Chopin is the founder of Polish musical classics. This is a romantic composer, but a special romantic. All his work is connected with Poland, its folklore and history.
His life was tragic. It (life) is, as it were, divided into 2 parts. For the first 20 years he lived in Poland (until 1831), and then he was forced to leave Poland forever. For the rest of his life, Chopin lived in Paris, yearning for his homeland. There are 2 features of his work: 1) The motherland acquired for him the meaning of an unattainable romantic ideal, a dream for which he languished all his life. Chopin is a lyric composer. 2) Romantic impulses, languor in his music are always combined with clear logic, perfection of form. Chopin always rejected wildness, deliberateness and exaggeration. He couldn't stand stunning effects. Liszt said: "Chopin cannot bear excesses and unbridledness." Chopin loved Bach and Mozart. Chopin's music is notable for its artistry, spirituality, and subtlety. He didn't like Beethoven.
Chopin created his own piano style, which combines both virtuosity and subtle, deep lyricism. He created new types of piano sound, a new color of piano sound, a new technique in the pedal.
Chopin rethought different genres of piano miniatures. The prelude became an independent, rather than an introductory piece. In depth, the prelude or impromptu approaches the drama. He did a lot of new things in the etude genre. Each study is a romantic miniature, and at the same time, each study is a path to mastering new techniques.
Nocturne and waltz. There are tragic-sounding nocturnes (c-moll) with complex continuous development. Waltzes and brilliant, concert, virtuoso, and there are deeply lyrical.
Chopin created new genres of romantic miniature based on Polish dances - the mazurka, the polonaise, the krakowiak.
Created new genres of large form. These are: the scherzo, which until then was part of the symphonic cycle (by Beethoven from the 2nd symphony); a ballad that had previously been in German poetry. These are complex genres in which there is a synthesis of different forms, including even cyclic ones. Chopin is the greatest master of melody. His melodic origins are different. His melodies combine the features of national Polish songwriting and the classics of Italian Belsant. The melodies have both melodiousness, and declamation, and complex instrumental development. Ornamentation gives a special originality to Chopin's melodies. These decorations are thematically important. The sources of originality are folk violin variation and virtuoso Italian singing. The harmonic language becomes more complicated, but the harmonies are very melodious, they seem to be composed of melodious voices. Features of harmony: Distant keys, alterations, enharmonic modulations, modulations into distant keys. This prepared Liszt, Scriabin and other later composers.
life path
Chopin was born near Warsaw in Zhelyazova Wola in a very cultured family. Father - a former army officer Kosciuszko. My father worked at the Warsaw Lyceum. Mother was very musical. Chopin showed an early liking for the piano. He gave his first concert at the age of 8. 1st piano teacher - Vojtech Zhivny. He instilled the boy's love for the classics. At the age of 13, he entered his father's lyceum. Studied Polish literature, aesthetics, history. During his lyceum years, Chopin wrote poetry, plays, and drew well (especially caricatures). He had congenital tuberculosis.
Musical life in Warsaw was quite intense and lively. Operas by Polish composers were staged, as well as Rossini, Mozart and others. Chopin heard Paganini, Hummel (pianist). Hummel was an influence on the early piano style. There were various musical circles in Warsaw. Chopin performed in them.
1826-1829
Studying at the Main School of Music (Conservatory). He studied composition with Elsner. Chopin started composing early (even before the conservatory). He wrote polonaises and waltzes.
Early work
1st group of works: The main works are concert, virtuoso and somewhat complex, lush, for piano and orchestra.
2nd group: miniatures - waltzes, mazurkas, polonaises.
The highest achievement of this period is 2 piano concertos. In 1828, Chopin went on a concert trip abroad for the first time. Was in Berlin, Vienna, Prague and Dresden. In 1830, he and his friends planned a new concert trip. In the autumn he went to Vienna and then to Paris. At this time, an uprising was brewing in Prague, which Chopin ardently supported. On the way to Paris - in the city of Stuttgart, he learned about the defeat of the uprising. This shocked him. He rushed to his homeland, but his friends held him back.
After that, Chopin's work changed. There was a drama never seen before. He wrote a stormy etude - c-moll, which he called Revolutionary (this etude was written in the same place - in Stuttgart). The impression of the defeat of the uprising was then expressed in other works (1st ballad, preludes a-moll and d-moll).
30-40 years
The main period of creativity. Paris in the 1930s and 1940s became the cultural center of Europe. All celebrities flocked there: Balzac, Stendhal, Hugo, Merimee, Musset, Delacroix (the artist who painted the only portrait of Chopin), Heine, Mickiewicz, Liszt, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini and others. There were famous opera singers: Pasta, Malibran, Viardot, as well as there were: Berlioz, Ober, Halevi. Virtuoso pianists performed in Paris: Kalkbrenner, Thalberg, as well as Paganini. In Paris, Chopin became close to the Poles. Joined the Polish Literary Society. First of all, Chopin conquered Paris as a pianist. He had the finest sound. Chopin was very weak, so his F was perceived as i. He conveyed the subtlety of color very well. He had an amazing rubato. In the future, Chopin performed little in concerts. He played mostly for his Polish friends.
