Notes on Chopin

by André Gide

An inspiring discourse on the power of music from one of the twentieth century’s most important figures, André Gide André Gide, one of the great intellectuals of the twentieth century and a devoted pianist, invites readers to reevaluate Frédéric Chopin as a composer “betrayed . . . deeply, intimately, totally violated” by a music community that had fundamentally misinterpreted his work. As a profound admirer of Chopin’s “promenade of discoveries,” Gide intersperses musical notation throughout the text to illuminate his arguments, but most moving is Gide’s own poetic expression for the music he so loved.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Art, France, Nobel Prize

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1949

About the author

Diaries and novels, such as The Immoralist (1902) and Lafcadio's Adventures (1914), of noted French writer André Gide examine alienation and the drive for individuality in an often disapproving society; he won the Nobel Prize of 1947 for literature.

André Paul Guillaume Gide authored books. From beginnings in the symbolist movement, career of Gide ranged to anticolonialism between the two World Wars.

Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, Gide exposes the conflict and eventual reconciliation to public view between the two sides of his personality; a straight-laced education and a narrow social moralism split apart these sides. One can see work of Gide as an investigation of freedom and empowerment in the face of moralistic and puritan constraints, and it gravitates around his continuous effort to achieve intellectual honesty. His self-exploratory texts reflect his search of full self, even to the point of owning sexual nature without betraying values at the same time. After his voyage of 1936 to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the same ethos informs his political activity, as his repudiation of Communism suggests.

Chinese 安德烈·纪德

Reviews

[Anne-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful read if you're a classical music lover (or nerd) :-)

[Masalcı · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kitap daha çok Chopin icrasının nasıl olacağına dair bir anlatı sunuyor. Eserlerinin anlaşılmaktan çok hissedilir çalınmadığı, yorumcuların genel olarak yaptıkları hataları, Chopin parçalarının şov havasında haddinden fazla hızlı çalındığına dair yakınmaların kaleme alındığı bir kitap. Genel okuyucu kitlesinin kitaptan tat alabilmesi için biraz müzik teorisi bilmesi gerekli.

https://youtu.be/l8C7hYSQd_c

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

About as short and sweet as a Chopin Prelude.

[Richard Cho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quotes:

Chopin, on the other hand, was the first to banish all oratorical development. His sole concern, it seems, is to narrow limits, to reduce the means of expression to what is indispensable.
There is none more perfect...

[Tuomas Aitonurmi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miten pitkälle kantaa kirjan muodossa yhden ihmisen näkemys toisen taiteeseen, kun painotetaan lähinnä estetiikkaa ja näkemys on erittäin subjektiivinen? André Giden Chopin : merkintöjä, mielikuvia, muistoja (Fuga 2017, suom. Martti Anhava) on erinäisistä aineksista kokoon kursittu teos, jossa kokonaisuuden kasassa pysyminen on samaa luokkaa kuin hakaneuloin korjatulla vaatteella. Kirja koostuu pääosin Giden esseestä, joka on julkaistu alun perin 1931, ja sitä on täydennetty kirjailijan päiväkirjaotteilla ja muilla merkinnöillä, kaikella missä on Chopin mainittu sivulauseessakin. Säveltäjä pysyi Nobel-palkitulle Gidelle tärkeänä koko elämän, ja tällä oli vahva näkemys siitä, miten Chopinia tulisi tulkita. Hilpeintä teoksessa on jonkinlainen häpeämätön elitismi, joka näkyy Giden suhtautumisessa niihin, jotka eivät soita Chopinia oikein. Moni saa kuulla kunniansa. Joitakin tylytyskohtia Gide oli tekstien uudelleenjulkaisuissa halunnut poistettavan, mutta tässä ne ovat kaikki mukana. Parasta antia olivat tietyt taiteen tekemistä ja kokemista koskevat onnistuneet ja ajattelemisen aihetta antaneet kitetytykset. Muuten kirja oli "välipalateos". Tulipa luettua. Olin varannut tämän jostakin syystä luettuani HS:n arvostelun, Chopinia ja klassista musiikkia paremmin tunteva saanee kirjasta enemmän irti.

