@MrLibra1997 I have had Ballade #l playing over and over in my mind for two days now. Am trying to replace it by listening to another over and over. I have an automatic play in my musical memory that plays on and on without my control. This is good because great music is superior to everyday thoughts! Thank God for You-Tube.
Why do people rather fly to the moon than to help each other? People wouldn't even play piano music for you. They hate each other, I don't know why, there is no reason!! So start with this: In a cafe there is sitting all alone an old man, looking really sad, not knowing why he must exist. What whould you do? Point at his old clothes, laugh about him and go home? In a shop there is an old woman, who rather cannot carry all the bottles and cans home. What would you do?
@loki153624 yeah i listened to this a LOT of times but this is the first time i have heard him o_O and after that, i read this comment.. HMMM STRANGE MAN!
What he does is not learnable, if the understanding is missing. I read someone said this was the most difficult piece to learn. To him it will be easy. A necessity to play it like this. You cannot train it artifically. If you think too much it doesn't work any more. This is played by an inner voice.
Zimerman doesn't sing it cause he is told when he was young... It's no habit. He is extremely gifted, he loves music with his whole soul. He will have had to stop his teacher to sing to his music. He says the piano is like a human being to him. He sometimes really suffers at the piano... I get frightened, someday when he got old, he will die at the piano - heart attack. I can nearly see it. Yes you are right, the hums are involuntary. To me it is an artistic synthesis- cannot hear enough.
Geez..this guy makes mediocre music sound better than it was ever meant to be. Or perhaps it is better to say that he makes music sound like it was supposed to.
That's what I'll do. But the German Grammophon recording is more clear to listen (I think it's the same recording). Do I err or is he often humming the melody?? Or is it only the damn headphones I had to buy cause in this damn country they even don't have a specialist shop for headphones :o((( It doesn't disturb me, au contraire, it is a huge gain to hear more of the artist's interpretation and where he leads the line. Have never known there are men who feel so much.
@tierzuchtZentral He is indeed Humming the melody, most pianist do it, because the melody is so important, it has to stand out, and in the middle of all those notes sometimes you can miss the simple melody line while trying to focus on the hard notes and chords, and sometimes they are all intertwined which makes it even more difficult!
@frenchdjo Thanks for the answer. I'm SURE he doesn't need to hum in order not to loose the melody. He mostly hums even the MOST with very very slow, intense and rather easy accords. This man simply loves music so much- with his whole soul- he is not able to leave it. I'm very sure!!!
@tierzuchtZentral You are right, and if we really think about it, I think these hums are involuntary, and most importantly, some piano teachers told their pupil to vocolize and sing every notes of the melody line and it can become just a habit, the king of this is Glenn Gould!
I think, the most beautiful peice ever created !! it is just magnificent. If you really want to grasp its musical content, I think one can listen to it until the rest of our lives.
@YDG777 Probably, Chopin intertwined all the ballades into this one and concludes them, and ballade no.1 sets them up! Personally, my favorite is Ballade no.1 because that simple(well, actually complex) 7 measure intro sets everything up. So the themes and bridges,etc. will be based on specific parts of the intro. It is really fascinating. Beethoven did that a lot too, and Mozart, and Bach, and couple more (most composers don't though), but very noticeably in those 4. :)
@thegabe, true we need to reinforce true and beautiful art, but it takes quite a bit of education and learning to appreciate complex music such as this piece. Most people don't have the resources and patience to learn classical music or how to appreciate it. In short, rebecca black has more views than zimerman because the majority of a lot of countries identify more with the rebecca blacks in the world. Though it is good that you appreciate the beauty of this piece.
@MrElmoist There is a Polish word describing all the complicated emotions and passion in Chopin's music. He himself talked of it and said all his music contained it. I wish i could spell it, otherwise I would write it now.
this was sooo boring when i first listened to it and that was like when i was 11, as i got in to the piano more and more, this is incredible and btw now im only 13 so i disagree with some american noobs saying that teens only listen to rap:o
It had been one of my favourite pieces in my 15 y.o. partially due to striking finale (along with Appassionata). That record had been performed by Richter. If Chopin creates only this one, he would be already a genious.
Thank my friend Mine for such refined tastes in classics.
@kontrapunkti Wikipedia: Tempo rubato (Italian for: stolen time) is a musical term referring to expressive and rhythmic freedom by a slight speeding up and then slowing down of the tempo of a piece at the discretion of the soloist or the conductor. Rubato is an expressive shaping of music that is a part of phrasing
I don't know if anybody else has noticed this precisely, but the ballade begins in the dominant, but as a major.
That is quite unusual. It is interesting.
I know Beethoven's 4th p.concerto begins int he subdominant, and the famous central movement of his 15th string quartet begins in the lydian mode, but this is the first Chopin example I've come across that begins on another triad to the tonic.
It's a profound closing movement to one of the great symphonies of the 19th c.: the "symphony for piano" whose "movements" are these 4 sublime Ballades. Zimerman played them in single concerts, probably with this in mind. If you're in NYC around March, 2012, another outstanding young pianist, Leif Ove Andsnes, will be doing the same thing at Carnegie Hall. Don't miss it if you're here.
@briandonohue100 ,Actually, I was in NY last month, on Independence Day and a few days on both sides. I missed Swan Lake, which was irritating, and all that patriotic American music - it's not my style. Being there may not seem like a big deal to most of you, but I am from New Zealand which is a long way away ;)
The fireworks on the Hudson were awesome though - it is a shame they didn't have the NY Philharmonic performing Handel's Fireworks Music at the time. That would have been perfect.
Piano is my favorite instrument and Chopin is one of those favorites composers.
His concerts #1 and #2 are amazing concerts and I love to hear those pieces played by Abbey Simon. He has the gift from heaven and his talent is great.
c'mon people, mainstream in music and not only exist in every age, not only ours. It is natural there are many many so called artists, but only few are indeed the best. In 19th century there were composers doing srupid meaningless music to please the royalty or the masses or whatever. No one listens to those now, but this is genius and that's why it is classic. Believe me no one will remember Lady Gaga in 10 years.