1836-1837
Years of romance with the Polish Maria Wodzińska. Her parents didn't let them get married. After Chopin's death, a bundle of letters with Maria was found.
1838-1847
Years of living together with the writer George Sand (pseudonym). She wore men's suits, smoked a pipe, was similar in character and mentality to a man. They didn't get married. George Sand had 2 children (not by Chopin).
The dawn of creativity. George Sand introduced Chopin to the best people in Paris. In winter, Chopin gave private lessons, and in summer he lived on the money he earned and was engaged in creativity.
In 1838 Chopin and George Sand went to the island of Mallorca. There was a romantic atmosphere that inspired him for the 2nd ballad, the polonaises and the 3rd scherzo.
Until 1838, Chopin wrote almost exclusively miniatures: mazurkas, etudes, polonaises, waltzes, nocturnes. Large form in the period before 1838 - 1st ballad, 1st and 2nd scherzos. After 38, Chopin showed a desire for dramatic and major genres: 2, 3 and 4 ballads, b-moll and h-moll sonatas, f-moll fantasy, fantasy polonaise, scherzos 3 and 4. Even miniatures become dramatic and large (c-moll nocturne, As-dur polonaise).
In 1847 - a break with George Sand. The rest of the years - the gradual extinction of creativity. In 1848 Chopin went on tour to London. There he gave lessons, performed a little in the salons. The last time he performed was at a Polish ball. Chopin died of tuberculosis in the arms of his sister. Mozart's requiem was performed at the funeral. According to Chopin's will, his heart was moved to Warsaw. Since the mid 40s. new trends appeared in his work: calm contemplation, light harmony. The musical language is more complex. More polyphonic devices appear. Layered melodies. Harmony chromatized. From here begins the path to musical impressionism (Debussy and others). This is embodied in his "Lullaby".
Justina Krzyzanowska (1782–1861),
mother of Polish composer Frederic Chopin
Justina Krzyzanowska came from a family of impoverished gentry. She lost her parents early. The family of Countess Ludwika Skarbek, who was related to the Kzhizhanovskys, took the orphaned girl to their upbringing. In the house of the Skarbeks, Yustina received an excellent education. According to the surviving testimonies, Chopin's mother spoke French and German, was extremely musical, played the piano beautifully, and had a beautiful voice. Having matured, Justina began to help the countess to run a large household on the estate of Zhilez-Volya.
Chopin's father was a French immigrant, Nicolas Chopin, the son of a wine grower. His letter to his French relatives has been preserved, from which it follows that he emigrated to Poland in order to evade conscription into the army. In Poland, Nicolas allegedly ended up in the rebel army of Tadeusz Kosciuszko. However, it is known that in reality he worked at a tobacco factory. During his stay in Poland, he managed to master the Polish language. Noticing that the French language was in great vogue among the Polish gentry, he began teaching it.
Countess Ludwika Skarbek had five children. Nicolas Chopin was invited to these children as a French teacher. About Chopin's father, biographers wrote that he was thorough and economical, neat and executive - "a good French teacher, but without much brilliance." “His attitude to art was prosaic. Later he (Nicolas) would make an attempt to learn the violin, but by no means could he be called an artistic person.”
Returning to Justina's acquaintance with the future father of Frederic Chopin, it should be noted that their marriage took place only four years later. For a long time, Nicolas looked closely at the "pani majordomo", as Justin's family jokingly called her. She was a modest girl, but with refined manners, ugly, but charming and reasonable. Their wedding took place in 1806. The bride was 24, the groom was 35.
The relationship between Nicolas and Justina was not built on passionate love, but on deep respect for each other. Countess Skarbek gave the newlyweds one of the wings in her estate. In 1807, their eldest daughter, Ludwika, was born, and on February 22, 1810, a boy appeared - the future great composer. Frederick was born a weak and sickly child. With his helplessness, he immediately riveted all the attention of his mother to himself.
By this time, the sons of the Skarbeks had grown up and it was time to send them to an educational institution. Countess Ludwika, with the help of her acquaintances, found Nicolas a position as a French teacher at the Warsaw Lyceum. And Justina, with the money of the countess, opened a boarding house for boys from noble families. Among the first six boarders were the two sons of Ludwika Skarbek. Justina's boarding house was famous in Warsaw as the best. The cost of living there was very high. Chopin's mother created excellent conditions not only for the young aristocrats to live, but also for their comprehensive development. Justina took care of the leisure of her pets. The boys were constantly busy with music, painting and home theater.
Justina - a strong, intelligent, talented woman was completely devoted to her husband and children. She surrounded little Frederick with special attention and care. Due to frequent illnesses, the boy was deprived of outdoor games and activities inherent in his age, and so that he would not be bored, his mother entertained him with music and reading books. Justina gave her son a happy childhood, filled him with wonderful Polish music and singing. The sounds of the polonaise and the mazurka evoked indescribable delight in Frederick. Unfamiliar feelings overwhelmed his soul when he listened to his mother sing. His emotions alternately changed from violent manifestations of joy to heartbreaking crying. So, through boundless love and music, Justina revealed the soul of her little son. At the age of four, she began teaching Frederick how to play the piano.
