The Sublime Virtuosity of Chopin's Etudes (ft. Garrick Ohlsson) | Ep. 5 The Chopin Podcast

[@benlawdy]

Check out the "sequel" to this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmnchIaOdtpgf8U In it, Garrick breaks down "Group B" Etudes, Op. 10 Nos. 2, 7, 10, 11, and Op. 25 Nos 4, 5, 6, and 10, and finishes with a look at first two Etudes from Op. 25. The two video segments were taken from a 2 hour, 10 minute interview with Garrick on the Etudes, which will be posted in full on my Patreon tomorrow morning (50 extra minutes of Etudes talk, with an emphasis on hands-on insights at the keyboard): www.patreon.com/BenLaude I appreciate everyone's patience! Producing this episode was almost as hard as playing the Chopin Etudes... We've expanded the whole series, now 16-episodes extending into 2025. More info on the website: www.chopinpodcast.com/ And thanks as always to the Chopin Foundation of the United States for believing in my crazy ideas! The National Chopin Competition is looming, and I'll be hosting all the livestreams for it, so make sure to subscribe to their YT channel where it'll be broadcast January 4-12: www.youtube.com/@chopinfoundationoftheunite8079

[@fizzfox8886]

fantastic intro!!! such a nice timing on the drop in winter wind 😍

[@danielkristianson208]

Most pianists overpedal these etudes, which muddies the musical waters and robs them of so much sparkle and clarity. Personally I really enjoy Ruth Slenczynska's recordings from almost 70 years ago. So clear, clean, even and ... musical. They are very much worth a listen.

[@gspianoguitar4369]

All I can add is that simply we are just lucky... so very fortunate to have this resource. For all of you that put this together for us - thank you.

[@TheSaintBernardEnthusiast]

I’m very much looking forward to the Polonaise episode! There are some days when Op. 53 cannot escape my head. Thanks so much for all of your ceaseless work, Ben. 🧽

[@RobertSmith-le8wp]

Op 53 and Op 40 are both very catchy

[@mstalcup]

I'm hoping for coverage to include Op. 61.

[@finnmeldrum7264]

Holyyyyy get the popcorn out for this one fellas. Well worth the wait for a 50 minute video

[@Stevie-Steele]

Since Chopin and Liszt were almost exact contemporaries - it's always been easy to draw a simplistic dichotomy between the two - Chopin the "poet of the piano" and Liszt the "technical virtuoso". But the truth is that Chopin, while physically weaker due to illness - was an OUTSTANDING virtuoso who was also obsessed with the technical capabilities of the piano. Not for the sake of athleticism - but for the sake of expanding all of the textures and sonorities the instrument was capable of. Nowhere is this MORE clear than in his Op.2 Variations which are almost like a set of Etudes! and also in his later "Berceuse" which is in a sense also a "set of mini Etudes". Chopin is rightly ranked high among the greatest musical minds but his instrumental ingenuity and "cleverness" is sometimes a bit underrated. The closest contemporary comparison to his Etudes are those of Moscheles, Kalkbrenner, Czerny, Hummel and others - as well as the emerging "Style Brillante" which popularized the art of creating pieces that sounded like "Virtuoso Variations on Popular Themes". Chopin was more poetic than most of these composers but it's interesting that Kalkbrenner AND Czerny both admired Chopin's work enough to emulate it - Kalkbrenner wrote a set of variations on a Chopin Mazurka and Czerny emulated the technique of op 10 no 2 in his Op 365. So yes - while Chopin transcended the poetic possibilities of his contemporaries - he was also very interested in expanding technique and pushing the Etude genre farther.

