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| Composers Biography - Languages - |  |
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Frédéric Chopin
[ Life | Works
| Catalogue
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![[Frédéric Chopin Image]](../Dizionario/images/chopin.gif) |
| A young man of humble origins and the only son of a French father and a Polish mother, Chopin won early fame as a brilliant pianist within the relatively limited circles of his native country. He left Poland late in 1830, at the time of the unsuccessful national rising against Russian domination, and settled in Paris where he soon gained a reputation as "the most sensitive genius in existence". For some 10 years Chopin enjoyed a liaison with the woman novelist George Sand. By the time his relationhip with her ended in 1847 he was seriously ill with tuberculosis. His compositions, mainly for the piano, make a remarkable use of the newly developed instrument. His reliance on the sustaining pedal was as much a part of his compositional technique as it was a part of his piano playing.
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Virtually everything important Chopin wrote is for the piano and his songs are a minor part of his output. As a young musician Chopin provided himself with a number of pieces for piano and orchestra. These include two piano concertos, three works based on Polish themes, a "Fantasia", a "Krakowiak "and a "Grand polonaise", and a set of variations on a theme by Mozart. Chopin wrote an Introduction and Polonaise for cello and piano for an early patron and towards the end of his life a Cello Sonata. His G minor Piano Trio is a valuable addition to recital repertoire. He used the popular form of the Waltz in a score of such compositions, of which the so-called Minute Waltz is probably the best known of many of almost equal familiarity. - MIDI FILE - Waltzer op.64 n.2, for piano (3'26'') The Polish dance, the Polonaise, elevated from village to ball-room, provided the basis of another characteristic form, in 16 such works, written between 1817 (when Chopin was seven) and 1846. - MIDI FILE - Polonaise "Heroic" op.53, for piano (6'25'') The best known, among generally familiar works, are the Polonaise in A major, Opus 40 n. 1, the Polonaise in A flat, Opus 53, and the Polonaise- Fantaisie, Opus 61. Other Polish dances used by Chopin include the 62 Mazurkas. The four ballades are supposedly based on patriotic poems by Chopin's friend Mickiewicz, evocative narrative works with no precise extra-musical association.
- MIDI FILE - Ballade no.1 (8'43'') - MIDI FILE - Ballade no.2 (6'34'') - MIDI FILE - Ballade no. 3 (6'42'') - MIDI FILE - Ballade no. 4 (9'25'')
The 21 Nocturnes continue an evocative form initiated by the Irish pianist John Field.
Chopin wrote 26 Preludes, 24 of them completed during an ill-fated winter with George Sand in Majorca, and 27 Studies. - MIDI FILE - 24 Prèludes op.28 for piano (complete) (35'30'') Other compositions include 4 Scherzos, expansions of the earlier form into a more extended virtuoso piece, 3 Sonatas, a Berceuse, a Barcarolle, 4 Impromptus and a number of other works. All Chopin's music is of the greatest musical and technical importance, melodies often of operatic inspiration and harmonies and forms of considerable originality.
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