Chopin owed his mother his first musical impressions, and the love of folk melodies instilled from infancy, and the first piano lessons. By the age of five, little Chopin was already confidently performing the simple pieces he had learned with Justina, and with pleasure played duets with his older sister Ludwika. In addition to Frederick, the family had three daughters: Ludwika, Emilia and Isabella.
Justina is an outstanding personality, a tireless worker and a loving mother, she took care of the financial situation of the family and diligently revealed the talents of children. All the daughters in the Chopin family, like Frederic, under the guidance of Justina received an excellent education at home, played the piano superbly. However, the central place in the mother's life was occupied by the son. Only sons could have a career and recognition in society; daughters, even very talented and educated ones, were prepared by their parents for marriage and successful motherhood.
In 1817, at the age of seven, the first performance of the little pianist took place. Biographers, as it were, reproach Chopin's mother for not attending this concert. Although it is known that at this time she was seriously ill. A wise mother gave Frederick a talisman so that he would be calm and confident in her love. Justina sewed with her own hands a wide lace collar for his debut costume. This imposing snow-white detail set him apart from other young talents, dressed in standard black suits with short trousers and white socks. The impressionable boy experienced real euphoria from his outfit. As Chopin himself recalled, on this day he enjoyed happiness not because of admiration for his piano playing, but because of compliments about his beautiful collar. These compliments he enthusiastically described for hours. So Justina opened another wonderful world to Chopin - the world of high fashion, which in the future will play an important role in his career.
Unfortunately, as Yaroslav Ivashkevich, who published one of the best biographies of F. Chopin, said, “...we know the least about his mother, although we should have known the most. The mother's influence on Frederick was obviously the most significant." According to the memoirs of contemporaries, “the Chopin house was exceptionally pleasant, and its soul was the mother of Frederic Chopin, a charming and gentle woman, which, however, she passed on to her only son. From her he inherited a talent for music. (E. Koscelskaya).
As was customary at all times, few researchers paid attention to the biographies of the mothers of great people. According to the general belief that existed until the 21st century, the only reason for the genius of a person could be his innate feature or genetic predisposition inherited from his father, grandfather or great-grandfather, exclusively on the paternal line. The idea that human genius is the result of the creativity of the mother of a genius has never visited either historians or researchers. For this reason, today we know almost nothing about either the bloodlines of the mothers of great people, or about the lives of the most influential women in the world - Genius Mothers.
But the fathers of great people were often credited with non-existent virtues and merits. So, for example, Chopin's father, who first picked up the violin at the age of forty, felt like a new Leopold Mozart. He began to take Frederick to perform at parties, secular salons, and sometimes in palaces - there were more than enough people who wanted to hear the play of the “Polish Mozart”.
It was a time when in Europe and Russia, after the phenomenon of Amadeus Mozart, there was a "fashion" for young talents. The ruling elite made an order to society for high art, and they paid well for it. Poor parents were exhausted, collecting the last money to buy a musical instrument and hire a teacher for their child. While fathers drilled children (Mozart), and sometimes beat them (Paganini, Beethoven), Mothers of Brilliance revealed the souls of geniuses in their children with love and tenderness, created the destinies of great people. Actually, fathers began to notice a gifted child among their sometimes numerous offspring when he was already 5-7 years old. Thanks to the Mothers of Brilliance, a whole constellation of great musicians, artists, poets and writers illuminated Europe and Russia in the 19th century. For these reasons, all the greatest artists were born at about the same time, in the same places.
It is quite obvious that all "miracle children" were not born brilliant musicians, artists or poets. They are just more fortunate: they became the favorites of their mothers from the first minutes of their birth. Some - because they were born after the death of a brother or even two (Shakespeare, Mozart, Beethoven, Gogol, Glinka, Kuprin), others - because they were the first-born or only sons (Raphael, Chopin, Pasteur, Picasso), others - because they were born premature and unviable (Kepler, Newton, Voltaire), the fourth - because they were the youngest (Wagner, Mendeleev, Mahatma Gandhi).
And this Maternal love turned out to be that omnipotent creative force that, as it were, unsealed, revealed the potential of the child. The stronger the love and the more powerful the personality of the mother, the grander her creation. None of the geniuses, having got into the situation of "Mowgli" as a baby, could not even speak. Opened children can become great with equal success in any of the sciences and arts, where their soul could express itself. In the case of Frederic Chopin, the environment in which he was immersed from birth, which, again, was created for him by his mother, played a role.
No one has ever studied this childhood of geniuses, and they themselves, like ordinary people, do not remember anything about this period of their lives and are sure that they were already born like that.
As for Chopin, we can only guess what a colossal work was done by Justina Kzhizhanovska.
