Delphi Masterworks of Frédéric Chopin (Illustrated)

Frédéric Chopin

(1810-1849)

Contents

The Masterworks

Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C major, Op.3

Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante, Op.22

Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op.21

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op.11

Nocturnes, Op.9

Études, Op.10

Waltz No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op.18, Grande valse brillante

Fantasy-Impromptu in C-Sharp Minor, Op.66

Mazurkas, Op.33

Scherzo No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, Op.31

24 Preludes, Op.28

Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, Op.35

Ballade No. 3 in A-Flat Major, Op.47

Polonaise No. 6 in A-Flat Major, Op.53

Berceuse in D-Flat Major, Op.57

Barcarolle in F-Sharp Major, Op.60

Waltzes, Op.64

Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op.65

Complete Compositions

Index of Chopin’s Compositions

The Biographies and Letters

Life of Chopin by Franz Liszt

Frederick Chopin, as a Man and Musician by Frederick Niecks

Frederic Chopin: His Life, Letters, and Works by Maurycy Karasowski

Frederic Chopin by Harriette Brower

Chopin: The Man and His Music by James Huneker

Chopin and the Countess Delphine Potocka by Gustav Kobbé

The Delphi Classics Catalogue

© Delphi Classics 2018

Version 1

Delphi Great Composers

Frédéric Chopin

By Delphi Classics, 2018

COPYRIGHT

Delphi Great Composers - Frédéric Chopin

First published in the United Kingdom in 2018 by Delphi Classics.

© Delphi Classics, 2018.

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

ISBN: 978 1 78656 124 4

Delphi Classics

is an imprint of

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The Masterworks

Frédéric Chopin was born in Żelazowa Wola, 30 miles west of Warsaw, in what was then the Duchy of Warsaw, a Polish state established by Napoleon.

Chopin’s birthplace in Żelazowa Wola

The Chopin monument in Żelazowa Wola by Józef Gosławski

The Masterworks: A Short Guide

In this section of the eBook there are concise introductions for Frédéric Chopin’s most celebrated works. Interactive links to popular streaming services are provided at the beginning and end of each introduction, allowing you to listen to the music you are reading about. The text is also accompanied with contextual images to supplement your reading and listening.

There are various options for streaming music, with most paid services charged competitively at the same rate and usually offering a similar range of albums. Various streaming services offer a free trial (Google Play Music, Amazon Music Unlimited and Apple Music) and Spotify offers a free service after you watch a short advertisement. Amazon Prime members can also enjoy a wide range of free content from Amazon Prime Music. If you do not wish to subscribe to a streaming service, we have included YouTube links for free videos of the classical pieces. Another free option is MUSOPEN, a non-profit organisation that provides recordings, sheet music and textbooks to the public for free, without copyright restrictions.

Please note: different eReading devices serve hyperlinks in different ways, which means we cannot always link you directly to your chosen service. However, the links are intended to take you to the best option available for the piece of music you are reading about.

High-resolution scores for the music would be too large in size to include in an eBook; however, we have provided links to free scores available at IMSLP, the International Music Score Library Project, which can be accessed from the SCORES links in each chapter.

Now, settle back and relax as you immerse yourself in the music and life of Chopin...

Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C major, Op.3

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One of the most celebrated composers of the Romantic period, Fryderyk Chopin was born in Żelazowa Wola, a village in modern-day Poland. A tutor for children of the Polish aristocracy, his father, Nicolas Chopin, was a Frenchman from Lorraine, who had immigrated to Poland in 1787 at the age of sixteen. In 1806 he had married Justyna Krzyżanowska, a poor relative of the Skarbeks, one of the families for whom he worked as a tutor. Fryderyk was the second of four children, including an elder sister, Ludwika and two younger sisters, Izabela and Emilia.

Chopin’s father was devoted to his adopted homeland and insisted on the use of the Polish language in the household. All the family were interested in artistic pursuits. The father played the flute and violin; the mother played the piano and gave lessons to boys in the boarding house that the Chopins kept.  From his infancy, Chopin was reported to have been peculiarly moved when listening to his mother or sister playing the piano. By the age of six he was already trying to reproduce what he heard or to create new tunes. The following year he started piano lessons with Wojciech Zywny, a 61-year-old all-around musician with an astute sense of values. In short time Zywny’s simple instruction in piano playing was lacking in challenge, as Chopin developed for himself an original approach to the piano, unhindered by academic rules and formal discipline. He was soon regarded as a child prodigy.

By the age of seven Fryderyk was giving public concerts and in 1817 he composed two polonaises in G minor and B-flat major. His next work, a Polonaise in A-flat major composed in 1821 and dedicated to Zywny, is now held as his earliest surviving manuscript. During this period, Fryderyk was occasionally invited to the Belweder Palace as a playmate to the son of the ruler of Russian Poland, Grand Duke Constantine. There he played the piano and even composed a march for the Duke.

When he was sixteen, Fryderyk’s family enrolled him at the newly formed Warsaw Conservatory of Music, directed by the Polish composer Joseph Elsner, with whom he had recently studied musical theory. Insisting on a traditional training, Elsner was also a romantically inclined composer, who allowed Chopin’s individual imagination to flourish and not be checked by academic demands. At the Warsaw Conservatory, he was put through a solid course of instruction in harmony and composition, while in piano playing he was allowed to develop a high degree of individuality. Throughout this formative period, he continued to compose and to give recitals in concerts and salons in Warsaw.

Chopin spent his holidays away from the city, particularly favouring Szafarnia, a village in north-central Poland, where he was a guest of Dominik Dziewanowski, the father of a schoolmate. It was here for the first time that he encountered Polish rural folk music, storing impressions that would later give an unmistakable national colouring to his work. His literary merits were demonstrated by his letters home, to which he gave the title The Szafarnia Courier; they were written in a witty and lively Polish, parodying local newspapers and providing much amusement for his family.