If only I could play one G flat as beautifully as he does in 3:22 . What a gorgeous ringing tone- so big and so full without ever losing warmth, without the slightest hint of harshness.
i feel like ballade 4 is extremely overwritten. i have heard it many times in recitals by both consevatory students and professionals, and up until the piano rubato section on pg 7 it doesnt even start to pick up, and with the exception of the sempre piu f section on pg 3, most of the ballade is boring
@anonymousQ45 I don't find it boring at all: on the contrary I think it one of the finest, most exquisitely beautiful of all Chopin's works, displaying his singular craftsmanship, musical depth and genius for tune-making at their best. It does require careful listening to appreciate the architecture of the first half.
@anonymousQ45 Being "boring" is a quality that is extremely subjective, and in my opinion just because a piece doesn't "pick-up" by becoming faster and louder doesn't necessarily mean that it's over-written. While I can see where you are coming from by saying that this could be (even though I don't agree) in some places overwritten, I don't think that a slow, mostly quiet piece is definitive of an overwritten piece.
@MasterAzunai its overwritten because the variation in themes are not that different from the preceding ones. take a work like Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise for example. it is a perfect work. its maybe 14 minutes long and every second of it is golden. there is not a boring passage in the whole work and it also feels spontaneous throughout.
@anonymousQ45 Hello. This ballade isn't overwritten, it shall give you the feelings of a ballade.This is about FEELINGS and thoughts- transmission. It shall not have several different melodies to entertain you.
It gives so deep feelings to the listeners- you are not able to think any more- THAT is the art. Not entertainment.
To entertain superficially is easy. But to invade in strange people's souls and incapacitate them seems to me much more difficult.
I studied music theory at The University Of Toronto. One of my teachers said his wife, a pianist, claimed this was the most difficult piece she'd ever learned..........
@guitarcrusin Yes - very difficult, both technically, but conceptually. There's something special about this piece that needs to be captured conceptually.
the end of Chopin's Symphony. Seriously: listen to all four of these things in a sitting. It's a symphony for piano, and the symphonic form has scarcely ever been given such depth and life. The Ballades were composed over a period of 7-8 yrs. (1835-1842) and together comprise a journey just as challenging and rewarding as the Beethoven 9th or Mahler 5th. I think KZ, who has performed and recorded these 4 in a group, understands this as few pianists ever have.
Listened to all four in a row. They are all uniquely beautiful, yet remarkably similar. A great interpretation as well. Chopin was a genius; makes me very jealous as a composer!
Why does Rebecca Blacks horrible grasp on music have millions of views, while this master of art doent even have a half of million. Something needs to change, we need to stop reinforcing the uselessness of empty music, and showing our children the importance of true art, art filled with emotion and meaning, not a day in the week. Zimerman through dedication and determination to master his craft produced a result surpassed by none, and a girl who worked 5 min gets more recognition. we need change
@TheGabeBondocCoverer Its true and actually very sad....But every idiot actually comments on this at famous piano masterpieces. How could dead Chopin do his marketing now ?
@TheGabeBondocCoverer Sadly that will never happen man. Our modern society is ruled by ignorance and the reality is that it's never going to change. Appreciation for art like this is what sets apart the cultured from the ignorant. Just look at it like that. If you're here you're doing something right. Forget the idiots.
@KobiHoover your arguement is a logical fallacy, because music is a form of expression of emotion and its apparent decline in modern times viewed by many cannot necessarily be associated to the decline in true feeling. everything is a product of their conditions and circumstances and with the competition and pressure placed upon modern day artists the result is a stagnation in the development of music
@vmoda1 Interesting that many believe that music is an expression of emotion. One of the incredible secrets of Chopin's music is the beauty of its logical structure, its architecture, as themes are introduced, developed and resolved with the greatest craftsmanship. It gives great intellectual pleasure to appreciate this, as well as from the wonderful emotional content.
Chopin is with George Sand when he composed this piece. I can feel the strong tension between love and hate, just like a real life love story, there is never a peaceful relationship between two strong character persons.
For anyone who has yet to listen to part 2 of this performance, do yourself a favor and see it right now. 2:05 to 2:12 of part 2 was probably the most beautiful 7 seconds of Chopin, or any music for that matter, I've ever heard in my life. Zimerman's interpretation of this particular moment of the piece is so far ahead of that of any other artist, past or present... literally gave me chills.
I've never met anybody who likes this kind of music like i do. All my friends think i'm weird for listening to this and yet there are over 400 000 viewers for this. Where are all those people who listen to this. It's a sad world we live in today, 50 cent gets more viewers than this duy.
@smirnov452 We are living in a period of extreme cultural decline, where no-talent philistines perform musical trash that is idolized by mobs of morons. Nothing in the moral junkyard of contemporary America can touch the beauty and power of this piece. The early material, rich with fragrant intimacy, steadily intensifies until it reaches a glorious climax just before the coda. In these epic, soaring final pages, Chopin transcends the physical bonds of earthly life and makes the heavens open.
@MISHA1119 When people write music, they are trying to express their feelings, correct? So this just goes to show that now-a-days, the decline in true feelings, the decline in people knowing what they're feeling, bleeds into music. (also people are just trying to make money off of music...) I wouldn't say all contemporary music is bad though. They are still artists out there that write good music. Granted it may sound completely different, due to genres and the such.
@LFZ15 oh you shut up. most of the music today is garbage. vote me down however you much you want, but talking about sex, guns, and cussing in songs is unbelievably unnecessary, and i dont understand how people listen to it.
@SilenceTheQuiet There's plenty of good music out there, you just have to know where to look. Most of it is somewhat underground and is certainly not popularized by the radio and television. The bigger question to ask is why superficial, violent music is the most widely listened to these days. But true musical inclination has not died. As long as the human spirit endures, so will it's remarkable rhythm.