At the age of 13, Frederic entered the Lyceum, which he graduated in three years. There he showed all his versatile abilities. He spoke and read fluently in French and German, drew beautifully, he was especially good at caricatures. His artistic talent was so bright that he could have become an excellent theater actor.
After the lyceum, Frederic entered the conservatory, and from the same time his artistic activity began. Chopin began to give concerts in Vienna and Krakow. On November 1, 1830, he left Warsaw, and, as it turned out, forever. At first, Frederick arrived in Dresden, then lived a little in Vienna, and finally decided to leave for England, passing through Paris. Subsequently, when Chopin finally settled in Paris, he often joked: "I'm only passing through here."
In 1832 Frederic Chopin was already one of the most popular Parisian pianists. “I move in the highest society - among princes and ministers. How I got to them, I don’t know myself: it somehow happened by itself ”(From a letter from Chopin to a friend).
In Paris, Frederick gained real fame. His virtuoso piano playing, refined manners and slightly weary voice produced a stunning effect on the spoiled French. His inimitable style of dress: silk raincoats, gloves made of light lavender lambskin, known as the color of Chopin - all this created not only a unique image of a brilliant composer, but also gave rise to a whole trend in Parisian fashion. Chopin's fate developed, it would seem, extremely happily: he, a maternal aristocrat, a great musician, was received and greeted like a prince. He gave numerous concerts, entered into lucrative contracts with publishers. His piano lessons were the most expensive, people signed up for him. Frederic Chopin quickly and with rare ease for a musician entered the chosen circle of people of art.
In August 1835, the most joyful event for Chopin took place: in Karlsbad (now Karlovy Vary), his long-awaited meeting with his parents took place. “Our joy is indescribable. We embrace - and what else can you do? We walk together, take mommy by the arm... We caress and shout at each other... Here it is, it is happiness, happiness and happiness.” (From a letter to my sister's husband). This happiness lasted almost a month. After saying goodbye to his parents, Chopin never saw them again.
Everything in Frederick's life happened the way the Brilliant Mother had planned for him. It was she who taught him to love music, revealed his creative abilities. Everything was provided by Justina. Even the fact that Chopin was brought up and was friends with boys from noble families living in her boarding house, even the lace collar that became the beginning of his unique image - everything was her creation. And everything came true. Besides happiness...
In February 1837, Justyna Krzyzanowska wrote from Warsaw to Paris to her son Fryderyk: “There is no such happiness on earth that I would not wish you, dear Frytsko. My heart is overflowing with feelings... Pani Wodzynska told me that you promised her to go to bed early, which I am very glad about, as it is necessary for your health; yet you did not keep your word to her. This is especially important now, when such a strong flu is rampant. Write to us often, because, believe me, as soon as a month passes and there is no letter from you, then each of us begins to deceive others, looking for reasons that explain your silence, and calming each other, but thinking otherwise to ourselves. Do not worry about us, take care of your health - it is most important for our happiness. I embrace you from the bottom of my heart, infinitely attached Mother.
Separation from his mother and his homeland became the cause of constant hidden longing for the composer. Truly Frederic Chopin was calm and happy only next to his mother. To longing for home and family, love for George Sand was added, which brought more grief than happiness, and undermined Chopin's already poor health. He dreamed of his family and an impeccable woman, completely devoted to her husband and children, who would be like his mother. As George Sand said of Frederic Chopin, "his mother was his only passion and the only woman he truly loved."
Chopin was born in Poland, not far from Warsaw. His father was French, but he married a Polish woman, a beautiful and meek woman. Parents loved each other, which had a beneficial effect on Frederick, helped him grow up as a sensitive and gentle person. As a little boy, Chopin did not tolerate any music well, he began to cry at the first sound of it. But this did not last long. Already at the age of six he played the piano smartly, and at the age of nine he performed in a concert for the first time. During this period, he began to compose musical works - waltzes, mazurkas, polonaises.
Chopin's father kept a boarding house for the children of aristocrats. Communication with children from noble families helped Frederick and his three sisters to acquire the skills to communicate with people from high society. Due to poor health, Chopin could not participate in noisy active games, so he often played theater with his sisters. He himself came up with the content of the plays, selected music for them. The boy was distinguished by great artistic abilities and a wealth of facial expressions, he knew how to perfectly improvise, inventing various stories on the go, which he told the guests or the children of the boarding house. Friends of his father predicted him the glory of an actor.
Thanks to natural abilities, Chopin studied well, first at home, and then in the senior classes of the lyceum. He studied music with the director of the Warsaw Conservatory. The relationship between teacher and student developed into a strong friendship that lasted until Chopin's death.
At the age of sixteen, Chopin took part in a concert for the second time, which was attended by Alexander the first. The emperor highly appreciated the performance of the young musician and presented him with a diamond ring.
After graduating from the Warsaw Lyceum, Chopin decided to take up music professionally. Trips to Berlin and Vienna confirmed him in this decision. For many years he will remember a small hotel on the way to Warsaw, where he played the piano surrounded by random fellow travelers, the owner of the hotel, his wife and their children. He had never met such enthusiastic fans.
