Chopin/Glazunov, Franchomme: Etude Op.25 No.7 (Gabetta/Chamayou, Weilerstein/Barnatan)
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- čas přidán 26. 06. 2024
- Sometimes things are just beautiful, you know? You can say a lot about them, but the most salient musical fact is that the first note makes you stop breathing, and when the work ends you’re not sure if you ever let that breath go.
So it is with these two arrangements of Chopin’s 25.7 for Cello and Piano. Most days of the week I like Glazunov’s a little more, but they both work perfectly on their own terms, despite how different they are.
Glazunov changes things up a fair bit - since the cello now takes over the LH the piano gets an entirely new LH, which neatly anticipates the dotted motif you hear in the cello at 1:07 (the first occurrence of the motif is at 0:35). The piano also gets to echo a beautiful motif in the cello (1:21), although I think the decision by Gabetta/Chamayou to leave this out at 2:59 is entirely justified - it makes the harmonic change and the subsequent pause so much more effective. Glazunov also significantly simplifies the rapid LH runs originally for the piano when the move into the cello, which gives those runs a cleaner and more forceful melodic shape. But the most magnificent change Glazunov makes is the expansion of the registral space at 3:23, as the piano’s melody leaps up and becomes fortified in octaves, while the cello is left to reign the bass. It’s such a simple but powerful effect - have two instruments occupy a similar range, and then pull them apart suddenly.
Franchomme’s changes are much more modest - in fact for large parts his arrangement is essentially identical to Chopin’s original, except that the cello takes over the LH. But this too produces wonderful results - the rumbling LH scales are almost exactly preserved (except at 7:18, where Franchomme has to tread water around a low C for a bit to compress the scalar range into something manageable for the cello) and heighten tension very well. And at one point I think Franchomme clearly outdoes Glazunov - that’s in the dreamlike passage at 7:30, which is also the bit I love most in the original etude. Glazunov opts to use this passage (2:07) to have the cello gradually rise above the piano semiquaver melody; a lovely and rather playful manipulation of register. But Franchomme nails the actual feeling of the passage, to my ear. He gives the descending semiquaver line to the cello, while the piano takes the upper melody. And here, he actually does give the piano new notes deep in the bass, which add a richness almost like a pizzicato reverberation.
So in the end: a more reverberant, “wide-open” arrangement with the Glazunov, and a bleaker (but no less emotionally intense) intimacy from Franchomme. The gorgeous playing here is in line with these qualities - Gabetta is consistently lyrical, with semiquaver passages that build in momentum before cresting; Weilerstein is (especially in the quiet sections) much more parlando (“spoken”), with more time for gaps, tapers, and portamenti between notes - you can almost hear the tip of the bow navigating the strings. Gabetta’s tone is warm, natural; Weilerstein is more piercing, her vibrato faster and more plaintive.
0:00 (Glazunov) - Gabetta/Chamayou
5:13 (Franchomme) - Weilerstein/Barnatan - Hudba
'the first note makes you stop breathing, and when the work ends you’re not sure if you ever let that breath go. '
Exactly how I felt when I heard those first bars just now.
Best Christmas gift ever! Thanks, Ashish!
no
@@handledavyes
Makes me wish Chopin wrote more for the cello... The op. 65 cello sonata is incredible, and this works so well on the instrument too.
I did not know these arrangements existed, thank you so much for this Christmas present!!!!!!😄😄
Thanks!
Somehow it fits so well with this time of the year, where we hope for peace and love (yeah I know the melody is kinda sad and melancholy, but still peaceful). Happy holiday and happy new year, Ashish!
Chopin’s my favourite composer, op 25/7 is one of my favourites, and I never knew this piece existed. Thanks for letting me know, Ashish, it’s an awesome Christmas gift.
Amazing! Even having played this before, it felt like I was listening to this piece for the first time again
One of the hardest feelings to recreate in this genre of music. Ugh, what I wouldn’t give to rehear so many of my favourite works for the first time.
Remember hearing Richter play the opening of Ballade 4 for the first time and thinking "What kinda new dimension did Chopin discover"
@@Schubertd960 Zimerman's third ballade for me
I highly recommend Gabetta/Chamayou’s live version! At the end there’s a senior who’s tearing up and it made me tear up countless times…
Wow, as a former cello player & long time piano player, I somehow never heard of the Franchomme arrangement before today. It is just as incredible as Glazunov's! Speaking of whom, the performers for Glazunov's performance somehow plucked their instruments from heaven, because the timbre on them are pristine and complement each other wonderfully. Gabetta and Chamayou match each other almost perfectly volume-wise.
Sigh... one unfortunate thing about duet performances is that sometimes the playing can be a bit mechanical - which is natural (ironically), since both performers ideally want to be in sync with one another. However, I think the Glazunov performance would've really benefited from some expressive rubato - in both the cello and piano. Like I've said in the past, Chopin is best when his music is song. The cello has a wonderful opportunity to do that here, but the execution is just a bit too sterile for me, sadly. Had a bit of rubato been injected, this performance would've been next level.
Have you seen the Tonebase video where they try singing Chopin? 😅
My favorite Chopin etude. And these are great arrangements of it.
Absolutely simply beautiful!
Whether this was an intended Christmas gift or not, it's one of the best gifts ever thank you
One of the most beautiful pieces I’ve ever heard.
Most beautiful music I've heard. I'm proud playing piano. Thanks for this marvellous upload!!!
Wow, I don't know if i can ever listen to the piano version again
Always thought we need more Chopin arrangements. For cello or voice in particular.
lovely and beloved piece - Sol Gabetta!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a Christmas present 😍
I have to locate this sweet music. Beautiful!
