Chopin's compositional technique is very unconventional and in many ways deviates from the rules and techniques accepted in his era. Chopin was an unsurpassed creator of melodies; he was one of the first to introduce hitherto unknown Slavic modal and intonation elements into Western music and thus undermined the inviolability of the classical modal-harmonic system that had developed by the end of the 18th century.
Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin is a Polish composer and pianist who lived and worked in France for a long time (hence the French transcription of his name). Chopin is one of the few composers who composed almost exclusively for the piano. He wrote neither an opera nor a symphony, he was not attracted to the choir, and there is not a single string quartet in his heritage. But his numerous piano pieces in the most different forms– mazurkas, polonaises, ballads, nocturnes, etudes, scherzos, waltzes, etc. – these are universally recognized masterpieces. Chopin was a true innovator, often departing from classical rules and normal. He created a new harmonic language and discovered forms designed to accommodate new, romantic content.
Life. Fryderyk Chopin was born in 1810, probably on February 22, in Zelazowa Wola near Warsaw. His father Nicolas (Mikolay) Chopin, a French émigré, served as a tutor and schoolteacher; mother was raised in a noble family. Already as a child, Chopin showed bright musical abilities; at the age of 7 they began to teach him to play the piano, and in the same year the small polonaise he composed in G minor was published. Soon he became the favorite of all the aristocratic salons of Warsaw. In the rich houses of the Polish nobility, he acquired a taste for luxury and emphasized sophistication of manners.
In 1823, Chopin entered the Warsaw Lyceum, continuing to study music privately with Joseph Elsner, director of the Warsaw Conservatory. In 1825 he was invited to speak to Russian Emperor Alexander I, and after the concert he received an award - a diamond ring. At the age of 16, Chopin was admitted to the conservatory; its completion in 1829 formally completed music education Chopin. That same year, in an effort to introduce his art to publishers and the public, Chopin gave two concerts in Vienna, where critics praised his works and the ladies praised his excellent manners. In 1830, Chopin played three concerts in Warsaw, and then went on a trip to Western Europe. While in Stuttgart, Chopin learned of the suppression of the Polish uprising. It is believed that the fall of Warsaw became the occasion for the composition of the C minor etude, which is sometimes called “revolutionary”. This happened in 1831, and after that Chopin never returned to his homeland.
In 1831 Chopin settled in Paris. He loved to perform in the houses of his friends and patrons, although he often spoke of them with irony. He was highly regarded as a pianist, especially when he performed his own music in small home gatherings. Throughout his life, he gave no more than three dozen public concerts. His performing style was very unique: according to contemporaries, this style was distinguished by an extraordinary rhythmic
freedom - Chopin was, so to speak, a pioneer of rubato; he articulated a musical phrase with great taste, prolonging some sounds by shortening others.
In 1836, Chopin went to the Czech Republic to see his parents. While in Marienbad, he became interested in a young Polish woman, Maria Wodzinska. However, their engagement was soon called off. In the autumn of the same year in Paris, he met an outstanding woman - Baroness Dudevant, about whose life there was a lot of gossip in Paris and who by that time had acquired wide literary fame under the pseudonym George Sand. Chopin was then 28 years old, Madame Sand was 34. Their union lasted eight years, and they spent most of this time at the writer’s family estate in Nohant. The winter of 1838–1839, spent with George Sand in Mallorca (Balearic Islands), became a nightmare for Chopin, who had never enjoyed good health. The combination of bad weather and chaos in household, apparently, had a detrimental effect on his lungs, already affected by tuberculosis. In 1847, Chopin's relationship with Georges Sand finally deteriorated as a result of the musician's interference in his girlfriend's relationship with her children from her first marriage. This circumstance, together with his progressive illness, plunged Chopin into a state of black melancholy. He made his last appearance in Paris on February 16, 1848. Eight days later, a revolution broke out, overthrowing King Louis Philippe. The composer's friends took him to England, where, already very ill, he played for Queen Victoria and gave several concerts - the last of which took place on November 16, 1848. A week later he returned to Paris. Unable to give lessons any longer, Chopin was forced to accept generous help from his Scottish admirer Jane Stirling. The composer's sister, Ludwika, came from Poland to care for the sick man; His French friends did not neglect him either. Chopin died in his Paris apartment on Place Vendôme October 17, 1849. In accordance with his wishes, at the funeral service in the church of St. Madeleine heard fragments of Mozart's requiem.
Music. Chopin's compositional technique is very unconventional and in many ways deviates from the rules and techniques accepted in his era. Chopin was an unsurpassed creator of melodies; he was one of the first to introduce hitherto unknown Slavic modal and intonation elements into Western music and thus undermined the inviolability of the classical modal-harmonic system that had developed by the end of the 18th century. The same applies to rhythm: using the formulas of Polish dances, Chopin enriched Western music with new rhythmic patterns. He developed purely individual - laconic, self-contained musical forms that are the most
best suited the nature of his equally original melodic, harmonic, rhythmic language.
