Biography and work of Chopin

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Fryderyk Frantisek Chopin is a great Polish composer, a representative of the art of romanticism. He was born in the small town of Zhelyazova Wola, located near Warsaw. His father, Nicolas, was of French descent, and his mother, Justina, was a local.

Music experiences from childhood

Fryderyk began learning to play the piano at the age of six. The young musician was very lucky with the teacher. Pianist Wojciech Zhyvny brought up from¢to

In his early childhood, Fryderyk got acquainted with the Italian opera, very popular in all corners of Europe. At the beginning of the 19th century, vocal art was not too difficult to perceive. A wide range of listeners were attracted by bright theatrical performances and beautiful catchy melodies that could be hummed. And although Chopin's work does not contain a single opera, he acquired and retained a taste for flexible and plastic melodies throughout his life.

Salon Art

Another source of music for the future composer was the so-called salon performance. A major representative of this art was Mikhail Oginsky. He is still famous today for his famous Polonaise.

Salon is one of the forms of leisure for representatives of the we althy sections of European society of the 19th century. This publicthe practice has been described in many literary works, such as 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 became famous thanks to their performances at various social events.

Frederic Chopin has been playing the piano in local salons since the age of 12. He loved this humble domestic art. Chopin's work bears a bright imprint of salon music. Bravura virtuosity and sentimental ease of performance were often required from pianists invited to social events. But Chopin is alien to the excessive entertainment and banality inherent in this art direction.

Early creativity

Frederic Chopin's creative work is opened by two polonaises that he wrote at the age of seven, possibly under the influence of the work of the same name by Mikhail Oginsky. Another source of the future composer's works is Polish musical folklore. Friederika 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 studying music under the guidance of private teachers. He already comprehended not only playing the piano, but also composition. Later, Fryderyk entered the Main School of Music in 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 tourto Austria, where he left in 1829.

Emigration and its causes

The young musician's concerts were a huge success in Europe. He was admired by the famous composers of the time, Robert Schumann and Franz Liszt. Chopin's work was at the peak of popularity. During the composer's stay on tour, an uprising broke out in his homeland.

Freedom-loving Poles rebelled against the Russian Empire. Large-scale popular unrest that swept the country lasted about two years. In 1831, after the siege of Warsaw, they were crushed by the Russian army. After the victory, the actions of the occupying authorities became even tougher.

Chopin was an ardent supporter of Poland's independence. After the defeat of the uprising, he decided not to return to his homeland. A direct response to these tragic events was the study "C Minor", called "Revolutionary". The composer composed it in early September 1931, immediately after the fall of besieged Warsaw.

The sad events in Poland divided Chopin's work into two major periods. The young musician chooses Paris for 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 led an active creative and pedagogical activity. In that historical period, the capital of France was the center of the political and cultural life of Europe. After the July Revolution of 1830, supporters of the struggle were ardently supported in Parisian society.for the independence of Poland. The greatest figures of art of that time selflessly helped the composer in the first years of his emigration.

The life and work of Chopin are inextricably linked with the activities of his contemporaries - famous artists. The composer's new friends were the artist Eugene Delacroix, the writers Heinrich Heine and Victor Hugo, the composers Franz Liszt and Vincenzo Bellini, and the musicologist Francois Fetis.

Illness and the end of a virtuoso career

A few years after settling in Paris, Chopin gave concerts in England and Germany, where he met the outstanding composers Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn. Then, in the mid-30s, he was overtaken by a disease - pulmonary tuberculosis.

The poor he alth of the young musician did not allow him to continue his career as a virtuoso pianist. He stopped performing in large halls. F. Chopin's creativity since that time has been reduced to writing a number of piano works, which paved the way for him in the history of music.

As a pianist, he limited his performances to small salons and chamber concert halls. He played mainly for his friends, colleagues and people with similar artistic tastes and passions.

Chamber halls and a friendly audience determined the uniqueness of Chopin's music. It is very personal and intimate. It seems that the composer exposes his suffering soul to the audience. The work of F. Chopin is inextricably linked with the piano. He did not write for other instruments.

Love of a lifetime

While in Paris, the composermet the famous French writer Aurora Dudevant, who published her books under the male pseudonym George Sand. This woman enjoyed notoriety in Parisian society. She wore men's clothing and demonstratively smoked cigars. The local beau monde was periodically disturbed by rumors about her numerous connections.

If we characterize the life and work of Chopin briefly, we can say that without George Sand, he would not be himself. She became not only the composer's mistress, 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 many friends of Aurora and her lover. She adored 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 Chopin was, his biography and work are inextricably linked with George Sand. Especially popular among lovers of romantic stories is the legend of their joint trip to Mallorca. The Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea is today a tourist paradise. Then, in the distant 19th century, it was an abandoned, deserted and gloomy place. The splendor of nature was combined with the gloomy customs of the locals and poor living conditions.

Chopin, whose biography and work is largely due to an incurable disease, experienced one of the most difficult periods on this island. The lovers wantedspend 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 locals towards lovers was frankly aggressive. They were unable to rent housing and were forced to settle in an abandoned monastery, where the cold raged. This winter, the composer's he alth has deteriorated significantly.

While living in Mallorca, George Sand missed Parisian luxury. Chopin also yearned. A brief biography and work of the composer make this winter on the island especially bright. The musician has composed some excellent 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 are like different facets of one diamond. The composer wrote very few major works. The most famous among them is his second sonata, and especially its third movement - "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 compositions can be described as short pieces covering all 24 keys. The preludes are solved in various genres. For example, the piece in A major reproduces the rhythmic basis of the mazurka. And the prelude in B Minor resembles an elegy.

Genres in musicChopin

Chopin's piano work is conditioned by multifaceted synthesis. The combination of intonations of various, sometimes contrasting, genres in one short theme leads to a high concentration of tension in the musical fabric. Compressed in an eight-bar melody, hints of a march, nocturne and pathetic recitation seem to blow up the theme from the inside. Their potential is revealed throughout the 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 unusually original. The so-called Polish cycles – mazurkas and polonaises – serve as confirmation.

Mazurkas and polonaises

Mazurkas are very diverse. Among them are elegant and refined miniatures, as well as plays written in the folk spirit. There are also brilliant ballroom mazurkas. Most of these pieces are not difficult in terms of virtuosity. Technically, they are easy to implement. The deep musical meaning makes them difficult to understand; the listener is required to have a special subtlety of perception.

Like all 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 polonaise pianist needs strong fingers and wide hands. This is necessary in order tocope with the polyphonic chords underlying the pieces.

If you try to formulate Chopin's work in a few words, its summary will be as follows: the greatest genius of the romantic era, he was the musical idol of Europe. An exile deprived of his homeland, he died very early, at the age of 39. For most of his life, Chopin suffered from an incurable illness that limited his career as a virtuoso. He fully knew the love of hundreds of fans and the only woman who managed to understand him. She had the same talent as he did. His tragic and at the same time happy fate is in music. And she is immortal.