Frederic chopin biography for kids
Chopin biography for kids
Chopin took the new salon genre of the nocturne , invented by the Irish composer John Field , to a deeper level of sophistication. He was the first to write ballades [ ] and scherzi as individual concert pieces. Chopin also endowed popular dance forms with a greater range of melody and expression. Chopin's mazurkas , while originating in the traditional Polish dance the mazurek , differed from the traditional variety in that they were written for the concert hall rather than the dance hall; as J.
Barrie Jones puts it, "it was Chopin who put the mazurka on the European musical map". However, except for his Funeral March , the composer never named an instrumental work beyond genre and number, leaving all potential extramusical associations to the listener; the names by which many of his pieces are known were invented by others.
The last opus number that Chopin himself used was 65, allocated to the Cello Sonata in G minor. He expressed a deathbed wish that all his unpublished manuscripts be destroyed. At the request of the composer's mother and sisters, however, his musical executor Julian Fontana selected 23 unpublished piano pieces and grouped them into eight further opus numbers Opp.
Works published since have received alternative catalogue designations instead of opus numbers. The most recent catalogue of posthumously published works is that of the National Edition of the Works of Fryderyk Chopin , represented by the initials 'WN'. Chopin's original publishers included Maurice Schlesinger and Camille Pleyel. Chopin published his music in France, England, and the German states i.
Thus there are often three different "first editions" of each work.
Schubert franz biography: Frédéric François Chopin[n 1] (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; [n 2] 1 March – 17 October ) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano.
Each edition is different from the others; Chopin edited them separately, and at times he did some revision to the music while editing it. Furthermore, Chopin provided his publishers with varying sources, including autographs, annotated proofsheets, and scribal copies. Only recently have these differences gained greater recognition.
Improvisation stands at the centre of Chopin's creative processes.
However, this does not imply impulsive rambling: Nicholas Temperley writes that "improvisation is designed for an audience, and its starting-point is that audience's expectations, which include the current conventions of musical form". Barrie Jones suggests that "amongst the works that Chopin intended for concert use, the four ballades and four scherzi stand supreme", and adds that "the Barcarolle Op.
Chopin's mazurkas and waltzes are all in straightforward ternary or episodic form, sometimes with a coda. However, some also show unusual sophistication, for example, Op. As with the traditional polonaise, Chopin's works are in triple time and typically display a martial rhythm in their melodies, accompaniments, and cadences.
Unlike most of their precursors, they also require a formidable playing technique. His nocturnes are more structured, and of greater emotional depth, than those of Field, whom Chopin met in The preludes , many of which are very brief, were described by Schumann as "the beginnings of studies". Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier , Chopin's preludes move up the circle of fifths rather than Bach's chromatic scale sequence to create a prelude in each major and minor tonality.
The two mature Chopin piano sonatas No. In Op. The Prelude from Bach's Suite No. Chopin's harmonic innovations may have arisen partly from his keyboard improvisation technique. In his works, Temperley says, "novel harmonic effects often result from the combination of ordinary appoggiaturas or passing notes with melodic figures of accompaniment", and cadences are delayed by the use of chords outside the home key neapolitan sixths and diminished sevenths or by sudden shifts to remote keys.
Chord progressions sometimes anticipate the shifting tonality of later composers such as Claude Debussy , as does Chopin's use of modal harmony.
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In truth, nothing equals the lightness, the sweetness with which the composer preludes on the piano; moreover nothing may be compared to his works full of originality, distinction and grace. His style was based extensively on his use of a very independent finger technique. Jonathan Bellman writes that modern concert performance style — set in the " conservatory " tradition of late 19th- and 20th-century music schools, and suitable for large auditoria or recordings — militates against what is known of Chopin's more intimate performance technique.
Chopin's music is frequently played with rubato , "the practice in performance of disregarding strict time, 'robbing' some note-values for expressive effect". Charles Rosen comments that "most of the written-out indications of rubato in Chopin are to be found in his mazurkas It is probable that Chopin used the older form of rubato so important to Mozart An allied form of this rubato is the arpeggiation of the chords thereby delaying the melody note; according to Chopin's pupil Karol Mikuli , Chopin was firmly opposed to this practice.
He took infinite pains to teach his pupils this legato , cantabile style of playing. His most severe criticism was 'He — or she — does not know how to join two notes together. He hated all lingering and dragging, misplaced rubatos , as well as exaggerated ritardandos [ When living in Warsaw, Chopin composed and played on an instrument built by the piano-maker Fryderyk Buchholtz.