Piano pieces of small forms. These plays can be conditionally divided into two groups: predominantly “European” in melody, harmony, rhythm and distinctly “Polish” in color. The first group includes most of the etudes, preludes, scherzos, nocturnes, ballads, impromptu, rondos and waltzes. Mazurkas and polonaises are specifically Polish.
Chopin composed about three dozen etudes, the purpose of which is to help the pianist overcome specific artistic or technical difficulties (for example, in performing passages in parallel octaves or thirds). These exercises belong to the highest achievements of the composer: like Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Chopin's etudes are above all brilliant music, moreover, brilliantly revealing the capabilities of the instrument; didactic tasks fade into the background here and are often not even remembered.
Although Chopin first mastered the genres of piano miniatures, he did not limit himself to them. So, during the winter spent in Majorca, he created a cycle of 24 preludes in all major and minor keys. The cycle is built on the principle “from small to large”: the first preludes are laconic vignettes, the last are real dramas, the range of moods is from complete serenity to violent outbursts. Chopin wrote 4 scherzos: these large-scale pieces, full of courage and energy, occupy an honorable place among the masterpieces of world piano literature. He wrote more than twenty nocturnes - beautiful, dreamy, poetic, deeply lyrical revelations. Chopin is the author of several ballads (this is his only genre of a programmatic nature), his work also includes impromptu and rondo; His waltzes are especially popular.
"Polish" genres. Chopin amazed Paris with his original mazurkas and polonaises, genres that reflected Slavic dance rhythms and the harmonic language typical of Polish folklore. These charming, colorful pieces introduced for the first time a Slavic element into Western European music, which gradually but inevitably changed the harmonic, rhythmic and melodic patterns that the great classics of the 18th century. left to their followers. Chopin composed more than fifty mazurkas (their prototype is a Polish dance with a three-beat rhythm, similar to a waltz) - small pieces in which typical melodic and harmonic turns sound Slavic, and sometimes something oriental is heard in them. Like almost everything written by Chopin, the mazurkas are very pianistic and require the performer to great art- yes
if they do not contain obvious technical difficulties. Polonaises are larger than mazurkas both in length and texture. A polonaise-fantasy and a polonaise known as a “military” polonaise would be quite enough to ensure Chopin one of the first places among the most original and skillful authors piano music.
Large forms. From time to time, Chopin turned to major musical forms. Perhaps his highest achievement in this area should be considered a well-constructed and very convincing dramatic fantasy in F minor, composed in 1840–1841. In this work, Chopin found a model of form that fully corresponded to the nature of the thematic material he had chosen, and thus solved a problem that was beyond the power of many of his contemporaries. Instead of following classic designs sonata form, it allows the idea of the composition, the melodic, harmonic, rhythmic features of the material to determine the structure of the whole and the methods of development. In the barcarolle, Chopin's only work of this genre (1845–1846), the whimsical, flexible melody in the 6/8 time signature characteristic of Venetian gondolier songs varies against the background of a constant accompaniment figure (in the left hand).
Chopin created three piano sonatas. The first, in C minor (1827), is a youthful work that is rarely performed today. The second, in B minor, appeared a decade later. Its third movement is a world-famous funeral march, and the finale is a whirlwind of octaves, like “the wind howling over the graves.” Considered unsuccessful in form, the Second Sonata, performed by great pianists, appears as a strikingly complete work. Chopin's last sonata, B-flat minor (1844), has a cross-cutting structure that unites its four movements, and is one of Chopin's crowning achievements.
Other writings. Chopin also wrote a number of works for piano and orchestra and a few chamber pieces. For piano and orchestra he created Andante spianato and polonaise in E-flat major, two concertos (E minor and F minor), a fantasia on a Polish theme, a Rondo-Cracowiak, as well as variations on a Mozart theme La ci darem la mano (aria from the opera Don Juan). Together with cellist O.J. Franchomme, he composed the Grand Concert Duo for cello and piano on themes from Meyerbeer's opera Robert the Devil, a sonata in G minor, an introduction and a polonaise for the same composition, as well as a trio in G minor for piano, violin and cello. Chopin created a number of songs for voice and piano based on Polish texts. All works with orchestra reflect the author's inexperience in the field of instrumentation, and almost always changes are made to the scores during performance.
Representative of the art of romanticism. He was born in the small town of Zhelazova Wola, located near Warsaw. His father Nicolas was of French descent, and his mother Justina was a local resident.
