Outstanding Lecture and performance. I can’t believe I’ve just watched a one hour RU-vid video. Felt like very few minutes. Very enjoyable and very informative and heart-warming. Thank you Mr. Greg! I am truly honored to have met a great and very humble person such as yourself!
Hi dear Faisal! I deeply appreciate your words! Whenever you have time, see my other videos about Ballade no. 1 or ALL the Mazurkas! Hope to see you again sooner or later! Good luck!
This may seem rather silly but I'm going to share it anyway. Aside from the obvious talent Greg has as a pianist and musician/ teacher I always enjoy seeing him in his suit jackets. It brings back the great memories I have of my piano teacher who would always be wearing a suit jacket. He was a gentle and kind man as I suspect Greg is as well. I miss my old piano teacher so m I ch as he passed away in 2005.
I agree. Maestro Niemczuk proves his elegance either performing on stage or lecturing us about Chopin’s masterpieces. His choice of colours remains also somewhat restrained yet fitting the circumstances perfectly.
I could listen to your analysis all day long and not get anything done. Once someone has embraced the music of Chopin there is no going back. I can play the first part of this piece, but the second part is beyond my capabilities. But this is not an issue, because the first part is so amazing that that's all I need. Your enthusiasm makes the piece even more fascinating than it was already.
Thank you! I am a self learner pianist with no technique and studying the ballade. I love your passion for it. It's so authentic, competent and sweet. 😘
If attempting this piece as a self-taught pianist implies that you have decent chops. Consider taking some formal lessons. A third person perspective from a good teacher can identify technical issues and provide direction to correct such problems. If you desire to remain private, look up Taubman method. There are books, dvds, and likely youtube videos of Taubman teaching how to approach and correct technique.
@@bigl5343 Thank you! Unfortunately in my case, I miss all kinds of techniques being a self-learner, and I don't really think I have any chance of playing it decently. But all tips are welcome!
@@fracor6010 Still look into technique. Even if starting as an adult, studying technique is still worth while. One quality that made Taubman's lectures exceptional is the clarity of how she explained and demostrated common technical problems and providing solutions that are easily understood. Even if not able to do advance repetoire like this Ballade, improving technique will lead to better playing, a more relaxed posture, and yeild a more pleasurable experience at the keyboard no matter the difficulty of the piece.
Thanks for this long analysis, it’s well worth sitting through all the ads. I like you demonstrating the different counting of the left and right hand to create the sense of anxiety in the stormy section. And I like your pointing out all the waves throughout the piece acting like an uniting element. This was one of the harder Chopin works for me to relate to, but after watching this video, I may look at this piece differently now
Thank you for brilliant analyses. I understood more about one of my most favourite Chopin pieces. It is most chilling and tragic Ballade , yet speechlessly beautiful, showcasing the genius of the composer
I congratulate you for all the thorough research! I love all these comments and conversations you compile into these videos, very interesting information
Excellent analysis on what probably is my favorite ballade. I never thought of any story while listening to this piece but everything you said just makes so much sense! I love especially the part with the dialogue. Now I'm feeling more motivated to learn this piece after learning Ballade No. 1! If only this wasn't so difficult. This piece is just full of anxiety, stress, and fear. It is excellent!
THIS IS SO AMAZING WOW O MY GOSH DAMN THANK YOU THIS MADE THE BALLADE SO CLEAR IN MY MIND YOU ARE SUCH A GIFTED PERSON THANK YOU FOR THIS, THAT WAS A MAGICAL LECTURE :DDDDDD
Thank you Professor Greg!!! I suggest your videos to my students and your lectures have inspired my teaching and my playing! If you want I can show you few cool things on the second Sonata that I play :)
@@gregniemczuk the Bridge between 1st and 2nd themes is a rhytmhical augmentation of theme 1 The Coda of 2nd theme, Triollas of quarrters, is the motive of the Scherzo (I noticed that while practicing the left hand alone...)
Jesteś genialny! Uwielbiam Chopina! A w szczególności jego Scherza i Ballady. Dziękuję za to, co robisz. Nie miałam przyjemności obejrzeć analizy w całości jeszcze, ale obejrzę na pewno! I to nie tylko tę! Genialne!
Dear Greg, thank you very much for this amazing lecture! It is a big inspiration for me while learning this wonderful piece. Many greetings from Hamburg.
AHHHHHH I can’t tell you enough how much I love and appreciate these videos which you post. I love watching them and they are very enjoyable. Thank you
Greg, I do hope you read comments on videos you made 3 years. I left one on the Polonaise Fantasy, a piece I have been trying to decifer for a long time but also the 4 ballades, staples of my repertoire with unanswered questions. The insights plus historical background are really helping me to revisit these works. I think you must have had excellent training as you seem to have the right artistic approach.
@@gregniemczuk Part of my mistake with Chopin's works, was trying to fit them into a Schenkerian model. This might work with Beethoven and other classical composers but the melodic and motival aspects of Chopin's music are maybe even more important. It's interesting that a dispute had been going on for so long about whether this piece is in F Major or A minor. I don't think there any harmonic ambiguity here. Even the fact that it ends in A minor, still it is felt as the third degree of the F Major scale.
Fantastic idea! My advice: start from the coda! If you have any problems, drop me a line. Good luck and thanks for watching! By the way, now I play it much better ! Hahaha
@@gregniemczuk it is going to be challenge since I work full-time and still struggle with some technique issues. Combined with Mozart's "Sonata No. 13 n B-flat major, K. 333" and set of six impromtus by Sibelius makes a nice program.
@@bigl5343 it's a perfect program! But yes, you do need time for that! I really respect your determination. It must be love toward music. So beautiful!!!