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He rated Pleyel's pianos as "non plus ultra" "nothing better". The "Polish character" of Chopin's work is unquestionable; not because he also wrote polonaises and mazurkas As an artist he looked for forms that stood apart from the literary-dramatic character of music which was a feature of Romanticism, as a Pole he reflected in his work the very essence of the tragic break in the history of the people and instinctively aspired to give the deepest expression of his nation For he understood that he could invest his music with the most enduring and truly Polish qualities only by liberating art from the confines of dramatic and historical contents.
This attitude toward the question of "national music" — an inspired solution to his art — was the reason why Chopin's works have come to be understood everywhere outside of Poland Therein lies the strange riddle of his eternal vigour. With his mazurkas and polonaises, Chopin has been credited with introducing to music a new sense of nationalism.
Schumann, in his review of the piano concertos, highlighted the composer's strong feelings for his native Poland, writing:. Now that the Poles are in deep mourning [after the failure of the November Uprising of ], their appeal to us artists is even stronger If the mighty autocrat in the north [i. Nicholas I of Russia ] could know that in Chopin's works, in the simple strains of his mazurkas, there lurks a dangerous enemy, he would place a ban on his music.
Chopin's works are cannon buried in flowers! The biography of Chopin published in under the name of Franz Liszt but probably written by Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein [ ] states that Chopin "must be ranked among the first musicians Some modern commentators have argued against exaggerating Chopin's primacy as a "nationalist" or "patriotic" composer.
Undoubtedly [Chopin's] use of traditional musical forms like the polonaise and mazurka roused nationalistic sentiments and a sense of cohesiveness amongst those Poles scattered across Europe and the New World While some sought solace in [them], others found them a source of strength in their continuing struggle for freedom.
Although Chopin's music undoubtedly came to him intuitively rather than through any conscious patriotic design, it served all the same to symbolize the will of the Polish people Jones comments that "Chopin's unique position as a composer, despite the fact that virtually everything he wrote was for the piano, has rarely been questioned.
Chopin's qualities as a pianist and composer were recognised by many of his fellow musicians. Schumann named a piece for him in his suite Carnaval , and Chopin later dedicated his Ballade No. A less fraught friendship was with Alkan, with whom he discussed elements of folk music, and who was deeply affected by Chopin's death.
Polish composers of the following generation included virtuosi such as Moritz Moszkowski ; but, in the opinion of J. Barrie Jones, his "one worthy successor" among his compatriots was Karol Szymanowski. Chopin's music was used in the ballet Chopiniana , choreographed by Michel Fokine and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. Sergei Diaghilev commissioned additional orchestrations — from Stravinsky, Anatoly Lyadov , Sergei Taneyev , and Nikolai Tcherepnin — for later productions, which used the title Les Sylphides.
Musicologist Erinn Knyt writes: "In the nineteenth century Chopin and his music were commonly viewed as effeminate, androgynous, childish, sickly, and 'ethnically other. Such genderization was not commonly applied to other genres among Chopin's works, such as the scherzo or the polonaise. Chopin's music remains very popular and is regularly performed, recorded and broadcast worldwide.
The world's oldest monographic music competition, the International Chopin Piano Competition , founded in , is held every five years in Warsaw. The British Library notes that "Chopin's works have been recorded by all the great pianists of the recording era. Numerous recordings of Chopin's works are available. Chopin for notable Chopin recordings, held every five years.
Chopin has figured extensively in Polish literature, both in serious critical studies and in fictional treatments. The earliest manifestation was probably an sonnet on Chopin by Leon Ulrich. Possibly the first venture into fictional treatments of Chopin's life was a fanciful operatic version of some of its events: Chopin The music — based on Chopin's own — was assembled by Giacomo Orefice , with a libretto by Angiolo Orvieto [ it ].
Chopin's life has been fictionalised in numerous films. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Polish composer and pianist — For other uses, see Chopin disambiguation.
Chopin biography livrevalue
Daguerreotype, c. Paris , France. Travel and domestic success. Mazurka in A minor, Op. Waltz in D-flat major, Op. Prelude in D-flat major, Op. Scherzo No. Martha Argerich , piano. Ballade No. Randolph Hokanson , piano. Problems playing these files? See media help. Titles, opus numbers and editions. Technique and performance style.
Karol Szymanowski , [ ]. In literature, stage, film and television. Only photographs survive. In a Spanish court on Majorca, partly by ruling out a piano that had been built after Chopin's visit there — probably after his death — decided which was the correct apartment. It was later returned to the church authorities, but it was not deemed safe yet to put it back in its former resting place.