Musical impressions of childhood
Fryderyk began learning to play the piano at the age of six. The young musician was very lucky with his teacher. Pianist Wojciech Zywny raised his sons
IN early childhood Fryderyk met Italian opera, very popular in all parts of Europe. At the beginning of the 19th century, vocal art was not too difficult to understand. A wide range of listeners were attracted by the bright theatrical performances and beautiful, catchy melodies to hum. And although Chopin’s work does not contain a single opera, he acquired and throughout his life retained a taste for flexible and plastic melodies.
Salon art
Another source of music for the future composer was the so-called salon performance. Major representative This art was Mikhail Oginsky. It is still known today for its famous Polonaise.
The salon is one of the forms of leisure for representatives of the wealthy strata of European society in the 19th century. This social practice has been described in many literary works, for example, by Leo Tolstoy and Honore de Balzac. In the salons, people not only communicated, but also listened to music. The greatest pianists and violinists of those times gained fame precisely thanks to their performances at various social events.
Fryderyk Chopin played the piano in local salons from the age of 12. He loved this humble home art. Chopin's work bears a vivid imprint of salon music. Bravura virtuosity and sentimental ease of performance were often required of pianists invited to social events. But Chopin is alien to the excessive entertainment and banality characteristic of this art direction.
Early creativity
The work of Frédéric Chopin opens with two polonaises, which he wrote at the age of seven, possibly under the influence work of the same name Mikhail Oginsky. Another source of the future composer’s works is Polish musical folklore. Friederik was introduced to him by his mother, who was a good pianist and also an amateur singer.
Young Chopin studied at the Warsaw Lyceum, while simultaneously studying music under the guidance of private teachers. He learned not only how to play the piano, but also composition. Later, Fryderyk entered the Main School of Music of the Polish capital.
In Poland, Chopin's career developed successfully thanks to the generous patronage of patrons. In particular, the famous aristocratic Chetvertinsky family took care of the young pianist. On the wave of success, Chopin was invited to tour to Austria, where he left in 1829.
Emigration and its causes
Concerts young musician enjoyed huge success in Europe. He was admired famous composers of that time Robert Schumann and Franz Liszt. Chopin's work was at the peak of its popularity. While the composer was on tour, an uprising occurred in his homeland.
Freedom-loving Poles rebelled against the Russian Empire. Large-scale popular unrest that engulfed the country lasted for about two years. In 1831, after the siege of Warsaw, they were suppressed Russian army. After the victory, the actions of the occupation authorities became even harsher.
Chopin was an ardent supporter of Polish independence. After the defeat of the uprising, he decided not to return to his homeland. A direct response to these tragic events was the etude "C Minor", called "Revolutionary". The composer composed it in early September 1931, immediately after the fall of besieged Warsaw.
Sad events in Poland divided Chopin's work into two major periods. The young musician chooses Paris for his permanent residence, where he spends the rest of his days, periodically going on tour. The composer never saw his homeland again.
New life in Paris
In Paris, Chopin was active in creative and teaching activities. On that historical period the capital of France was the center of political and cultural life in Europe. After 1830, Parisian society warmly supported supporters of the struggle for Polish independence. The largest artists of that time selflessly helped the composer in the first years of his emigration.
Chopin's life and work are inextricably linked with the activities of his contemporaries - famous artists. The composer's new friends were the artist Eugene Delacroix, writers Heinrich Heine and Victor Hugo, composers François Liszt and musicologist Francois Fetis.
Illness and end of the virtuoso's career
A few years after settling in Paris, Chopin gave concerts in England and Germany, where he met outstanding composers Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn. Then, in the mid-30s, he was overtaken by an illness - pulmonary tuberculosis.
The young musician’s poor health did not allow him to continue his career as a virtuoso pianist. He stopped performing in large halls. From that time on, F. Chopin's work was reduced to writing a number of piano works, which paved the way for him in
As a pianist, he limited his performances to small salons and intimate concert halls. He played mainly for his friends, colleagues and people with similar artistic tastes and passions.
Chamber halls and friendly audiences determined the uniqueness of Chopin's music. It is very personal, intimate. It seems that the composer exposes his suffering soul to the listeners. The work of F. Chopin is inextricably linked with the piano. He did not write for other instruments.
Love of my life
While in Paris, the composer met the famous French writer Aurora Dudevant, who published her books under the male pseudonym Georges Sand. This woman was notorious in Parisian society. She wore men's clothing and ostentatiously smoked cigars. The local elite was periodically agitated by rumors about her numerous connections.
If we briefly characterize Chopin's life and work, we can say that without Georges Sand he would not have been himself. She became not only the composer's lover, but also his friend. The writer was older than Chopin. She already had two children - a boy and a girl.
The great musician often visited the family castle, which became a haven for Aurora’s many friends and her lover. She loved wild fun and parties that lasted until dawn. The sick composer endured her entertainment with great difficulty. Nevertheless, their romance lasted more than ten years.