In the autumn of 1829, Chopin fell in love for the first time with a young woman in Warsaw. Unfortunately, the love was unrequited. Chopin’s father, in hopes of easing his heartbreak, took his son on a week-long trip to visit the estate of Prince Radziwill, governor of the Grand Duchy of Posen, who had two beautiful young daughters. For the prince and his pianist daughter Wanda, Chopin composed his Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C major for Cello and Piano, Op. 3, one of his first published compositions. In a letter to his friend Tytus Woyciechowski, Chopin indicated that he hoped Princess Wanda would practice the piece to aid her studies. Dedicated to the Austrian cellist Joseph Merk, Introduction and Polonaise brillante was written in April 1830 and first published in 1831. In a contemporary letter, Chopin explained his reasons for the dedication: On Thursday there was a soiree at Fuchs’s, when Limmer introduced some of his own compositions for four violoncellos. Merk as usual made them more beautiful than they really were by his playing, which is so full of soul. He is the only violoncellist I truly respect.

A typical performance lasts about eight and a half minutes and it is one of the few pieces the composer ever wrote for an instrument besides the piano. Chopin later confided to a friend that it was merely a salon piece to be enjoyed casually, written as a means to show off Wanda’s pretty fingers. Indeed, the piece comprises many piano flourishes that test the dexterity of a pianist’s finger-work. In spite of his disregard for the piece, Chopin included it on a concert tour in 1830. It was soon after this that he added an Introduction section to the piece, under the guidance of the great cellist August Joseph Franchomme, who helped with necessary revisions before its 1833 publication.

Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C major is a highly entertaining piece from start to finish. The Introduction section is only a few minutes in length, but teems with flourishes and invention, further enhanced by a beautiful, yet simplistic cello melody. The Polonaise is noted for its energy and youthful spirit. The piano part serves as a showcase solo part, as well as an apposite partner to the cello. The cello part is not dominant in the solo role, but is obligato in nature, rising above the virtuosic piano passages. The main melody is festive and sprightly in nature, as the cello introduces most of the melodic lines. There are several moments of lyrical grace as the music builds in excitement to its colourful end — all hinting at the extraordinary talent of the young composer and the many masterpieces that were soon to follow…

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Chopin’s father, Nicolas Chopin, by Mieroszewski, 1829

The first page of the score

The first known portrait of Chopin, painted by Ambroży Mieroszewski in 1829

Joseph Merk (1795-1852) was a noted Austrian cellist. Chopin’s early work ‘Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C major, Op. 3’ was dedicated to Merk.

‘Chopin plays for the Radziwiłłs’ by Henryk Siemiradzki, 1829

Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante, Op.22

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Formed of two parts, the early work Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante in E-flat major, Op. 22, was composed by Chopin between 1830 and 1834. The Grande polonaise brillante in E-flat, set for piano and orchestra, was written first, while the Andante spianato in G, for piano solo was added in 1834, offering a fanfare-like sequence to the overall piece. Dedicated to Madame d’Este, the combined work was first published in 1836.

Chopin’s first work, written at the age of seven, had been a polonaise — a dance of Polish origin, in 3/4 time, with a rhythm similar to the Swedish semiquaver or sixteenth-note polska. The name Polonaise is simply French for Polish. It is a widespread dance in carnival parties and it would always feature as the first dance at a studniówka (hundred-days), the Polish equivalent of the senior prom, taking place 100 days before exams. Chopin’s Grande polonaise brillante was to be the last polonaise he would compose for several years, occupying much of his final months at Warsaw, while he completed his studies at the Conservatory.

The Andante spianato (spianato means even or smooth) was composed as an introduction to the polonaise after Chopin received a long-awaited invitation to perform in one of Habeneck’s Conservatoire Concerts in Paris. This was the only time Chopin had ever used the term spianato as a description for any of his works. Although the two parts – the introductory Andante spianato and the Polonaise – are not obvious choices for combining, the diametrical contrast creates an intriguing link. The quiet rippling effects of the introductory section are set in a gentle 6/8, rounded with a chordal trio and a more processional 3/4. The serene middle section in G major is not a trio, but only a contrasting episode to complement the overall texture of the movement. The Grande polonaise brillante is among Chopin’s most technically demanding pieces, featuring fast descending thirds, rapid octave and chord jumps, quick scales, fast arpeggios in both hands and broken chords.

The dramatic structure of the work is uncomplicated, as the listener is drawn into a trance by a magic fusion of sounds, suggesting the flickering between the realms of dreams and reality. The formal shape of the Polonaise is not easy to define, as it results from the combining of two principles: the refrain-based form characteristic of a rondo and the reprise-based form peculiar to a dance with trio. The main theme of the Polonaise combines soaring flight with liveliness and elegance.

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The first page of the score

‘Chopin’s Polonaise — a Ball in Hôtel Lambert in Paris’ by Teofil Kwiatkowski

Drawing of Chopin as a young man

Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op.21

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In spite of the rapidly increasing musical life of Warsaw, Chopin required a wider musical experience in order to develop as a composer. His devoted parents raised the money to send him off to Vienna, the music capital of the world. After a preliminary expedition to Berlin in 1828, Chopin made his performance debut at the Austrian capital in 1829. A second concert confirmed his success and on his return home he prepared himself for further achievements abroad by writing two piano concertos, as well as several other works for piano and orchestra designed to showcase his virtuosic piano style. Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor (1829) was actually composed before the Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor (1830), though the latter work was published first and so numbered accordingly. Chopin wrote the piece before he had finished his formal education, being only 20 years of age at the time. Piano Concerto No. 2 was first performed on 17 March 1830 in Warsaw, featuring the composer as soloist. 

