Introducing Chopin: Impromptu Op.51 No.3

(This is a continuation of what will hopefully be a series of posts about my favourite Chopin pieces. A video can be found at the end of this post.)

To those who aren't into classical music, I understand if the title of this post scares you a bit. But please, give this wonderful impromptu a chance. I mean, okay, I'll be the first to admit that I have an undiscerning obsession with anything written by Chopin. But I promise to you, this impromptu is good. As in, objectively, wonderfully, chill-inducingly good. But if you are one of those people who are neutral about classical music because you never really had a chance to get into it, I would suggest that first you watch Benjamin Zander's TED talk. It's truly inspiring.

Okay, so are you ready? Are your eyes sufficiently shiny? Great. Let's get you introduced to this marvellous piece.

The first two bars of impromptu op.51 no.3 in G flat major.

Frédéric Chopin. Look at him.
He's so wonderfully Polish.

This impromptu is one of my favourite Chopin pieces at the moment. Out of Chopin's happy, bright, fast-paced works and his expressive, more sombre pieces, this impromptu, played allegro vivace, would fall somewhere in the middle. As you can see, the melody is started in the bass and is carried into the treble. The introduction, like most of the piece, is to be played legatissimo and fast; the melancholy of the melody is introduced with a smooth, flowing simplicity.

There are multiple voices in this piece, providing the complexity and richness customary in a Chopin piece. The flourishes, in the form of grace notes and mordents, add yet more texture to the melody. It surprises me every time that everything manages to fit in so well together. Like the intricate aromas that mix together in the perfect proportions to create a certain smell, these seemingly-insignificant aural details seem calculated to evoke, with a good pianist's interpretation, the perfect emotional expression.

Voices! Multiple voices! Nice, rich, baroque-like complexity.

The chord progressions are also extremely pleasant. They remind me of that elegant transition from the quick main melody and the calming beautiful melody near the middle of Fantasie-imprompu (op.66 no.4). Here's my favourite progression in this impromptu, from the top of the third page:

A wonderful progression.

The melody in this imprompu, held throughout the entire piece, is one of my favourites of all of Chopin's pieces. He continues with variations upon this main theme when the key shifts from Gb+ to C+, and eventually returns to the main theme by the coda. I love how the melody spans from the highest of the high delicate notes to the very deepest rumbling notes of the bass.

We see an example of these delicate high notes in the second measure on the first line; the melody is continued into the tempestuous bass notes in the second line. And we can see from Chopin's marking, "La melodia del basso sempre marcato ma dolce ed expressivo", that the bass notes may be deep and rich, but they are not to be overpowering.

These marcato bass notes that are also dolce ed expressivo is a perfect reflection upon the entire piece as a whole. The expert mixture of the fast and lighthearted with the melancholy and profound is one of Chopin's signature skills. The allure of this impromptu is the way it finds harmony in contrast: agitation and energy; sombre and beauty — they all come together to make a wonderful impromptu.

From Chopinmusic.net:

Chopin’s third impromptu is a shining presentation of extempore beauty. The music is of utmost melancholy, demanding of the interpreter an improvisatory character notwithstanding a technical mastery of some difficult passages. The left-hand melodies are smooth and peaceful, as the piece reaches its climax. The conclusion is a demonstration of great, firm negotiation.

My favourite interpretation of this impromptu that I've heard so far is by Vladimir Sofronitsky:

As always, I recommend listening to the piece while reading at the sheet music (pdf), if possible. Enjoy!