Frederic Chopin

Frederic Chopin was a composer of polish decent, from the romantic era Chopin composed mostly on a solo piano. He was born on March 1st, 1810 in what used to be Duchy of Warsaw and was raised in Warsaw. It later on in 1815 came to be a part of Poland. Many people considered him to be a child prodigy as his family didn’t have money, yet he grew up motived to love music by his mom was and because his father worked for a noble family he had access to instruments from an early age and was exposed to cultured Warsaw society. By the age of 6 Chopin was playing the piano better than most adults and already composing music. After his family realized that he had true talent they hired a professional musician for lessons and it didn’t take long
Frederic left much to be remember by, he wrote many preludes, etudes, waltzes, nocturnes and scherzos. Still his Piano Sonatas are what he is most famous for. It seems that someone his solo pianos compositions resemble the works of John Field and Bach. One great example is Chopin’s 24 preludes in all keys obviously mirroring Bach’s 48 preludes and fugues. (Encyclopedia Britannica Online). What makes Chopin’s music so obvious to the romantic era is that they are very structured, yet far from being emotionless, he played his works with a strong rubato giving the performer another dimension of expression. Another great influence in his compositions later in his life was his involvement with the writer Aurore Dudevant who called herself George Sand. Through the early years of their relationship Chopin composed some of his greatest works, and even when he was very sick he still managed to compose 24 preludes, Op.28 (1838-39). Through his sickest years and toward the end of his relationship with Sand he was able to write his best works The B Minor Sonata, the Op. 55 Nocturnes and Op. 56 Mazurkas. These works are characterized by remarkable changes and intricacy, as well as a different sense of uncertainty that reflects what was happening in his
The impact of Chopin's music extended across national boundaries. His music caused ripples across Europe, especially that which stemmed from Paris, where the composer lived and wrote his compositions after 1830. It should be noted that among Chopin's peers were Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt and Friedrich Kalkbrenner. The agreement and quality of Chopin's music charmed Schumann, especially when the German composer wrote his Nocturne in G minor op.15. Schumann also expressed his gusto in his reviews of Chopin's works published in various periodicals. Kalkbrenner showed his appreciation by dedicating to Chopin his Variations Brillantes op.120 on a theme from the Mazurka in B flat major op.7 no.1.