Pianist Byron Janis recently shared his thoughts on what makes "Chopin Chopin" in a column for the Wall Street Journal. As he explains:

No word is more important in describing the playing of Chopin's music than rubato. It comes from the Italian word robare, to rob, but in music it means "give and take." If you steal a little time here, you've got to give it back. For example, in playing a melodic phrase, if you go forward in the first two bars, you must pull back in the next two so that the freedom you took does not break the rhythmical pulse. The classic feeling will come from the left hand, which Chopin insisted should be played as evenly as possible. Then the right hand can have its romance and play as freely as the left hand will allow. Every performer will use that freedom differently, and that is the beauty of the "disciplined freedom" that makes Chopin Chopin.

Janis also uses this concept of "disciplined freedom" in his book Chopin and Beyond to transition from discussing architecture to music. There he states that "A phrase must be given the same kind of disciplined freedom so all of its beauty can shine through."

Can we also use this concept in thinking about religious life?

You can read more here.