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The 63rd Annual Midwest Clinic, 2009: University of Cincinnati-CCM Chamber Players ("A Prism Surprise")
Bagatelle no. 1, Op. 47, Op. 47 / B. 79
Bottesini, Vol 1: Gran duo concertante and other works
Brass Arts Quintet & Friends: Serengeti
Bringing Light to the Darkness
British Handsman Centenary Concert
El Cant Dels Ocells
Cavalleria Rusticana - Intermezzo
Chopin Preludes for Piano
Chopin began writing Polonaises as a young child in his native Poland. He was immediately recognized as a prodigy and compared favorably with the master Polonaise composer, Oginski. After leaving Poland at the age of 20, he spent the rest of his life in Paris, but he remained fiercely patriotic and was especially moved by the tragedy of the failed Polish uprising of 1830. The raw and powerful Polonaise in F# Minor, op. 44, was composed in 1841. It is a wonderful example of Chopin's ability to take a simple patriotic dance-form and bring to it an extraordinary originality and expressive force. One special feature of this Polonaise is Chopin's use of a gentle mazurka (another Polish dance) as a middle section.
The Barcarolle in F# Major, opus 60 was composed in 1845-46. A Barcarolle is a Venetian gondola song. Of Chopin's Barcarolle, Ravel said: "Through his brilliant passages one perceives profound, enchanting harmonies. Always there is the hidden meaning which is translated into poetry of intense despair....The Barcarolle is the synthesis of the expressive and sumptuous art of this great Slav."
Most of Chopin's mature music was composed on a French fortepiano by Pleyel, but Chopin was also partial to Graf style Viennese pianos he had performed on in 1830 when he made his very successful debut in Vienna. On this recording Eric Zivian plays an original Graf style fortepiano by Anton Rausch, built in Vienna in 1841.
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