@MISHA1119 I am afraid you are right. We are indeed in a long period of cultural decline. And nothing in the contemporary scene even evokes in the smallest degree the power, the overwhelming beauty and the triumph of the human heart like Chopin. Yes, Chopin transcends the physical bonds of earthly life and indeed does make the heavens open.
@MISHA1119 I just listen to it when I write because there aren't any lyrics to distract me and it's nice to have something playing in your ear. The one constant is that music changes through time and it's usually the older generation that doesn't like the current. (I'm not saying all are great I do have standards too but if you want something good that's modern I can suggest some good ones.)
@smirnov452 nowadays, people(esspecially youth) have other interests..they don't get classic music..all they care about is bullshit like "being cool"..they believe if you listen to this kind of music you're old fashioned or...a freak..
@smirnov452 Hello, I know exactly what you feel mate. My friends can not see why I like this type of music. But hey, I try not to pay any attention to negative comments from them or whatever. Listening to chopin does not make you weird or whatever. It just means you are human and know know what you like when it comes to music. I myself love chopin and I probably wont stop any time soon!
@smirnov452 who the hell cares! This is music, and always will be. The reason we are even still listening to Chopin is proof of the power of his music. Let people say what they please about this, but in the end it is there loss.
@smirnov452 classical is universally aesthetic to people, there are just not many people willing to embrace it,they are too absorbed by the cheap mainstream music of today, im not saying its bad... but when you compare a piece like this with the crap that comes out today... actually why even bother compare. Don't Worry Im With you 100% of the way mate :)
And Chopin was born to make perfect music. Sadly he had to die, and we will have to be content with the fact that His Ballade No. 1 is the best we will ever listen to.
Well... I never heard of this piece before. Never even knew it excists. I googled: best chopin piece' to see what other think is the best. One guy said ballade no 4. He's said it would take you to another world. And yeah, he's right. It's just so beautifull, words cannot describe. (or maybe it just because i had a little to much to drink 25 minutes ago :P) Either way, i could listen to this for hours. Perhaps forever...
@4thlord51 Just be happy that your life isn't anything like the third scherzo. Tortured throughout your entire life and the ending in despair and most likely suicide. Even the happy parts in that piece are so closely followed by despair that they may as well not exist at all.
@nleguellec chopin's music is poetry of notes that invokes life's pleasures and pain that in many times are in one piece. Like poetry, not everyone is going to relate to every poem and the same for Chopin's pieces, its just finding the right piece that fits you
@nleguellec Well then lets us all pray for a life like the Barcarolle in F-sharp major. Or like the polonaise in A-flat major if you want to be a hero ;).
@nleguellec or even worse, the Chopin Etude opus 10 no.6. The most tortured piece Chopin ever wrote, exemplified by a incredible experimentation in dissonance and harmony. The slides of augmented fourths are truly heart-wrenching. This is beyond despair - it's horror.
@wagneristhebest hmm. Though I agree with you, some might argue that Chopin's etude in c sharp minor op.25 is more tortured. I stand somewhere in the middle for both (to me that is) display absolute desperation and agony in the finest and purest ways.
@nleguellec I would disagree with the c sharp minor etude having anywhere near as tortured an expression as the 6th etude. The harmony, the dynamic, the general mood of the c sharp minor etude is pain and suffering, but it expresses this through an extravagant dramatic manner, with much flaboymant swooning. The E flat minor etude however expresses something quite different, introvert, forgotten, with horror, and tortured harmonies far beyond the strength of the c sharp minor etude.
@wagneristhebest Well, I certainly can't disagree with you, but at the same time I would rather my life follow emptyness, sorrow, and suffering(e flat minor), than the utter terror close to madness, desperation, and helplessness(c sharp minor).
@Forseti6288 yes But it has numerous Songs and Variations within it. If you knew Chopin well, you'd know that his pieces are all for singing - but from the keys of the piano.
@wagneristhebest I really don't understand that. Anything can be sung within a persons range. It seems like with the same logic you can say any piece is for singing if you take the individual parts apart and sing them. I'm not trying trying to prove you wrong, I genuinely would like to know why you can call this and other pieces songs when there is no singing, or why that is accurate and not just emotive. Thank you
@Forseti6288 But there is singing, but it comes from the pianist's soul, and through the keys of the piano:) - You see Piano Music is an expression of everything natural in this world. This includes emoitons, landscapes, and also singing. Although it is all an illusion, and not real, the pianist is making the impression that the piano is singing through his art of playing the instrument. Truly, if you can not create this illusion, you can not play Chopin.
Whoever dislikes this is dismissing, by a single click, all of Zimerman's work and talent.
gtp1066 3 days ago
He played every Ballade in one sitting?
What a stud.
Rachman1337 1 week ago
In my opninoin Nobody plays this as well as zimerman.And he's not even sweating it .
enzlom 1 week ago
i think the first ballade of chopin is more beautiful than this ballade. i like this too!!!!!!
MrLibra1997 1 week ago
@MrLibra1997 I have had Ballade #l playing over and over in my mind for two days now. Am trying to replace it by listening to another over and over. I have an automatic play in my musical memory that plays on and on without my control. This is good because great music is superior to everyday thoughts! Thank God for You-Tube.
karennorwegian 1 week ago
Angels have descended to earth and are playing Chopin through Zimerman's fingers. Every single note is played to perfection!
perezbermuda 3 weeks ago
My wife told me...she is not satisfied with ANY interpretation of this piece on Youtube so far including all the big names...
SuhKyung 1 month ago
@SuhKyung oh, maybe she could upload her own version?
BassicStorm 4 weeks ago
@SuhKyung She should listen to Rubinstein's version. There's no video for it, just audio.
worldsnap 3 weeks ago
This has been flagged as spam show
See my art: toneart.deviantart. /#/d4io3zn
tierzuchtZentral 1 month ago
OPEN YOUR EYES!!!
tierzuchtZentral 1 month ago
Why do people rather fly to the moon than to help each other? People wouldn't even play piano music for you. They hate each other, I don't know why, there is no reason!! So start with this: In a cafe there is sitting all alone an old man, looking really sad, not knowing why he must exist. What whould you do? Point at his old clothes, laugh about him and go home? In a shop there is an old woman, who rather cannot carry all the bottles and cans home. What would you do?
tierzuchtZentral 1 month ago
Whether you believe in God and heaven or not, if it exists, this piece, and Chopin himself, were surely a gift from God.
