Hang Around the World: Music #359

Frédéric Chopin

[sho-PAN] (1810 – 1849)

"Chopin was a Polish composer, virtuoso pianist, and music teacher, of French–Polish parentage. He was one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called 'the poet of the piano'."

Waltz Op.64 No.1

- "Minute Waltz" - "Little Dog Waltz"

* Yuja Wang
* Victor Borge & Leonid Hambro - 2 savvy back-to-back pianists each playing 30 seconds to add up to 1 minute [MINit], although Minute [mai-NJUT] is intended to mean small/tiny

Grande Valse Brillante

Chopin wanted to exceed Strauss, by adding elegance into his 19 waltzes written for the piano. It turned out that the dancers stopped dancing in order to appreciate the rich music.

(But who could waltz to this music?)

Piano Sonata No. 2

- in B flat minor

- The 3^rd movement is popularly known as the Funeral March / Marche Funèbre

Hear the solemn church bells? See the long and slow funeral procession with heavy foot-steps? Now, recall the words and deeds when the dead was still alive? Then, the solemn church bells again. The long and slow funeral procession again.

* Margaret Thatcher @[1:30]
* Franklin D Roosevelt
* John F. Kennedy