[@Radiatoron88]

It's worth noting for those who might not be familiar with Chopin's music that a number of the Preludes might as well be called "etudes" as well, and have some fearsome difficulties in them. Most "heartbreaking" for me as focal dystonia-ridden ungifted amateur pianist is the 8th Prelude. I just love it to death, but unless my hands could be replaced by hands that can get around the piano "with dispatch," there's no way I could ever play that absolutely magnificent Prelude--my favorite of the 24 Preludes. Not to mention the closing D minor Prelude. How anyone could ever play that hand-shredding piece is beyond me! With its cascading double thirds in the right hand and Scriabin-like horrific stretching in the left hand. How I love Chopin's music, but so much of it is "etude-like" in terms of its technical demands. Fortunately, there are some Chopin pieces that are approachable by non-virtuosos. And I keep in mind something I heard Murray Perahia say in some video in which he was being interviewed. That, essentially, there is no such thing as an easy piece, which is to say that to play anything really beautifully is far from being easy. The older I get, the more I feel the truth of that sentiment.

[@jaspernatchez]

Ohlsson is such a mensch. A great pianist, a great artist, totally unpretentious and his lesson on op. 10 #1 is spot on.

[@almendratlilkouatl]

once I listened Chopin and my head grew like a centimeter

[@tom6693]

My God, Sparky and his magic piano. I never thought I'd hear that again. That's the little record that not only introduced me to Chopin, but to the piano. My memory is that I played the record a lot (my mother's memory was that I played it relentlessly). In any case, it launched the 2-year assault on my parents to get me piano lessons. Which, god love them, by the time I was 7 they broke down and arranged for me. The great gift of my life. And if I never managed the Revolutionary Etude, I did play heaps of Chopin--without any magic instruments but with endless pleasure.

[@markus7894]

What an opportunity to have the pianist as a sparring partner who has produced one of the most convincing recordings of op. 10 no. 1 of all time!

[@nickk8416]

Ben, you are the best. I felt the same way about these pieces when I was younger.they seemed insurmountable when I was 16. I love your humble commentary. Every video you do is a treasure. Garrick is fabulous.

[@enzodilenzo]

I’d just like to appreciate the effort and high quality of the entirety of the Chopin podcast. There are so many more insights and ideas than you could possibly imagine when solely working with those pieces. I am very thankful for that and would also like to stress the dramaturgy of those podcasts as well. The transitions from Ohlson playing in the video call to his recordings are spot on and the discussed musical fragments are so well put together! The ending with the cello transcription had me sobbing and crying after the prior information about Bellini. This podcast is just so intelligently put together. Thank you!

[@mrkatmandroog]

"As a sneaky musician friend of mine said, he didnt say not to." Laughed out loud.

[@vprajapa]

Only videos on youtube where I hit like before I am even start watching the video. 50 minutes flew by, and I could watch all day of this.

[@thegreenpianist7683]

Came for the Chopin Podcast, stayed for Sparky‘s Magic Piano.

[@benlawdy]

@@thegreenpianist7683 *SPARKY. IT’S ME, YOUR PIANO.* Nightmares

[@MrCinemuso]

As someone who's been thrilled and tortured by the etudes for a long time, I still learnt a lot from this episode. Couldn't possibly imagine a better team than Ben Laude and Garrick Ohlsson to present these!

[@BrianPaick]

Ohlsson saying shit like "That wasn't very good" or "I'm not in shape to play this etude" before/after whipping out fragments of Chopin etudes I would drop kick a corgi to be able to play is the funniest shit. Also his storm sound effect at 35:00 is gold, LOL'd at that.

[@margarethansen7480]

O don’t have words to describe how this vídeos are treasures for me❤❤❤❤thanks a lot, Ben, Garrick and all that participate on it👏👏👏👏👏 The cello studie almost bring me tears

[@HAEngel-cr5gp]

Absolutely mesmerizing! Such wealth of knowledge, history, instruction, and humanity. Thank you, Ben. You always teach us, inform us, and make us more human...

[@Velnox]

I've been waiting for this one. As a Chopin lover, I find this podcast with Garrick Ohlsson to be a gem. Excited to see these newly planed episodes

[@MrTalentwasted]

The intro to this video is priceless. Closed and locked my office door and watched all 51 minutes in total immersion. Keep up the good work!

[@jackcurley1591]

Was waiting for this one!! 36:27 Haha I made this comment to someone after showing them this series a few weeks ago: “Garrick playing something that he hasn’t touched in years sounds like me when I’ve been practicing a piece for 3 months straight 😂”

[@INCR3DIBL3JMAN]

Your channel better explode. You deserve it with all the hard work you have put in.

