Download Frederic Chopin

Frédéric Chopin
March 1, 1810 – October 17, 1849
Biographic
• Frederic Chopin was born on March 1st (some records say
February 22nd ), 1810 in Zelazowa-Wola, near Warsaw.
• He was the son of Mikolaj Chopin and Tekla Justyna
Kryzanowska.
• Chopin’s Father was a French man who moved to Warsaw and
met his future wife, who employed as the Countess's
companion and housekeeper and later taught French to the
sons of nobility
As a Composer
• Chopin was widely seen as the greatest of the polish
composers of the Romantic Period
• The instrument he wrote almost exclusively was piano, which
was his favorite instrument
• He showed his gift of music talent as a young child. At the
age of 7, he composed his first piece of music- Polonaise in G
minor, which he dedicated to Countess Skarbek, and
performed publicly when he was only 8. He was compared to
childhood genius of Mozart (1756-1791) for his gifted music
talent.
Childhood
• Growing up, Chopin had a good education. He was home
schooled until he was in 4th grade.
• Given his living circumstances, Chopin met and associated
with three different classes of people: professors of academia,
middle gentry and the wealthy aristocrats.
Teenage Years
• Chopin received a several years of private lessons from Jozef
Elsner before attending the High School of Music in 1826 and
became a full-time student at Elsner's conservatory, where he
received an excellent foundation in theory, harmony, and
melody. He also took organs from Wilhelm Wurfel in1823.
However, most of his compositions are composed in Piano.
Adult Years
• After he graduated from high school, he traveled and
performed. Depressed by the uncertainty of his future set off
to Vienna in November of 1830. There, Chopin managed to
compose his first nine mazurkas. In 1831, Chopin departed
Vienna, and headed toward Paris. While there, Chopin gave
concerts and he became the "premiere" piano instructor.
• Back in Warsaw at the age of 20, he performed the F minor
Concerto to a crowd of 900.
Adult Years continued
• In 1836, he was secretly engaged to polish girl, but the
engagement was later called of.
• Chopin never was married, but he was often in love. In 1837,
he met a novelist named George Sand. Although he once said
she was an unattractive person, they eventually fell in love.
But their relationship slowly deteriorated with some problems.
Later Years to Death
• In later years, he continued to give
lessons and occasionally give private
performances, his health was getting
worse. After performing a few more
concerts in London, he did so. It was
clear that Chopin was in the final
stages of tuberculosis. His many
friends visited him often and Stirling
offered financial assistance, but he
was most pleased that his sister
Ludwika and her family came to live
with him, providing the family
atmosphere that he craved. Chopin
passed away in the Place Vendôme on
October 17, 1849.
Chopin and His Music
• Chopin was a skilled pianist, and a large proportion of his
works are for solo piano. Many of these works are fairly short
in duration, such as the Preludes, Etudes, Waltzes,
Impromptus, Nocturnes and Scherzos, as well as the
previously mentioned Polish dance forms of the Mazurka and
Polonaise. Chopin also developed a form called the Ballade
which is a more extended work. He also wrote a number of
multi-movement works including of course several Piano
Sonatas. He was quite capable of writing for other
instruments and did so at times, his two Piano Concertos (for
solo Piano and Orchestra) being obvious examples.
Influences on Chopin’s Music
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Chopin preferred to give private, more intimate concerts to smaller crowds of
high class "socialites".
One great influence on terms of composition was probably Bach. For
example: Chopin's 24 preludes in all keys clearly mirroring Bach's 48
preludes and fugues.
The Romantic period was a time of great revolutions. Passion, not reason,
ruled the day. Imagination was more important than logic. This was the time
of the American Civil War. The Industrial Revolution replaced people with
machines. People fought back with their feelings and emotions.
As a Romantic Composer, it is to be said that his music was more expressive
of his individual feelings and sufferings
The Romantic period had more artistic freedom. So Emotion ruled the arts.
Selected Works
Mazurka
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Op.
Op.
Op.
Op.
Op.
Op.
Op.
Op.
Op.
68/2
68/3
68/1
67/1
67/3
41/1
68/4
67/4
67/2
Nocturne
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a minor - 1827
F Major - 1830
C Major - 1830
G Major - 1835
C Major - 1835
e minor - 1838
f minor - 1846
a minor - 1846
g minor – 1848
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Op.
Op.
Op.
Op.
Op.
Op.
72/1
15/3
27/1
27/2
37/1
37/2
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Polonaise
Op.
Op.
Op.
Op.
Op.
Op.
Op.
e minor - 1829
g minor - 1832
c sharp minor - 1835
D Major - 1835
g minor - 1838
G Major - 1839
71/1 - d minor - 1828
71/2 - B flat Major - 1828
71/3 - f minor - 1828
40/1 - A Major - 1838
40/2 - C Major - 1839
44 - f sharp minor - 1841
53 - A flat Major - 1843
References
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http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/classicalcomposers/p/chopinprofile.htm
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http://www.nndb.com/people/461/000022395/
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http://www.empire.k12.ca.us/capistrano/Mike/capmusic/romantic/romantic.htm
•
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/spring03/aguilar/Chopin.htm
•
Smialek, William “Frederic Chopin-a guide to research”
•
Edgar Stillman Kelley “Chopin the composer: his structural art and its influence on
contemporaneous”