A year after the trip to Vienna, Chopin decided to leave for France. Parents understood that only in a music center such as Paris could their son's abilities be revealed. The only thing that worried them was the state of his health. Yes, and Frederick himself was tormented by a premonition that he would never see his homeland, his friends and relatives.
Paris greeted Chopin with bustling streets and anxious talk about politics, but he was only interested in the world of art.
In Paris, he met Liszt. Together they often visited aristocratic salons, got acquainted with princes and ministers. This helped Chopin find a job that satisfied him more. He became a piano teacher for the aristocracy. In secular society, he was accepted willingly. He was an excellent musician, an interesting conversationalist, a cheerful and witty partner. But in front of the public, a large crowd of people, he often lost himself, experiencing shyness and embarrassment. Therefore, more often he preferred the company of women with whom he found common topics for conversation. Women loved him, were sources of his inspiration. But all hobbies were short-lived.
The meeting with George Sand changed Chopin's whole life. It's amazing how two people so opposite in character could come together. He, with a sensitive and gentle soul of a musician, she, who loved constant noise, movement, meeting new people, walking along the Parisian streets. But there was something that united them. This is the music of Chopin. George Sand supported the composer for eight years, endured his whims, nursed after each bout of illness. Chopin accepted her care, as he received them from his mother and sisters, not realizing that an outstanding woman and a talented writer lived next to him.
This misunderstanding led them to break up. To somehow forget, Chopin goes to England. But the composer did not like the atmosphere, the people, the climate. The disease has progressed, and Chopin is in a hurry to return to Paris, hoping that here he will be able to improve his health. Six months later, Chopin died of consumption. With the money collected by friends, a monument was erected to him: a weeping muse and a broken lyre at her feet.
For future generations, Chopin left a great legacy: forty-one mazurkas and eight polonaises, études, two sonatas, ballads and scherzos and unforgettable waltzes.
Chopin's biography the most important
Frederic Francois Chopin is a pianist, a great composer who left a great legacy of piano music.
Born February 22, 1810 in the musical family of a Frenchman and a Polish woman. From childhood, he was surrounded by his father's playing the violin and flute, his mother's singing, and by the age of 6 he began to play the piano on his own. In addition to a talented and inquisitive boy, three more daughters were brought up in the family, but only Frederick connected his life with music.
The famous pianist Wojciech Zhyvny became the first guide to the world of music for Chopin. He studied at the Warsaw Lyceum, and after graduation he studied with a well-known composer. Already by the age of twelve, the boy reached the level of great pianists, and at the age of 22 he gave his first major concert, which became fateful - it was there that Frederick met the best figures in the field of music.
All the composer's work is devoted to the piano - he wrote two concertos, sonatas, nocturnes, ballads, preludes, etudes. Chopin is known not only as a great composer, but also as a brilliant teacher - he created his own technique, thanks to which many pianists who came out from under the wing of Frederick became real professionals in their field.
Chopin traveled a lot. So, in 1831 he moved to Paris, and in 1837 he traveled to England and Scotland. In the biography of the composer there is also a period during which he lived on the island of Mallorca. In 1848 he moved to London, where he gave concerts and continued teaching.
From 1837, Chopin began to show signs of lung disease. They gave impetus to the development of asthmatic attacks. Frederick gave his last concert in November 1848. After him, the composer's health worsened every day.
Chopin's short but rich and fruitful life ended in October 1849. The cause of death was lung disease.
4th, 5th, 6th, 7th grade for children creativity
Interesting facts and dates from life
Mysterious, diabolical, feminine, courageous, incomprehensible, understandable tragic Chopin.
S. Richter
According to A. Rubinstein, "Chopin is a bard, rhapsodist, spirit, soul of the piano." The most unique thing in Chopin's music is connected with the piano: its quivering, refinement, "singing" of all texture and harmony, enveloping the melody with an iridescent airy "haze". All the multicoloredness of the romantic worldview, everything that usually required monumental compositions (symphonies or operas) for its embodiment, was expressed by the great Polish composer and pianist in piano music (Chopin has very few works with the participation of other instruments, human voice or orchestra). Contrasts and even polar opposites of Romanticism in Chopin turned into the highest harmony: fiery enthusiasm, increased emotional "temperature" - and strict logic of development, intimate confidence of lyrics - and the conception of symphonic scales, artistry, brought to aristocratic sophistication, and next to it - the pristine purity of "folk pictures." In general, the originality of Polish folklore (its modes, melodies, rhythms) permeated the entire music of Chopin, who became the musical classic of Poland.
