Frédéric Chopin

Frédéric-François Chopin (March 1, 1810 – October 17, 1849) was a Polish composer and pianist of Polish and French parentage who wrote almost exclusively for the piano. He was born as Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, adopting the French variant "Frédéric-François" when he left Poland for Paris at age 20, never to return. His surname is also sometimes spelled Szopen in Polish texts.

Music

Chopin's music for the piano combined a unique rhythmic sense (particularly his use of rubato, chromatic inflections, and counterpoint), as well as a piano technique which was of his own creation. This mixture produces a particularly fragile sound in the melody and the harmony, which are nonetheless underpinned by solid and interesting harmonic techniques. He took the new salon genre of the nocturne, invented by Irish composer John Field, to a deeper level of sophistication, and endowed popular dance forms, such as the Polish mazurka and the Viennese waltz with a greater range of melody and expression. Chopin was the first to write Ballades (a genre he invented) and the Scherzi as individual pieces. Chopin also took the example of Bach's préludes and transformed the genre.

Related Topics:
Nocturne - John Field - Polish - Mazurka - Viennese - Waltz

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Several melodies of Chopin's have become well known; because of their unique melodic shape they are instantly memorable and easily recognized. Among these are the Revolutionary Étude (Op. 10, No. 12), the Minute Waltz (Op. 64, No. 1), and the third movement of his Funeral March sonata (Op. 35), which is used as an iconic representation of grief. Interestingly, the Revolutionary Étude was not written with the failed Polish uprising against Russia in mind, it merely appeared at that time. The Funeral March was written for funerals, but it was not inspired by any recent personal loss of Chopin's. Other melodies have even been used as the basis of popular songs, such as the slow section of the Fantaisie-Impromptu (Op. 66). These pieces often rely on an intense and personalized chromaticism, as well as a melodic curve that resembles the operas of Chopin's day - the operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and especially Bellini. Chopin used the piano to re-create the gracefulness of the singing voice, and talked and wrote constantly about singers.

Related Topics:
Revolutionary Étude - Minute Waltz - Funeral March - Fantaisie-Impromptu

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Chopin's style and gifts became increasingly influential: Schumann was a huge admirer of Chopin's music — although the feeling was not mutual — and he took melodies from Chopin and even named a piece of his Carnaval Suite after Chopin; Franz Liszt, another great admirer of the composer, transcribed several Chopin songs for unaccompanied piano. Liszt later dedicated a movement of his Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses to Chopin, titling it Funérailles and laconically dedicating it "October 1849." The mid-section recalls, powerfully, the famous octave trio section of Chopin's Polonaise, op. 53.

Related Topics:
Carnaval Suite - Franz Liszt - Polonaise, op. 53

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Chopin had strong opinions of how his music should be performed and many common performances practices of Chopin today are at odds with his aesthetic. Arguably, some of the best records of Chopin include those by Alfred Cortot, Ignaz Friedman, Raoul Koczalski, Arthur Rubinstein, Nikita Magaloff, Witold Malcuzynski, Samson François, Byron Janis, Maurizio Pollini and Krystian Zimerman. Rubinstein said the following about Chopin's

Related Topics:
Alfred Cortot - Ignaz Friedman - Raoul Koczalski - Arthur Rubinstein - Nikita Magaloff - Witold Malcuzynski - Samson François - Byron Janis - Maurizio Pollini - Krystian Zimerman

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music and its universality:

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Chopin was a genius of universal appeal. His music conquers the most diverse audiences. When the first notes of Chopin sound through the concert hall there is a happy sigh of recognition. All over the world men and women know his music. They love it. They are moved by it. Yet it is not "Romantic music" in the Byronic sense. It does not tell stories or paint pictures. It is expressive and personal, but still a pure art. Even in this abstract atomic age, where emotion is not fashionable, Chopin endures. His music is the universal language of human communication. When I play Chopin I know I speak directly to the hearts of people!

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Chopin performed his own works in concert halls but most often in his salon for friends. Only later in life, as his disease progressed, did Chopin give up public performance altogether.

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Several of Chopin's piano works carry with them their own technique: his préludes (Op. 28) and études (Op. 10 and 25) rapidly became standard works. They also became influential, inspiring both Liszt's Transcendental Études and Schumann's Symphonic Études.

Related Topics:
Transcendental Études - Symphonic Études

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Style

Often Chopin is played in the late Romantic style, with an excess of rubatos and exaggerated dynamics. Although Chopin lived in the 1800s, he was educated in the tradition of Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart and Clementi; he even used Clementi's piano method with his own students. One of his students, Friederike Muller, wrote the following in her diary about Chopin's playing style:

Related Topics:
Romantic style - Beethoven - Haydn - Mozart - Clementi - Friederike Muller

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: His playing was always noble and beautiful; his tones sang, whether in full forte or softest piano. He took infinite pains to teach his pupils this legato, cantabile style of playing. His most severe criticism was "He—or she—does not know how to join two notes together." He also demanded the strictest adherence to rhythm. He hated all lingering and dragging, misplaced rubatos, as well as exaggerated ritardandos ... and it is precisely in this respect that people make such terrible errors in playing his works.

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Many people still play Chopin in a romantic style, and often with a pleasing result. However, it is good to be aware of what Chopin had in mind when he was composing.

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Chopin and Romanticism

Chopin regarded the Romantic movement with indifference, if not distaste, and rarely associated himself with it directly. Even so, today Chopin's music is considered to be the paragon of the Romantic style.

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However, his music has less of the expected trappings of Romanticism: There is a classical purity and discretion in his music, with little Romantic exhibitionism, personified by his reverence of Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Chopin based the structure of his preludes on the Well-tempered Clavier of Bach). Chopin also never indulged in 'scene painting' in his music or affixing to his works fanciful or descriptive titles, unlike his contemporary Robert Schumann. Also, unlike his flamboyant contemporary Franz Liszt, Chopin was withdrawn from public life.

Related Topics:
Johann Sebastian Bach - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Well-tempered Clavier - Robert Schumann - Franz Liszt

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All of his works, without exception, involve the piano, whether solo or accompanied. They are predominantly for solo piano but include a small number of works for piano and secondary instruments, including a second piano, violin, cello, voice, and orchestra.

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