SamuelBeakergaw 1 month ago 3
@SamuelBeakergaw I believe God speaks to us through music and it is up to us to answer! (my own developed thoughts)
tierzuchtZentral 1 month ago
Chopin once said, "Liszt has shown me how to play my own etudes".
I'll bet Chopin would say the same about Zimerman's performance of his ballades.
And don't forget Part 2 of this ballade.
hooooooman 1 month ago
03:34 Who else loves this wonderful second voice that appears there along with the main theme? Awesome piece.
chrisb0000 2 months ago 10
@chrisb0000 i know exactly what you mean. i only noticed it when i started working on the piece.
watisapotato 3 weeks ago
@watisapotato I'm practicing it too! Masterpiece.
chrisb0000 3 weeks ago
am i the only one who likess to star at a picture of chopin while listening to this?
:)
mcrettable 2 months ago
Can anyone else hear him humming along to the music? :P
loki153624 2 months ago 8
@loki153624 Just realised that this has come up before... Awkward :\
loki153624 2 months ago
@loki153624 yeah i listened to this a LOT of times but this is the first time i have heard him o_O and after that, i read this comment.. HMMM STRANGE MAN!
Equilibrumuvx 1 month ago
@loki153624 Glenn Zimmerman :)
PhillyB702 3 hours ago
Sunshine on snow cristals, early morning dew, and a running brook.
redelpe1 2 months ago
What he does is not learnable, if the understanding is missing. I read someone said this was the most difficult piece to learn. To him it will be easy. A necessity to play it like this. You cannot train it artifically. If you think too much it doesn't work any more. This is played by an inner voice.
tierzuchtZentral 2 months ago in playlist Favoriten von tierzuchtZentral
What he does is authentic- it is not artificially trained, like all the others play piano...
He shows us another sphere!!! What this world is still missing...
of goodness and humility
tierzuchtZentral 2 months ago in playlist Favoriten von tierzuchtZentral
Zimerman doesn't sing it cause he is told when he was young... It's no habit. He is extremely gifted, he loves music with his whole soul. He will have had to stop his teacher to sing to his music. He says the piano is like a human being to him. He sometimes really suffers at the piano... I get frightened, someday when he got old, he will die at the piano - heart attack. I can nearly see it. Yes you are right, the hums are involuntary. To me it is an artistic synthesis- cannot hear enough.
tierzuchtZentral 2 months ago in playlist Favoriten von tierzuchtZentral
Geez..this guy makes mediocre music sound better than it was ever meant to be. Or perhaps it is better to say that he makes music sound like it was supposed to.
GuyFawkes40 2 months ago
He's dangerous. He kills you from inside, you won't notice it, and even if, you are helpless against it...
tierzuchtZentral 2 months ago in playlist Favoriten von tierzuchtZentral
simply adorable
tierzuchtZentral 2 months ago in playlist Favoriten von tierzuchtZentral
This sence for the quiet tones! I think he must love this peace very much.
Circling movements are for sure a sign of big harmony and inner turbulence...
I love this most.
tierzuchtZentral 2 months ago in playlist Favoriten von tierzuchtZentral
I seemingly have wasted my life. BRAVO!! :o( Cause I surrounded myself with the wrong people.
tierzuchtZentral 3 months ago
at frenchdjo
That's what I'll do. But the German Grammophon recording is more clear to listen (I think it's the same recording). Do I err or is he often humming the melody?? Or is it only the damn headphones I had to buy cause in this damn country they even don't have a specialist shop for headphones :o((( It doesn't disturb me, au contraire, it is a huge gain to hear more of the artist's interpretation and where he leads the line. Have never known there are men who feel so much.
tierzuchtZentral 3 months ago 2
@tierzuchtZentral He is indeed Humming the melody, most pianist do it, because the melody is so important, it has to stand out, and in the middle of all those notes sometimes you can miss the simple melody line while trying to focus on the hard notes and chords, and sometimes they are all intertwined which makes it even more difficult!
frenchdjo 2 months ago
@frenchdjo Thanks for the answer. I'm SURE he doesn't need to hum in order not to loose the melody. He mostly hums even the MOST with very very slow, intense and rather easy accords. This man simply loves music so much- with his whole soul- he is not able to leave it. I'm very sure!!!
tierzuchtZentral 2 months ago
@tierzuchtZentral You are right, and if we really think about it, I think these hums are involuntary, and most importantly, some piano teachers told their pupil to vocolize and sing every notes of the melody line and it can become just a habit, the king of this is Glenn Gould!
frenchdjo 2 months ago
I think, the most beautiful peice ever created !! it is just magnificent. If you really want to grasp its musical content, I think one can listen to it until the rest of our lives.
frenchdjo 3 months ago
@frenchdjo i think so too! i have listened to a lot more difficult and beautiful also but i l always come back to this one
afertyus1000 2 months ago
OH GOD 2:31 it get even more beautiful
A8opi 3 months ago
3:29 is that ballade no 1 I hear?
YDG777 3 months ago
@YDG777 Probably, Chopin intertwined all the ballades into this one and concludes them, and ballade no.1 sets them up! Personally, my favorite is Ballade no.1 because that simple(well, actually complex) 7 measure intro sets everything up. So the themes and bridges,etc. will be based on specific parts of the intro. It is really fascinating. Beethoven did that a lot too, and Mozart, and Bach, and couple more (most composers don't though), but very noticeably in those 4. :)
thebrainnugget 3 months ago
@YDG777 OMFG I understood what you mean: the 4 chords are exactly the same as the chords in the first section of ballade 1:D It is eerie...