Chopin was born near Warsaw, in Zhelyazova Wola, where his father, a native of France, worked as a home teacher in a count's family. Shortly after the birth of Fryderyk, the Chopin family moved to Warsaw. Phenomenal musical talent manifests itself already in early childhood, at the age of 6 the boy composes his first work (polonaise), and at 7 he performs as a pianist for the first time. Chopin receives general education at the Lyceum, he also takes piano lessons from V. Zhivny. The formation of a professional musician is 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 composed poetry, played in home performances, and drew wonderfully. For the rest of 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 gave a lot of impressions to the beginning musician. Italian and Polish national opera, tours of major artists (N. Paganini, I. Hummel) inspired Chopin, opened up new horizons for him. Often during the summer holidays, Fryderyk visited his friends' country estates, where he not only listened to the play of village musicians, but sometimes he himself played some instrument. Chopin's first composing experiments were poeticized dances of Polish life (polonaise, mazurka), waltzes, as well as nocturnes - miniatures of a lyric-contemplative nature. He also turns to the genres that formed the basis of the repertoire of the then virtuoso pianists - concert variations, fantasies, rondos. The material for such works was, as a rule, themes from popular operas or folk Polish melodies. met with a warm response from R. Schumann, who wrote an enthusiastic article about them. Schumann also owns the following words: "... If a genius like Mozart is born in our time, he will write concertos more like Chopin than Mozart." 2 concertos (especially the one in E minor) were the highest achievement of Chopin's early work, reflecting all the facets of the artistic world of the 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 bright 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 the strongest 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 languor 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 spirit of Beethoven into the concert hall." The ballad and the scherzo are genres new to piano music. Ballads were called detailed romances of a narrative-dramatic nature; for Chopin, these are large works of a poem type (written under the impression of the ballads of A. Mickiewicz and Polish dumas). 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 - spontaneously demonic content).
Chopin's subsequent life is connected with Paris, where he ends up in 1831. In this seething center of artistic life, Chopin meets artists from different European countries: composers G. Berlioz, F. Liszt, N. Paganini, V. Bellini, J. Meyerbeer , pianist F. Kalkbrenner, writers G. Heine, A. Mickiewicz, George Sand, artist E. Delacroix, who painted a portrait of the composer. Paris in the 30s XIX century - one of the centers of the new, romantic art, asserted itself in the fight against academism. According to Liszt, "Chopin openly joined the ranks of the Romantics, having nevertheless written 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 was in the nature of an organic development of tradition, its, as it were, magical transformation. The idols of the Polish romantic were Mozart and, in particular, J. S. Bach. Chopin was generally disapproving of contemporary music. Probably, his classically strict, refined taste, which did not allow any harshness, rudeness and extremes of expression, affected here. With all the secular sociability and friendliness, he was restrained and did not like to open his inner world. So, about music, about the content of his works, he spoke rarely and sparingly, 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 to express artistic content and is inseparable from it. Chopin himself, however, rarely performed in concerts, preferring the chamber, more comfortable atmosphere of a secular salon to a large hall. Income from concerts and music publications was lacking, 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 collisions 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 has always been an introduction to some work. With Chopin, this is a valuable piece in itself, at the same time retaining some understatement of the aphorism and "improvisational" freedom, which is so consonant with the romantic worldview. The cycle of preludes ended on the island of Mallorca, where Chopin undertook a trip together with George Sand (1838) to improve his health. In addition, Chopin traveled from Paris to Germany (1834-1836), where he met with Mendelssohn and Schumann, and saw his parents in Carlsbad, and to England (1837).
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The question of the birth date of the greatest Polish composer Frederic Francois Chopin still haunts the minds of his biographers, in contrast to the undeniable recognition of his talent and gratitude for his incredible musical heritage. According to his lifetime records, he was born on March 1, 1810, and according to the official baptismal record in the parish church of the city of Brochov, on February 22. The birthplace of the creator is beyond doubt: the town of Zhelyazova Wola, in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship, located on the Lost River, 54 kilometers west of Warsaw. The village belonged at that time to the family of Count Skarbek.
Composer's family
His father, Nicolas, was born in the capital of Lorraine, the city of Marinville, an independent duchy ruled by King Stanislaw Leszczynski of Poland until his death in 1766, and then passed under the control of France. He moved to Poland in 1787, speaking fairly well French, German, Polish, the basics of accounting, calligraphy, literature and music. In 1806, in Brochov, Nicolas married Justine Krzhizhanovskaya, and this marriage turned out to be quite successful and durable. The couple lived together for a happy 38 years. A year after the marriage, their first daughter, Ludwika, was born in Warsaw, son Fryderyk, in Zhelyazova Wola, and then two more daughters: Isabela and Emilia in Warsaw. Frequent family moves were due to the political situation in the country. Nicolas worked as a mentor to the children of Duke Skarbek, who, depending on the military situation, during Napoleon's war with Prussia and Russia, and later during the Polish-Russian war and until Napoleon's failed attack on Russia, moved from place to place. Since 1810, Nicolas moved his family to the capital of the Warsaw Grand Duchy, having received a teaching position in a comprehensive secondary school. The first apartment of the family is located in the Saxon Palace, in the right wing, where the educational institution was located.
Chopin's early years
From an early age, Frederick was surrounded by live music. Mother played the piano and sang, and her father accompanied her on the flute or violin. According to the memoirs of the sisters, the boy showed genuine interest in the sounds of music. At an early age, Chopin began to show artistic talents: he drew, wrote poetry and performed music without any training. The gifted child began to compose his own music and at the age of seven some of his early creations were already published.
