Bach & Chopin: A Conversation

‘Chopin helped me understand what harmony and counterpoint are; why the fugue is equal to pure logic in music, and that to be versed in the fugue means to know the element of all reason and all logical consistency in music.‘ (From Eugene Delacroix’s diaries)

Chopin not only deeply admired Bach but also considered his music the most important reference for his own compositions. He played all the preludes and fugues from the Well-tempered Clavier daily and always assigned Bach to his students to develop their technique.

This album is a conversation between Bach and Chopin. It links both composers through counterpoint. In my selection of the Preludes and Fugues by Bach and the Nocturnes by Chopin you can hear a similar approach in melodic phrasing. The naturalness with which Bach shapes his melodies was clearly a starting point for Chopin’s own melodies. In the Prelude and Fugue in f-sharp minor BWV 883 and the Nocturne Op. 48 No. 2 even exact rhythmic similarities can be heard. I’m quite sure that Chopin used especially the prelude almost as an exact model for his own Nocturne in the same key.

In the prelude from Bach’s monumental Prelude and Fugue in b-minor BWV 869, a wandering left hand frequently moves in the opposite direction of the right hand, creating a refined dialogue between the two hands. A similar idea, with fewer notes, can be heard in Chopin’s Nocturne Op.55 No.1.

The album concludes with Chopin’s Nocturne Opus 55 No.2, a pinnacle of Romantic polyphony. In this Nocturne Chopin’s admiration for Bach and his own exceptional sense of expression converge in a deeply moving way.

Both Chopin and Bach are connected through their deep understanding of sound, their use of intervals and the way they let multiple voices speak to eachother in their music. They are among the composers that speak absolute truth through their music. When playing through Chopin’s Nocturnes and Bach’s preludes and fugues from the Well-tempered Clavier, I notice a deep connection in emotional purity which I want communicate with you directly as a listener.