Saturday, March 25, 2017

Frédéric isn't on my Chopin List

As I've mentioned more than a few times, of the top ten best selling novels of 1917, In the Wilderness by Robert S. Hichens is my current favorite. However, there is one scene in the novel which I thought to be out of place.

Near the end of the novel, we're told that one of the main characters of the novel, Mrs.Cynthia Clarke is an accomplished pianist - at this point playing one of Frédéric Chopin's Études. I would have thought that her being an accomplished pianist would have been a talent that would have been presented to us earlier in the novel. I suppose Hichens wished to present a particular mood by having the character play Étude Op. 10, No. 6, in E-flat minor, but having Mrs. Clarke suddenly playing the piano didn't seem to fit.

I'm not a complete moron regarding Western Classical Music but I will admit that I am certainly no expert of Chopin. I went to Spotify to locate and listen to the Études. I'm sorry to say that Chopin isn't my cup of tea (or coffee or vodka either, for that matter).

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