Elsenrail29 2 months ago
@thegabe, true we need to reinforce true and beautiful art, but it takes quite a bit of education and learning to appreciate complex music such as this piece. Most people don't have the resources and patience to learn classical music or how to appreciate it. In short, rebecca black has more views than zimerman because the majority of a lot of countries identify more with the rebecca blacks in the world. Though it is good that you appreciate the beauty of this piece.
MrNefetiri 3 months ago
this is such a pleasure for the ear!
iWillBlockYou 4 months ago
this is the best of them all - simply put, remarkaby beautiful yet hauntingly depressing
MrElmoist 4 months ago
@MrElmoist There is a Polish word describing all the complicated emotions and passion in Chopin's music. He himself talked of it and said all his music contained it. I wish i could spell it, otherwise I would write it now.
dbharcadia2 3 months ago
@MrElmoist i also kinda like no 2
audreyhsux5727 3 months ago
this was sooo boring when i first listened to it and that was like when i was 11, as i got in to the piano more and more, this is incredible and btw now im only 13 so i disagree with some american noobs saying that teens only listen to rap:o
0915boss 4 months ago
Lady Gaga & Justin Bieber had clicked the Dislike Button 32 times
emmanytube 4 months ago
@emmanytube ikr
0915boss 4 months ago
@emmanytube Stop it.
bushinarin 3 months ago
@emmanytube GTFO Thumbs up whore
metalmario765 3 months ago
This is not my favorite but is Great
Janela123 4 months ago
this conduces me to heaven, it makes me remind the good times, when people didnt have nothing to care about....
Bafometh77 4 months ago
It had been one of my favourite pieces in my 15 y.o. partially due to striking finale (along with Appassionata). That record had been performed by Richter. If Chopin creates only this one, he would be already a genious.
Thank my friend Mine for such refined tastes in classics.
Thanks for uploading.
PablitoBodhisattva 5 months ago
the day when i can play through this whole song by memory.... it's going to be one of the best days of my life
OnlyOnWensdays 5 months ago
Every other recording of I've heard of this the intro is 'too fast' / rushed. If this is wrong, I don't really care.
I was in music appreciation trying 'appreciate'. I didn't — until this piece, this recording.
ascii7085 5 months ago
This piece is fun to play!
daasvand 5 months ago
He has such a great sense of rubato
kontrapunkti 5 months ago
@kontrapunkti what is rubato?
samuelsixvids 5 months ago
@kontrapunkti Wikipedia: Tempo rubato (Italian for: stolen time) is a musical term referring to expressive and rhythmic freedom by a slight speeding up and then slowing down of the tempo of a piece at the discretion of the soloist or the conductor. Rubato is an expressive shaping of music that is a part of phrasing
kontrapunkti 5 months ago
I don't know if anybody else has noticed this precisely, but the ballade begins in the dominant, but as a major.
That is quite unusual. It is interesting.
I know Beethoven's 4th p.concerto begins int he subdominant, and the famous central movement of his 15th string quartet begins in the lydian mode, but this is the first Chopin example I've come across that begins on another triad to the tonic.
It is not a modulation.
PhysicalsimForever 5 months ago
@PhysicalsimForever many of chopin's pieces begin on the sub-dominant, rather than the tonic triad
chopper84a 4 months ago
This peice is so beautiful it makes me want to cry. Brilliantly played, as well.
captainkake 5 months ago
It's a profound closing movement to one of the great symphonies of the 19th c.: the "symphony for piano" whose "movements" are these 4 sublime Ballades. Zimerman played them in single concerts, probably with this in mind. If you're in NYC around March, 2012, another outstanding young pianist, Leif Ove Andsnes, will be doing the same thing at Carnegie Hall. Don't miss it if you're here.
briandonohue100 6 months ago
@briandonohue100 ,Actually, I was in NY last month, on Independence Day and a few days on both sides. I missed Swan Lake, which was irritating, and all that patriotic American music - it's not my style. Being there may not seem like a big deal to most of you, but I am from New Zealand which is a long way away ;)
The fireworks on the Hudson were awesome though - it is a shame they didn't have the NY Philharmonic performing Handel's Fireworks Music at the time. That would have been perfect.
PhysicalsimForever 5 months ago
This is how music was meant to sound like, from the soul. Sounds that you can relate to and understand.
dlewzey 6 months ago
it's not finished :( i love chopin!
Ruta101official 6 months ago
Piano is my favorite instrument and Chopin is one of those favorites composers.
His concerts #1 and #2 are amazing concerts and I love to hear those pieces played by Abbey Simon. He has the gift from heaven and his talent is great.
nyko461 6 months ago
He is such an elegant man...
abajour 6 months ago
c'mon people, mainstream in music and not only exist in every age, not only ours. It is natural there are many many so called artists, but only few are indeed the best. In 19th century there were composers doing srupid meaningless music to please the royalty or the masses or whatever. No one listens to those now, but this is genius and that's why it is classic. Believe me no one will remember Lady Gaga in 10 years.
naniro1616 6 months ago
His breathing is SO ANOYING. Anyway, he's the best on the ballades.
HJKey 6 months ago
@99hoolio if you happen to be the resurrection of Chopin himself, I'll agree with youre first statement. If you're not, I'll agree with the seccond
1919sunshine 6 months ago
so far, this song is kicking my butt.
cant wait to play it tho
OnlyOnWensdays 6 months ago
If only I could play one G flat as beautifully as he does in 3:22 . What a gorgeous ringing tone- so big and so full without ever losing warmth, without the slightest hint of harshness.
Caramellatta 6 months ago
I think I play it more musically. Admittedly I'm the only person in the universe who would agree with me.