Comprising three movements, it was written in line with a model derived from Mozart, though adopted from Hummel, whose influence is evident:

Maestoso (F minor)

Larghetto (A flat major)

Allegro vivace (F minor)

The first movement is marked maestoso — directing performers to play in a stately, dignified and majestic fashion – and is a combination of classical loftiness and Romantic enthusiasm. The exposition presents the themes, as the development transforms them beyond recognition and in the reprise they meet once again, though altered in style. The opening theme is at times songful, before adapting to a solemn impression.

Conjuring an atmosphere of dreamy solemnity, the second movement is a work of great beauty and was inspired by Chopin’s distant idolisation of Konstancja Gładkowska (1810–1889), a Polish soprano that he met while studying at the Warsaw Conservatory. Konstancja is reported to have admired many of Chopin’s early works. In a letter to his friend Tytus Woyciechowski, dated 3 October 1829, Chopin wrote: As I already have, perhaps unfortunately, my ideal, whom I faithfully serve, without having spoken to her for half a year already, of whom I dream, in remembrance of whom was created the adagio of my concerto.

The main theme is introduced by the piano after an orchestral introduction and is later repeated twice and again at the start of the coda (a passage that brings a movement to an end), when it is enhanced by the exquisite entrance of the bassoon in canon, followed by the bassoon transitioning to a counter-melody.

The final movement is a Rondo (a musical form comprising a principal theme alternating with one or more contrasting themes) and provides the contrasting excitement of a dance of kujawiak provenance. The first section bursts with energy, while the second establishes a rustic aura. A notable use of pizzicato — the striking of the strings with the stick of the bow — captures the lively spirit of the piece. At the conclusion, a horn signal denotes the start of an impressive coda and the appearance of the joyful key of F major.

The premiere was a sell-out, with 800 people attending – Chopin’s largest audience to date – being preceded by two private rehearsals, the first in February among family and close friends, the second at the beginning of March, also taking place in the Chopins’ drawing-room, in the presence of the musical elite of Warsaw. These concerts marked Chopin’s first commercial success as a pianist. Together with Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 and Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25, Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 marked a new stage in the development of the Romantic concerto. A work of youthful inspiration, embellished by the experience of first love, the concerto is a work of extraordinary emotional power, offering an infectious array of musical ideas.

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The first page of the score

The Polish pianist and composer Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński (1807-1867) is believed to have helped Chopin orchestrate his piano concertos.

Warsaw’s National Theatre, where the premiere of ‘Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor’ took place in 1830.

An early friend and correspondent of Chopin, Tytus Woyciechowski (1808-1879) was a Polish political activist, agriculturalist and patron of the arts.

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op.11

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Composed when Chopin was only twenty years old, Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11 was first performed on 11 October 1830 in Warsaw, with the composer as soloist, during a farewell concert before leaving Poland for Paris. The piece is dedicated to Friedrich Kalkbrenner, a composer, piano teacher and piano manufacturer, who was considered to be the foremost pianist in Europe at that time.

The premiere was judged to be a success, achieving a full house, with an audience of about 700. The piece finished with a reported thunderous applause. Seven weeks later in Paris, after the political outbreaks in Poland, Chopin played his concerto at the Salle Pleyel, where it was received well. François-Joseph Fétis wrote in La Revue musicale the next day that, There is spirit in these melodies, there is fantasy in these passages, and everywhere there is originality.

The concerto is scored for solo piano, pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, tenor trombone, timpani and strings; it contains three movements:

Allegro maestoso

Romanze – Larghetto (E major)

Rondo – Vivace in E major

The first movement has three themes introduced by the orchestra, which are suffused with poetical animation, soaring upwards, seemingly bursting into song. The first theme opens with a particularly vigorous expression, taken up by the whole orchestral. The principal theme, in the main key of E minor, is presented espressivo (played in an expressive manner) through the sound of the singing violins. The contrasting theme is even more tuneful, brightened by a change of mood from E minor to E major. The wind instruments transform the themes that have already appeared and accompany the piano with melodic counterpoint. The concerto is noteworthy for the flawless interplay between the themes, as waves of sonorities are derived from various themes.

The second movement achieves an atmosphere of magic, conjuring a sense of reverie. In a letter to Tytus, Chopin described it as romance-like and melancholic, adding that it was a ‘meditation on the beautiful springtime, but in moonlight’. The soft and intimate music drifts along with free improvisation, not being subjected to the dictates of a specified form. However, the dream mood is suddenly interrupted when the third theme introduces perturbation and passion, before disappearing entirely.

The final movement is a Rondo, rousing the mood of solemnity from the previous movement with a strong dance rhythm. The piano appears to dally with the orchestra, as the themes are fused with wild figurations. The closing chase across the piano keys signals the virtuosic style brilliant, which Chopin used frequently during this stage of his career. This style is epitomised by the piano music of J. N. Hummel, who popularised classical forms with greater richness of rhythms, changes of tempi and daring pianistic and ornamental figures.

Critics have reacted with mixed views on Piano Concerto No. 1, with some, including James Huneker, believing that the orchestral support is dry and uninteresting. In opposition to this, others argue that the orchestral backing is carefully and deliberately written to fit in with the sound of the piano, and that the simplicity of arrangement is in deliberate contrast to the complexity of the harmony. High praise came from Robert Schumann, who reviewed the piece in 1836 for the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, declaring that Chopin introduces the spirit of Beethoven into the concert hall with these pieces.