[@brandonmartin5650]

I've been waiting with bated breath for another video to be released. What a great way to start off my day. Thanks Ben 🙏🇿🇦

[@cadriver2570]

It’s so utterly insane that GO has recorded all of Chopin’s music. Can’t imagine the joy that playing all of this music would bring. Granted, playing any of it is so fulfilling.

[@benlawdy]

@@cadriver2570 this occurs to me sometimes when I’m watching the joy he takes in the details of just a single piece. He’s had that intimate familiarity with all of them…

[@f.hounderclay1368]

Off the topic of Chopin, but even more impressive, volume/commitment-wise, is Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau recording all of the Schubert lieder for male voice. If we’re counting, that’s about 600 songs.

[@AlexanderChisholm-Loxley]

I can’t tell you how interesting and useful this podcast series is, I’ve been trying to get to grips with the first two op.10 etudes for a little while, and Garrick’s insights (along with your own) have been really valuable to me. I just want to say thank you, and wish you the best as you continue to carve out your niche on KZbin, excited to see where it goes! To any pianists in the comments, I wish you all the best, and hope your personal musical journeys will bring you great pleasure and fulfilment! Music is not about perfection, but expression, and is valid at all levels regardless of style or genre.

[@brettaspivey]

I think Ashkenazy's op 10 nr 1 is one of the all time greatest performances of any piano piece, the texture he gets is amazing

[@benlawdy]

That video of him playing it as an encore has always blown me away.

[@mickizurcher]

At 6:00 Garrick is talking about his teacher telling him not to bother with his scales anymore but just take everything he needed from the études Etc and that’s exactly what my teacher said to me when I restarted playing again after an absence of 50 years and brought him, amongst other things, some scales. He started me with Chopin, which I had never played before, and I have not looked back.😊 Your KZbin and Podcasts on Chopin are high points for me in every way. TY!💚💚💚

[@yoonchun6945]

Agreed❤

[@bachadmirer]

Since 2015 Seong-Jin Cho's rendition of op.10 no.1 has been ideal standard to me.

[@RaineriHakkarainen]

Aahkenazy had More colorful piano sound than Cho! Pollini More genius!

[@zure9295]

Have you seen his 10 no 2 from the preliminary rounds ? It's remarkable in terms of dynamic control.

[@SpontaneityJD]

Ben - This is great.. as usual. Love this series

[@nintendianajones64]

When Claude Debussy edited Chopin's Études at the end of his life as he was dying of cancer, he said: "Chopin is the greatest of them all, for with the piano alone he discovered everything." I look at the Études and will never disagree. Nobody else comes close.

[@JudyBryson-y4b]

You've made my November exquisite and I can't express my gratitude, can't wait for part two and the rest ... The dances must be coming soon!

[@erictseitz]

“As a miniaturist, [Chopin] was superb; as a setter of moods, unparalleled; as someone who understood the piano, certainly unprecedented, and probably no one else has managed to do it that well.” ~ Glenn Gould

[@eiagmusic]

Thank you, Ben and Garrick 🙏🙏🙏- pure magic, as always! ❤️❤️❤

[@yoonchun6945]

So impressive KZbin series! I’ve been up since 4am and I’m just memorized what’s in this content ❤️🙏

[@Chopin-Etudes-Cosplay]

14:20 Ben low-key raising his voice at Garrick in anger is all of us trying to learn bar 31 🤣

[@mickizurcher]

Oh, how I love the minutiae 😂 as in the Minutia Waltz!

[@fredericlemaitre9444]

Keeps getting better and better, nice job ! And still need that Chopin T-shirt !

[@Bubblezz451]

36:06 “I’m not really in shape to play this” then proceed to play perfectly

[@bongaz3547]

He cant stop humble bragging😂

[@excalibur05]

Scrolled down just to comment this

[@butwhatwouldiknow]

Great to watch after 50 years or so working on these pieces, thank you. For anyone who doesn’t know of it, the ‘essay’ by Abby Whiteside, a former Juilliard teacher, I think, gives transformational technical advice. Read what she says about e.g. the octave study and the second C major one and they suddenly become much easier.