The six-year-old Chopin took regular piano lessons under the Czech pianist Wojciech Zivny, who was a private teacher at the time and was one of the teachers at his father's school. Despite the feeling of some old-fashionedness and comicality created by the teacher, Wojciech taught the talented child to play the works of Bach and Mozart. Chopin never had another piano teacher. Lessons were given to him simultaneously with his sister, with whom they played four hands.
In March 1817, the Chopin family, together with the Warsaw Lyceum, moved to the Kazimierz Palace, in the right wing. This year, the audience heard his first compositions: the B-flat major polonaise and the military march. Over the years, the score of the first march has been lost. A year later, he was already performing in public, playing the works of Adalbert Girovets.
In the same year, thanks to the efforts of the parish priest, the Polonaise in E minor was published with a dedication to Victoria Skarbek. One of the first marches was performed by a military band during military parades on Saxony Square. The Warsaw magazine publishes the first review of the work of the young talent, focusing on the fact that at the age of eight the author has all the ingredients of a real musical genius. He not only performs the most complex pieces on the piano with ease, but is also a composer with exceptional musical taste, who has already written several dances and variations that amaze even experts. February 24, 2018 at a charity evening at the Radziwill Palace, Chopin plays. The audience warmly welcomes the talented performer, calling him the second Mozart. He begins to actively perform in the best aristocratic houses.
Adolescence of a young composer
In 1821, Frederick wrote a polonaise, which he dedicated to his first teacher. The work is the composer's earliest surviving manuscript. The young Chopin completes his studies with Zhivny by the age of 12 and begins studying the fundamentals of harmony and music theory privately with Józef Elsner, founder and director of the Warsaw Conservatory. In parallel, the young man takes German lessons from Pastor Jerzy Tetzner. He attended the Warsaw Lyceum from September 1823 to 1826, and the Czech musician Wilhelm Würfel gave him organ lessons in his first year. Elsner, recognizing the fact that Chopin's style was uniquely original, did not insist on the use of traditional teaching methods and left the composer free to develop according to an individual plan.
In 1825, the young man performed improvisation in an evangelical church, on a new instrument invented by Brunner, something resembling a mechanical organ, in front of Alexander I, during his visit to Warsaw. Impressed by the young man's talents, the Russian Tsar presented him with a diamond ring. The publication Polsky Vestnik noted that all those present listened with pleasure to the sincere captivating performance and admired the skill.
Subsequently, Chopin will play his works on little-known instruments more than once. According to the memoirs of his contemporaries, the composer even composed pieces for performance on new instruments, but their scores have not survived to this day. Frederick spent his holidays in the city of Torun in northern Poland, where the young man visited the house of Copernicus, as well as other historical buildings and attractions. He was especially impressed by the famous town hall, whose greatest feature was that it had as many windows as there are days in a year, as many halls as months, as many rooms as weeks, and its whole construction was an incredible example of the Gothic style. In the same year he became a school organist, playing on Sundays in church as an accompanist for the choir. Among the works of this period, one can distinguish polonaises and mazurkas intended for dancing, as well as his first waltzes. In 1826, he completed his studies at the Lyceum, and in September began working under the wing of Rector Elsner, who, as the Faculty of Fine Arts, is part of the University of Warsaw. During this period, the first signs of a health disorder appear and Chopin, under the supervision of doctors F. Remer and V. Malz, receives prescriptions for treatment, which involve adherence to a strict daily regimen and dietary nutrition. He begins attending private Italian lessons.
Travel years
In the autumn of 1828, the young man went with his father's friend Yarotsky to Berlin. There, taking part in the world congress of natural researchers, he draws caricatures of scientists, complementing the images with huge shapeless noses. Frederic also reacts critically to excessive romanticism. However, the trip gave him the opportunity to get acquainted with the musical life of Berlin, which was the main purpose of the trip. Seeing Gaspard Luigi Spontini, Carl Friedrich Zelter and Mendelssohn, Chopin did not speak to any of them because he did not dare to introduce himself. The acquaintance with a number of operatic works in the theater left a special impression.
After visiting Berlin, Chopin visited Poznań, where, in accordance with family tradition, he attended the reception of Archbishop Theophil Woriki, a relative of the Skarbeks, known for his patriotism, and at the residence of the governor of the Grand Duchy of Poznan, Duke Radziwill, he plays works by Haydn, Beethoven and improvises. Upon his return to Warsaw, he continues to work under the direction of Elsner.
At the beginning of winter, he takes an active part in the musical life of Warsaw. At a concert at the home of Friederik Buchholz, he plays Rondo in C major on two pianos with Julian Fontana. He performs, plays, improvises and entertains in Warsaw salons, occasionally giving private lessons. Takes part in amateur home theater productions. In the spring of 1829, Anthony Radziwill visited Chopin's house, and soon the composer composed Polonaise in C major for him for piano and cello.