Winter in Mallorca
No matter how talented he was, his work is inextricably linked with Georges Sand. The legend about their joint trip to Mallorca is especially popular among lovers of romantic stories. The Spanish island in the Mediterranean is today a tourist paradise. Then, back in the 19th century, it was an abandoned, deserted and gloomy place. The splendor of nature was combined with gloomy morals local residents and poor living conditions.
Chopin, whose biography and work are largely due to incurable disease, experienced one of the most difficult periods on this island. The lovers wanted to spend a warm winter in Mallorca, away from Parisian gossip. But the winter turned out to be very rainy and cold, and the negative attitude of the local residents towards the lovers was openly aggressive. They were unable to rent housing and were forced to live in an abandoned monastery, where the cold was raging. This winter the composer's health deteriorated significantly.
While living in Mallorca, George Sand missed the luxury of Paris. Chopin was also sad. Brief biography and the composer’s creativity make this winter on the island especially bright. The musician composed several beautiful works here. After returning to France, the writer published the book “Winter in Mallorca.”
Romanticism and piano creativity
Chopin's work can be briefly defined as romanticism in all its manifestations. His numerous piano miniatures - like different faces one diamond. The composer wrote very few major works. The most famous among them is his second sonata, and especially its third movement - the funeral march.
Chopin's piano miniatures are combined into cycles. Polish mazurkas and polonaises are poetic plays imbued with homesickness. The composer's most lyrical works are preludes. They run through all of Chopin's work. Briefly, these works can be described as short plays covering all 24 keys. Preludes are solved in various genres. For example, an A major piece reproduces the rhythmic basis of a mazurka. And the prelude “B Minor” resembles an elegy.
Genres in Chopin's music
Chopin's piano work is driven by multifaceted synthesis. Connection in one short topic intonations of different, sometimes contrasting, genres leads to a high concentration of tension in the musical fabric. Hints of march, nocturne and pathetic declamation compressed into an eight-bar melody seem to explode the theme from the inside. Their potential is revealed throughout the entire composition, building a complex dramaturgy.
As German musicologists note, the work of Friedrich Chopin (as he is called in Germany) was influenced by Robert Schumann, especially his piano cycles. However, the music of this great composer is extremely original. This is confirmed by the so-called Polish cycles - mazurkas and polonaises.
Mazurkas and Polonaises
Mazurkas are very diverse. Among them are graceful and refined miniatures, as well as plays written in folk spirit. There are also brilliant ballroom mazurkas. Most of these pieces are not difficult in terms of virtuosity. Technically they are simple to perform. What makes them difficult to understand is their deep musical meaning; a special subtlety of perception is required from the listener.
Like all of Chopin's works, works written in the polonaise genre are lyrical, poetic miniatures. But at the same time they have the character of bright and brilliant dances. Among them there are miniatures of different content: tragic, solemn and exquisite. A pianist performing polonaises must have strong fingers and wide hands. This is necessary in order to cope with the polyphonic chords underlying the works.
If you try to formulate Chopin’s work in a few words, its summary will be as follows: the greatest genius romantic era, he was a musical idol in Europe. An exile deprived of his homeland, he died very early, at 39 years old. For most of his life, Chopin suffered from an incurable illness that limited his career as a virtuoso. He fully experienced the love of hundreds of fans and that the only woman who managed to understand him. She had the same talent as himself. His tragic and at the same time happy fate lies in music. And she is immortal.
Chopin was a great composer and musician. He gave his first concert at the age of 8 and soon became a celebrity. Warsaw, where Chopin lived, was then a deep musical province, and his father, school teacher, born in France, had very little money.
In 1830, Chopin left Poland forever, earning money by virtuoso performances of his own musical compositions, although his health did not always allow him to give long concerts. He settled in Paris, where he began giving music lessons and giving concerts. Soon he developed tuberculosis. The French Revolution of 1848 made it impossible for him to earn a living, and he left for England. He returned to Paris almost completely disabled and soon died after several months of severe suffering.
Chopin's romantic appearance attracted women no less than his music. He himself was also attracted to women, but not always from a sexual point of view. Their adoration often reminded him of love; in his youth, Chopin felt an irresistible attraction to his friend Titus Wojciechowski. He bombarded him with love notes and loved to kiss him on the lips. He behaved much more reservedly with girls. At one time he was in love with Constance Gladkovska, with whom he studied music, however, he was never able to tell or write to her about his feeling. It was only many years later that Constance was surprised to learn how much she had once meant to Chopin.
The temptations of Paris did not attract Chopin. He, however, suffered from a mild venereal disease, which he contracted from a woman named Teresa. This seemed to further discourage him from having sex.
Chopin always dreamed of having his own family. In 1836, he proposed to Maria Wodzinska, the pretty and musically gifted daughter of a Polish count. She accepted his proposal, but her parents were quite concerned about his poor health. After some time, Chopin stopped receiving letters from Maria and abandoned all thoughts of marriage.