[@pippa_sacre]

Why didn’t I know your channel? Every content is fascinating! Looking forward to your live cast from Miami in January. I am also struck by Mr. Ohlsson who is so nice and transparent with listeners in sharing his knowledge, and I am deeply grateful!

[@gatesurfer]

Ben’s been doing Tonbase videos for awhile. His own channel is relatively new.

[@pippa_sacre]

@ Thank you for your reply! now I am an addict of his Tonebase videos! Illuminating, hilarious sometimes :) and exceedingly good!!

[@MrSamc94]

Didn't want this video to end!!!! Loved it

[@mstalcup]

Op. 25 no. 8 was one of the most rewarding etudes for my technique and for warming up that I have ever learned. While compositionally simpler than other etudes, it can sound really nice with a creative and thoughtful performance.

[@debrucey]

Watching this gave me the courage to finally tackle Op.10 No.1 after being scared of it for years

[@retox2929]

SO amazing this that U do Ben. Thanks

[@LisztyLiszt]

Thanks for the cello excerpt. I never heard it before. Very beautiful.

[@peter5.056]

The most difficult part of the Chopin Etudes, is realizing (eureka!) the particular motions that make them all (all of them, yeah you heard me) easy. The technical difficulty is an illusion. All FC's Etudes fit beautifully to the hand, and if you simply take the time to think (really think!) about what the right choreography is, they all become absolutely effortless.

[@peter5.056]

but this requires a level of focus and patience that almost no one possesses.

[@randomguy6934]

In 11:00 Mr. Garrick Ohlsson gives some great advice, in my opinion. Freeing your finger after each note, that doesnt need to be held, is indeed, very essential for wrist and finger health overall.

[@AldoGaspari.]

That transition at 37:12 was insane

[@1389Chopin]

I love this collaboration! What great insight

[@ArmandHuangSaberi]

I am really enjoying your channel! Keep up the incredible work!

[@mickizurcher]

There are definitely Chopin Heads on this channel!🤣 Delicious Master Class!

[@benhouhousmail6563]

Hey Ben! Thanks so much for all your videos!! But did someone tell you how smart and precise are your video editings??? they are so fluent, passing from and old video to a recent one without feeling the cut nor a problem in the meter, that’s so great and appreciable: Bravo to you!!

[@benlawdy]

@@benhouhousmail6563 I appreciate that! I work really hard on the edits and it’s a big reason why everything takes so long

[@constancewhite7330]

I have learned Op. 10 #1 late in life (it will never be up to tempo) by opening and closing my hand AND letting go of the keys when I need to to reach the next note. (Also moving my arm and body with the hand - “souplesse “.) There’s a video of Yuja Wang doing that - admittedly, she was playing Rachmaninoff- but the point was the pedal can create legato, and does all the time, routinely. This, BTW, was sort of considered cheating when I was a student back in the day. …Love this episode, introducing, demystifying, soaking up the Etudes. Thank you!!

[@jeffscop]

Fantastic!!!

[@SR71YF12]

Thank you for yet another wonderful episode! I have to comment yet again on Richter (my favourite Chopin interpreter). No, the famous clip on him playing the Op 10 no 4 is not sped up. The pitch is not altered, and he did play it similarly fast on other occasions. For example, at a wonderful all Chopin recital in Moscow in 1950, which is available here on YT. As an encore at the end of that recital, he plays the Op 10 no 4 Etude at a similar speed as in the famous clip, but the clarity and control is amazing. But the whole 1950 all Chopin recital is simply magical. According to Lazar Berman, the spontaneity of Richter in the 1940s and 1950s was a unique phenomenon in pianism, and Glenn Gould had a very similar opinion. I think that I understand why they thought this.