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The first page of the score, published by Breitkopf & Härtel, c .1850

German pianist and composer Friedrich Kalkbrenner (1785-1849)

Portrait of Chopin by Ary Scheffer, close to the time of writing this concerto

An early supporter of Chopin’s work, Robert Schumann, 1839

Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist J. N. Hummel (1778-1837) developed the ‘style brilliant’, favoured by Chopin in his early career.

Nocturnes, Op.9

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Over his career Chopin wrote 21 nocturnes for piano and they are today generally considered among the finest short solo works for the instrument. Although he did not invent the nocturne, Chopin popularised and expanded it, building on the form developed by the Irish composer John Field. The young Chopin was a great admirer of Field, being influenced by his playing and composing technique. Early on, Chopin was often told that he sounded like Field, who in turn was later described as sounding Chopinesque.  Upon meeting Chopin and hearing his nocturnes in 1832, Field is said to have described him as a sickroom talent. Even so, Chopin still admired Field and continued to take inspiration from his music throughout his life.

A musical composition that is evocative of the night, the Romantic nocturne characteristically features a cantabile melody over an arpeggiated, even guitar-like accompaniment. Although Chopin’s nocturnes have many similarities with Field’s, they encapsulate a distinct, unique sound of their own. They comprise a song-like melody in the right hand, acting as a vocal, giving a greater emotional depth to the piece. Another convention of the nocturne is the playing of broken chords on the left hand to act as the rhythm under the right-handed melody. Yet another technique employed by Field and continued by Chopin was the more extensive use of the pedal, imbuing the music with more emotional expression through sustained notes. One of Chopin’s greatest innovations in the nocturne was his use of a more freely flowing rhythm, a technique based on the classical music style. He also further developed its structure, taking inspiration from the Italian and French opera arias, as well as the sonata form. A further innovation was the use of counterpoint to create tension, expanding the dramatic tone and feel of the pieces.

While metres and keys vary, the nocturnes are generally set in ternary form, setting a melancholy mood, while a clear melody floats over a left-hand accompaniment of arpeggios and broken chords. The repetition of the main theme generally provides ornate embellishments, notably in Nocturne No. 2 in E-flat Op. 9. The tempo marking of all but one of the nocturnes is a variation of Lento, Larghetto or Andante, the Allegretto of No. 3 being the exception.

When first published, Chopin’s nocturnes received mixed reactions. Nevertheless, through the process of time, critics of the pieces have retracted their initial assessments, holding the short compositions in high regard. Though the popularity of individual nocturnes has varied considerably since Chopin’s death, they have since secured a significant position in the piano repertoire.

The Nocturnes, Op. 9 are a set of three nocturnes published in 1832 and dedicated to the concert pianist Madame Marie Pleyel. Nocturne No. 2 in E-flat Op. 9 is the most enduringly popular of all Chopin’s nocturnes, written at the tender age of 20. Brimming with youthful passion, the mesmerising build-up from the main theme and waltz-like accompaniment to the dramatic trill-filled finale has led many to declare the piece one of the most beautiful piano works ever written.

Chopin’s nocturnes would go on to have a noticeable and lasting impact on music and composition during the Romantic period. Many leading composers have expressed their admiration for Chopin’s nocturnes, including Johannes Brahms and Richard Wagner, whose works embody a similar melodic technique and style.

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The opening bars and main theme of Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9, No. 2

The opening bars of Nocturne in D-flat major, Op. 27, No. 2 — another long-time favourite of the nocturnes

John Field (1782-1782) was an Irish pianist, composer and teacher.

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas. He was a great admirer of Chopin’s nocturnes.

The dedicatee of Chopin’s first collection of Nocturnes, Marie Pleyel (1811-1875) was a Belgian concert pianist.

Études, Op.10

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In late 1830 Chopin reached Vienna when news reached him of the Polish revolt against Russian rule. Due to the disturbed state of Europe, he had to remain in Vienna until July 1831, before he could travel to Paris. Reaching the centre of European culture, currently in the midst of its own late-flowering Romantic movement, Chopin finally felt that he was in the best place in which his genius could flourish. He was quick to forge ties with important Polish émigrés and with the new generation of composers, including Franz Liszt, Hector Berlioz and Felix Mendelssohn. These connections enabled him to move in important musical circles, in which his talents could blossom. He spent his days teaching or composing, both providing an income that set him free from the demands of concert giving, which he personally loathed.

During this exciting time in his early career, Chopin published his first collection of études. Overall, he was to write twenty-seven études, comprising two separate collections of twelve, numbered Op. 10 and Op. 25 and a set of three without opus number. An étude (French for ‘study’) is usually a short instrumental work, though of considerable difficulty, designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill. The tradition of writing études emerged in the early nineteenth century with the rapidly growing popularity of the piano. When Chopin started writing études, they were considered a revolutionary playing style, testing the piano player with some of the most challenging and evocative pieces in the concert repertoire. Due to these technical demands, the études remain popular today and are often performed on both concert and private stages.

The first pieces of Études, Op. 10 were written when Chopin was still in his teens, being rare examples of youthful compositions that are regarded as both innovative and worthy of inclusion in the standard canon. Chopin’s études elevated the musical form from purely utilitarian exercises to beloved masterpieces. They combine musical substance with technical challenge, fashioning a complete artistic form. Indeed, they were to have a lasting impact on Franz Liszt, who entirely revised his series of concert études after meeting Chopin.

