorzando is. Then in Part B he fights against the death, question it, It is like if someone keep question "Why, why, why .." very angrily. But we all know, the death wins as always and he acepted his fate. Freaking genius.

[@davisatdavis1]

I dont know how to say this. I got really emotional over your lecture. I used to love this piece like it was my last meal on earth. But over time as I heard more music I felt less drawn to this prelude and I was getting sick of hearing this prelude all the time. I stopped appreciating it because I started seeing it as highly mainstream music. I typically am not drawn to mainstream music, unless it's music I was drawn to in my earliest memories. As I saw this prelude as more mainstream, I felt no appreciation for it or any meaning in it at all. All is not lost though- I gained a new perspective on this music during your lecture and I feel my appreciation for this music has been fulfilled.

[@gregniemczuk]

I am SO happy to read this comment!!!!

[@michelangelovaccaro8191]

That’s so revealing. Just calling this prelude ‘raindrop’ took away all of its deep meaning, and also listening to it became superficial. As always your videos are the best!

[@gregniemczuk]

I totally agree! Thanks !

[@finnianreilly1831]

It might amuse people to read my rephrased question to Chat GPT and the funny but inaccurate response. (For those that don't know, ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence) My rephrased question. What piece of piano music by Beethoven sounds like the sombre middle section of Chopin's Prelude no. 15 in D-flat major ChatGPT I apologize for any confusion caused by my previous response. Upon further consideration, it is important to note that Beethoven and Chopin had distinct compositional styles, and finding a Beethoven piece that precisely resembles the somber middle section of Chopin's Prelude No. 15 is challenging. That being said, one Beethoven composition that shares a similar somber and introspective quality is the second movement, "Adagio cantabile," from Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, commonly known as the "Pathétique Sonata." While it may not mirror the specific structure or motifs of Chopin's Prelude, it possesses a mournful and melancholic atmosphere that resonates with the somber middle section of the "Raindrop Prelude." I hope this alternative suggestion proves more helpful, and I apologize for any previous inaccuracies or confusion.

[@kliberalsing]

So tragic, so Polish, so....Chopin !

[@kliberalsing]

But I gotta say this to you my musical brother: Uważaj, aby twoja głęboka miłość nie stała się mimowolną karykaturą. Wystarczy posłuchać Rubinsteina...był najwspanialszym ambasadorem Chopina! (Okay I say this more to myself but you get my point here)

[@gregniemczuk]

Of course. I admire Rubinstein and love him very much

[@tomekd789]

To me, the chorale is _definitely_ Orthodox... By its character, the harmony, but, first of all, because it goes as low as Des2 - beyond the West European vocal range

[@MoiAussi18]

At around 14 minutes in you say suggest that the piece has a nocturne-like structure of A-B-A (prime). Why don’t you tell us at the start of your talk and then work from there.? I only can appreciate classical music when I have an understanding of the architecture at the outset. I need to know whether it is in sonata form, or a rondo or in ternary form, etc. etc. Everything then follows from that. I like to know where themes begin and end, where the transitions are, etc. etc. Then an understanding of the harmony, etc. Once I can appreciate all this, it is as if a veil has been lifted from my eyes, and, as a consequence, frequently I am very moved. But it all starts with the architecture.

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you. Yes, usually I say it earlier. On my every analysis you have the architecture analyzed and explained.

[@MoiAussi18]

@@gregniemczuk Thanks for your prompt reply; it is much appreciated. I’ll watch more of your videos then. My mind works in a linear fashion. I need to start from basics and work from there. If I were studying a building, I’d first like to view it from all possible angles. Then I’d study the history and the architecture. Just like music. On the other hand, I can generally appreciate a building or a film or a book without having to resort to any kind of analysis. Not so classical music. However, I really am envious of those people who can just listen to a symphony or sonata and think it wonderful.

[@correasilvio2010]

Excelent explanation! My personal interpretation this Chopin Prelude; kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKjUiJuAlKh7iaM

[@liviane109]

yes ,this is so funny when someone said this is for fun, and relax 🤣🤣🤣🤣it's about death and clock ticking time away while a genius had to accept his fate. Sometimes you really do not want to play or practice this piece. Because it is just full of sadness and tragedy.

[@gregniemczuk]

Exactly!!!!!