99hoolio 6 months ago
Can't listen to anyone else now...
metalheadlass 6 months ago
i feel like ballade 4 is extremely overwritten. i have heard it many times in recitals by both consevatory students and professionals, and up until the piano rubato section on pg 7 it doesnt even start to pick up, and with the exception of the sempre piu f section on pg 3, most of the ballade is boring
anonymousQ45 7 months ago
@anonymousQ45 I don't find it boring at all: on the contrary I think it one of the finest, most exquisitely beautiful of all Chopin's works, displaying his singular craftsmanship, musical depth and genius for tune-making at their best. It does require careful listening to appreciate the architecture of the first half.
iansdigby 7 months ago
@anonymousQ45 Being "boring" is a quality that is extremely subjective, and in my opinion just because a piece doesn't "pick-up" by becoming faster and louder doesn't necessarily mean that it's over-written. While I can see where you are coming from by saying that this could be (even though I don't agree) in some places overwritten, I don't think that a slow, mostly quiet piece is definitive of an overwritten piece.
MasterAzunai 7 months ago
@MasterAzunai its overwritten because the variation in themes are not that different from the preceding ones. take a work like Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise for example. it is a perfect work. its maybe 14 minutes long and every second of it is golden. there is not a boring passage in the whole work and it also feels spontaneous throughout.
anonymousQ45 7 months ago
@anonymousQ45 Hello. This ballade isn't overwritten, it shall give you the feelings of a ballade.This is about FEELINGS and thoughts- transmission. It shall not have several different melodies to entertain you.
It gives so deep feelings to the listeners- you are not able to think any more- THAT is the art. Not entertainment.
To entertain superficially is easy. But to invade in strange people's souls and incapacitate them seems to me much more difficult.
tierzuchtZentral 2 months ago
Interpretazione meravigliosa!
Eruner95 7 months ago
I studied music theory at The University Of Toronto. One of my teachers said his wife, a pianist, claimed this was the most difficult piece she'd ever learned..........
guitarcrusin 8 months ago
@guitarcrusin Yes - very difficult, both technically, but conceptually. There's something special about this piece that needs to be captured conceptually.
kdj24370 8 months ago
is it just in my head or is he humming during some parts of the song?
song139 8 months ago
I'm trying this song. The best pianist ever.
dbspd4d29 8 months ago
/watch?v=a_Adh_H2Roc
hellboyreloaded 8 months ago
If I hear this song I finally feel that I'm truly happy
1919sunshine 8 months ago
the end of Chopin's Symphony. Seriously: listen to all four of these things in a sitting. It's a symphony for piano, and the symphonic form has scarcely ever been given such depth and life. The Ballades were composed over a period of 7-8 yrs. (1835-1842) and together comprise a journey just as challenging and rewarding as the Beethoven 9th or Mahler 5th. I think KZ, who has performed and recorded these 4 in a group, understands this as few pianists ever have.
briandonohue100 8 months ago 4
Chopin was a massive expression of art with legs... and hands.
Mrzse4rfvd 9 months ago
They must be pretty dense
CookieOutaSight 9 months ago
nearly as good as the sound of dubstep
ProfGradus 9 months ago
I'm fartscinated
ProfGradus 9 months ago
I hope, one day my daughter could plays like him..
he had god hands and good at half touch.
He is my favorite forever and ever
0810ling 9 months ago
Listened to all four in a row. They are all uniquely beautiful, yet remarkably similar. A great interpretation as well. Chopin was a genius; makes me very jealous as a composer!
jsmaster94 9 months ago 9
Why does Rebecca Blacks horrible grasp on music have millions of views, while this master of art doent even have a half of million. Something needs to change, we need to stop reinforcing the uselessness of empty music, and showing our children the importance of true art, art filled with emotion and meaning, not a day in the week. Zimerman through dedication and determination to master his craft produced a result surpassed by none, and a girl who worked 5 min gets more recognition. we need change
TheGabeBondocCoverer 9 months ago 18
@TheGabeBondocCoverer Its true and actually very sad....But every idiot actually comments on this at famous piano masterpieces. How could dead Chopin do his marketing now ?
BlazeKenny 3 months ago
@TheGabeBondocCoverer Sadly that will never happen man. Our modern society is ruled by ignorance and the reality is that it's never going to change. Appreciation for art like this is what sets apart the cultured from the ignorant. Just look at it like that. If you're here you're doing something right. Forget the idiots.
JBarro420 3 months ago
those 31 dislikes come from chopin himself cos only he knows how to play it better
doomless198 9 months ago 2
oooo
this song reminds me of my father...
1919sunshine 9 months ago
Can't imagine right now something more elegant than this.
clicker59 10 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
my favourite ballade
inga6777 10 months ago
my favourite ballad
inga6777 10 months ago
Zimerman speaks my language . . .
ThePaczki 10 months ago 2
lol If you listen with headphones, Zimer actually hums at some parts haha...great!
lonewolf604 10 months ago 2
I dont know maybe is it my best pianist inetrpretor.
sixoism 10 months ago
love the like/dislike ratio
WBored808 10 months ago
@WBored808 Me too.
arlongan 10 months ago
I mean, Op. 52. This is Op. 52, right?
Nutterbutterz95 10 months ago
Op. 25, yeah?
Nutterbutterz95 10 months ago
I love so much the way he plays Chopin! I think he's an amazing pianist at all but his Chopin... I just listen and cry... Beautiful!
Alquatari 11 months ago
I remember when I heard Richter playing this. godlike
BlazeKenny 11 months ago
@KobiHoover your arguement is a logical fallacy, because music is a form of expression of emotion and its apparent decline in modern times viewed by many cannot necessarily be associated to the decline in true feeling. everything is a product of their conditions and circumstances and with the competition and pressure placed upon modern day artists the result is a stagnation in the development of music
vmoda1 11 months ago
@vmoda1 Interesting that many believe that music is an expression of emotion. One of the incredible secrets of Chopin's music is the beauty of its logical structure, its architecture, as themes are introduced, developed and resolved with the greatest craftsmanship. It gives great intellectual pleasure to appreciate this, as well as from the wonderful emotional content.
iansdigby 7 months ago
30 reasons to wear condoms
doomless198 11 months ago
fantastic!
fredjefreek 11 months ago
@mendelssohndocet thanks
4thlord51 11 months ago
Chopin is with George Sand when he composed this piece. I can feel the strong tension between love and hate, just like a real life love story, there is never a peaceful relationship between two strong character persons.