Several of the pieces would receive famous nicknames over the years, although none of these names were ever devised by the composer. Arguably, the most popular of all Chopin’s études is Op. 10, No. 3, known as Tristesse (Sadness or Farewell). One of Chopin’s most beautiful melodies, the piece is a nostalgic song, notable for its contrasting moment of extreme agitation. Similar in form to a nocturne, it proceeds with the rhythm of deep breathing, rising and falling. After a passionate explosion fills the middle section, the return of the music from the opening surfaces as a mere recollection. The hushed conclusion prepares the way for the next étude, with which it forms a coherent whole.

The ‘Revolutionary’ twelfth Étude in C minor (Op. 10, No. 12) brings the first collection to a close and is famous for its impassioned power. The first chord imitates the violence of a gunshot and is quickly followed by agitated and frenzied sonorities, with increasing persistence. Within this piece, there are elements of the other eleven études, though each returns briefly.

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Chopin’s Étude Op. 10, No. 2: a rapid chromatic scale in the right hand is used to develop the weaker fingers of the right hand. Most études are written to perfect a particular technical skill.

Two bars of Étude Op. 25, No. 11

Waltz No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op.18, Grande valse brillante

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Chopin started writing waltzes in 1824, when he was only fourteen years old and continued until the year of his death in 1849. Formed of moderate length, they adhere to the traditional 3/4 waltz time, though they are remarkably different from the earlier Viennese waltzes, as they were not designed for dancing, but for concert performance. Carl Maria von Weber’s Invitation to the Dance served as an early model for Chopin’s waltzes and they are more accessible to moderate pianists in terms of difficulty, compared to the more challenging études.

Written during his early time in France, Waltz No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 18, known as the ‘Grande valse brillante’, has a marked Parisian character, eschewing the sentimental Viennese style. Capturing the sense of elegant society, the piece consists of a series of seven dance themes, at times similar, at others distinctly contrasting. The waltz is structured as an integral whole, as one theme passes deftly into another, before returning, establishing drama in grand style. Each of the dance themes offers a different melodic character and dance motion, beginning with the opening theme in E flat major, framed as a waltz step in a distinctive manner, which in turn is followed by a short lively theme in A flat major, acting as a vignette. This theme in D flat major provides a natural break, changing from rotary to rocking movement. Then we hear a singing theme, guiding the dance to elated raptures, before embracing the style brilliant.

Composed in 1833 and published the following year, Waltz No. 1 in E-Flat Major was dedicated to Miss Laura Horsford, one of Chopin’s pupils. The reviewer of the Gazette musicale de Paris summarised his opinion as follows: ‘Although particularly suitable for dancing, this waltz is among the most brillantes, and it deserves to hasten its way onto pianos whose rests are not in the least bit accustomed to holding vulgar music.’ Schumann was a great admirer of the piece and declared that it should be danced, at the very least, by countesses.  In 1909, the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky produced a memorable orchestral arrangement of the Grande valse brillante for Sergei Diaghilev’s 1907 ballet Les Sylphides.

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A page of the original manuscript

The first page of the score

One of the first significant composers of the Romantic school, Carl von Weber (1786-1826) was a German composer, conductor, noted pianist and critic.

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) was a Russian-born composer, pianist and conductor.

Fantasy-Impromptu in C-Sharp Minor, Op.66

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During his early time in Paris, Chopin faced professional and financial difficulties. Following his debut concert in February 1832, he soon discovered that his extreme delicacy at the keyboard was not favoured by everyone that attended large concert halls. However, an introduction to the wealthy Rothschild banking family later that year presented new possibilities to the ambitious young composer. Known for his elegant manners, fine attention to dress and marked sensitivity, Chopin soon became a favourite in the great houses of Paris, where he was welcomed both as a recitalist and a teacher. He produced several new and pioneering piano works at this time, including the Ballade in G Minor (1831–35) and the Fantasy-Impromptu in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 66.

One of Chopin’s most frequently performed and popular compositions, Fantaisie-Impromptu was actually never published in the composer’s lifetime. In fact, he had left strict instructions behind for all his manuscripts to be destroyed after his death. Instead, Julian Fontana — a fellow Polish composer, close friend and Chopin’s musical executor — published it posthumously, along with several other waltzes. It remains a mystery why Chopin never released the Fantaisie-Impromptu or wished to consign such a majestic piece to oblivion. Musicologist Ernst Oster conducted a technical examination of the piece, hinting at similarities with Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, which he cited as the reason for Chopin’s actions.

In 1960, the mystery may have been solved when pianist Arthur Rubinstein bought the Album of the Baroness d’Este, which had come up for sale at an auction in Paris. The album contained a manuscript of the piece in Chopin’s own handwriting, dated 1835, stating in French on the title page Composed for the Baroness d’Este by Frédéric Chopin. Rubinstein posited that the words Composed for in place of a dedication imply that Chopin received a paid commission for the work, so he had actually sold it to the Baroness.

Like Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, the Fantaisie-Impromptu is also in C-sharp minor and employs numerous cross-rhythms, as the right hand plays sixteenth notes against the left hand playing triplets, creating a ceaselessly moving figuration. The opening tempo is marked allegro agitato, before changing to largo and later moderato cantabile when the key changes to D-flat major, the enharmonic equivalent of the more obscure tonic major key of C-sharp major. The piece then changes to presto (at a rapid tempo), where it continues in C-sharp minor as before, drawing up to a conclusion in an ambiguous fantasy-like ending, conjuring a gentle, mysterious mood, where the left hand replays the first few notes of the moderato section theme, while the right continues playing sixteenth notes.