[@batman17697]

Hi. First I would like to commend you on these podcasts series. Now, in such bad times our country is in I find these as the best escapism possible. So first thank you so much for making my trips to work so inspiring and interesting. Second, being an ex pianist (I am now an Orthopaedic surgeon) I have one interesting comment on the etude op 25 number 11 (winter wind). As Garrick mentioned in his talk that the combination of left hand and right hand are so innovative, let me please refer you to Bach’s Goldberg (a favourite of mine that I played infinite no of times) number 26 - here you’ll find the same rhythmic thematic combination of 6/16 notes on one hand and dotted rhythm on the other- did this one inspired Chopin? Should be interesting to look at. Yoram Weil, Jerusalem, Israel

[@stefanstern-ip8tk]

This is golden! Thank you!!!

[@Hjominbonrun]

It is crazy how Garrick can just play excerpts out of everything, better than most students can play after studying. edit : I was halfway, he continues with the madness. 'Not in shape to play this but lets try' - proceeds to demonstrate op25#11 in a way I never ever ever can.. ever ever ever.

[@sgut1947]

Extraordinary that Chopin wrote nine of the op 10 etudes in 1830, when he was 19 or 20, and all twelve were completed before he turned 23.

[@benlawdy]

Not only that, but he began them in the fall of 1829 when he was just out of high school. I believe the F minor and A-flat (nos 9-10) were about the first he began composing then

[@jamescraft672]

How inspirational! I must practice!

[@biffii5568]

Ben uploads, I smile😌

[@Jolie_sailor]

Super! Thank you both.

[@LisztyLiszt]

Thinking about it now, that melody from Op. 10 No. 3, the way it expands and expands and reaches the "fatherland" climax and reposes in the bars afterwards is very much like how Rachmaninov would develop a melody. Harmonically and texturally it would be much different, but as an exercise in phrase building, this foreshadows Rachmaninov quite a lot I think.

[@taiteyard3567]

Rachmaninoff once said “small line, small musician. Big line, big musician.” I think the enthusiasm for op. 10 no. 3 has a lot to do with the length of the melody that you pointed out. When a melody is too short, it can come off as unserious. I think of 10 5 or Rach’s own Italian polka. Amazing and beautiful, but nowhere near the pinnacle of what can be emotionally expressed through the piano. When a melody is drawn out until it has nothing left to say, it feels more authentic and intimate. The beginning of Rach 3 or any of the great themes of Chopin’s ballades are great examples of pure melodic emotion at the piano that doesn’t leave anything important unsaid. Big lines by big musicians.

[@juanjoseayalagomez6166]

I am still learning english, but i'm going to hear all this podcast because is about Chopin😅

[@TheOssia]

Juana Zayas recording of the Chopin Etudes are worth hearing!

[@benlawdy]

@@TheOssia indeed! And they are Jed Distler’s pick in this episode (video coming soon)

[@markfowlermusic]

I’ve been listening and studying the sheets to Bartoks etudes recently and none of the Chopin etudes come close to the first one he wrote in terms of difficulty.

[@peter5.056]

ben, that impossible part of the 10/1 (ascending F7) can be solved by allowing the 4th finger (on the A) to loosely curl under itself slightly almost going onto the fingernail, with a rising wrist, allowing the hand to move toward the piano, with a slight rightwards rotation and motion towards the top Eb with a flat 5th finger. The 4th finger ends up a bit on its side just barely resting on the A, as the pivot, if you do it right. Hope this helps. BTW, I practiced that particular spot for 3 years before I got it.

[@erichimy]

Shared a recital with Garrick in Cincinnati in 1980’s 😊

[@erichimy]

Great work Ben 👍 kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnO7lGyYfJxrrs0si=JLFARD79VhxiqaNT

[@dougr.2398]

Interesting you started out with my favorite Etude

[@nandovancreij]

not even batman couldve gotten me to publicly share that pianoworld reply

[@Hjominbonrun]

The Richter video looks sped up. When he throws in the handkerchief at the end, it looks like gravity and time is travelling faster.

