The composer of the famous funeral march influenced many artists, writers, musicians even with his funeral. The Funeral March is being played in many funerals all around the world such as John F. Kennedy’s funeral and ironically Stalin’s. With his music, Chopin is in our lives for more than 150 years, and he’ll be here after we are gone. So can we say that he belongs to the romantic period? Just like many other classical composers’ work, his music is with us not only through concerts but also through funerals, telephone melodies, school bells. They are even in newborns’ rooms through little toys in order to sooth them into sleep. So, where does Chopin belong? Maybe he can answer this question his own;
“I do not climb so high. A long time ago I decided that my universe will be the soul and the heart of man. It is there that I look for nuances of every feeling which I transfer to music as well as I can.”
Great pianist Arthur Rubinstein once said “ Even in this abstract atomic age, where emotion is not fashionable, Chopin endures. His music is the universal language of human communication. When I play Chopin I know I speak directly to the hearts of people!”
Chopin’s legacy was his work, his music, his sigh. His musical innovations are being carried century by century. Some other geniuses left their thoughts, creations, or products that they designed. Sometimes just the life story of a genius is an inspiration for the future generations. Yet it is so hard to define what genius is. Is it genetic? Is it a defect? How much role environment has in a genius’ life? How does talent grow into genius?
All these questions twirl in our minds. The really important question is, why are we asking these questions? Are we doing it because we’re curious about how to get there, or how can our children become the geniuses of their times? Or are we looking for a release that may come from a definition, a solution, a label?
Where does this urge of defining everything come from anyway?
“Information” as being the flower of our century also became the disease of the century since in many cases, it doesn’t reflect itself as “knowledge”. Rather than that, information becomes a label. We want to know, we want categorize, we want to label everything as we grow up. We seek categories to make life easier, less complicated, less mysterious and less of a genius’ work. Why can’t our children live their lives, exploring, innovating, failing, suffering, traveling, and creating?
The geniuses in our history and our present are here to give us inspiration. Chopin was no hero and his life was no fairy tale, but now, 150 years after his death, just a piano is enough for him to reach our hearts. He doesn’t belong to the clichés defining the romantic period, or even classical music. He belongs to our hearts and minds as we open them to feel and to be inspired.
——
While writing Genius(by Chopin) -2 www.geniusbychopin.wordpress.com
24Temmuz2012