Later he met the novelist George Sand, who admired his music and himself and followed him everywhere. Chopin didn’t like her at first, and he once said to his friend: “What a disgusting woman this Sand is. And is she even a woman? I kind of doubt it.” Chopin nevertheless agreed to Sand’s claims, and their connection lasted 9 years. Their intimate relationship ended after a couple of years, as Sand announced that in bed Chopin very much resembled a corpse. Sand raised two children and tried to turn Chopin into a third. She broke off all relations with Chopin when he opposed her in some dispute that she had with her daughter's husband.
The last woman who seriously tried to attract his attention was his wealthy student and financial patron Jane Sterling, about whom he said: “I’d rather choose death as my wife.”
Mysterious, devilish, feminine, courageous, incomprehensible, tragic Chopin, understandable to everyone.
S. Richter
According to A. Rubinstein, “Chopin is a bard, a rhapsode, the spirit, the soul of the piano.” The most unique thing in Chopin’s music is associated with the piano: its trembling, sophistication, “singing” of the entire texture and harmony, enveloping the melody with a shimmering airy “haze”. All the colorfulness of the romantic worldview, everything that usually required monumental compositions (symphonies or operas) for its implementation, was expressed in the great Polish composer and pianist in piano music (Chopin has very few works with the participation of other instruments, the human voice or orchestra). Contrasts and even polar opposites of romanticism in Chopin were transformed into the highest harmony: fiery inspiration, increased emotional “temperature” - and strict logic of development, intimate trust of the lyrics - and conceptuality of symphonic proportions, artistry brought to aristocratic sophistication, and next to it - pristine purity " folk pictures" In general, the originality of Polish folklore (its modes, melodies, rhythms) permeated all the music of Chopin, who became musical classic Poland.
Chopin was born near Warsaw, in Zelazowa Wola, where his father, a native of France, worked as a home teacher in a count's family. Shortly after Fryderyk's birth, the Chopin family moved to Warsaw. Phenomenal musical talent manifests itself already in early childhood; at the age of 6 the boy composed his first piece (polonaise), and at the age of 7 he performed for the first time as a pianist. Chopin received his general education at the Lyceum; he also took piano lessons from V. Zhivny. The formation of a professional musician was completed at the Warsaw Conservatory (1826-29) under the direction of J. Elsner. Chopin's talent was manifested not only in music: from childhood he wrote poetry, acted in home performances, and drew wonderfully. Throughout his life, Chopin retained the gift of a caricaturist: he could draw or even depict someone with facial expressions in such a way that everyone unmistakably recognized this person.
The artistic life of Warsaw provided many impressions for the aspiring musician. Italian and Polish national opera, tours of major artists (N. Paganini, J. Hummel) inspired Chopin and opened up new horizons for him. Often during summer holidays Fryderyk visited his friends' country estates, where he not only listened to the village musicians play, but sometimes he himself played an instrument. Chopin's first experiments as a composer were poeticized dances of Polish everyday life (polonaise, mazurka), waltzes, as well as nocturnes - miniatures of a lyrical and contemplative nature. He also turns to the genres that formed the basis of the repertoire of the virtuoso pianists of that time - concert variations, fantasies, rondos. The material for such works was, as a rule, themes from popular operas or Polish folk melodies. met with a warm response from R. Schumann, who wrote an enthusiastic article about them. Schumann also owns the following words: “...If in our time a genius like Mozart is born, he will begin to write concertos more like Chopin’s than Mozart’s.” 2 concerts (especially E minor) were the highest achievement early creativity Chopin, reflected all the facets art world twenty-year-old composer. The elegiac lyrics, akin to the Russian romance of those years, are set off by the brilliance of virtuosity and spring-like light folk-genre themes. Mozart's perfect forms are imbued with the spirit of romanticism.
During a tour to Vienna and the cities of Germany, Chopin was overtaken by the news of the defeat of the Polish uprising (1830-31). The tragedy of Poland became a powerful personal tragedy, combined with the impossibility of returning to their homeland (Chopin was a friend of some participants in the liberation movement). As B. Asafiev noted, “the collisions that worried him focused on various stages of love longing and on the brightest explosion of despair in connection with the death of the fatherland.” From now on, genuine drama penetrates his music (Ballad in G minor, Scherzo in B minor, Etude in C minor, often called “Revolutionary”). Schumann writes that “...Chopin introduced the Beethoven spirit into concert hall" Ballad and scherzo are genres new to piano music. Ballads were extended romances of a narrative-dramatic nature; in Chopin these are large works of the poetic type (written under the impression of the ballads of A. Mickiewicz and Polish thoughts). The scherzo (usually a part of the cycle) is also being rethought - now it has begun to exist as an independent genre (not at all comic, but more often of elemental-demonic content).
