Music in the middle of a room are people were working, eating and chatting? preposterous! And yet… what a unique way to invite music into our everyday lives. Friends were having conversations, students were working on projects and assignments, and some of us were sitting and listening attentively, but the “sound of the Chopin” permeated any and all activities happening in the room. Benjamin Hopkins played with extraordinary skill, and seeing him move and connect with both the piano and the music itself brought me deeply into the pieces played.
The first piece performed was Ballade No. 4 which was remarkable piece of piano music to hear live. It is structured in some way like a poem, and it took me to so many different places emotionally, from melancholy to excited, from calm to distressed, all the while Chopin’s lyrical writing was clearly evident. To my (untrained) ears, I sounded like it was often modulating between major and minor keys to best portray different feelings and moods. I enjoyed that there were several “false endings” since they kept me from assuming that I knew how the piece was going to play out, and reminded me that I was along for the ride with no idea where the destination was.
The second piece was a waltz, Op 42, which was a much shorter, lighthearted and fast-paced piece with a very clear sense of rhythm. The playing in this piece was incredibly fast, and left me with a smile on my face.
The third piece was Chopin’s Chopin Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante (Op. 22). Though played as one piece, it was really two pieces played back to back. The Andente Spianato was almost like an opera aria in its composition and flow, whereas the Grande Polonaise, beginning quite abruptly, was faster, louder and less “smooth”. The two pieces back-to-back provided great contrast in their juxtaposition highlighting the strengths of each of them.
The fourth piece was a Mazurka, which is a type of traditional dance music from Chopin’s homeland, Poland. I missed which of Chopin’s Mazurka’s this one was, and there was no programme to go with this concert, so I’m not sure which Mazurka was played. The piece was in triple metre, but unlike more standard triple metre dance music, the emphasized beats were not always on the downbeat making it sometimes difficult to keep track of the triple meter. It was perhaps fortunate then, that I was only listening was not attempting to dance!
The fifth and final piece was Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 3 which is split into four movements. The first movement started out fairly fast paced, but not upbeat in its mood, rather it felt almost dark and foreboding at times. The second movement, which was the shortest of all of them, is a scherzo which began and ended with astoundingly fast playing. The third movement slowed things down dramatically bringing my heartbeat back to a much more comfortable pace, and the fourth and final movement brought the whole thing to a close with drama, beauty and flourish.
I really enjoyed this chance to take an hour or so out of the middle of my day to sit and enjoy some music in a relaxed and casual environment. In addition to the music itself, I loved observing people walking through the building who clearly had not expected to run into a concert in progress. They stopped, paused what they were doing, or where they were going, and for a moment become enraptured by Chopin’s music and Hopkins’ amazing performance; how could one not?