Feeling that Frederick needs to grow and improve professionally, his father turns to the Minister of Public Education Stanislav Grabovsky for a grant for his son so that he can visit foreign countries, in particular Germany, Italy and France, to continue his education. Despite Grabowski's support, his request is rejected by the Minister of the Interior, Count Tadeusz Mostowski. Despite the obstacles, the parents eventually send their son to Vienna in mid-July. First of all, he attends concerts and opera, listens to music performed by a local diva - pianist Leopoldina Blagetka, according to whom Frederick himself is a virtuoso, capable of causing a sensation among the local public.
He made his successful debut on the Austrian stage at the end of 1829. The audience was delighted with his performing technique, complemented by poetic expressiveness. In Austria, Chopin composed a major scherzo, a minor ballad, and other works that fully demonstrated his personal Chopin writing style. In Austria, he manages to publish several of his works. That same year he returned home to prepare for a concert tour, this time through Germany and Italy. On February 7, 1830, to family and friends, he presents his Concerto in E Minor with the accompaniment of a small orchestra.
Life and death in Paris
Over the next few years, Chopin performed extensively in European countries, one of which was France. He settled in Paris in 1832 and quickly established friendly relations with young musical talents, among whom were: Liszt, Bellini and Mendelssohn. Nevertheless, longing for the Motherland made itself felt. Warmly desiring to take an active part in the political struggle of his people, he could not find a place for himself.
In France, he begins to work in earnest as a private piano teacher. Due to poor health, public speaking became less and less frequent. Nevertheless, he became a prominent figure in Parisian artistic circles. His entourage consisted of musicians, writers and artists, as well as rich and talented women. In the spring of 1836, the disease worsened. Most likely, the lung disease that tormented the composer was rapidly developing tuberculosis.
At a party at the Countess's residence, Chopin first meets the 32-year-old writer Amandine Aurora Dudevant, known as George Sand. At the end of 1837, Sand develops a close relationship with Chopin, who by that time had parted ways with Maria Wodzinska. Hoping for a healing climate in Spain, Frederic, Georges and her children Maurice and Solange move to Mallorca.
In the villa, among cedars, cacti, oranges, lemons, aloes, figs, pomegranates, under a turquoise sky, by the azure sea, however, there was no improvement. Despite his illness, the composer completed his twenty-four preludes in Mallorca. In February they returned to France. By this time, bleeding had already begun to appear during coughing fits. After undergoing treatment in Paris, the composer's condition improved. According to Sand's impressions, Chopin is so accustomed to having his head in the clouds that life or death means nothing to him and he is ill-informed about what planet he lives on. Georges, realizing the seriousness of her husband's health affairs, devoted her life to children, Chopin and creativity.
After improving their health, the family settled for the summer in the Sand country house in Nohant, south of Paris. Here Chopin is composing the Nocturne in G Major and three Mazurkas from Opus No. 41. He is working on completing the Ballade in F Major and the Sonata. In the summer he feels unstable, but at every opportunity he rushes to the piano and composes. The composer spends the whole next year with his family. Chopin gives five lessons a day, his wife writes up to 10 pages per night. Thanks to the reputation and development of the publishing business, Chopin successfully sells his scores. Rare Chopin concerts bring the family 5,000 francs each. The public is eager to hear a great musician.
In 1843, the musician's health continues to deteriorate. He takes homeopathic treatment. In October 1843, Frederick and his son Sand Maurice returned from the village to Paris, and his wife and daughter lingered for a month in nature. The death, at the age of fourteen in Vienna, in 1845, of his most talented pupil, Karl Filz, who was universally regarded as a brilliant pianist and closest in style of playing, struck Chopin. The couple spends more and more time in the countryside. Among the regular guests appears Pauline Viardot, whose repertoire Chopin listens with delight.
The difference in temperaments and jealousy interfered with the relationship with Sand. In 1848 they separated. Chopin toured the British Isles, performing for the last time on 16 November 1848 at the London Guild for Polish Refugees. In letters to his family, he wrote that if London were not so dark, and the people were not so heavy, and if there was no smell of coal, no fogs, he would have learned English, but the English are very different from the French, to whom Chopin attached. The Scottish mists did not add to his health. At the beginning of 1849, his last works were published: "Waltz in a minor" and "Mazurka in G minor".
He returned to Paris, his health gradually deteriorating. Sometimes there are decent days when he travels in a carriage, but more often he suffers from choking fits of coughing. He doesn't go out in the evenings. Nevertheless, he continues to give piano lessons.
At two o'clock in the morning on October 17, 1849, at the age of 39, Chopin dies. Poland has lost its greatest musician, and the whole world has lost a true genius. His body was buried in the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, and his heart was taken to the Church of the Holy Cross in Poland, near Warsaw.
Places in Warsaw closely associated with the composer's name:
- Saxon Palace;
- Kazimierz Palace;
- Botanical Garden;
- Krasiński Palace;
- Warsaw Lyceum;
- Conservatory;
- University of Warsaw;
- Palace of the Radziwills;
- Blue Palace;
- Morshtyn Palace;
- National Theatre.
Listen: The Best, Frederic Chopin