Chopin's subsequent life is connected with Paris, where he ends up in 1831. In this seething center artistic life Chopin meets with artists from different countries Europe: composers G. Berlioz, F. Liszt, N. Paganini, V. Bellini, G. Meyerbeer, pianist F. Kalkbrenner, writers G. Heine, A. Mickiewicz, George Sand, artist E. Delacroix, who painted a portrait of the composer. Paris 30s XIX century - one of the centers of new, romantic art, which was established in the fight against academicism. According to Liszt, “Chopin openly joined the ranks of the romantics, nevertheless writing the name of Mozart on his banner.” Indeed, no matter how far Chopin went in his innovation (even Schumann and Liszt did not always understand him!), his work bore the character of an organic development of tradition, its magical transformation. The idols of the Polish romantic were Mozart and especially J. S. Bach. Chopin generally disapproved of contemporary music. This was probably due to his classically strict, refined taste, which did not allow any harshness, rudeness or extremes of expression. For all his social sociability and friendliness, he was reserved and did not like to open his inner world. Thus, he spoke rarely and sparingly about music and the content of his works, most often disguised as some kind of joke.
In the etudes created in the first years of Parisian life, Chopin gives his understanding of virtuosity (as opposed to the art of fashionable pianists) - as a means that serves the expression of artistic content and is inseparable from it. Chopin himself, however, performed little in concerts, preferring big hall intimate, more comfortable atmosphere of a secular salon. There was not enough income from concerts and music publications, and Chopin was forced to give piano lessons. At the end of the 30s. Chopin completes the cycle of preludes, which have become a real encyclopedia of romanticism, reflecting the main conflicts of the romantic worldview. In preludes - the smallest pieces - a special “density”, concentration of expression is achieved. And again we see an example of a new attitude towards the genre. In ancient music, the prelude was always an introduction to some work. For Chopin, this is a valuable piece in its own right, preserving at the same time some understatement of the aphorism and “improvisational” freedom, which is so consonant with the romantic worldview. The cycle of preludes was completed on the island of Majorca, where Chopin made a trip together with George Sand (1838) to improve his health. In addition, Chopin traveled from Paris to Germany (1834-1836), where he met Mendelssohn and Schumann, and in Carlsbad he met his parents, and to England (1837).
for piano:
Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) - Polish pianist and composer. He was born in 1810, on March 1 (according to other sources on February 22), in the village of Zhelazova Wola, located near Warsaw. Chopin's biography will be discussed in this article.
Family
The composer's father is Nicolas Chopin (1771-1844).
He married Justyna Krzyzanowska (1782-1861) in 1806. According to surviving evidence, the composer's mother received a good education. She was very musical, played the piano, sang well, had French. It is to his mother that Frederick owes the grafted youth love for folk melodies, which was then reflected in his work, as well as his first musical impressions. Some time after the boy was born, in the fall of 1810, the father moved to Warsaw.
First achievements in music
Frederic Chopin, whose biography was already marked by achievements in music in his early years, showed musical abilities even in childhood. The famous Catalani foresaw a great future in him, then still a ten-year-old boy. Frederic Chopin began playing the piano and composing music at the age of seven. From the age of nine, the boy began studying with Wojciech Zivny, a Czech and serious teacher. Chopin's performing talent developed so quickly that the boy was not inferior by the age of twelve. the best pianists Poland.
The first public performance of this musician took place in Warsaw in 1818. By this time he was already the author of several pieces for piano - marches and polonaises. Chopin, whose biography and work are covered in our article, entered one of the Warsaw schools in 1823. Here his music studies continued.
Biography of Chopin and interesting facts about it are supplemented by the following event. In 1825, the composer was invited to perform before Alexander the First, the Russian Emperor. He received a reward after the concert - a diamond ring.
Continuation of training
Givny was Chopin's only piano teacher. Seven years after studying with him, in the early 1820s, Frederick began studying with J. Elsner. By this time his talent had developed greatly. Chopin's biography was replenished with new facts in 1826, when in July he graduated from the Warsaw school, and in the fall he entered the Warsaw school to continue his education. high school music. Here Frederick studied for about three more years.
Patrons Princes Chetverinsky and Anton Radzwill introduced him to high society. In appearance and manner, Chopin made a pleasant impression. This was noted by many of his contemporaries. Liszt, for example, said that Frederick made a “calm, harmonious” impression.
Works created while studying with Elsner
Under the guidance of the excellent teacher and musician Elsner, who immediately noticed Chopin's genius, Frederic made great progress. Elsner's photo is shown below.
During his studies, Chopin wrote many works for piano, from which one can highlight the Rondo, the first sonata, variations on a theme by Mozart, Nocturne in E minor, Krakowiak and others. This composer was already strongly influenced by the folk music of Poland, as well as the poetry and literature of this country (Witwicki, Slovacki, Mickiewicz, etc.). In 1829, upon completion of his studies, Frederick went to Vienna, where he performed his works. Chopin's biography was marked by the first independent concert, held in 1830 in Warsaw. He was followed a whole series others.
