Chopin's The Awakening

What started as a solitary leaf dancing in the wind quickly evolved, becoming a thunderous beast smashing against the entrance to the dank cellar I found myself in, deep in the rolling plains of Poland. The wind conveyed to me a sense of indignation, and at the same time, isolation. I could feel the wind stinging across my face, leaving me shivering and anxious. With a final, abrupt roar of the wind, I was ripped from my fictitious cellar, back into the closed confines of my room in Long Island. Chopin’s Etude Opus 25 No. 11, the “Winter Wind” Etude. Listening to it, imagining the environment that Chopin matured in becomes effortless. His numerous pieces can, like the “Winter Wind” Etude, instill a myriad of emotions in the listener; his “Revolutionary”
The classical composers of the past connected me to the world in a way I never thought possible. Every song was a new adventure. Once, I was the passenger of, as Berlin critic Ludwig Rellstab described it, “a boat passing the wild scenery of Lake Lucerne in the Moonlight” in Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.” Another time, I was a soldier in the Turkish military, being encouraged by Mozart’s “Rondo alla Turca.” And yet, I was still only a listener. In all my fantasies brought about by the pieces I revered, I could only stand aside and listen as a nameless pianist led me wherever they so chose. Without realizing it, my fantasies changed. I was no longer the passenger, but the moonlight itself, moving the water to my will. I was no longer a soldier in the Turkish military, but instead the Janissary band itself, playing to embolden an army taking its first steps towards
Nevertheless, I hadn’t resolved to actually learn it yet. I could read sheet music thanks to middle school band practice and a short dabble at playing the guitar; a pursuit that ended for the same reason I feared delving into the ordeal of learning the piano. I was overwhelmed by the endeavor of trying to become the nameless pianist in my fantasies. Pieces like Chopin’s “Winter Wind” Etude started to distort in my mind, becoming walls that discouraged me in lieu of the music that once inspired me. One day, however, I decided to start with something small. “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” will forever be the cornerstone of my lifelong pursuit at the piano, which was followed by many other songs as I continued to improve and hone my technique. It wasn’t long ago, now, that I finished Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata,” and began practicing Mozart’s formidable “Rondo alla