Creating and Setting Stories to Music.
I. Frederic Chopin - 'Fantasie Impromptu'
As I have recently begun working towards my ATCL in Piano Performance, I have been looking for ways in which to fulfill the demanding criteria that the post grade 8 exams require. I have been trying to research as much background material as possible for each of the pieces I have chosen for my exam, but although there is a wealth of information on the web, it is difficult sometimes to find out exactly why 'classical' composers decided to write certain pieces. What was their motivation behind some of the most beautiful collection of sounds ever written. Was there a back story?
In the case of Frederic Chopin, one of the most famous and brilliant pianistic composers of the 19th century and indeed of all time, it is fairly easy to find some of the back stories for some of his beloved compositions. Of course not every piece needed a story to start it off. Chopin's etude's for example are more of a technical challenge designed to test and improve one or more of the student's weak areas, such as arpeggios, or moving around quickly in octaves or chromatic third's.
One of the pieces I am currently learning for my upcoming exam is the famous 'Fantasie Impromptu' in C#m. Although the piece was published after Chopin's death in 1849, it was the first of four Impromptu's he wrote, and there are many speculations as to why he decided not to have it published, one of which interestingly, is that it shares a few of the same characteristics as the third movement of Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata'. One theory is that Chopin, being a sensitive young man did not want his fans thinking he had 'stolen' ideas from his predecessor composer's. But hey, that's just one theory.
I myself have long been in a quest to discover how to play the piano with more expression, passion, and different tones and timbre. I'd hate the idea of Frederic himself listening to my playing and consequently giving up on mankind. I had the idea recently of setting a story to each of my pieces. These stories are mostly fabricated from my own imagination, some parts are inspired by past experiences, but tonight I began what turned out to be a really fun process of setting each bar to phrase to a scene from a story. The point to this you may ask?? I want to set a story for every piece I learn (unless it turns out not to go as planned), so that after learning the notes thoroughly I can completely immerse myself in my story and fit it in with the piece. This should create extra expression, passion, emotion and depth. As I love the music of Liszt, Ravel, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Bach, Schumann among many others I can imagine that this process could be very entertaining and perhaps improve my maturity as a pianist. From anything from being lost at sea to being carried around the clouds by nymphs, to cities burning in flames, all I need is my imagination and the beautiful pieces which have been provided for me hundreds of years ago.
So as you have probably guessed from this post title, the first work I have examined and created a small story to go with is Chopin's 'Fantasie Impromptu'. This is my first attempt, but I figured I would stick on a bit of Rubinstein and discover what came into my head while listening. This is what I came up with bar for bar.
If you need the sheet music to follow along, you can download or just look at the PDF files for most high quality sheet music from the IMSLP website. Anyway, here goes:
Frederick Chopin
(1811-1849)
Fantasie Impromptu (Posthumous)
·
Bars 1-2. I
stand up from sitting with my back against a tree, consumed by a dark
forest at night time.
·
Bars 3-4. In the forest, storm brewing, I begin
to rotate whilst looking cautiously through the trees at the sky, waiting for
lightning.
·
Bars
5-6. Worry begins to settle in my mind, I cannot decide which direction to
chose. I am lost. I begin to walk instinctively.
·
Bars 7-8. The wind rustles through my hair, an unexpectedly
potent breeze which covers my body in Goosebumps. The breeze eases up.
·
Bars 9-12. I begin walking through the increasing
wind, the trees bob from side to side as I wonder. I am anticipating a storm.
·
Bars 13 – 16. Wonder takes me as I see a small
white light in the distance through the trees.
·
Bars 17 –20. I begin to walk steadily towards the
light, almost trotting through the darkness as fear tightens its grip.
·
Bars 21 – 22. I burst into a sprint as I hear the
sound of a wolf’s howl. My hair flows back past my head as I run directly into
the gale.
·
Bars 23 – 24. Realising that running will give away my position;
I halt and crouch to the ground listening for movement. All I hear is the sound
of the tress rustling in the breeze which has not thickened as of yet.
·
Bars 25 – 26. I stand again and this time make my way
forwards more cautiously than before. My breathing is lighter.
·
Bars 27 – 28. The breeze hits again but this
time from another direction. It mats my hair into my face and brings fresh Goosebumps.
·
Bars 29 – 32. I try to focus on the white
light ahead of me but it bobs twice out of sight as thunder crackles overhead.
·
Bars 33 – 34. Lamentation. Despair hits me
twice and twice I quietly vocalise my sorrow with an ‘Ahhhh’ sound as I admit
that the light was a trick of the mind and I am lost in the woods alone.
·
Bars 35 – 36. Revolted at my mind for playing such
games, I sink slowly to the forest floor as a huge thunderclap strikes
overhead, accompanied by screaming lighting.