Chopin leaves his homeland
Chopin played in Warsaw for the last time in 1830, on October 11, after which he left his homeland forever. He lived in Vienna from the end of 1830 to 1831 (the first half). Visits to theaters, musical acquaintances, concerts, trips around the city had a beneficial effect on the development of the talent of such a musician as Chopin. The biography and work of this composer in those years were marked by the following events.
Chopin left Vienna in the summer of 1830. He spent the beginning of September in Stuttgart, where he learned of the fall of Warsaw and the failure of the Polish uprising. Then, having traveled through Munich, Vienna, Dresden, he arrived in Paris in 1831. Chopin's biography and his work can be studied in more detail by turning to the diary that the writer kept on the road ("Stuttgart Diary"). It describes state of mind the composer while in Stuttgart, where Frederick was overcome by despair due to the defeat of the Polish uprising. This event was reflected in his work, which we will tell you about now.
New works by the composer
Frederic Chopin, whose biography interests us, was impressed by this news and wrote an etude in C minor, which is often called revolutionary, as well as two deeply tragic preludes: D minor and A minor. Among the new works of this composer at that time were also a polonaise in E-flat major, concertos for piano and orchestra, nocturnes, Polish songs based on works by Mickiewicz and Witwicki, etc. Frederick subordinates the technical elements of the works entirely to musical and poetic images.
Chopin in Paris
So, as we have already said, the biography of Chopin in 1831, in the fall, was marked by the move of this composer to Paris. His life since then has been connected with this city. Here the composer became close to Bellini, Berlioz, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Hiller, and also met such artists and writers as Georges de Sand, Lamartine, Hugo, Delacroix, Heine, Musset, and Balzac. In 1832, on February 26, Chopin gave his first concert in Paris, in which he performed variations on the theme of Mozart's Don Giovanni, as well as a piano concerto. Liszt, who was present at the performance, noted that Chopin’s talent, together with his innovations, opened a new phase in the development of art. Even then it was clear that Frederic Chopin would achieve great success as a composer. The biography briefly outlined in the article allows you to verify this.
Life in Paris in the 1830s
From 1833 to 1835, Frederick often performed works together with Hiller, Liszt, and the Hertz brothers. He rarely performed in concerts, but in the salons of the French aristocracy and the Polish colony, the fame of this composer grew very quickly. He also had opponents (Field, Kalkbrenner), but this did not prevent Frederick from gaining many admirers in society, including among artists. The years 1836-1837 were decisive in the personal life of this composer. Then the engagement to Maria Wodzinskaya was broken off, and Chopin became close to Georges Sand. In 1837, Frederick felt his first attack of lung disease. This was the biography of Chopin at that time (summary).
Creativity flourishes
The greatest flowering of Frederick's work occurred in the period from 1838 to 1846. It was at this time that Chopin wrote the most significant and perfect works, including the second and third sonatas, polonaises in F sharp minor and A flat major, ballads, barcarolles, polonaise fantasias, nocturnes, scherzos, preludes, mazurkas, etc. He also continued to perform in concerts with Francom, Pauline Viardot, and Ernst, but much less frequently than before. Frederick usually spent the winter in Paris, in Nohant, and the summer in the estate of Georges Sand. Due to poor health, he spent only one winter (1839-1840) in the south, on the island of Majorca in Spain. It was here that his 24 preludes were completed.
The death of his father and the break with George Sand are two tragic events that Chopin experienced
The biography, briefly described, is supplemented by the following two important events in the life of the composer. First, Chopin's father died in 1844, in May. The composer took his death extremely hard. His health began to cause concern. The second event that occurred in 1847 was the break with George Sand. It completely undermined the composer's strength. A portrait of this woman by the artist Delacroix, painted in 1838, is presented below.
Wanting to leave the city of Paris in order to get rid of everything that resembled what he had experienced here, Frederic went to London in 1848, in April.
The last two years of Chopin's life
Two pass through in excruciating suffering last year life of Frederic Chopin. He practically does not compose music and does not perform at concerts. In 1848, on November 16, it took place last performance in London at a Polish evening. The climate, nervous life, unexpected success - all this undermined the composer's painful nature, and, returning to Paris, the great musician fell ill. Frederick stops teaching his students. In the winter of 1849, his health suffered a significant deterioration. Neither the arrival of Louis, his beloved sister, in Paris, nor the concerns of his friends bring relief, and he dies after severe agony.