Sweet sheet music!
Haha, you weren't kidding when you said Weilerstein/Barnatan would be on this channel, though I certainly didn't expect it to be so soon.
Happy Holidays!
beautiful
There's a version for double bass, piano and soprano I love too, by Bottesini 😍 these are both amazing anyway
My favorite Chopin etude
same. criminally underrated.
Same!
As someone with perfect pitch, these arrangements are both drastically different from the original. They're lovely, but things like 2:09 just don't sound the same when not in the right keys. I appreciate that the arrangements bring new things out of the piece, both in their choice of key, instrumentation, and how the parts are divided. Happy holidays to all!
Any plans on uploading the chopin cello sonata? i find it to be quite the complex yet structurally masterful piece (like the 3rd sonata).
Yep. In fact I've already made my selections!
How about the ravel concertos?
@@averageclassicalmusicenjoyer Have a bunch of really fun (emphasis fun!) selections for those
@@AshishXiangyiKumar Possibly Gerhardt/Osborne and Weilerstein/Barnatan for the cello sonata?
I'll admit, no matter the recordings you ended up choosing, I don't think I've ever awaited a video upload so eagerly.
I feel the same about Balakirev's transcription of Chopin pieces. It makes one wish Chopin had known how to and wanted to write for orchestra.
Chopin knew why he wrote this for piano only.
Because of course such an arrangement exists. Thanks, Ashish, for bringing light to this!
I hate to be the one asking this, but do you plan on featuring Cortot and Gould? I would love to read (more) of your thoughts on those two.
Also, what's your favorite of Chopin's scherzi? There's a wonderful performance of the 4th here on YT by Zimmerman, though I'm afraid the recording quality is not great. Look up "zimmerman scherzi" and you should find it.
No plans for Cortot or Gould! Everybody knows them well enough, and the point of this channel is not to amplify the already well-known.
Well I'm not Ashish, but for me, although I think the 4th one (Op.54) is the most musically mature, the 2nd one (Op.31) still hols a special place in my heart, since it is the first scherzo I've ever heard and the one that made me get interested in Chopin's works.
@@stellacollector It's hard for me to pick one, since they're all so excellent... but if I *had* to, it'd be the 4th.
Curious choice
Hi Ashish. Could you do an analysis on Schumann's humoreske?
Love the arrangements but what’s surprisingly frustrating to me are the changed keys. I feel like there is darkness and despair in C sharp minor that is not present in either Em or Dm, which makes the whole thing sound kinda bland to me. I know that in vocal music keys are often changed to accommodate the singer’s range but why is it done here? Is C sharp minor a difficult key to play in on the cello? Honestly curious
There is no more darkness in C# minor than in any other minor key -- that's a purely imagined phenomenon since equal temperament became a thing.
And yes, E and D minor are much more comfortable on the cello than C# minor -- you get to use the resonance of the open strings a lot more.
Yes, Chopin was surely aware of this imagined phenomenon and the key choice was quite possibly deliberate, but who knows
Relatively, there is no idfference between C# and E minor, however, the absolute frequency has been shifted and the feeling is slightly different.@@AshishXiangyiKumar
In "theory" there is no difference between one key and another. But many composers felt a different character in different keys and chose them to match the mood of a composition (e.g. Beethoven's use E major and F minor come to mind). Some of those choices may have also been related to the tuning of the day. In any case they can cause us to mentally and emotionally associate a different character to different keys that we bring to a work played in those keys.
We might make the same analogy with the claim that minor key tonalities are not "necessarily" sad, and there are liturgical chants and choral works in minor to happy or devotional texts. But because minor tonalities have been used to express pathos in many well-known works we are more inclined towards a bittersweet response to anything in minor.
There are also differences of timbre on many instruments when the pitch shifts even a whole step or more into or out of their characteristic range ("tessitura"), which can affect the mood of the piece.
So, the experience of music and the emotional response can vary based on the key of the performance.
@@KarlRKaiser You are right that the tessitura can change slightly depending on key, which can affect the sound of a work. Every other factor you mention is, as I said above, imaginary. There's nothing wrong with that, of course -- imaginary stuff is a real part of listening to music. (For instance, people claim that Stradivarius violins are unmatched when every double-blind test ever done suggests they sound slightly worse or basically the same as the best modern instruments.)
That said, my response to anyone who says that imaginary factors are preventing them from enjoying a piece of music is to un-imagine them.
And, in any case, there isn't much sense here trying to ascribe deep significance to Chopin's choice of C# minor. Chopin liked writing in the C#/Db keys because (as he said explicitly) these keys fit very comfortably under the hand.
Hey Ashish, with the Hamelin Hyperion recordings now unblocked, do you have any plans on doing any Feinberg Sonatas using those performances?
I didn't know about this piece. I always felt bad about this etude, as it's the only one that Godowsky didn't arrange. So nice to listen to the instrument the etude's common nickname refers :)
Fun fact: Frederic Meinders made an arrangement of it for left hand alone! There's a recording with sheets on my channel. It's pretty damn different from the original, but just as effective imo.
Why don’t you upload any Arrau recordings?
He said once he found them overrated.
@@Schubertd960 Damn…
No words…
he uploads recordings he thinks people don't talk about enough
Lovely but I still prefer the solo piano
I love classical music and everything, but this channel is definitely meant for the most pretentious classical music lovers
Wym
Accusations of pretentiousness are simply a show of inability to come to terms with your ignorance
actually cello etude lol
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How to butcher a masterpiece: