Stories: Saehyun Kim

Paris is where our story begins. Frédéric Chopin, Gabriel Fauré, and I – none of us were born in Paris, but we all found our way to the City of Light. The city opened the door of possibility in all three of our lives and continues to connect us through the passage of time. 

The album I recorded of music by Chopin and Fauré opens with my arrangement of Fauré’s song Après un rêve and closes with one by Alexis Weissenberg of Charles Trenet’s chanson En avril, à Paris – the latter is the album’s hidden gem, an homage to the city – which lends a symmetrical feel to the program. Between these two pillars are several of Fauré’s lesser-known early piano works, agleam with their charm and delicacy, coupled with Chopin’s 12 Études, Opus 25, and his Nocturne in D flat major. 

The combination of their music seemed most natural, as Fauré’s composition style would not have existed without Chopin’s works; the influence is clear in the touch of poetry and the profusion of colors in both of their music. Furthermore, the entire album, with a few possible exceptions, consists of songs, dances, or a combination of the two – even though the titles may suggest otherwise – which brings cohesion to the rather fragmented construction. 

Chopin’s Études – the set of which is at the heart of the album – enthralls the imagination. They are not merely “studies” for finger dexterity but rather exercises for bringing the vivid imagery the music offers to life through sound. The greatest masters – Alfred Cortot, Alfred Brendel, Sviatoslav Richter, the list goes on – proved that the imagination frees and stimulates the soul of the artist. One can see the result of their specific, personal imagery in their transcendent playing, which convinces and intoxicates the listener. Moreover, Albert Einstein once said that “imagination is more important than knowledge,” and I trust this claim, given the depth of knowledge the man possessed.  

And so, I have listed all of my excuses to reject most of the nicknames often attributed to these Études, none of which, in fact, were given by the composer himself. For the first Étude, I do not imagine an “Aeolian Harp.” Rather, my mind often travels back to when I had cotton candy as a child and would lift it up to the pink, cloudless sky – swimming in its sweetness – and the two would overlap. For the second Étude, I imagine that one mosquito that caused me sleepless nights. For the Third, I see a pony that dreams of becoming a unicorn. For the Fourth, I imagine a girl chasing her younger brother who just broke her Lego sculpture, painfully stepping on its remnants on the floor along the way. 

The message is clear: as you listen, unleash your imagination – uninhibited and unashamed. 

Saehyun Kim: Chopin Fauré is available now on Warner Classics; saehyunkim.com