Play Chopin's "Wiosna (Spring)" Your Way! (PIYW #9, July 2026)

rsl12

PIYW #9: Play Chopin's "Wiosna" Your Way

Play It Your Way is a quasi-monthly event for beginners, professionals, classical, jazz, or pop pianists and everyone in between! We are starting work on "Wiosna (Spring)" by Chopin (B. 117). Use the links below to find the sheet music you like, and when you are ready, post your performance in the submission thread. Perfection is not expected!

Previous PIYWs:

PIYW #6: Play "Lean On Me" Your Way
PIYW #7: Play "Over the Rainbow" Your Way
PIYW #8: Play "How Long Blues" Your Way (there is still plenty of time to participate in this one!)

Full List of Previous PIYWs

Thanks to rsl12 for this month's selection! Please suggest pieces for future "Play It Your Way" events by using the suggestion box. The theme of the next PIYW (to be announced in July) is "Post-Classical", but feel free to submit good ideas across all genres.

Guidelines

This is not a contest! It is meant to be a casual and fun event.
You can use this thread to discuss your preparation of the piece, or anything else related to PIYW. To submit a recording of your performance, go to the submission thread.
All PIYW submissions will remain hidden from public view until July 15. However, there is no deadline for when you need to submit your performance. Although most participants submit their recording before that date, you may submit at any time.
Use the recital schedule to plan your participation in future recitals!

"Wiosna (Spring)" by Chopin (1838)

B. 117 (grade 3)

The original version (Op 74 No 2) has a Polish vocal part:

Liszt version (grade 6):

From Chris at the Piano blog:

Wiosna is the Polish word for spring, and it is also the title of one of Chopin’s songs for voice and piano. It is part of his Op. 74, a collection of 17 Polish songs that he composed between 1829 and 1847.

...[Wiosna] is based on a poem by Stefan Witwicki, a friend of Chopin. The poem expresses the joy and beauty of spring, and Chopin’s music reflects this with a lively and cheerful melody, accompanied by flowing arpeggios in the piano.

Some additional information about the piano-only version as well as Liszt's version (Wikipedia):

Chopin himself arranged the piano part of Wiosna as a piece for piano alone, Andantino in G minor, B. 117. There exist five manuscript versions of this arrangement, dated between April 1838 and 1 September 1848.

Between 1847 and 1860, Chopin's friend Franz Liszt arranged six of the Op. 74 songs as piano transcriptions under the title Six Chants polonais, S.480, a set which has long been a concert and recording favourite.

English translation of the lyrics:

Droplets of dew sparkle,
A spring whispers in the open field;
Hidden in heather,
Somewhere a heifer's bell rings.

Pretty gentle open field
Picture views form happily,
All around, flowers release fragrance,
And bushes bloom.

Graze and wander, my little herd,
I sit by a rock,
A sweet song that I like
I'll sing for myself.

A pleasant quiet abandonded place!
Yet some regrets wander in my mind,
my heart mourns,
and a tear forms in my eye.

The tear escapes my eye,
Within me sings a stream,
To me from above,
A skylark responds.

His wings he spreads,
Barely visible to the eye,
Higher, higer...
Lost already among the clouds.

Above prairies and fields he flies,
Still singing his song;
And the song from the ground
He takes up into the sky!

Links to Sheet Music / Lead Sheet

You are not limited to only the music linked below. Feel free to find or create your own version.
You do not have to complete or perfect the piece to submit it, and don't be afraid to simplify or shorten the piece.
Improvisation, backing tracks, and backing humans are all allowed.

Sheet music (Listed easiest to hardest):

B. 117 (Piano only) IMSLP link (Grade 3)
Op 72 No 2 (Piano and voice) IMSLP link
Liszt's version: IMSLP Link (Grade 6)

rsl12

This is an easy-to-play Chopin that shouldn't take too long to prepare, so I think a lot of people might enjoy participating. (In particular: @Nightowl , @BartK , @Greta99 , @keff . Maybe @iternabe and @Jane .)

This looks like a good breakdown of the piece (though I guess you have to subscribe to their website to see the full thing):

Nightowl

rsl12 Thanks for flagging this up. 🙂 It seems easier than most Chopin pieces, but it would take me quite a while to polish this piece. I like it, but not enough to commit to that.

Spring is a busy time for a keen gardener like me, so I'll be outside making the most of real life spring, rather than playing "Spring".