[@RobertSmith-le8wp]

I still think Cziffra is my favorite on most the Chopin Etudes and most everything else too. As far as a video idea, one day you should cover Liszts transcription of Beethovens 9th symphony. It’s by far the biggest undertaking of the 19th century (and maybe ever) Only a genius could transcribe such a thing

[@Pablo-gl9dj]

His emotionally untethered etudes are a wild and fascinating ride . Lots of personality without sounding contrived. Bon appetit

[@michelprimeau4531]

My wrist are already burning because of computer keyboard, imagine playing a Chopin Etudes 🔥🔥🔥

[@itsjudystube]

You must address the burning or you can do long term damage.

[@militaryandemergencyservic3286]

The 'knuckle-busting beauty' you refer to at both 00:34 and 48:27 also plays cello in the Schubert octet here on YT. It is not my favourite Schubert - although the last movement's Ombre is somewhat spectacular. Somewhat spectacular also are my 13 or so etudes on my channel. Not quite in the same league as Chopin's but still awesome in their own way.

[@Danny-rq5vn]

shocked at the lack of enthusiasm for opus 10 #3. surely one of the most beautiful melodies ever written.

[@benlawdy]

@@Danny-rq5vn Chopin just wrote so many good ones, I was always surprised he found this one to be his greatest. But I more or less convince myself of it by the end of the segment.

[@Chopin-Etudes-Cosplay]

It also seems possible to me that he said this to Gutmann before he wrote many of his other masterpieces. He taught Gutmann from his mid-20s. Same with his quote to Schumann about his 1st ballade being his favorite piece.

[@benlawdy]

oh, good point. Here I am thinking Chopin already knew all of his melodies before he composed them…

[@Danny-rq5vn]

@@benlawdy he certainly did. but this one is surely up there. i do love some of the subtler, more mysterious ones in some of the later nocturnes, etc.. this one is simple and direct like a great beethoven melody, but to me that doesn't make it any less great. honestly a little disappointing that he did not elaborate on it in something like a ballade. it deserves it.

[@benlawdy]

@ I know, we couldn’t get to the middle section. :/ Already pushing one hour and only halfway done with the Etudes!

[@mcbuuiop]

39:39 I’m wondering what your favorite melody is then (mine is probably the left hand theme in the polonaise fantasy)

[@benlawdy]

I'll have think about that... you're making me realize that melodies aren't usually the thing that draws me into Chopin's music.

[@mickizurcher]

@@benlawdywhat is then? There is so much more than the melodies

[@benlawdy]

@@mickizurcher I don’t exactly know how to describe it, but something about the narrative and the craftsmanship of it all. The way different elements interrelate and unfold. Melodies are just one piece of that, and frankly there doesn’t even have to be a memorable tune in the traditional sense for the music to be magic. 4th ballade is a good example.

[@ronl7131]

Good vid

[@willstorie]

damn I didn't realize Sparky's piano was Laurie Anderson

[@AdrianTangMusic]

never have i clicked on a video so fast

[@avantpianist6636]

You fixed the pitch of Garrick’s 1970 video of Chopin Op.10 No.1😂

[@benlawdy]

@@avantpianist6636 thank you for noticing :)

[@pianoredux7516]

The piano Mr. Ohlsson plays has a scintillating, opaline tone. Is it his piano?

[@benlawdy]

@@pianoredux7516 it’s his. An antique bosendorfer that’s had work done

[@pianoredux7516]

@@benlawdy Interesting. Not all Bosendorfers sound like that by any means.

[@benlawdy]

@ it’s a special instrument for sure

[@butwhatwouldiknow]

@@benlawdy I was kind of hoping to see more of the Bösendorfer than the keyboard area to work out what model it was.

[@Redskies453]

10-1 is tricky. I've got the left hand down so I'm halfway there.

[@yvesjeaurond4937]

Train your ankles and knees (?!?)---to inspire training your wrists and elbows---like another Ben, Ben Patrick "the knee-over-toes" guy. :-) Btw, op. 10 no. 1 isn't so bad if you consider functional harmony and transposition. Mr. O is right about the need to strengthen the arms and train the flexibility of the wrist. See Ben Patrick. :-) Merci d'avoir bien prononcé quelques mots en français, en passant. Et merci pour cette ballado-diffusion (podcast in French) très utile. Elle aussi « fait du bien ». :-)

[@JohnnyJBarrett]

Hello Ben. I started playing as an adult. Any recommendations on where to start with the Etudes ? And how do we know when to start ? And she we master certain works prior ?

