Click to listen to Prelude op. 28 by ChopinFor a century and a half, Chopin has been generally accepted by both critics and people as the greatest composer of music for the piano. He had the rare gift of composing very personal melodies, expressive of heartfelt emothion but never merely sentimental. Although "romantic" in essence, Chopin's music has none of the expected trappings of Romanticism. There is a classic purity and discreation in everything he wrote and no sign of Romantic exhibitionism.
Chopin's father was a Frenchman who emigrated to Poland, married a Polish woman and became an ardent Polish patriot. He had lived in his adopted land more than twenty years by the time Frederic was born. The child swiftly developed as a piano prodigy and in short order was performing before the rich and royal. He played in public when he was only eight and he began to compose soon afterward. He studied at the Warsaw Conservatory form 1826 to 1829 before leaving Poland in 1830. He settled in Paris in 1831, and, except for some travel, lived there the rest of his life.
Chopin was one of the earliest composers to get rich through his music. The Parisian nobility fawned over him--especially aristocratic ladies, who found the gaunt dream-eyed Chopin the paragon of Romantic idealism. He in turn, charged them enormous fees for private lessons.
Despite this, Chopin chose for his one passionate love an older woman who dressed like a man, smoked cigars, and professed socialism. Aurore Dudevant--know to literature and posterity as George Sand--was a dumpy figure and a limber mind. In addition to a husband, she was known to have had several lovers besides Chopin including Franz Liszt. The peculiar affair lasted for nine years, until constant bickering, much of it involving wrangles with George's two adult children, drove them apart. Meanwhile, Chopin had ruined his always delicate health; what was intended for a romantic idyll on Majorca in the winter of 1838-39 turned into a miserable ordeal of damp weather that dangerously weakened his lungs. He was not yet forty when he died of tuberculosis. He was buried in France.
"Chopin was a master of
small musical forms. His works for solo piano include three sonatas,
for ballads, four large-scale scherzos, about 40 mazurkas in a Polish
dance rhythm. His other solo pieces include more than 25 etudes, 18
waltzes, 18 nocturnes, a barcarole, a berceuse, a bolero, a
fantaisie, a tarantella, and single work. His etudes are valuable for
their music and for use in teaching piano.
Chopin did much to
influence piano composition. He had a keen appreciation for the
capability of the piano to produce beautiful music. He designed his
compositions to display the resources of the instrument to full
effect. His best works were written in patterns that he worked out or
perfected himself. Chopin also influenced the whole future of music
by including Slavic folk harmonies and rhythms in his work.
Some biographers and
critics say Chopin's music empresses Polish patriotism. The Slavic
harmonies and rhythms in his mazurkas, and polonaises show his ties
with Poland. However, the rest of his music is at least as French or
international in style as it is Polish. It is probably safe to say
Chopin was first of all a creative musician, not a
nationalist.."
Links to
other Chopin sites
The
Unofficial Frederic Chopin Homepage
This site has
a great deal of fun information. It has 200 midi files, a complete
list of Chopin's works with the dates of composition and when they
composition was first performed. It has a page of quotes from Chopin
himself and quotes of his contemporaries about him. This is a good
site.
Chopin Foundation of
the United States
Lots of good information
on this site.
