Giant Musician Piano Library: Chopin

Author: (Polish) Chopin Composer
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-04-01
Features: Chopin, a Polish composer and pianist, was born on March 1, 1810, in ?elazowa Wola, a suburb of Warsaw. His father was originally from France, and his mother was Polish. He was an exceptionally precocious child—writing poetry by the age of six—and his musical talent quickly proved he was destined to be the "successor to Mozart." At the age of nine, he performed publicly at a concert, but after the performance, he seemed more concerned about his collar than his extraordinary playing skills. He told his mother, "Everyone is looking at my collar, Mom." After graduating from secondary school, he enrolled at the Warsaw Conservatory while beginning his early creative activities. In 1830, he settled in Paris, where he spent the rest of his life. From then on, Chopin was never able to return to his homeland. At that time, the Polish national liberation movement was in full swing, and the struggle against foreign oppression and for freedom and independence deeply influenced young Chopin's thoughts, fostering his national sentiments and patriotic fervor. In 1837, he firmly refused the position of "Chief Pianist to His Imperial Majesty the Tsar" offered by the Russian Empire. Schumann described his music as "a cannon hidden among the flowers." Chopin declared to the world, "Poland will not perish," demonstrating his deep love for his country. In his later years, Chopin lived in solitude and painfully referred to himself as "a Polish orphan far from his mother." Starting in 1846, his creative output began to decline. This was partly due to the setbacks of the Polish national movement, which deeply affected him, and partly because of the breakdown of his relationship with the writer George Sand and his declining health, which greatly dampened his creative enthusiasm and worsened his physical condition. On October 17, 1849, Chopin died in his Paris apartment. On his deathbed, he instructed his family to transport his heart back to his homeland—Poland. Chopin's creative career can be divided into two periods, marked by 1830: the Warsaw period and the Paris period. During the Warsaw period, he completed his most important works of that time, the Piano Concerto No. 1 and the Piano Concerto No. 2. In the later Paris period, he composed heroic works linked to the Polish national liberation struggle, such as the Ballade No. 1 and the Polonaise in A-flat major, patriotic and heroic works like the Revolutionary Etude and the Scherzo in b minor, tragic works reflecting his sorrow for his homeland's fate, such as the Sonata in b minor, as well as numerous fantasies and nocturnes. When Chopin arrived in Paris in early September 1831, he learned of the suppression of the uprising by the Russian Empire and the fall of Warsaw, which deeply shook him. The Etude in c minor (also known as the Revolutionary Etude, 1831) and the Prelude in d minor (1831) were composed during this time. The perfect unity of intense indignation and sorrow with rigorous and refined artistic form became masterpieces of Chopin's early musical creativity. The Paris period was a time of artistic and intellectual maturity and a period of creative peak for Chopin. His profound national themes, innovative artistic forms, and musical style elevated his work to a level of perfection. Throughout his life, Chopin gave only thirty concerts but established a legendary reputation, a feat unparalleled in the history of piano performance. Chopin respected and inherited the tradition of classical music but developed a unique style in his playing. Especially in his Mazurkas and Polonaises, he creatively employed national folk modes, harmonies, and characteristic rhythms, demonstrating a true "Mazurian's" deep understanding of national character, style, and artistic language.