[@benlawdy]

@@JohnnyJBarrett it depends on how much experience you’ve had since you started! But I think pieces like Bach Preludes (try book 1, c minor, d major, d minor, g major, Bb major) and Czerny exercises might be good prerequisites before you get close to the Etudes. But if you feel pretty comfortable with that level, you can at least start practicing something like Chopin Op 10 No 8 hands separately and see how it feels.

[@JohnnyJBarrett]

@ Hi Ben, Thank you for responding to me. I’ve played Claire De Lune. I’ve completed Consolation No 3, partially Leibestraum No 3. And I’ve played Bach Prelude in C Minor. Every time I look at those Etudes I get intimated. But you gotta start somewhere I guess.

[@maxalphakingmusic]

It is good that thousands and thousands of pianists worldwide can play these Chopin etudes, as well as many fine works by our favourite great composers. However, would truly musically gifted pianists not be able to compose and play at least a few of their very own music? I think they would, because they would have the ability to communicate with their muse and compose beautiful new music for others to play and enjoy. Another point, are Chopin etudes interesting only from a purely mechanistic viewpoint? When I studied all 27, I also did structural and harmonic analyses of each of them. I think more musical ability can be developed by knowing the chord progressions and then trying to transpose them into all keys, minor to all minor keys, and major to all major keys, if that makes sense. It will give you better and longer lasting knowledge, and will not cause any physical injuries. Please bear with me.😊❤

[@keithhill9901]

What is never addressed by either musician is that the modern piano was never used by Chopin. He played mostly Viennese fortepianos on the continent except in France. In France, Chopin preferred the Pleyel piano because it had a lighter mechanism. Using the English action, Erard had invented the double escapement action that Chopin considered to be too heavy even though it allowed the pianist to play faster repetitions and more reliably because it shaved off a significant rise in the release of a key before it would repeat. The Viennese action key dip measures 6 mm while the English action requires between 11 and 12 mm of key dip. Also, the Viennese action is half the weight of the English action. As soon as the Viennese action weight became the same as the English action it became unfashionable and eventually disappeared from the market even in Vienna. The pre 1840 Viennese fortepiano action is virtually perfect in every way and superior for flexibility and lighthess of touch to the English action, modern piano or otherwise. The fortepiano is the instrument on which all of virtuoso piano playing was developed and cultivated and on which the greatest composers for the piano conceived their music, which is true up to the end of Brahms' life. Liszt was the end of the fortepiano based piano playing culture. By 1856 when Steinway introduced the modern piano the end of the fortepiano culture began to disappear.

[@ddgyt50]

Byron Janis plays the octaves in op. 10 #5 in tempo. remarkable.

[@benlawdy]

@@ddgyt50 just went and listened. Holy cow

[@robertschoen3450]

New chopin Video dropped🎉

[@JeffKwak221]

"I'm not in shape to play this piece" Proceeds to play infinitely better than all of us combined What

[@sskuk1095]

Regarding that "clever guy at juliard" who completely overturned the fingering: Is his fingerin technique available somewhere? I'm really curious to see it (Not necessarily try it).

[@benlawdy]

@@sskuk1095 just start the RH in op10/1 as follows: Take the first RH C with the LH thumb, then play GCEC with 1-2-4-1. Cross the thumb under and continue that fingering up for each GCEC group. It works on the way down too, and you can do a version of this pattern through it the piece, sometimes using 5 or 3 instead of 4 or 2. You never have to cross a 10th or 11th.

[@mvmarchiori]

Ha, I brought to you the relation between the C# minor and the Bach prelude in F#minor at other tone base video. Funny you remembered xD

[@benlawdy]

@@mvmarchiori that was you! Yes I remembered. Thank you for the insight.

