Frédéric François Chopin

A gentle and sensitivity pianist who came with a terrifying skill. The pianist who will stole your heart with his virtuosic play and deepest expression.

Who is Chopin

Chopin was born on March 1, 1810, in the small village of Zelazowa Wola, Duchy of Warsaw (now Poland). His father, Nicholas, was a French émigré who was working as a bookkeeper when he met and married Justyna Krzyzanowska. Soon after Chopin was born, Nicholas found employment as a tutor for aristocratic families in Warsaw. His father's employment exposed young Chopin to cultured Warsaw society, and his mother introduced him to music at an early age. By age 6, Chopin was ably playing the piano and composing tunes. Recognizing his talent, his family engaged professional musician Wojciech Zywny for lessons, and soon the pupil surpassed the teacher in both technique and imagination.

While in Paris, Chopin found his delicate style didn't always enthrall the larger concert audiences, who had been exposed to the works of Franz Schubert and Ludwig van Beethoven. A fortuitous introduction to the Rothschild family opened new doors, however, and Chopin soon found employment in the great parlors of Paris as both recitalist and teacher. His increased income allowed him to live well and compose such pieces as Nocturnes of Opp. 9 and 15, the Scherzo in B-flat minor, Op. 31 and the Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 35.

Though Chopin had had youthful love affairs and was at one time engaged, none of his relationships lasted more than a year. In 1838 he began a love affair with French novelist Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, a.k.a., George Sand. The couple spent a harsh winter on the Spanish island of Majorca, where Chopin became ill. In March 1839, Sand realized that Chopin needed medical attention and took him to Marseille, where he was diagnosed with consumption (tuberculosis).

After a period of recuperation in Marseille, in May 1839 Chopin and Sand settled south of Paris in Nohant, Sand's country home. The next seven years proved to be the happiest and most productive period of Chopin's life. He steadily composed a series of masterpieces, including the Sonata in B Minor, the Opus 55 Nocturnes and the Opus 56 Mazurkas. The growing demand for his new works and his greater understanding of the publishing business also brought increased income and provided Chopin an elegant lifestyle.

By the mid-1840s, both Chopin's health and his relationship with Sand were deteriorating. His behavior had also become erratic, possibly due to an undiagnosed form of epilepsy. Their affair ended in 1848 after, among other things, Sand's unflattering portrayal of their relationship in her 1846 novel Lucrezia Floriani. In the end, both parties were too proud to reconcile, and Chopin's spirit and health were broken. He made an extended tour to the British Isles, where he struggled under an exhausting schedule, making his last public appearance on November 16, 1848. He then returned to Paris, where he died on October 17, 1849, at age 39. His body was buried at Père Lachaise cemetery, but his heart was interred at a church in Warsaw, near the place of his birth.

Etude Op.25 No.11 (Winter Wind)

This etude used an ABA form with heroic style. Chopin tricked the people with the first 4 bars with a simple thing and started with a very fast and powerful running note in right hand and left hand, still using the same motive with the first 4 bars. But actually the right hand was just a chromatic scale, because the chromatic was inserted by other notes and with a very fast tempo, it’s easy to blur and feel so hard. And not just chromatic ever, we also see in some place that’s not chromatic but used the same idea.

Also Chopin’s music has a classic purity and discretion, without a sign of exhibitionism. He found within himself and in the tragic story of Poland the chief sources of his inspiration.

he expanded to the proportions of symphonic poems for the piano. The waltz, meanwhile, offered him a courtly dance medium on a smaller scale, and he responded not by expanding it but by bringing it to unprecedented levels of polish and grace. From the great Italian singers of the age, he learned the art of “singing” on the piano, and his nocturnes reveal the perfection of his cantabile style and delicate charm of ornamentation. His ballades and scherzos, on the other hand, have a dramatic turbulence and passion that effectively dispel the notion that Chopin was merely a drawing-room composer.

Let's listen to the piece by Polini

Chopin "Sensitive Emotions Beneath the Hardest Technique"

Actually the emotion is in everyone. Music is always together with emotion but I think it’s impossible that Chopin’s music will stand out in expression. In my opinion, many times a music style will depend on the composer 's characteristics. That’s why Chopin’s music will be sensitive and his character is created in a variety of styles, sometimes his image and feeling has against itself we quite not know well about his private life. It looks like many times in his music want to expiate his awkwardness, Because there's also variety in his music style. He is also sensitive a lot in his feelings so we can see from his letters. But how about his technique, he was never under anyone. I think one reason is about the balancing between the expression and strictness in classical form and also that he plays just the piano, so his music shows a lot of expression and virtuosity at the same time.