Death of Chopin
The death of Frederic Chopin was a blow to the world of music, and the funeral attracted his many fans. In Paris, at the Père Lachaise cemetery, Chopin was buried. The ashes rest between Bellini and Cherubini. Frederick placed Mozart above other composers. His adoration of the Jupiter symphony and the requiem reached the point of cult. At his funeral, in accordance with the wishes of the deceased famous artists Mozart's Requiem was performed. The composer’s heart, by his will, was later transported to his homeland, to Warsaw, to the Church of the Holy Cross.
Dance genres in Chopin's works
Chopin's work was inspired by his boundless devotion to his people, his homeland, and the struggle for national liberation. He tapped into the riches of Poland's folk music. Significant place Chopin's legacy includes various dance genres. It should be noted that danceability is one of the integral qualities inherent in musical folk culture Poland. Waltzes, polonaises, mazurkas (which featured the features of three folk dances - oberek, kujawiak and mazura) reveal the connections that exist between Frederick's work and the folk music of Poland in all its diversity. Frederic Chopin, whose biography we have described, showed innovation in their transformation and interpretation. For example, his polonaises significantly expand and democratize this once solemn and ceremonial genre. Mazurkas poeticize and deepen folk dance. Waltzes have the features of Slavic folk dance melody.
Non-dance genres
Chopin also reinterprets various non-dance genres. His sketches are highly artistic creations, where ideological and emotional content is combined with original means of their implementation. Chopin's scherzos are also quite unique compositions. They differ from the scherzo, which is used in a classical symphony, as well as from the sonata. Ballads are dramatic plot narratives inspired by poetic images, full of romantic freedom, contrasts, and diversity of life.
Chopin's musical language
Chopin's genre innovation is organically combined with the novelty of his musical language. was created by Frederick new type melody - flexible, extremely expressive, unfolding continuously, combining various instrumental and vocal, dance and song features. Also, Frederic Chopin, whose biography is described above, revealed new possibilities of harmony. He fused together various elements of Polish folk music with romantic harmony. Chopin strengthened the role of colorful and dynamic elements. His discoveries in the field of polyphony (all voices are saturated with melodic expressiveness) and musical form (the use of variation development techniques, characteristic of Polish folk music) are very interesting. The innovation of this composer fully affected his performing art. He, like Liszt, made a real revolution in the technique of playing the piano.
The influence of Chopin's work on other composers
Chopin's work as a whole is characterized by clarity of thinking and harmony. His music is far from either isolation, academic coldness, or romantic exaggeration. She is alien to insincerity, fundamentally folk, spontaneous, and freedom-loving.
Chopin's biography and his works have inspired many musicians. Frederick's work had a great influence on many generations of composers and performers. The influence of Frederic Chopin's melodic and harmonic language can be traced in the works of Wagner, Liszt, Debussy, Fauré, Albéniz, Grieg, Scriabin, Tchaikovsky, Szymanowski, and Rachmaninov.
The Meaning of Creativity
Chopin's biography and music are of great interest today, and this is no coincidence. This great composer interpreted many genres in a new way. He revived the prelude on a romantic basis, also created a piano ballad, dramatized and poeticized the dances: waltz, polonaise, mazurka, and turned them into independent work scherzo. Chopin enriched the piano texture and harmony, combined the classical form with fantasy and melodic richness.
He composed about fifty mazurkas, the prototype of which is a waltz-like Polish folk dance with a three-beat rhythm. These are small plays. In them, harmonic and melodic turns sound Slavic.
Frederic Chopin gave only about thirty public concerts during his life. He performed mostly at his friends' houses. His performing style was very unique. He was distinguished, according to contemporaries, by rhythmic freedom - the prolongation of some sounds due to the fact that others were shortened.
Memory of Frederic Chopin
Every five years in Warsaw since 1927, international competitions named after Chopin, in which the most famous pianists participate. In 1934, the Chopin Institute was also organized, called the Society. F. Chopin since 1950. Similar societies also exist in Austria, Germany, and Czechoslovakia. They also existed in France before World War II. In the town of Zhelyaznova Wola, where the composer was born, the Chopin House Museum was opened in 1932.
The International Federation of Societies named after this composer was founded in 1985. In Warsaw in 2010, on March 1, the Frederic Chopin Museum was opened after modernization and reconstruction. This event is dedicated to the bicentenary of his birth. 2010 was also declared the year of Chopin in Poland. This composer, as you can see, is still known, remembered and loved not only in his homeland, but throughout the world.
Chopin's biography and all the dates of events that happened to this great composer were described in our article as fully as possible. In music schools today, the work of this author is included in the compulsory curriculum. However, young musicians study Chopin's biography briefly. This is enough for children. But in adulthood I want to get to know such interesting composer. Then the biography of Chopin, briefly written for children, no longer satisfies us. That's why we decided to create more detailed description the life and work of this great man. Chopin's biography, a summary of which you can find in various reference books, has been supplemented by us based on various sources. We hope you found the information presented interesting. Now you know what events Chopin’s biography consisted of and what works he wrote. All the best!