Monday, March 1, 2010

Happy Birthday Chopin!


Yes, today is Chopin's birthday. I heard a piece on the radio today about his funeral march (you know, "dun dun dun-dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dunnnnnnnnnn"). It's become ubiquitous in popular culture and parodied by everyone from Monty Python to Porky Pig. Funny how just a few notes can be almost universally recognized that way... I also learned that this march was actually inspired by/a variation on a funeral piece from an Italian opera -and it's sad that the world can know the variation so well, but I can't even remember the name of this particular opera. Oh, well.

2 comments:

Jerome Langguth said...

Thanks for remembering Chopin. I love his nocturnes especially, and the Funeral March was my favorite piece to play as a child taking piano lessons.

penny said...

Ha ha. Me too!