Frederic Chopin
Frédéric-François Chopin (
March 1,
1810 -
October 17,
1849) is widely seen as the greatest of
Polish composers and an outstanding
pianist as well. He wrote almost exclusively for the piano.
He was born as Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, only adopting the French form when he left Poland for Paris, never to return. His name is also sometimes spelt in Polish texts as
Szopen.
Born in Żelazowa Woła in central
Poland to a French-born father and Polish mother, he started his musical education in
1816, composed his first work in
1817, and made his first appearance on stage in
1818. He studied music first with
Joseph Elsner, and after
1826 in the Musical School in
Warsaw mainly under Wojciech Zywny.
In
1830 he left Poland for
France and lived the rest of his life in and near
Paris. He was companion to novelist
George Sand for ten years, but they agreed to go their separate ways as his illness advanced. A notable episode in their time together was a turbulent and miserable winter on
Majorca living in unheated peasant huts for much of the time. Chopin reflected much of the mood of this desparate time in the 24 Preludes, Op.28, the bulk of which were written in Majorca. The weather had such a serious impact on Chopin's health (he suffered chronic tuberculosis) that he and George Sand were compelled to return to save his life. He survived but he never really recovered from this, and we can only wonder what he might have produced had his life not been cut to a tragically short 39 years.
His friends included
Franz Liszt,
Vincenzo Bellini (beside whom he is buried in the Père Lachaise), and
Eugene Delacroix. He was also friends with composers
Hector Berlioz and
Robert Schumann, but he wasn't a fan of their music, although he did dedicate some of his compositions to them. Chopin died of
tuberculosis in
1849. He had requested Mozart's Requiem to be sung at his funeral, which was to be at the Church of the Madeleine. The Requiem has major parts for female singers but the Madeleine had never permitted female singers in its choir. The funeral was delayed for almost 2 weeks while the matter raged - the church finally relented and Chopin's final wish was granted. Although Chopin is buried in Paris, his heart is entombed in a pillar in the Church of the Holy Cross in
Warsaw, Poland.
Chopin's music belongs to the
Romantic period of
classical music. However, Chopin regarded the Romantic movement in a negative way and did not want to associate himself with it. Nowadays, Chopin's music is considered to be the paragon of the Romantic style.
All of his works, without exception, include the piano. These are predominantly for solo piano, but there is small number of works with other instruments and with voice.
Piano solos
- 4 ballades
- 1 bolero
- 2 bourrees
- 3 ecossaises
- 27 etudes
- 2 fantasies (1 if you exclude the Fantasie-Impromptu)
- 1 fugue
- 4 impromptus (3 if you exclude the Fantasie-Impromptu)
- 58 mazurkas
- 21 nocturnes
- 17 polonaises (16 if you exclude the hybrid piece containing a section for piano solo ('Andante spianato'), and a section for piano and orchestra ('Grande Polonaise brillante'). The piano part of the second section can also be played as a solo, thus fitting into this category. The same piano part can also be played with the Andante spianato preceding it, which is as hard to classify as the 'Polonaise-Fantasie' and the 'Fantasie-Impromptu'. If anybody can explain all that in a more concise way, please feel free.)
- 26 preludes
- 4 scherzos
- 3 sonatas
- 19 waltzes
2 Pianos
(fill in details - may also include piano duets, 4-h at 1-p)
Piano and Orchestra
- 2 concertos for piano and orchestra
- 4 other works - Variations on La ci darem la mano; 'Krakowiak'; 'Grand Fantaise on Polish Airs'; 'Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise brillante' (but see above for categorisation comments)
Voice
Chamber Works
In commemoration of the genius of FrÃÂédÃÂéric Chopin there is an international piano competition held in
Warsaw every five years.
Works
List of waltzes by Chopin
External links