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The first edition of the score

The first page of the score

The main theme of the ‘Fantaisie-Impromptu’

Chopin’s musical executor, Julian Fontana, c. 1860

Title page of the first edition of the ‘Moonlight Sonata’, published in 1802 in Vienna by Giovanni Cappi e Comp

The famous opening of the ‘Moonlight Sonata’

Ludwig van Beethoven, detail from an 1805 portrait by Joseph Willibrord Mähler

Mazurkas, Op.33

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From 1825 until the year of his death, Chopin wrote at least 59 mazurkas for the piano, based on the traditional Polish folk dance, customarily set in triple metre with a lively tempo and strong accents unsystematically placed on the second or third beat. Though the composer utilised the traditional mazurka as a model, he transformed his mazurkas into an entirely new genre.

Both the traditional mazurka and Chopin’s interpretations contain a great deal of replication, which can include repetition of a single measure or small group of measures, repetition of a theme, or even repetition of an entire section. This facilitates the semblance of the actual dance, although the mazurkas were not written as pieces to be danced to; nevertheless, Chopin was determined to adhere to the original form. Many of the rhythmic patterns of the traditional mazurka also appear in Chopin’s compositions, once again conveying a dance impression, but representing a more self-contained and stylised dance. Chopin rendered his mazurkas more technically interesting by increasing their chromaticism and harmony, while using classical techniques such as counterpoint and fugues to embellish the pieces.

Three years after Chopin’s death, Franz Liszt published an essay on the mazurkas, stating that Chopin had been directly influenced by Polish national music. Liszt also provided descriptions of specific dance scenes, which were not completely accurate. When reading Liszt’s work, scholars and musicologists interpreted the word national as folk, bringing about a long standing myth in Chopin criticism — the assumption that his mazurkas are national works rooted in an authentic Polish-folk music tradition. But in truth, the most likely source of influence was the national music Chopin heard in urban areas of Poland, such as Warsaw. Eventually, Béla Bartók published an essay in which he argued that Chopin had not known authentic Polish folk music. By the time of his death in 1945, Bartók was a respected composer, as well as a prominent expert on folk music, so his opinion and his writing carried a great deal of weight. Bartók adhered to the opinion that Chopin had been influenced by national, and not folk music.

Technically uncomplicated for the pianist, the mazurkas provide an unlimited wealth of melodic invention and harmonic nuances. One of the most celebrated collections of mazurkas is Mazurkas, Op. 33, first published in 1837. In this set, Mazurka No. 24 in C major was the cause of some controversy between Chopin and a fellow composer. After a performance of the piece, Chopin and Giacomo Meyerbeer, the great German opera composer, fell into a heated discussion over the piece, largely due to Meyerbeer’s misunderstanding of the mazurka’s metre, which is triple, not duple as he had thought. In spite of the argument that entailed, the work is ironically one of the composer’s most gentle and serene works.  Lasting only two minutes in its performance, the piece opens with an elegant theme, characterised with Chopin’s conventional shade of melancholy. In contrast, the brief middle section is robust and self-assured, with moderately louder dynamics. The main theme returns and the piece concludes quietly, as the melancholic overtones return.

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The first edition of ‘Mazurkas, Op. 33’

The first edition score of ‘Mazurka No. 24 in C major’

The traditional Mazurka rhythm

Depiction of a mazurka from the ‘Journal des Demoiselles’, 1845

Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864) was a German opera composer of Jewish birth, who has been described by some as the most successful stage composer of the nineteenth century.

Scherzo No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, Op.31

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Ironically, the name scherzo literally means joke, although Chopin’s scherzos are almost never humorous or light-hearted in tone. On the contrary, all four Chopin scherzos are structured as expansive one-movement works, characterised with a drama and form unprecedented in the genre. The musical form had first been developed during the Baroque era, by composers such as Claudio Monteverdi, initially as a vocal-instrumental genre embracing a cheerful character. Most scherzos before Chopin were marked by brightness and levity, but it was only with Beethoven that the form took on a different expression, brimming with anxiety and unbridled energy, while at times almost demonic in tone with a rapid tempo.

Chopin imbued this new and unique shape of the scherzo with his own stylistic approach. Rendering the genre autonomous, he expanded the form considerably, giving it a more sensitive and Romantic mood, which was both dramatic and august, creating a dimension of tragedy with a hint of terror. Chopin’s scherzos are renowned for the captivating beauty of the lyrical moments and the intensity of the emotions expressed in the music, which can rise to violent dimensions. Chopin liked to use sudden contrasts, intense bursts of sound and expressionistic codas — all now held as typical conventions of the Chopin scherzo.

The Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 31 was composed and published in 1837, dedicated to his student Countess Adèle Fürstenstein. Robert Schumann compared the scherzo to a Byronic poem, so overflowing with tenderness, boldness, love and contempt. According to another pupil, Wilhelm von Lenz, the composer explained that the renowned sotto voce opening was a question and the second phrase the answer. The beginning is marked Presto (very, very fast) and opens in B flat minor, although the majority of the piece is written in D flat major. The opening consists of two arpeggiated pianissimo chords, and after a moment’s pause, a set of fortissimo chords is heard, before returning to the quiet arpeggiated chords. The scherzo then introduces an arpeggio section, which leads to the con anima — a section intended to be played in a spirited manner. Then, the middle section appears in A major, which modulates to B flat minor, before the first section reappears with a coda.

Chopin’s second scherzo was hailed as a masterpiece, as critics and monographers continue to marvel at its virtuosic brilliance. Frederick Niecks, Chopin’s first full-scale biographer, believed the trio was evocative of the Mona Lisa’s thoughtfulness, ‘full of longing and wondering’. Ferdynand Hoesick heard ‘demonic accents’ and described the piece as a ‘fiery poem’.

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The first page of the original manuscript score

The opening of the scherzo

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) was an Italian composer, string player and choirmaster. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered a crucial transitional figure between the Renaissance and the Baroque periods of music history.