DanNewsonJoseph 1 year ago
正在練 Chopin 的 Ballade No. 4
那天我彈了一次, 剛剛彈到 Introduction 及 Theme 的出現, Dr. Wu 叫停了我
眉頭一鎖
" Where is your passion? 我聽不出你第一次彈的那鼓熱情...."
......
練了又練, 都是讓Dr. Wu鎖眉
十年前彈過這首Ballade, 在Chopin Piano Competition 中入了決賽, 但最後滑鐵盧, 還是未夠火侯. 如今再彈, 多了一份技巧上的成熟, 但難以找回當時的 Passion. 只能靠回憶. 如沒有新的意念, 一定彈不好
Ballade No. 4, 那鼓綺妮, 纏綿, 激情澎湃, 像經歷了整個人生.
我比較喜歡Zimerman 的演奏, 可能他還是盛年, 比起Horowitz 晚年那次演出, 更震撼, 更到位, 更令我心動
已經很久沒有聽到令我怦然心跳的音樂了
DanNewsonJoseph 1 year ago
@DanNewsonJoseph Dr. Wu ＝ Mary Wu 吳美樂？
pfjqqsdf 1 year ago
@pfjqqsdf yes, she's the best teacher I've ever met! She've got recital tonight at UST, I'm going!
DanNewsonJoseph 11 months ago
Is this video from this dvd? Krystian-Zimerman-Chopin-Schubert. I found a dvd by this name on Amazon for $26
nostalgicmind0308 1 year ago
Can this be downloaded or bought on dvd?
nostalgicmind0308 1 year ago
For anyone who has yet to listen to part 2 of this performance, do yourself a favor and see it right now. 2:05 to 2:12 of part 2 was probably the most beautiful 7 seconds of Chopin, or any music for that matter, I've ever heard in my life. Zimerman's interpretation of this particular moment of the piece is so far ahead of that of any other artist, past or present... literally gave me chills.
gregorsamsa87 1 year ago
This is a beautiful, sensitive, JOYOUS piece. Melancholy? No, I see power and enjoyment, not sadness. The eye of the beholder applies here, I guess.
sensibleshawnhb 1 year ago
I've never met anybody who likes this kind of music like i do. All my friends think i'm weird for listening to this and yet there are over 400 000 viewers for this. Where are all those people who listen to this. It's a sad world we live in today, 50 cent gets more viewers than this duy.
smirnov452 1 year ago 93
@smirnov452
World is mediocre.
piojo1987 1 year ago
@smirnov452 it may be sad, but you're not alone =)
NickjamesC 11 months ago
@smirnov452 We are living in a period of extreme cultural decline, where no-talent philistines perform musical trash that is idolized by mobs of morons. Nothing in the moral junkyard of contemporary America can touch the beauty and power of this piece. The early material, rich with fragrant intimacy, steadily intensifies until it reaches a glorious climax just before the coda. In these epic, soaring final pages, Chopin transcends the physical bonds of earthly life and makes the heavens open.
MISHA1119 11 months ago 32
@MISHA1119
smirnov452 11 months ago
@MISHA1119 When people write music, they are trying to express their feelings, correct? So this just goes to show that now-a-days, the decline in true feelings, the decline in people knowing what they're feeling, bleeds into music. (also people are just trying to make money off of music...) I wouldn't say all contemporary music is bad though. They are still artists out there that write good music. Granted it may sound completely different, due to genres and the such.
KobiHoover 11 months ago
@MISHA1119 Eloquent rhetoric. But, I don't see how it applies to the piece.
VVillowz 5 months ago
@MISHA1119 Oh fuck off. It isn't like there isn't good music around today just because most if it isn't Chopin.
LFZ15 5 months ago
@LFZ15 oh you shut up. most of the music today is garbage. vote me down however you much you want, but talking about sex, guns, and cussing in songs is unbelievably unnecessary, and i dont understand how people listen to it.
SilenceTheQuiet 4 months ago 2
@SilenceTheQuiet listen to something other than pop rap if that bothers you, genius
LFZ15 4 months ago
@LFZ15 rap and screamo are pretty big music genres today, so thats what i was getting at smart one.
SilenceTheQuiet 4 months ago
@SilenceTheQuiet There's plenty of good music out there, you just have to know where to look. Most of it is somewhat underground and is certainly not popularized by the radio and television. The bigger question to ask is why superficial, violent music is the most widely listened to these days. But true musical inclination has not died. As long as the human spirit endures, so will it's remarkable rhythm.
psychoanomaly1 4 months ago in playlist psychoanomaly1's Favorited Videos
@MISHA1119 I am afraid you are right. We are indeed in a long period of cultural decline. And nothing in the contemporary scene even evokes in the smallest degree the power, the overwhelming beauty and the triumph of the human heart like Chopin. Yes, Chopin transcends the physical bonds of earthly life and indeed does make the heavens open.
dbharcadia2 5 months ago
@MISHA1119 I just listen to it when I write because there aren't any lyrics to distract me and it's nice to have something playing in your ear. The one constant is that music changes through time and it's usually the older generation that doesn't like the current. (I'm not saying all are great I do have standards too but if you want something good that's modern I can suggest some good ones.)
MistressArte 4 months ago in playlist Chopin (1810-1849)
@smirnov452
Yes, that's true. The same case with me. I enjoy listening to Chopin's music, it's weird to other people, they don't know what the real music is.
Interista94Jnny 11 months ago 16
@smirnov452 that's cos 50cent flashes a nipple
vaughangarrick 11 months ago
@smirnov452 Io ascolto la musica di Chopin da sempre.Sono Polacca.Chopin è poeta del pianoforte.
