Frederic Chopin’s personal attack to technique revolutionized the piano. He developed alone fingering and pedalage that shocked the musical universe. His clearly established manner set him apart from his equals. This consistent and alone manner makes him the most noteworthy composer of the Romantic period.

Chopin was born in Zellazowa Wola. Poland in the twelvemonth 1810. His name was Fryderyk Franciszek Szopen. but he was most normally known by the Gallic pronunciation. Frederic Francois Chopin. Raised in a household of instrumentalists. Chopin developed a endowment for the piano at a immature age. His first public public presentation was at age seven. after which he began playing in Polish society. As a immature grownup. he attended the Warsaw Conservatory of Music where he was under the tuition of Joseph Elsner. Elsner supported Chopin’s alone playing manner and. while he insisted on Chopin analyzing musical theory and composing. Chopin was allowed to cultivate his individualism on the piano.

After a smattering of short musical Tourss. Chopin settled in Paris in 1830. He spent the balance of his life at that place. combating with hapless wellness while learning piano and composition. Chopin ne’er married. but his 10 twelvemonth relationship with the ill-famed female writer. George Sand. was his most productive clip and resulted “in a sequence of masterpieces” ( Hedley ) . The stoping of their connexion in 1848 caused “the beginning of the end” for Chopin ( Frederic Francois Chopin ) and he died at the immature age of 39 after a long battle with depression and unwellness ( Hedley ) .

Chopin’s music embodied multiple manners. While his boundary breakage harmoniousnesss and broad scope of emotion were characteristic of Romanticism. many of his composings followed the classical subject of signifier. The Vancouver Chopin Society says it best. “his uniqueness sets him apart from Classicism and Romanticism in a universe particularly his own” ( Dubal ) . Chopin was the first composer to give himself entirely to the forte-piano.

His organic structure of work includes the piano in every piece ( Libbey ) . He did non bask giving big. public concerts and performed at no more than 30 of them in his life ( Hedley ) . As such. the primary focal points of his composition were short piano solos that other composers would hold considered miniscule. He ne’er wrote an opera. oratio or symphonic music. It is his devotedness to the piano that portrays what a personal connexion he had to the instrument. Rubinstein. besides a piano player. one time said:

The Pianoforte Bard. the Pianoforte Rhapsodist. the Pianoforte Mind. the Pianoforte Soul is Chopin. Whether the spirit of this instrument breathed upon him or he wrote upon it – how he wrote for it. I do non cognize. but merely an full going-over of one into the other could name such composing into life…all possible looks are found in his composings and are all Sungs by him upon this instrument in perfect beauty. ( Jonson 22 )

The true potency of the piano was realized through Chopin’s advanced techniques. His playing showcased the tone colour inherent to the instrument. Before Chopin. the piano was played with the custodies staying in topographic point while the fingers moved across one octave country of keys. The fingers were cramped and curled. slaming a beat that showed the more percussive manner of the instrument. Chopin forwent the traditional technique and created a playing manner that to this twenty-four hours is one of the cardinal illustrations of how the piano should be played.

His irregular fingering placed an accent on every finger’s alone abilities. instead than handling each every bit as his predecessors had. This fingering flattened out the cramped place to let the fingers to all make the black keys. His composings required motion throughout the full scope of keyboard. a radical quality. and required flexible weaponries and carpuss in order to travel the custodies up and down the length of the keys.

This new technique required both legerity in arm and wrist motion. every bit good as a relaxation of the traditionally stiff position. While his upper organic structure moved fluidly. his pess were besides invariably in gesture. Chopin placed a strong accent on pedal usage. presenting the usage of half and one-fourth pedaling. His technique was natural to the piano. his thumbing fluxing the manner the fingers and keys best felt together ( Dubal ) .