24 Preludes, Op.28

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Chopin’s love life was often complicated. He had youthful love affairs with Constantia Gladkowska in Warsaw (1830) and Maria Wodzińska in Dresden (1835–36), but these relationships were not to last. However, he was to fall deeply in love in 1836 when he met the free-living novelist Aurore Dudevant, better known as George Sand. In the autumn of 1838 he set off with Sand and her children, Maurice and Solange, to winter on the island of Majorca. They rented a simple villa and were perfectly happy until the sunny weather broke and Chopin became ill. When rumours of tuberculosis reached the villa owner, they were ordered out and could find accommodation only in a monastery in the remote village of Valldemosa.

The damp and malnutrition, exacerbated by the locals’ suspiciousness of their unconventional relationship, worsened the situation. The lack of a suitable concert piano hindered Chopin’s artistic production and he became weaker. In fact, the privations suffered by Chopin during this trip hastened the slow decline in his health that would eventually lead to his death from tuberculosis ten years later. Sand realised that only immediate departure would save the composer’s life. They arrived at Marseille in early March 1839 and after finding a skilled physician, Chopin was sufficiently recovered, after three months recuperation, for them to start planning a return to Paris.

During his stay in Majorca, Chopin finished work on 24 Preludes, Op. 28 — a set of short pieces for the piano, one in each of the twenty-four keys. Aided by a copy of Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, he produced a series of pieces similar to Bach’s two sets of preludes and fugues, comprising a complete cycle of the major and minor keys, though with a different ordering. Chopin carefully prepared the manuscript for publication, which was dedicated to the German pianist and composer Joseph Christoph Kessler, while the French edition was dedicated to the piano-maker and publisher Camille Pleyel, who had commissioned the series for 2,000 francs – a very large sum at the time.

Although the term prelude had been previously used to describe an introductory piece of music, Chopin’s preludes are structured and designed as self-contained units, each conveying a specific idea or emotion in a very short duration. By collecting 24 Preludes, Op. 28 together as a single work, comprising miniatures that could either be used to introduce other music or as self-standing works, Chopin challenged contemporary attitudes to the value of miniature musical forms.

Bach had arranged his collection of 48 preludes and fugues according to keys separated by rising semitones, but Chopin’s chosen key sequence is a circle of fifths, with each major key being followed by its relative minor (i.e. C major, A minor, G major, E minor, etc.). As this sequence of related keys is much closer to common harmonic practice, it is likely that Chopin conceived the cycle as a single performance. Some musicologists argue that the set was never intended for continuous performance and that the individual preludes were written as possible introductions for other works. Interestingly, Chopin himself never played more than four of the preludes at any single public performance.

The brevity and apparent lack of formal structure of the 24 Preludes caused some anger among critics at the time of publication.  As no prelude is longer than 90 bars (No. 17), and the shortest, No. 9, is a mere 12 bars, the pieces were ripe for criticism from conservative quarters. . Schumann wrote that they are sketches, beginnings of études, or, so to speak, ruins, individual eagle pinions, all disorder and wild confusions. Liszt, however, was more positive: "Chopin’s Preludes are compositions of an order entirely apart... they are poetic preludes, analogous to those of a great contemporary poet, who cradles the soul in golden dreams..." In more recent times, many regard the preludes as being among the greatest works ever written for the piano.

One of the most recognisable of the preludes is the sombre No. 4, which was reportedly played at the composer’s funeral. Consisting of a slow melody in the right hand that prolongs tonic resolution, the left hand repeats block chords that descend chromatically.  Prelude No. 7 is one of the shortest preludes, lasting just over 40 seconds in a performance. Composed in A major, it adopts the same rhythm as a mazurka and later influenced Federico Mompou’s Variations on a Theme of Chopin.

Another notable piece is the ‘Raindrop Prelude’ – one of the composer’s most famous creations, instantly familiar from its widespread use in various media forms. Set in B-flat minor, Prelude No. 15 opens with six heavily accented chords before progressing to an impromptu-like passage. The celebrated Chopin-pianist of Russian-German decent, Vladimir de Pachmann described the prelude as, "my great favourite! It is le plus grand tour de force in Chopin. It is the most difficult of all the preludes technically, possibly excepting the nineteenth. In this case, presto is not enough. It should be played prestissimo, or, better still, vivacissimo."

Scored as Vivace in E-flat major, Prelude No. 19 is a virtuosic work, lasting only a minute and a half, yet teaming with artistic invention. The piece consists of widely spaced and continuous triplet-quaver movement in both hands, stretching up to fourteen notes.

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Autograph of the first page of Prelude no. 15, the Raindrop

The first page of the score

Portrait of Chopin by Eugène Delacroix, 1838

George Sand by Charles Louis Gratia, c. 1835

Portrait of Bach, aged 61, by E. G. Haussmann, 1748

Title page of Bach’s ‘The Well-Tempered Clavier’, Book I, autograph

Joseph Christoph Kessler (1800-1872), the German pianist and composer, famous for his études, nocturnes, variations, preludes and bagatelles.

Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, Op.35

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Chopin spent the summer of 1839 at Sand’s country house in Nohant-Vic, a commune in the Indre department in central France, many miles from the pressures of Paris. Health was a persistent concern and so Chopin would return to Nohant for fresh air and relaxation every summer. This period was to be the happiest and most productive of the composer’s life, when long summer days produced a flurry of piano masterpieces. He had again turned to private teaching to ensure a regular source of income. Even more fortunate was the growing demand for new works and as he had become increasingly shrewd in his dealings with publishers, he was able to live comfortably, even elegantly. His close friends at the time were Pauline Viardot and the artist Eugène Delacroix, who were often also invited to Nohant.

