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"To understand Poland you must understand Frederic Chopin" (Stratfor Friedman)


joepilsudski  26 | 1387
8 Dec 2010   #31
Music is not detached as you said. It is a part of who wrote it as well as one who listens to it.

No, I don't think music is detached...That Stravinsky...I had a music teacher in high school who discussed the whole issue with us, and it come to mine when I read that critic of Chopin.
Mr Grunwald  33 | 2126
9 Dec 2010   #32
My point is nobody likes to give money away

Don't come to Norway... You would think their mental ;p

Maybe he means the Polish psyche and not Poland itself? :)
Also maybe not understand but get a tiny little information/feeling about it? :D
alexw68
9 Dec 2010   #33
Tawarishch cannot have emotions or thought besides the Party and Lenin - Stravinsky preferred

No - his motivation was purely musicological; he lived, as Chopin before him had, in Paris.

Interesting point you raise, though. Back in Leningrad, Shostakovich couldn't escape imputations of anti-Soviet sentiment in his work - which didn't earn him a trip to the gulags, but cetainly didn't make for an easy career.
hague1cmaeron  14 | 1366
9 Dec 2010   #34
It is an interesting article, though it has to be said not the best informed....regarding facts. I read it more as the work of a fanciful imagination rather than reality. Good find BB.

I also think that the author is looking at Germany through an outdated lens, I would argue that Germany would be one of the last in Europe to pursue a strategy of grand expansion. I mean Germany is pumping money into Poland at the moment for goodness sake....
rychlik  41 | 372
9 Dec 2010   #35
@Sokrates
Can you give me an example of Poland being f'ucked by Germany in the last 20 years? I mean, progress has been good for Poland. We have to work together. Besides, didn't Poland handle the recession well because they were more self reliant (Poles were encouraged to buy Polish products, as an example)? Germany is very export oriented. They need Poland to do well, it's in their interest. The only country Poland should worry about is Russia since they know nothing about business. Am I wrong people?
Nathan  18 | 1349
11 Dec 2010   #36
No, I don't think music is detached...That Stravinsky...

Yes, yes, I know. I meant that You said that it is not detached. And I agree.

Back in Leningrad, Shostakovich couldn't escape imputations of anti-Soviet sentiment in his work

This is one of the most despicable things possible - to try to subdue even imagination of musical chords to a political party line/program. You would think at least music won't be touched. Not in that system.

The only country Poland should worry about is Russia since they know nothing about business. Am I wrong people?

You are correct on this one.
gumishu  15 | 6229
3 Mar 2011   #37
it's an old frozen discussion I know

but you perhaps don't know some facts of quite recent history rychlik
the most startling fact is the Treaty of Asociation to European Community ( well I can't remember the correct name of the Treaty and my source on the internet somehow vanished) negotiated back in 1991 which started functioning in 1992 (in its commercial part and in 1994 in other aspects like legal adjustmenst) - the treaty opened Polish market to almost any imports from the west giving no return privileges for Poland - there were high duties on agricultural produce from Poland for example right up to 2004 - - the treaty ended in 2004 with Poland entering the EU - during this time Polish industry and economy in whole suffered badly - for example in 1992 the deficit in Polish trade with the EU was 1.2 billion dollars whereas in 1997 it was as high as 7.5 billion dollars
PennBoy  76 | 2429
3 Mar 2011   #38
Friedman and he wallows in clichès and stereotypes with the occasional wrong fact thrown it but that is for the Poles to decide.

I agree with him on most of what he says. I still believe Poland's main foreign friend and ally should be the United States, others have proven throughout history to be greedy and untrustworthy. I hope his predictions about Poland becoming an economic power come true.
guesswho  4 | 1272
3 Mar 2011   #39
I really wish the best for you guys but when you look back in your history, you guys always had great soldiers but you never had good politicians and economists.

Good luck!
PennBoy  76 | 2429
3 Mar 2011   #40
economists

There's one Polish economist (forgot his name) very bright claims to have had no troubles even during his studies at Harvard, they ought to give him a try.
guesswho  4 | 1272
3 Mar 2011   #41
Yeah, Harvard sounds really good. Give him a shot.
PennBoy  76 | 2429
3 Mar 2011   #42
Friedman and his book " The Next 100 Years"

youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QmzRSUSoShI
Mr Grunwald  33 | 2126
3 Mar 2011   #43
It has some points but the Japaneese has taken an economic path just like Germany did. Unless U.S.A will crumble or get so weakened it has nothing to say Japan will be where it is.
Crow  154 | 9489
5 Dec 2013   #44
Polish Chopin

Statute to the Polish composer Frederik Chopin in a prestige Belgrade`s Manaze park

Some foreign embassies in Serbian Capital Belgrade complained on that statue, because Encyclopedia Britannica says: /citation/ ``Polish French composer``
britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/114362/Frederic-Chopin

But, statue is still there and it still says: ``Poljski kompozitor`` / Polish composer/ (written in Serbian Latin inscription)
Rich Mazur  4 | 2894
20 Feb 2019   #45
[moved from]

Was the former not a great composer?

Chopin is the greatest. His music can make a grown man cry.
Miloslaw  20 | 5106
20 Feb 2019   #46
I hate Classical music....it always makes me cry when I hear how awful it is......give me Hendrix,Santana,Zappa and hundreds of others any day before the "Danse Funebre" of Chopin.... LOL!!!
Lyzko  43 | 9682
21 Feb 2019   #47
Your tastes are as poor as your opinions are ignorant. Chopin/Szopen is the soul of Poland, bar none!
pawian  223 | 26841
14 Oct 2023   #48
I hate Classical music...it always makes me cry when I hear how awful it is...

Now you speak like a very primitive creature, proving you are a British Polish mongrel who refuses to learn and adopt not only Polish culture but also universal artistry. Shame on you.

Chopin`s heart is in Holy Cross Church in Warsaw:


  • bbce5b6bc5b8981c7644.jpg
Lyzko  43 | 9682
15 Oct 2023   #49
Stratfor Friedman's quote is no more apparent than in the hauntingly, almost tear-jerkingly, beautiful strains of the renowned Etude in E-flat, otherwise known as "La Tristesse".

If that isn't the spirit and soul of Poland, Polska z krwi i kosci, I don't know what is!
jon357  72 | 23380
29 Oct 2024   #50
Very interesting news:

"An unknown waltz by Chopin, written nearly 200 years ago, has been discovered in the vault of the Morgan Library and Museum in New York.The score, on a card bearing Frédéric Chopin's hand-written name, was found by a curator in the spring, the New York Times reported on Sunday."I thought, 'What's going on here? What could this be?' I didn't recognise the music," curator Robinson McClellan told the paper."

theguardian.com/music/2024/oct/29/unknown-waltz-by-frederic-chopin-found-morgan-library-vault-new-york

"The museum believes that the music is from between 1830 and 1835, when Chopin was in his early 20s."
Bobko  27 | 2108
29 Oct 2024   #51
To understand Poland, one must take a sh*t in his pants.
pawian  223 | 26841
29 Oct 2024   #52
one must take a sh*t in his pants.

Imperial Russians often do it but they still can`t understand Poland. hahaha buhahahaha Ale witz!!!
Novichok  5 | 8579
29 Oct 2024   #53
To understand Russia, you must know what 25 million means to Russians.
Lyzko  43 | 9682
29 Oct 2024   #54
Perhaps to understand Russia, the chorus from Borodin's "Prince Igor", for example speaks equivalently to the
Russian melos. Then there's always "Vyechernii dwoni" or "Evening Bells".
jon357  72 | 23380
29 Oct 2024   #55
Perhaps to understand .........., the

Why would anyone sane want to?

Good news about the Chopin Waltz. It'll be good to hear it played.
Lyzko  43 | 9682
29 Oct 2024   #56
Borodin's not to everyone's taste:-)
jon357  72 | 23380
30 Oct 2024   #57
Kitsch music but he was a good chemist.

I gather the Chopin score turned up in your city. Do you know if there's any plans for a premier?
Lyzko  43 | 9682
30 Oct 2024   #58
Not in the slightest.
Novichok  5 | 8579
30 Oct 2024   #59
To understand Poland you have die in the Warsaw Uprising - the stupidest way to become a hero...
pawian  223 | 26841
31 Oct 2024   #60
die in the Warsaw Uprising

You are a communist engineer who moved to America so it is obvious you didn`t read Horatio: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.


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