@@gregniemczuk Excellent performance of the 4 Chopin Ballades on Facebook. I see that you perform on a Fazioli in your video conclusions. I have heard they are an absolute pleasure to perform on.
@@gregniemczuk I just started this ballade today and it is such a blast. There are so many fun passages in it and it was because you inspired me Greg. Thank you.!! ❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉
Greg in the coda RH, do you change fingering on the duplicate chords? I’ve looked at the Henle edition and one other edition and they’re both showing finger changes. Sometimes I think, changing fingering in tight little passages articulates it better, other times I’m wondering if you can’t just use quick movements of the wrist instead and keeping the fingering the same. Thank you!
To me the ballades are like first movements of sonatas. You have two contrasting themes, the development, and, finally, the recapitulation. They're not perhaps like highly regimented classical sonatas. Chopin takes his liberties, and this is for the better. I bet you could assemble a full sonata by taking a ballade, then a scherzo, a nocturne, and... what would you use for the last movement? A waltz perhaps? Thank you for this most enjoyable presentation.
Wonderful video as always. I believe chopin is actually kinda imitating schumann here, the dotted rhythm from the begining is actually straight from Schumann, Schumann used it quite often and this is directly from Schumann's ABEGG variations finale, and the use of double notes and chordal arpeggios is also something schumann uses very often. I not saying he's copying Schumann but i believe he was inspired by the style of Schumann's way of righting music, also how the ballade at times gets really quite and then bam!! Its loud and presto con fuoco and then back to being quite is something Schumann did quite often too,some say its because he was bipolar and schizophrenic , its still very chopin though and original. I really liked the video and what you had to say though.👍
Wow, an incredible video with a very good analysis, very good, while I will hear this song in this video, because I had asked you live but I think it was too late, I hope I can hear you play this piece in another live , Very good video! :)
Dzięn dobry pan Niemczuk!! I really enjoy your videos, but I wish you'd delve more into the musical 🎶 🎼 nuances, like how the the notes are represented on the piano 🎹 itself. I'm so in love with Chopin's music 🎼 and I'm mostly of Polish descent, which is probably why I love 💕 it so!!! Skąd jest pana z Polski?? My relatives were from Dolistowie i Białystok respectively!! A Polish man who helped me online look 👀 into my past a little bit said that my mom's maiden name means Chenopodium (Komosa), so they were either farmers or medics!! Anyway, thanks 🙏 for bearing with me and enjoy the rest of your day!!
Thank you very much for your wonderful comment! I'm from the South of Poland. I'll try to look at details but I'm afraid that the videos will be even longer!!!!
So if Chopin did not leave indications of what a piece was supposed to represent, does it allow a pianist greater freedom to paint their own picture through dynamic modulation and rubato? In our dialogues, you have expressed very strongly your views about being loyal to what Chopin wrote. I think the balance of loyalty to the composer and artistic interpretation exists very much on a spectrum. I think the most important question to ask in interpreting any piece is "what did the composer intend?" For the pianist, the question he has to answer honestly for himself is "what are my intentions?" Great interpretations, from my perspective, arise from the ability to reconcile those intentions.
I love this Ballade so much! But I also really want to know what was the inspiration and motivation for Chopin to wrote and dedicated to "Monsieur Robert Schumann" (not "Son ami Robert Schumann"!! Thanks to mention that! 😆) such a masterpiece with both sweet and stormy elements in the same time! By the way, this Ballade, in my opinion, is also one of the most Lisztian works Chopin had composed, full of fantastic structure and brilliant technique! 💖
Greg, this playlist really helps to find the works we’re looking for, so thank you for putting this together. I have a question about this #2. I have the Henle edition (which I thought Urtext meant that only the composers fingerings would be in here) but it says it’s fingered by a fellow named Theopold and I was wondering what edition you have (and of course I’m sure you do your own fingering) but curiously I would be interested if you had the CODA with Chopin’s fingerings? I’m especially curious about the doubled RH (3rds/4ths) chords starting at bar 168 the editor changes some of the fingering of the doubled chords and sometimes he doesn’t Do you keep the same fingering if the chord is played twice or do you sometimes change the fingering for the same chord? Thank you in advance. 😊
I am here again… Greg help me I am so depressed right now… heartbroken, stress and university… chopin is the only thing holding me together. But it is very strained… I am afraid everything could rip apart and I will be alone truly…
Have faith!! Life has downs and ups.... The sun will shine for you again. Now you have to be strong. This is your current challenge in your life.... You have my support!!
What a great video with such detailed analysis. Would you be kind enough to give a tutorial about mastering the technical difficulties in part'z' ? I can play this section at a moderate speed but it becomes a disastrous noise when I try to player faster
Well....... Play extremely slowly = 1 note per second (yes!!!!!) And while playing relax your elbow and arm by moving it left and right. Than slowly and gradually speed up the tempo. It should help!
Greg, i’m working on this now and I’ve watched your analysis several times. I don’t see a practice video. Did you make one? Are you planning on doing so? thank you!
at about 48:00, it doesn’t sound like you’re using the pedal in the section yet It sounds very balanced if I use the pedal then the right hand is totally drowned out by the left hand even if playing it softly, it’s just too muddy and covering up the right hand if I try to follow Chopins pedal markings.
I have a very dark image for this piece. A person who has been pushed and pushed until the finally snap, losing their sanity and moral control. A decent into madness.
My favorite ballade among all four the the ballade's. My personal interpretation of this ballade is the creation from the Bible in the book of Genesis 1 through the fall of human in Genesis 3. How human became seperated by their Creator (seperated by place). And shame fills humans because of sins that they bear.
