Of the many composers born around 1810 it is Chopin’s whose music has proven the
most widely enduring. While Liszt better typifies the virtuoso of the period and
Schumann more audaciously epitomises the romantic spirit, Chopin emerges as the most
consistently excellent craftsman. His highly refined style, generously lyrical, boldly
chromatic and miraculously pianistic, transcends each of its components.
Chopin was born in the village of !elazowa Wola in the Duchy of Warsaw to a Polish
mother and French-expatriate father and became a child-prodigy pianist. In November
1830, at the age of twenty, Chopin went abroad. After the subsequent outbreak and
suppression of the Polish uprising he never returned to Poland.
In Paris Chopin made a comfortable living as a composer and piano teacher, while giving
a number of public piano recitals. From 1837 to 1847 he had a turbulent relationship
with French novelist Mme Aurore Dudevant, known as George Sand. He was always in
frail health, probably suffering from the incurable, genetic disease alpha one antitrypsin
deficiency syndrome. He died in 1849 at the sage of 39.
Chopin’s compositions all include the piano, predominantly as a solo instrument, and
although his music is technically demanding its style emphasises nuance and expressive
depth rather than technical virtuosity for its own sake. Chopin invented new musical
forms such as the ballade and introduced major innovations into exisiting forms such as
the piano sonata, waltz, nocturne, étude, impromptu and prelude. His piano works are
mainstays of the nineteenth century romantic piano repertoire and his mazurkas and
polonaises remain the cornerstone of Polish national music.
Although Chopin lived in the 1800s, he was educated in the tradition of Haydn, Mozart,
Clementi and Beethoven, and he used Clementi’s piano method with his own pupils. He
was also influenced by the piano works of Hummel and Weber.
Chopin’s pupil Friederike Müller wrote in her diary:
‘His playing was always noble and beautiful; his tones sang, whether in full forte or
softest piano. He took infinite pains to teach his pupils this legato, cantabile style of
playing. His most severe criticism was “He – or she – does not know how to join two
notes together.” He also demanded the strictest adherence to rhythm. He hated all
lingering and dragging, misplaced rubatos, as well as exaggerated ritardandos and it is
precisely in this respect that people make such terrible errors in playing his works.’
Chopin regarded most of his contemporaries with some indifference, although he had
many acquaintances associated with romanticism in music, literature and arts, many of
them through his liaison with George Sand. Chopin’s music is considered by many to be
at the peak of the romantic style, but the relative classical purity and discretion in his
music reflect his reverence for Bach and Mozart. Chopin never indulged in explicit
scene-painting in his music and he disliked programmatic titles for his pieces.
Arthur Rubinstein wrote: