Personal Narrative: Frederick Chopin's Music Style

The church sanctuary was dimmed except for the bright light shining above the grand piano on the stage. The pews were filled with parents, friends, and of course, the performers. Once a year, I would have to step on that stage, sit on the piano bench, and play a memorized piece. This is what many musicians fear: a music performance. Months before that fateful spring day, my teacher and I decided on a beautiful piece by Frederick Chopin. The waltz was technically and emotionally challenging for me because both hands had many octaves and fast sections with complicated trills and ornaments. It took me many weeks of endless practicing just to get the correct notes down, but my playing still lacked emotion and body movement to bring the whole piece alive. Chopin’s waltzes are infamous for telling a story. My piece began with a series of very quiet trills that gradually grew louder. My teacher explained …show more content…
My heart would pound so hard in my chest, my knees would start shaking uncontrollably, and my hands would sweat. The worst fear of mine was forgetting my piano piece and not being able to get back on track. Even though I had already played at piano recitals before and was familiar with the process, I experienced a lot more stress at the 2015 recital because I was both the announcer and a performer. Name after name I called, and each time a performer finished, I got closer to the bench of doom. Finally, it was my turn. I sat before the piano under the glaring lights and began to play my piece. All was going well until the end of the slow melodious section. For some reason, my mind went blank and I missed a chord. I panicked and struggled to fix it, but I only made the mistake more obvious. While the remainder of the song was fine, that giant hole could not be patched up. I felt disappointed because I had let my nervousness get the better of me and ruined the piece I worked on for so many