TheKociKoci 10 months ago
@TheKociKoci e non ce n'è un altro come lui!
kandinskaya 10 months ago
@kandinskaya for me Horowitz --better
561marina 9 months ago
@smirnov452 nowadays, people(esspecially youth) have other interests..they don't get classic music..all they care about is bullshit like "being cool"..they believe if you listen to this kind of music you're old fashioned or...a freak..
makes you scream..:|
caskett7lu 9 months ago 2
@smirnov452 I completely agree, I cannot stand the music played today on the radio
bingobog2000 8 months ago
@smirnov452 Hello, I know exactly what you feel mate. My friends can not see why I like this type of music. But hey, I try not to pay any attention to negative comments from them or whatever. Listening to chopin does not make you weird or whatever. It just means you are human and know know what you like when it comes to music. I myself love chopin and I probably wont stop any time soon!
dlewzey 7 months ago
@smirnov452 who the hell cares! This is music, and always will be. The reason we are even still listening to Chopin is proof of the power of his music. Let people say what they please about this, but in the end it is there loss.
PopCultureSucks 6 months ago in playlist whatever
@smirnov452 classical is universally aesthetic to people, there are just not many people willing to embrace it,they are too absorbed by the cheap mainstream music of today, im not saying its bad... but when you compare a piece like this with the crap that comes out today... actually why even bother compare. Don't Worry Im With you 100% of the way mate :)
maddorox 6 months ago
One of the best interpretations of this mesmerizing ballade I've ever heard...Zimerman was born to play Chopin!
singingmaster008 1 year ago
@singingmaster008
And Chopin was born to make perfect music. Sadly he had to die, and we will have to be content with the fact that His Ballade No. 1 is the best we will ever listen to.
piojo1987 1 year ago
Well... I never heard of this piece before. Never even knew it excists. I googled: best chopin piece' to see what other think is the best. One guy said ballade no 4. He's said it would take you to another world. And yeah, he's right. It's just so beautifull, words cannot describe. (or maybe it just because i had a little to much to drink 25 minutes ago :P) Either way, i could listen to this for hours. Perhaps forever...
LeonR1993 1 year ago
Oo
KrzywyKadr 1 year ago
this song describes my life....
brief happiness...
long sustained melancholy
strong moments of passion
and sometimes utter suffering
I just hope my life doesn't end like this song does...
in turbulent catastrophe
4thlord51 1 year ago 136
@4thlord51 Very well said, and no you won't :)
aznmasterx 1 year ago
@4thlord51 it's better to use "piece" instead of "song" here I think... :)
c0rdis 1 year ago
@4thlord51 It's a piece, not a song.
Bassini007 11 months ago
@Bassini007 You're pretentious, not intelligent.
willact723 11 months ago
@4thlord51 This is not a song !
nobodyfromnowhere0 11 months ago
@4thlord51 you just described what sex was like for me with my ex.
SoccerPro365 10 months ago
@4thlord51
This song describes my life..
two dollar hookers and cheap beer.
LURKUMALL 10 months ago
@4thlord51 Just be happy that your life isn't anything like the third scherzo. Tortured throughout your entire life and the ending in despair and most likely suicide. Even the happy parts in that piece are so closely followed by despair that they may as well not exist at all.
nleguellec 9 months ago
@nleguellec chopin's music is poetry of notes that invokes life's pleasures and pain that in many times are in one piece. Like poetry, not everyone is going to relate to every poem and the same for Chopin's pieces, its just finding the right piece that fits you
4thlord51 9 months ago
@nleguellec Well then lets us all pray for a life like the Barcarolle in F-sharp major. Or like the polonaise in A-flat major if you want to be a hero ;).
tomshrader 9 months ago
@nleguellec or even worse, the Chopin Etude opus 10 no.6. The most tortured piece Chopin ever wrote, exemplified by a incredible experimentation in dissonance and harmony. The slides of augmented fourths are truly heart-wrenching. This is beyond despair - it's horror.
wagneristhebest 8 months ago
@wagneristhebest hmm. Though I agree with you, some might argue that Chopin's etude in c sharp minor op.25 is more tortured. I stand somewhere in the middle for both (to me that is) display absolute desperation and agony in the finest and purest ways.
nleguellec 8 months ago
@nleguellec I would disagree with the c sharp minor etude having anywhere near as tortured an expression as the 6th etude. The harmony, the dynamic, the general mood of the c sharp minor etude is pain and suffering, but it expresses this through an extravagant dramatic manner, with much flaboymant swooning. The E flat minor etude however expresses something quite different, introvert, forgotten, with horror, and tortured harmonies far beyond the strength of the c sharp minor etude.
wagneristhebest 8 months ago
@wagneristhebest Well, I certainly can't disagree with you, but at the same time I would rather my life follow emptyness, sorrow, and suffering(e flat minor), than the utter terror close to madness, desperation, and helplessness(c sharp minor).
nleguellec 8 months ago
@4thlord51 the way you wrote, it sounded like you were 70 years old ... so I checked, and I was mistaken ... 23 ... you still have lots of time ;)
faintmelody 8 months ago
@4thlord51 Songs are pieces written for singing. This piece is not a song, it is a ballade.
Forseti6288 8 months ago 2
@Forseti6288 yes But it has numerous Songs and Variations within it. If you knew Chopin well, you'd know that his pieces are all for singing - but from the keys of the piano.
wagneristhebest 8 months ago
@wagneristhebest I really don't understand that. Anything can be sung within a persons range. It seems like with the same logic you can say any piece is for singing if you take the individual parts apart and sing them. I'm not trying trying to prove you wrong, I genuinely would like to know why you can call this and other pieces songs when there is no singing, or why that is accurate and not just emotive. Thank you
Forseti6288 8 months ago
@Forseti6288 But there is singing, but it comes from the pianist's soul, and through the keys of the piano:) - You see Piano Music is an expression of everything natural in this world. This includes emoitons, landscapes, and also singing. Although it is all an illusion, and not real, the pianist is making the impression that the piano is singing through his art of playing the instrument. Truly, if you can not create this illusion, you can not play Chopin.
wagneristhebest 8 months ago
@4thlord51 Dude, sucks for you
TheNOODLER100 8 months ago