There was much more to Chopin’s manner than simply technique. To Chopin. “The development of proficient accomplishment was non an terminal in itself. but simply a agency of liberating the custodies for musical expression” ( Holland 42 ) . He embraced the rubato. an interpretative beat that leaves originative freedom to the performing artist. instead than the composer. Harmonizing to the Pittsburg Post-Gazette. this quality produces public presentations where no two are of all time the same ( Druckenbrod ) . The sounds found within Chopin’s pieces are melodious. poetic and delicate.

At times they are even heroic. Chopin created aglow textures with harmoniousnesss that were before his clip. His pieces portray the concomitant being every bit of import as the tune. While. the tune entirely is beautiful. it is with his intricate concomitants he was able to bring forth a cantabile voice with merely the piano ( Dubal ) . His music is easy identified by its dreamy. lyrical tunes and emotional ambiguity. Chopin is frequently referred to as the “Poet of the Piano” because his music creates “the beauty of the starry heavens. that cast their glister upon earth…” ( Wagner ) .

Not one to be influenced by those around him. the cardinal influence in Chopin’s music seemed to be his nationalism. He was a strong support of his Polish fatherland and those tense emotions are found throughout many of his pieces. He embraced the Polish tradition of dance with his polonaises and mazurkas to show his love for his state ( Hedley ) .

Throughout his life. Chopin made a wont of reinventing many of the bing musical signifiers. He took popular dance signifiers such as the Polish mazurka and Viennese walk-in and gave them larger scopes of tune and look. The simple preliminary. he turned into enraptured and melancholy composings that leave hearers inquiring what they were preluding. He wrote the first scherzo as an single piece and created the ballade. something that once was simply a narrative performed by a vocalist.

Of all his parts. the two most noteworthy are his transmutation of the nocturne and creative activity of the concert etude. Chopin took the notturno. originally invented by John Field. and refined the vocalizing tune with broken chords played by the left manus. They are characterized by moony tunes and lyrical poetics that show bursting phrases of flood tide before returning to the gap manner. Before Chopin. the etude was a piece used to pattern proficient signifier. Chopin took the simple pattern piece and turned it into a concert public presentation by stressing its musical value. every bit good as the proficient value ( Hedley ) .

Chopin has legion noteworthy plants. The following are a few among many. Polanaise in A-Flat Major Op. 53 ( “Heroic” ) is a proud Polish dance filled with beautiful tallies. Waltz in C-Sharp Minor is a stalking Viennese piece. while Sonata in B Flat Minor and Sonata in B Minor are dramatic pieces full of lyricality. Nocturne in E-Flat Major Op. 9 No. 2 is one of his most recognizable pieces. He uses broken chords combined with a trilling tune that invokes yearning and unhappiness at the same clip. It begins with a melodious phrase and is interrupted with a climactic center subdivision that gives a sense of hope. merely to reprize the beginning.

Chopin’s devotedness to make bolding and unconventional technique revolutionized the piano. His ability to non merely animate. but innovate was mastermind and made him stand out from his coevalss. His advanced composings have earned him a topographic point in musical history where he is considered “one of music’s greatest tone poets” ( Hedley ) .

Plants Cited
Druckenbrod. Andrew. “200 Old ages After his Birth. Chopin Remains a Key Composer. ” Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 24 Feb. 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. Dubal. David. “Biographical Essay About Chopin. ” Chopin Society. The Vancouver Chopin Society. 2011. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.

“Frederic Francois Chopin. ” Encyclopedia Online. Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.
Jonson. Ashton. A Handbook to Chopin’s Works. New York: Doubleday. Page & A ; Co. 1905. Print.
Hedley. Arthur. “Frederic Chopin. ” Encyclop?dia Britannica Online. Encyclop?dia Britannica Inc. . 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.
Holland. Jeanne. “Chopin the Teacher. ” Journal of the American Liszt Society 1985: 39- 48. Print.
Libbey. Ted. “The Life and Music of Frederic Chopin. ” NPR. NPR. 2 Mar. 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.
Wagner. Paul. “Frederic Chopin. the Poet of the Piano. ” Music with Ease. Music with Ease. n. d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.