Chopin, Fantasie-Impromptu, opus 66

Fantasy-Impromptu, opus 66, by Frederic Chopin, accompanied by a graphical score.
FAQ

Q: I appreciate the animated graphical scores you make; how can I help?
A: There are many ways you can support my work:
free: watch my videos, like them, and share them with friends

Q: Who is playing?
A: I licensed this recording from Premium Beat, and they don't tell who the performers in their recordings are, but it seems to be performed by Abbey Simon; here's his recording:

Q: Could you do a MAM video of _________?
A: Please see:

Q: Please tell me more about the composer.
A: You can read about Chopin here:

There are two versions of this video, one with the audio compressed ...
... and one without ...

[王志平-nb]

watching chromatic scale going down is so satisfying

[smalin]

It's software I wrote. It's part of a project I call The Music Animation Machine, which I've been working on since the 1970s.

[FourthDerivative]

I distinctly remember, as a child, hearing this piece for the first time and thinking it was the most impossible thing ever, that anyone who could play it was basically a superhero. It inspired me to want to learn piano. Over 20 years later, I'm still not quite good enough to play this... but one day!

[michaelc.]

I once tried to play this piece and about halfway through I quit because I began to feel like Chopin was snickering when he wrote this saying "let's see those idiots play this!"

[arickwest]

Y’all remember that scene from Ratatouille when he eats the cheese and the grape at the same time?

[trurocker]

I absolutely am always mind blown and simply blown away at these classical composers. The thoughts, the emotions, what must be going through your head to think of such an incredible and structured arrangement of music? What kind of consciousness were these people in. It's a whole 'nother level than what we are going through today. It's just amazing and I absolutely LOVE the music they wrote. I will forever be flabbergasted at their virtuosity.

[smalin]

Ja Po: this is the tempo that Chopin specified in the score.

[smalin]

Thanks, everybody, for pushing this past 1, 000, 000 views!

[El_Couch_Potato]

What's satisfying about this is that it visualizes not only the music and the time signature but more importantly it gives you a taste of how it feels to play the notes one at a time, how you squeeze the key and then the note snaps in place and then releases.just amazing work

[smalin]

Here are a few factors I suspect contribute:

1. It has a high effect/effort ratio, so lots of pianists learn it (which means a lot of people hear it, and familiarity leads to popularity).
2. It has a distinctive (and effective) harmonic shift in the B section.
3. It has a nice balance of order and chaos.
4. The theme of the B section comes back in a surprising (and satisfying) way at the end.
5. It has a memorable name.

[alfredozavala]

We all might not make it to heaven. But at least we got a taste of what it might sound like.

[alexanderbayramov]

Wow! That C# at 1:09 gives me goosebumbs! Thank you, smalin, for your amazing videos!

[teugene]

Chopin was possessed by some terrible evil demon genius... this visualization proves it.

[LukeFaulkner]

Amazing graphic.. I've recently written and shared a "Hommage à Chopin". Would love to see what you'd do with that!

[boldapples]

As a student of mathematics, I can appreciate the visual augmentation.

[smalin]

Yes, I do. Usually, it's not as annoying as in this one --- there was such a difference between the loud and quiet passages. The quiet parts were nearly inaudible. I'll make a version of it with the audio uncompressed, and post it on my alternate channel (musanim). Thanks for mentioning this.

[jgonos]

Whoever "thumbs ED down" this please seek psychiatric help.

[daisies]

This is one of my favourite pieces of Chopin's! I adore it and used to listen to it a lot when my dear late father was alive bless him!

I miss him terribly! He sadly died many years ago now but sometimes it is just as though it was yesterday!

I loved the fact that he wore a bow tie every day and had a wonderful sense of humour and was such a great friend to me!

[ehwored]

i absolutely love music, but I have a very hard time really understanding and grasping the complexity of pieces like this when listening to them. These kind of animations make it so much more accessible for a non-musician like myself.

[fallingashes]

i was feeling very anxious so i came to these types of videos. Thank God my music teacher suggested these for class.