It was stored in St. Hedwig's Church there. On 17 October , the 96th anniversary of Chopin's death, it was returned to its place in Holy Cross Church. Longman Pronunciation Dictionary 3rd ed. ISBN Fryderyk Chopin Institute. Archived from the original on 24 November Retrieved 29 November Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina. Archived from the original on 2 January Retrieved 27 June ISSN Archived from the original on 28 March Retrieved 1 July Archived from the original on 26 March Musicology Today.
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. Though Chopin had had youthful love affairs and was at one time engaged, none of his relationships lasted more than a year.
The couple spent a harsh winter on the Spanish island of Majorca, where Chopin became ill. In March , Sand realized that Chopin needed medical attention and took him to Marseille, where he was diagnosed with consumption tuberculosis. The next seven years proved to be the happiest and most productive period of Chopin's life. 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 mids, 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 after, among other things, Sand's unflattering portrayal of their relationship in her 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, Following the success of this concert, he was invited to perform a recital on a similar instrument in front of Tsar Alexander I, who was visiting Warsaw and was honoured with a diamond ring. The Leipzig Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung commended his "rich of musical ideas" in this, his first commercially released piece, and it gained him his attention from the foreign press.
Chopin spent his vacations away from Warsaw, from to , at a variety of locations. He was a guest of Dominik Dziewanowski, the father of a classmate, at Szafarnia between and He heard Polish rural folk music for the first time here. His letters home from Szafarnia which he dubbed "The Szafarnia Courier" , written in a very modern and vibrant Polish, thrilled his family with their parodies of Warsaw newspapers and showcased the youngster's creative talent.
His parents continued to run their boarding house for male students in this location. The latter two would become an integral part of his Parisian environment. The romantic style in art and literature favoured intense expression of feeling at the period, while the possibility cannot be ruled out completely, it seems improbable that the two were lovers.
Because conceptions of sexual activity and identity were quite different in Chopin's day, the modern interpretation is tricky, according to musicologist Jeffrey Kallberg. Following Frederick Niecks' lead, all of Chopin's biographers conclude that this "ideal '' was Gadkowska. The two exchanged rings after what was to be Chopin's final concert in Warsaw in October , which included the composer performing the concerto and Gadkowska singing an aria by Gioachino Rossini, and two weeks later she wrote some love comments in his album bidding him farewell.
They did not meet after Chopin departed Warsaw, and they did not appear to correspond. Ambrozy Mieroszewski painted a series of portraits of members of the Chopin family in , including the composer's first known portrait. Chopin visited Berlin with a family friend, naturalist Feliks Jarocki, in September , while still a student, to see operas directed by Gaspare Spontini and attend concerts by Carl Friedrich Zelter, Felix Mendelssohn, and other notables.
He was a guest of Prince Antoni Radziwi, governor of the Grand Duchy of Posen— himself an outstanding composer and aspiring cellist— on a return trip to Berlin in Chopin saw Niccol Paganini play the violin in Warsaw that year and composed Souvenir de Paganini, a sequence of variations. He made his debut in Vienna after finishing his studies at the Warsaw Conservatory.
He gave two piano concerts and received mostly positive feedback, with some critics remarking that he was "too sensitive for people accustomed to the piano-bashing of local performers", in Chopin's words. Chopin grew ill during winter on the Spanish island of Majorca. Sand recognized Chopin's need for medical attention in March and drove him to Marseille, where he was diagnosed with tuberculosis.
Chopin and Sand settled south of Paris in Nohant, Sand's country residence, in May after a time of recuperation in Marseille. Chopin's life was at its happiest and most creative throughout the next seven years. Chopin's income climbed as the demand for his new compositions grew, and he gained a better understanding of the publishing business, allowing him to live a more opulent lifestyle.
Chopin wished to have a family member with him as his health deteriorated. Only a few of his closest friends remained with him as his condition deteriorated dramatically on October 15th. The physician leaned over him after midnight on October 17th and asked if he was in excruciating pain. In , he was invited to perform before the Russian Emperor Alexander I, and after the concert, he received a diamond ring as a reward.
At the age of 16, Chopin was admitted to the conservatory, and upon graduating in , he embarked on a journey to Vienna to introduce his music to publishers and the public. In , after playing three concerts in Warsaw, Chopin set off on a trip across Western Europe. While in Stuttgart, he learned about the suppression of the Polish uprising. Chopin settled in Paris in and became a sought-after pianist in the salons of his friends and patrons.
Although he rarely gave public concerts, his performances in intimate settings were highly valued. His playing style was unique, characterized by rhythmic freedom and a tasteful articulation of musical phrases. Chopin developed a new harmonic language and introduced forms that could accommodate the romantic content he sought to express. In , Chopin traveled to the Czech Republic to visit his parents.