BartK

@rsl12 I have a question about the "your way" part of this. Is it supposed to be an improvisation based on the piece? This piece itself is quite easy for me but it's the doing something my way that might be a challenge.

rsl12

BartK "Your way" can mean improvisation, but for most people it means your interpretation, and almost everyone plays straight from sheet music, particularly for a classical piece like this. As an example, here is the most recent classical PIYW:

https://forum.pianotell.com/d/2083-piyw-5-play-haydns-divertimento-in-g-major-your-way-is-now-live

twocats

I like easy! 😆

I'm not familiar with this piece, but count me in. @BartK just do your best interpretation! I hope we get more participants to join in the fun.

KevinM

Had my first go at Wiosna. My fingers got tied up in knots in multiple place at first but it is short enough with repeated patterns that it is easy to focus on the awkward bits.

rsl12

I put an announcement on reddit:

Clara

rsl12 I've come from reddit, thank you for sharing over there! Haven't played piano in a couple of months after life got busy, this might be the thing to get me back into it

rsl12

Clara Welcome! Let me know if you have any trouble getting around. How long did you play before your break?

Clara

rsl12 thanks, I've been playing for somewhere between a year - 1 and a half years, I've been playing pieces that are around grade 3 abrsm so this is right around my level

timeless_sonata

I am here from Reddit. I was wondering if this group meets online for any kind of gathering? Or is it for only playing the pieces and posting it up?

rsl12

timeless_sonata For Play It Your Way (PIYW), we post recordings. If you're interested in a live gathering, @Seeker was trying to start something not too long ago. You should let him know you are interested. Check out the following discussion:

https://forum.pianotell.com/d/2373-virtual-studio-recital

Another discussion that might interest you is the "One Chance" thread. As a way of practicing for live performances, people are recording themselves playing cold, no warm-up, only one take:

https://forum.pianotell.com/d/2352-your-one-chance-post-your-first-shot-recording

rsl12

A few initial thoughts:

I played through the Liszt version. In the original post, it's labeled as a "grade 6" piece (based on pianosyllabus.com), but I think grade 5 is more accurate.
In my original post, I quoted the Chris at the Piano blog: "The poem expresses the joy and beauty of spring, and Chopin’s music reflects this with a lively and cheerful melody, accompanied by flowing arpeggios in the piano." But if you read though the poem, it's not that cheerful, and anyways the melody on its own doesn't sound particularly cheerful to me! The Liszt version's tempo is andantino malinconico, which I think is more in keeping with the poem.
but having played though it, I think it sounds good when played turbulently, even though that's not the tone of the poem. I can't tell if the Chopin versions would also sound good this way. I'm going to push in that direction for now.

rsl12

rsl12 I played through the Liszt version. In the original post, it's labeled as a "grade 6" piece (based on pianosyllabus.com), but I think grade 5 is more accurate.

I have to retract this. The last page bumps up the difficulty to 6. Anyone attempting this version, I would start by practicing the last page (or, two measures before the last page in the edition I'm using). If one wants to have a smooth melody line without too much pedal, some slightly tricky fingering is needed.

I tried the B117 version. Much easier, and superficially it sounds almost the same as the first page of the Liszt. But the turbulent interpretation that I suggested doesn't work in B117. If I were to play that one, I think I would also go the melancholy route.

rsl12

Clara okay, you're right, this sounds exactly right for your level. Good luck and if you feel like it, we all enjoy hearing progress reports.

KevinM

My initial thoughts is that it is quite a melancholy piece and calling it Wiosna is an interesting naming choice.

I am not inclined to go with a turbulent interpretation, and will go with the melancholy vibe I'm getting from it.

BartK

KevinM My initial thoughts is that it is quite a melancholy piece and calling it Wiosna is an interesting naming choice.

Looking at this year's wiosna here in Poland I'd say it's the perfect vibe. 😆

rsl12

BartK Searching for "springtime in Poland" yields pictures like this:

Do I trust Bing, or do I trust Bart??

rsl12

The Liszt version has the craziest finger notation I've ever seen. How long does it take you to figure out the fingering in the first measure? It took me a few minutes.

pianoloverus

rsl12 The Liszt version has the craziest finger notation I've ever seen. How long does it take you to figure out the fingering in the first measure? It took me a few minutes.

The problem with the notation seems to be that Godowsky had three suggestions for the LH fingering for the last three notes but chose to put one of them above the last three notes(perhaps because there is no space left below) which makes it look like it's for the right hand. I only realized it was another left hand fingering after seeing how awkward and unsuitable it would be for the right hand.