Stanislaus Joyce - early 20th Century

from The Dublin Diary of Stanislaus Joyce, page 43:

Chopin is a favourite musician of mine; he is perhaps, the genius of Poland. This is only a guess, however, for I know very little of the Polish people. To me his music expresses a deep, melodious melancholy, or with formal but most supple grace, a cold brilliant revelry; and these, I gather, are the features of the character of an aristocracy, to whom, because of several conditions of life, a naturally despondent temper, and a dark, proud hatred of the power that has overcome them, dancing nightly with haughty and elaborate pleasure is life.

cite as

Stanislaus Joyce, The Dublin Diary of Stanislaus Joyce. In George Harris Healey (ed.), The complete Dublin diary of Stanislaus Joyce (Ithaca, 1971), p. 43. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1447879808855 accessed: 28 March, 2024

Listeners

Stanislaus Joyce
1884-1955

Listening to

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pieces by Chopin
written by Chopin

Experience Information

Date/Time early 20th Century

Notes

Joyce describes his response to Chopin - as a non-musician, this must be derived from his hearing experience of the music rather than his playing of it.


Originally submitted by acusworth on Wed, 18 Nov 2015 20:50:09 +0000
Approved on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 12:25:44 +0000