Nocturne in Ab, "The Murmur"

At long last, Maria Szymanowska is coming back. Here is another piece I know by her, a Nocturne in A flat. It was written for 3 hands, so I layered two recordings of myself together.


Listen to the song here
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Should you be concerned with what others say about the music you listen to?

A few months ago, I was listening to a little piece by Maria Szymanowska when I saw a comment on it, decrying the attention given to such second-rate music. Why would anyone listen to it just for the sake of supporting a neglected composer when there is other, far better music?

I have two little responses to this. First, the determination of "the best music" is highly subjective, as we all know from having a song that seems to be our favorite and no one else's. What you think is the greatest music depends not only on the effort put in to create it, but your personal beliefs about what music should be.

If you think that music exists to communicate emotions, that will shape what you look for. Maybe the Romantic pianist-composers of the 19th century will earn your respect. Meanwhile, your friend who expects music to be formal and structured might scoff at your beloved Chopin, Liszt, or Rachmaninoff.

If your friend is quick to claim they understand music better than you, they might turn you off from looking into the Romantic pianists (or anyone similar to them) altogether. Now you're missing out on music you could have enjoyed.

Second, even if we concede that the piece that I listened to that day, and the one I'm playing now, are just little nocturnes, perhaps Szymanowska didn't intend for them to become greatest hits of music history that would be performed every year. Not everything can be the greatest, after all.

This was the early 1800s, when pianos were the new, popular instrument and amateur pianists were cropping up in homes. Maybe Szymanowska simply wanted to create a song that they could learn or that she could perform on her tours.

In our pursuit of "the best," are we missing out on everything else that is still good?

Keep filling your teacup with music!
~Liya