“Esittäjä tietää oikein hyvin että mitä vähemmän minä ymmärrän sitä enemmän hämmästyn. Mutta ymmärtäminen on juuri se mitä minä ajan takaa. Hämmästyksellä on taiteen piirissä arvoa vain jos se saman tien tekee tilaa tunteelle; ja useimmiten se asettuu tunteen esteeksi." (s. 22)

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book in a Bookmobile that was traveling the country. I was intrigued by the inscription in the front of the book gifting it to a friend in 1949. I was unfamiliar with the author, Andre' Gide, except for his quote with which I am very familiar: "One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight, for a very long time, of the shore." I enjoyed reading Gide's critiques of Chopin's works. It was nice to read leisurely and coincided with Gide's repeated mantra that Chopin should be played slowly, not rushed for effect. Definitely a good read that I will return to again.

[Andy Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't really know how to rate this. I think I picked it thinking if might be more biographical. This is a passionate and positive critique but it is really too technical for my taste (Gide was a talented pianist so really knows the theory). I also thought he was a little tough on Wagner and the Germans. Would probably appeal to someone with strong music theory who really really likes Chopin.

[Oshun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Above my head I think! I am no musician. I did find myself nodding my head a lot though.

Some of Chopin’s shortest works have the necessary and pure beauty of the resolution of a problem. In art, to state a problem well is to solve it. --Gide, André. Notes on Chopin

[Necdet Yücel · Rating 4 out of 5]

normalde önsözleri nerdeyse hiç okumam ama İdil Biret'in yazığı bir şeyi okumak istediğim için oıkudum bu sefer. kitabın geri kalanını doğru anlamama yardımcı olduğu için memnunum okuduğuma. kitap da güzel elbette

[Veronika · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very insightful look into how to play Chopin's works. However, the central part of this book were Gide's Journal entries, which to me, just seemed to take up space and not add much to his "Notes"

[Kristján Hannesson]

Delightful reflections on the je ne sais quoi of Chopin.

[Rita Montefusco · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Quando penso all'addio che ho dato alla musica, A peu que le coeur ne me fend, e mi pare adesso che la morte non possa togliermi nulla a cui io abbia tenuto maggiormente"

[Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

intéressant, curieux de trouver des enregistrements fidèles à l'interprétation de chopin par gide

[ehk2]

fazlasıyla teknik bilgi gerektiriyor -yalnızca konservatuvara gidenler vb. anlayacaktır sanırım.
(bir parantez açayım: Can Yayınları bunu Chopin'in 200. doğum yılı vesilesiyle bayağı da bol reklamla, İdil Biret'in CDsi ile beraber sunmuştu (kapalı poşeti içinde). Hedef kitlesi, genel okuryazar profiliydi muhakkak. Burada bir pazarlama hinliği var sanırım. Gide adına aldanmayın; müzik namına notaları bile ayıramayacak benim gibi okura verebileceği pek az şey var burada. Daha bilindik bir hayat öyküsü veya müzik ile daha genel felsefi veya toplumsal konuları bir araya getiren bir çalışma beklentisi olmasın henüz okumayan insanda!)

[Gu Gu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Güzel bir kitap. Farklı ilgi alanları olan kişiler sıkılabilirler, çünkü piyanoya ağırlık verilmiş ve Chopin’in çalışı ve besteleri vurgulanmış. Ben dört yaşında başlayıp yıllarca piyano çalmış biri olarak çok hoşlandım, sevdim kitabı. Ve çok beğendim.

[Elif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every Chopin lover must read it!

[Catherine Corman · Rating 3 out of 5]

In art, to state a problem well is to solve it.

-Andre Gide, Notes on Chopin

[Zehra · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Bugün yücelttiğimiz neredeyse bütün büyük insanlar, hemen hemen bütün yaratıcılar, yığınlar arasından sivrilmiş hemen herkes, bir karışımın ya da en azından köklerinden kopuşun bir ürünüdür."