Frederic Chopin

Frédéric François Chopin, Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin actually ( Żelazowa Wola , March 1 or February 22 [3] 1810 - Paris , October 17 1849 ) was a Polish composerand virtuoso pianist of the romantic . He is widely regarded as the greatest composer that Poland has produced and is considered one of the greatest composers in thehistory of music .

Chopin was born in the village of Żelazowa Wola in the Duchy of Warsaw, the son of a Polish mother and a French father emigrated. In his early life he was known as a child prodigy on the piano. In November 1830, twenty years old, he went abroad. As a result of the repression following the November Uprising in Poland (1830-1831) he was one of the many refugees during the " Great Emigration .

In Paris, Chopin lived a comfortable life as a composer and piano teacher. He gave few concerts. In France he used the French versions of his name and eventually took French citizenship in order to prevent it would depend on the documents of the Russian Empire . After a number of failed romantic adventures with Polish women, between 1837 and 1847 he had a stormy relationship with the French writer George Sand (Aurore Dude Vant). Chopin's already poor health eventually deteriorated and in 1849 he died in Paris 39 years old to tuberculosis .

His oeuvre consists almost entirely of compositions for solo piano. Although many of them are technically very demanding, his style is characterized by emphasizing subtle nuance and expressive depth. Chopin built various musical forms further as the ballad and the scherzo and was responsible for several innovations in forms such as thepiano sonata , waltz , nocturne , étude , impromptu and prelude . His compositions are included in the sample of Romanticism .

Content

 * 1 Life
 * 2 Compositions
 * 3 List of works
 * 4 Media
 * 5 External link

[Life- edit ]
Chopin's father was the Frenchman Nicolas Chopin who emigrated to Poland at the age of sixteen and married Justyna Krzyzanowska. Already at the age of seven Chopin could spend his first compositions, a polonaise in G minor and Polonaise in B flat major . On his eighth year he gave his first public concert.

At the age of twenty he went to Paris to continue his career as a pianist and composer there. Due to political developments in Poland, which was unsuccessfully rebelled in 1830 against the Russian invaders, he could not return to his homeland, and he remained, like many other Poland in exile in France. He Frenchified his name. (His surname is written as Szopen in Poland). The last eighteen years of his life he lived in Paris, except for short stay in England , Scotland and Majorca . Here he spent the winter of 1838/39 four months with his lover George Sand in cell 4 of the Carthusian monastery in Valldemosa.

The composer has long been a relationship had with George Sand, pseudonym of Aurore Dupin, Baroness Dude Vant, a somewhat eccentric writer's name, which kept them in men's clothes to walk around and cigars and pipe smoke.

Chopin probably died as a result of tuberculosis, although other ailments are called, like cystic fibrosis and alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency, a metabolic disorder.

He was buried in the cemetery Pere Lachaise in Paris, except for his heart, which is built into a pillar in the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw . After his death, many unpublished pieces by his sister brought to Poland, where they were destroyed by a furious house fire.

Fryderyk Chopin was wholeheartedly devoted to Poland. According to some of his music are always heard loneliness and longing for his homeland.

[Compositions edit ]
Chopin is the piano composer par excellence. He has his compositions in part inspired by Polish music . In his mazurka 's and polonaises finds Polish influences. He is also well known for his ballads, nocturnes, etudes and waltzes.

The 24 Preludes by Chopin be considered a milestone in classical music. Seemingly simple pieces by shape and tone use (all keys are used systematically) form a powerful but fragile whole.

MENU

0:00

Sergei Rachmaninoff plays theGrande Valse brillante (waltz in E flat major (1831), Opus 18) by Frédéric Chopin. This recording is dated January 21, 1921.

Written by the composer party Polonaise in As on. 53 (1842)

Chopin wrote primarily piano music, where elegant, expressive melodies, harmonies and free forms are combined with a demanding piano technique. His work represents the culmination of the romantic piano music. It represents a personal synthesis of traditional Polish and Western European classical elements.

Unlike other romantics such as Robert Schumann and Franz Liszt Chopin was dismissive of clear literary or biographical references in his work. Yet Chopin lived in a time when nationalist feelings rampant. In the case of Poland, this feeling was exacerbated by the occupation of their country by Russia, Prussia and Austria. That Chopin's homeland was Poland, is clearly audible in many of his compositions. His girlfriend and partner George Sand told him that he was more Polish than Poland itself:
 * The heart of his people beats in his chest. I know of no other musician who is a greater patriot than Chopin. He is more Polish than any Frenchman has ever been French, each and every Italian Italian German German. He is a Pole and nothing but a Pole, and from the destroyed, occupied Poland comes forth his soul, and his music.

Part of Chopin's works are written for students in the environment of the Parisian salon. The basis of his compositional technique is the improvisation, which is increasingly deepened and internalized. From a stylistic evolution is hardly mentioned. However, the reflection of its activities is observable. During his career as a pianist, he wrote concertos, like Don Juan variations and the two piano concertos. His music gave rise to many smaller works such as mazurkas, etudes, preludes, nocturnes and waltzes.Compositions such as ballads, scherzi, barcarolle and sonatas were intended for himself and a select group of intimates.

His toucher must have been extremely sensitive and light. The elegance and clarity of his style descends from John Field , Muzio Clementi and Johann Nepomuk Hummel, who in turn were influenced by Mozart. About Chopin's "tempo rubato "Much has been written. Some consider it in the tradition of strict rubato Mozart (with metric tight sustained left), others as the more free rubato Liszt.

The texture in his compositions is formed by long-chromatic colored melodies that are embedded in a large variety of accompaniments, often provided with a hiddencounterpoint . This melody formation is greatly influenced by Vincenzo Bellini - and is therefore seen as a continuation of the bel canto tradition - and had an impact on Richard Wagner . In the area of the harmonics is Chopin was one of the most important innovators of the 19th century. In his use of dissonance , chromaticism , modality and in - especially in slow introductions - avoiding a clear head key, he sometimes went so far as to the functional operation of harmony poured out for staining.

The ballad and instrumental character piece is perhaps Chopin's invention, as well as the pathetic, non-humorous scherzo, which is an intensified impromptu him. The etude was an expression piece of virtuoso character in form related to Clementi, and among others by Liszt, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin been followed, as in Claude Debussy .

List of works [ edit ]
Final resting place of Chopin atPere Lachaise
 * Piano Album Leaf; "Allegro de Concerto; Andante et Grande Polonaise spianato; Andantino; 4 Ballades, Barcarolle ; Berceuse; Bolero; 2 bourrées; Canon; Cantabile;Contra Dance; 3 Ecossaises; 27 Etudes ; Fantasy; Fugue; 4 Impromptu programs; Largo; 69 Mazurkas ; 2 Marches ; 21 Nocturnes; 16 Polonaises; 24 Preludes; 4 Rondos;4 Scherzi; 3 Sonatas; Tarantelle; 4 Variation Works; Rollers 20;
 * piano four hands: 1 Variation Work;
 * 2 Pianos: 1 Rondo;
 * flute / piano: 1 Variation Work;
 * cello / piano: "Grand Duo"; Introduction and Polonaise; Sonata;
 * Violin / Cello / Piano Trio;
 * vocal / piano: 19 Songs (Polish)
 * piano / orchestra "Grande Polonaise '; Grande Fantaisie sur des airs polonais'; 'Krakowiak'; 2 Piano Concertos; 1 Variation Work.

Media [ edit ]

 * European Archive Royalty Free recordings of Chopin LPs, the European Archive
 * Chopin: the poet of the piano Anh Tran
 * Ballade no. 4 (midi), from Mutopia
 * Recordings of Chopin