[@mvmarchiori]

No, thank you for the amazing content! And for sharing my observation with Garrick Ohlsson Btw, I'm sure someone else must have made the correlation of the two pieces as well, but I couldn't find anything online.

[@andre.vaz.pereira]

Great video!! About Op. 10 nº 3 i think it may have also been influenced by Beethoven's 2nd movement of the "Pathetic" sonata. That is where the technique of dividing the right hand comes. So we have to credit that one to Beethoven, not Chopin... That edition op Op.10 nº12 has a common error with accents. Chopin wrote hairpins in bar 1, 2, 3, and so on, and they were wrongly substituted for accents in the note F and B thoughout the editions... I myself learned it with those accents in the F and B but Chopin clearly writes hairpins in every 4 semiquavers. After looking at manuscript and all inicial edition on OCVE you can see the first edition has the hairpins but some editions later they changed it for accents...

[@benlawdy]

@@andre.vaz.pereira pathetic we didn’t occur to me but you’re absolutely right. Very similar.

[@shards6708]

ben, I just wanted to tell you pls check the subtitles at 19:24. otherwise, great video!

[@cheapimitation2242]

😂😂

[@benlawdy]

Uh oh, auto subs... Are they bad everywhere? Hopefully funny at least.

[@dwdei8815]

Hey, curious as to whether the Trois Nouvelles Etudes (published posthumously) are going to get a mention? They're not the technique fireworks and numbers 2 and 3 are (sorry!) kinda ho-hum. But the moment I heard the first, in F minor, I became obsessed with it, the soundscape it triggered in me. Are these three, which never seem to merit much mention, accepted as part of the Chopin Etude cannon or are they treated like weird siblings to the Two Sets?

[@benlawdy]

We mention them a couple times briefly in the uncut version on my Patreon, but unfortunately they didn't make the cut! Other casualties include: Op. 10 No. 9, Op. 25 Nos. 3, 8, 9, 12

[@HappyGoLuckyPanda]

28:30 he played with two hands 😮

[@benlawdy]

He’s just demonstrating the crescendo - you definitely can and should do it with one! (But in an emergency, yes you can divide between the hands… gives the left hand a short break)

[@maxthepianist.]

Did his shirt change from black to pink, back to black ??

[@MarxistischerMillionaer]

I always wonder how many of these T-shirts he has in his wardrobe

[@abigailtilton2004]

@@MarxistischerMillionaer Post-Production Assistant for Ben here - Can confirm that his closet is filled to the brim with all sorts of piano-pun shirts :)

[@neilkilleen3911]

Why so few recordings of complete Chopin works ? It’s not a huge ouvre

[@Pablo-gl9dj]

Only half of it is regularly played in concert. Some is played only as a cycle and the rest is seldom or never played in public. And the same goes for recordings

[@benlawdy]

@@neilkilleen3911 it’s rare for pianists to play the complete works of almost any composer. Especially if you’re a pianist and want to dedicate yourself to diverse repertoire (which is most everybody, including Garrick). But it’s certainly more manageable than Liszt (which is why Leslie Howard’s cycle is a huge feat.)

[@neilkilleen3911]

@ people also like to make their mark somehow…

[@ksilebo]

Why is noone talking about the best Etude Op25 Nr 12 :(

[@benlawdy]

@@ksilebo had to sacrifice a few unfortunately :/ The Chopin competition doesn’t list it, probably because its technique is slightly “easier”/ more positional than the other etudes. But it’s an incredible masterpiece of course. There’s a second episode on the etudes so maybe you’ll find it there ;)

[@justinmusicandskateboardin9282]

Random note not mentioned regarding the Winterwind etude : Every single interval up to a 5th is being featured here. The first 6 notes use all intervals up to a 5th except for 2nds, which is completed by the first note in the 2nd grouping, spelling out all the intervals except for a half step. But where is that half step? Of course it's the most prominent melody note being used in the left hand. 4th, Major 3rd, 5th, tritone, minor 3rd, and finally the whole step to the first note in the next group, while the left hand is featuring the half step

[@mickizurcher]

Stop! Stop some more!