·
Bars 37 – 40. I jump up as anger suddenly fills my
body. My head accidentally strikes a tree and I am knocked to the ground. I
drift into unconsciousness.
·
Bars 41 – 42. I come to in a dreamlike state. I
seem to rise off the ground as if pulled by some friendly force which is above
and beyond my control. I go with the flow.
·
Bars 43 – 50.
I turn 360 degrees to find myself standing in the same forest, except the storm
has long passed and the sun pierces the trees and seems to ripen every plant,
tree and bird’s nest. I stop turning in awe, admiring this place which seems
secret and secluded from the rest of the world. It seems there is no fear here,
only peace and contentment.
·
Bars 51 - 58.
I walk towards the sound of running water, passing a great oak tree whose
leaves are a beautiful lime green. The tree appears to smile at me and I smile
back and am grateful.
·
Bars 59. Hope rises up in my heart and stomach
that I will remain in this place forever.
·
Bars 60 - 62. I reach a golden river, and watch as
a small, colourful frog dives from a lillypad into the stream.
·
Bars 63 – 70. I walk alongside the river,
hands in pockets and try to take in every sight, smell and sound. I see radiant
colours, and I rainbow through the canopy of the trees which seems to possess
more colours than it should.
·
Bars 71. As I stare into the rainbow,
anticipation and hope festers through my body and mind. Something is about to
happen and I feel excitement.
·
Bars 72 – 74. I stare in disbelief as a beautiful
angel pours from the rainbow. She is shimmering a golden white light, with a
halo green as emeralds. She does not need to speak, for I understand somehow
that our conversations can be spoken without words.
·
Bars 75 – 77. I have a desire to tell the
angel a deep secret. I tell her everything which occurs during my nightmares;
every detail which I could never find the nerve to tell a friend, a therapist
or a family member.
·
Bars 78 – 81. We sit together on a perfect
looking log. It appears as though the log has been carved by elves. We watch
fish jumping lazily though the river as if caught in a haze of their own.
·
Bars 82. I understand that I am waking up from
this heavenly meditative-like state, but I am not yet troubled.
·
Bars 83 – 84. I have come to and am standing in the
dark in the same spot where I struck the tree. Although the wind is blowing,
and the darkness blankets me, I am not yet as afraid I as was.
·
Bars 85 – 86. Another strong gust of wind
ruffles my skin and sends the hairs on the back of my neck to attention. I can
clearly hear the rustling sound of trees now.
·
Bars 87 – 90. I begin to randomly walk
forwards. I do not know which path is the right one to take, and my worry
increases along with the wind and the soft rumble of thunder. I wonder how long
I have been ‘away’.
·
Bars 91 – 94. I walk through a dense wooded
area, thinking intently about the experience I just encountered. For a moment,
the storm seems far away, even though I can still hear it in the background.
·
Bars 95 – 102. The storm rises up and manages
to re-enter my mind. I feel uncloaked from unfriendly eyes.
·
Bars 103 – 104. I find a footpath and quicken my pace
through the wood, still completely unsure of my direction.
·
Bars 105 – 106. Again a strong gust of wind
makes its way through the trees, almost pulling the bobble from my hair. I
re-tie my hair into a ponytail.
·
Bars 107 – 110. Twice I think I spot a house
not too far in the distance, but each time it turns out to be a huge tree and
my frustration spirals upwards.
·
Bars 111 – 112. Again I feel on the brink of
despair after my recent disappointment. Twice I vocalise a moaning sound which
no-one will hear.
·
Bars 113 – 114. Annoyed at myself for feeling
such useless and awful emotions I stamp my foot hard on the ground.
·
Bars 115 – 118. I feel another wave of anger
and simply stand, fists clenched, frustrated and lost.
·
Bars 119 – 128. I am now fully suffering. The
weight of this terrible night, and the bereavement I feel for dream-like world
which disappeared just moments before are crashing down hard on me and I am
close to simply curling into a ball on the forest floor. Let the wolves get me.
Bars
129 –
138. I sit down again against an old oak, the same place in which I began my journey.
Through the dark I think I can make out two man-sized figures walking towards
me. As they approach, my hope returns. My journey ends as a hand extends out to
me and I am picked up firmly by a jolly stout looking man. The other man asks
if I am ok, and what I am doing out here by myself in the wilderness...I am going to learn this story by heart. I have the notes down for the piece, now all its needs is a tonne of expression; my experiment is to see whether or not this story device will help.
I do a lot of Buddhist meditation, and am wondering if I can reach a meditative state whilst playing piano and becoming immersed in a story. We'll see what happens.
Look out for my next post is this is successful. I plan to write a story along to Debussy next. That should be interesting.
MG.
I like your imagination. It's awesome. I like your blog. :D
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