In the tranquillity of the country, Chopin found the necessary peace to pursue a quest for perfection in his compositions. Determined to develop his ideas into longer and more-complex arguments, he sent to Paris for treatises by musicologists to strengthen his composition of counterpoint. His harmonic vocabulary at this period also exemplified a more daring aspect, while retaining his inimitable mood of sensuous beauty. At Nohant Chopin produced much of his most powerful and touching music — not only short works, but also extended pieces, including the Fantaisie in F Minor, the Barcarolle and the Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 35.

Popularly known as the Funeral March, the latter work was completed in 1839 and derives its nickname from the now famous third movement, which was in fact composed as early as 1837. The sonata features four movements:

Grave – Doppio movimento

Scherzo

Marche funèbre: Lento

Finale: Presto

The opening bars were inspired by Beethoven's last piano sonata, No. 32, Op. 111. Marked as Grave (very slow and solemn), the first movement is in a modified sonata form in 2/2 time, commencing with a short introduction, followed by a stormy opening theme and a gently lyrical second theme in D-flat major. After the development, the lyrical second theme returns, but now in B-flat major. Unlike most sonata forms, the main theme is not reprised after the development. The scherzo movement is a virtuoso work in E-flat minor, which contains a more relaxed melodic or a waltz-like central section in G-flat major.

The third movement’s renowned funeral march in B-flat minor has a calm Lento interlude in D-flat major. It was actually written on the eve of the anniversary of the outbreak of the November Rising in Poland, suggesting patriotic origins to the work. The march is built from two themes: the principal theme is filled with musical expression that ranges from condemnation to lament. The complementary theme conveys an impression of shouting and anger, as the music proceeds in modo geometrico – along a straight line. Here, the power of fate is represented by implacable force. The funeral march was played at the graveside during Chopin’s own burial at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. It was also used at the state funerals of notable dignitaries such as Sir Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy and Margaret Thatcher.

The finale encapsulates a whirlwind of parallel octaves, with unvarying tempo and dynamics, providing no single rest or chord, until the final bars with a sudden fortissimo B-flat octave and minor chord ends the whole piece.

Though now held to be one of the indubitable masterpieces of the Romantic era, it took many years for the Piano Sonata No. 2 to win this distinction, as early critics were bemused by the disjointed nature of the four movements. Although Schumann felt the juxtaposition of four incompatible movements was a mockery of the sonata form’s principles, he did admit that he found it entertaining from beginning to end. Liszt was more critical, judging it to be no masterpiece — he was even the first to suggest that Chopin, though a master of the piano miniature, was incapable of handling large forms like the sonata; this comment would affect Chopin’s reputation for many years to come. More recent critics have been much more appreciative of the piece’s sublime qualities. Musicologist Hugo Leichtentritt identified a far-reaching motivic unity among the ‘incompatible’ movements of the sonata, which he deemed to be the ‘cyclic principle’ that would soon find its ultimate embodiment in the works of Liszt and Franck. Alfred Einstein argued that the Piano Sonata No. 2 — comprising a ballade, a scherzo, a funeral march and an expressive etude — constituted a whole that was entirely logical and sensible, as a product ‘par excellence Romantic’, intentionally reconciling opposites.

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The first page of the autograph score

The opening bars of the Funeral March (third movement)

Chopin by Maria Wodzińska, 1836

Title page of the first edition of the Beethoven Sonata Op. 111, with dedication

The section of Beethoven’s sonata that influenced Chopin’s ‘Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor’

Ballade No. 3 in A-Flat Major, Op.47

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Throughout his career Chopin produced four ballades — one-movement pieces for solo piano — composed between 1831 and 1842. Judged to be some of the most challenging pieces in the standard piano repertoire, the ballades were inspired by the balletic interlude or dance-piece, equivalent to the old Italian ballata. They comprise dramatic and dance-like elements in an abstract musical form, as a distinct variant of sonata form with specific discrepancies, such as the mirror reprise (presenting the two expositional themes in reverse order during the recapitulation). The four ballades directly influenced other major composers, including Liszt and Brahms, who went on to compose ballades in Chopin’s style.

Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major, Op. 47 dates from 1841 and is dedicated to Pauline de Noailles, another student of the composer while living at Nohant. It is believed to have been inspired by the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz’s Undine, the story of the eponymous water-spirit. It tells how Undine falls in love with a mortal, who would be unable to survive her aquatic embraces. The moderate voice of the narrator opens the Ballade, conjuring a tale of love, set against the gentle rocking of the waves, before an intervening episode leads to a recapitulation of greater passion.

Sharing structural similarities with the Raindrop Prelude, which was inspired by the weather in Majorca during Chopin’s doomed holiday with Sand, the piece features a repetitive A-flat, which modulates into a G-sharp during the C-sharp minor section. The first theme is in two parts; the first is song-like and the second is dance-like. Out of the four ballades, the third Ballade has the strictest structure, while utilising development procedures to heighten the tension.

The Ballade opens with a lengthy introduction, thematically unrelated to a majority of the piece, though it is repeated at the close of the work. Following the introduction, there is a new theme of repeated Cs in two broken octaves in the right hand. This theme reoccurs three different times throughout the piece, twice on C and once on A-flat. The key signature later shifts to C-sharp minor and the original B theme is then developed, using rapid, chromatic left-hand runs in the left hand, under large chords in the right. The theme builds to a climax through rapid repetition of broken G-sharp octaves with fragments of the B theme in the left hand. A retransition occurs as the dynamic builds from piano to forte. The ballade culminates with a reprise of the A-flat leggiero and a second right hand arpeggio.

Friedrich Niecks, the German violinist and author of a famous two-volume biography of Chopin, admired the Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major, which he