=Schumann and Chopin=.—Among Schumann’s many able reviews of new
music, showing the keenest critical insight, none exhibit a more just
appreciation of an original talent than his article on some variations
by a young composer who was destined to exert so deep and widespread an
influence on piano style and piano composition. Chopin’s romanticism,
somewhat affected at first by both Hummel and Field, is one of the most
individual developments of the entire period.
=Chopin’s Early life=.—Frederic Chopin was born at Zelazowa-Wola, near
Warsaw, in Poland, on March 1, 1809. His father, who had served in
various positions as a teacher, finally established a boarding-school
in Warsaw. Chopin showed great sensitiveness towards music at an
early age. His first lessons on the piano were given him by a Polish
teacher of some celebrity, Adalbert Zwyny. He soon became famous as a
pianist, and from the age of nine, played constantly at the houses of
the nobility, and was eagerly received by them. In 1824, he entered
the Warsaw Lyceum in order to pursue his general studies. About the
same time he began lessons in composition with Elsner, who had a high
reputation as a teacher. He had already composed pieces for the piano
on his own account, and continued with such success that as early as
1825 his Op. 1, a Rondo, was published. In 1827, he left the Lyceum,
and gave thereafter all his time to playing and composing. Soon after,
he made great strides in composition, and many of his studies and
smaller pieces, as well as his two concertos, belong to this period,
or were begun then. Early in 1829, Hummel played in Warsaw, and the
influence of his piano style is evident in the works of Chopin for some
time to come. Later in this year, Chopin went to Vienna, where he gave
two concerts, winning instant recognition both as pianist and composer.
After his return to Warsaw he continued to compose much.
=Chopin’s Manhood=.—A second visit to Vienna occurred toward the end
of 1830. He gave concerts, came into contact with many musicians, and
even found time to compose; but being dissatisfied with conditions in
Vienna, determined to go to Paris. Early in 1831, after giving concerts
on the way, he arrived at Paris, which was henceforth to be his home.
Here he was soon thrown with many of the leading musicians, his playing
caused an immediate sensation, and as at Warsaw, he was welcomed in
the most exclusive society. In 1832, he began to acquire fame as a
piano teacher, especially of pupils from the aristocracy. From 1833 to
1835, his compositions began to appear, and gained him much approval
as a composer. In 1835, he went to Leipzig, where he saw Wieck and
his daughter, afterwards Clara Schumann, Mendelssohn and Schumann. In
1837, he met Madame George Sand, the famous writer, whose influence on
his life was so great. During this year the first sinister symptoms
of ill-health made their appearance. With the idea of benefiting his
health, Chopin passed the winter of 1838-39 on the island of Majorca,
with Madame Sand and her two children. The climate had a bad effect
upon him; he could compose but little, and the condition of his lungs
obliged a return to France. He was so ill as to be obliged to spend
several months at Marseilles, recuperating. After a summer at Nohant,
Mme. Sand’s country home, he was again at Paris in the fall of 1839.
From 1840 to 1848, he lived in Paris, with occasional visits to Nohant
in the summer, teaching as much as his health would allow, passing much
time in the most aristocratic society. He seldom played in public,
and would only play for pupils, or when persuaded by devoted friends
to display his extraordinary gifts as a pianist. During these years,
however, his health grew more and more precarious.
=The Last Years of Chopin=.—In 1847, the intimacy of Chopin and Madame
Sand came to an end, for various causes, but largely because of a
character caricatured from Chopin in one of Madame Sand’s novels, and
because she was tired of taking care of him. Ill as he was, he went
to England, after a farewell concert in Paris, arriving in the spring
of 1848. He gave two concerts in London with some success, besides
playing at friends’ houses. He went to Scotland at the instance of a
pupil, Miss Stirling, gave concerts at Edinburgh and Glasgow, besides
one in the interval at Manchester. During this entire tour he suffered
greatly from ill-health and exhaustion, and after one more appearance
in London, he returned to Paris, exceedingly ill, in January, 1849. He
was not able to teach and was obliged to depend upon the generosity
of friends; among them his pupil, Miss Stirling. After several months
of hopeless struggle to regain his health, he died of consumption on
October 17, 1849, surrounded by devoted friends.
=Chopin’s Personality=.—Chopin was extremely refined and delicate by
nature. He was fastidious about the color and fit of his clothes,
the furnishing and arrangement of his rooms, and other details of
everyday life. He was always extremely fond of society and moved
in the highest circles. As a rule, he was averse to seeing much of
musicians, in spite of his friendship with Liszt, Hiller, Berlioz and
Schumann. As a young man he was fond of dancing, acting and practical
jokes; though sensitive, he was well and strong, and able to endure
rough stage-journeys. He was a capital mimic all his life, and a witty
companion who pleased by his gentle irony or sarcasm. He was extremely
reserved in spite of his sociability, his intimate friends (either
Polish or favorite pupils) even quarrelled as to which knew him best.
He was genuinely confidential only in his music. Chopin was exceedingly
patriotic; he was always ready to appear in concert in behalf of Polish
refugees, he corresponded untiringly with his Polish friends, and gave
many proofs of his devotion to Poland, which he never forgot in spite
of years of absence.
=Chopin as Pianist=.—Chopin was a pianist of extraordinary distinction,
in spite of the preëminence of Liszt. His technic, founded in the
school of Clementi and Cramer, with great attention to Bach, was
influenced to some extent by Hummel and Field, but later became highly
original, and expressive of great individuality. Although he possessed
great brilliancy, the most prominent trait in his playing was its
all-pervading and inexhaustible fund of poetry. It had nothing harsh,
unmelodious or ungraceful. His sense of rhythm was unusually piquant,
and one of its features was the skilful use of _tempo rubato_, a slight
variance from strict time without disturbing it fundamentally. In later
life, Chopin became disinclined to appear in public, his performances
were limited to the drawing-rooms of aristocratic friends, where he
would play or improvise for hours. He was never a robust pianist at his
strongest, and the transparent delicacy of his playing during his last
years was almost incredible.
=Chopin’s Compositions=.—Chopin’s music constitutes the true revelation
of himself. His life, not full of action, was, however, rich in emotion
and sentiment of great variety and subtlety. Its mainsprings were his
patriotic love of Poland and everything connected with it, and the
poetic impressionability of his temperament, which were all transferred
to his music. Although Chopin composed a number of works in which he
uses the orchestra, some chamber-music, and a set of Polish songs, he
was first and last a composer for the piano. In addition to the works
referred to, he wrote three sonatas, four ballades, four scherzos,
ten polonaises, fourteen waltzes, twenty-eight studies, fifty-five
mazurkas, twenty-five preludes, seventeen nocturnes, three impromptus
and a fantasie-impromptu, three rondos, besides a superb fantasy, a
concert allegro, a barcarolle, a berceuse, a tarantelle, a bolero, a
rondo for two pianos, and a few trifles.
Of his two concertos, the second published (although the first
composed) is the finer. It is riper and more poetic, the slow movement
reaches a high point of lyric style, and the treatment of form
throughout the concerto is less awkward. Chopin is not at home in the
sonata form, the concertos are interesting in spite of, rather than
on account of, their treatment of form. The piano sonatas, Op. 35 and
58, have faults of structure, and occasional incoherence, but they are
so full of poetry, romantic melody and dramatic mood that one almost
overlooks their technical shortcomings.
=Chopin Most Successful in Free Forms=.—The most representative works
of Chopin are those in which he adopts no conventional form, but
follows his own instinct entirely. Thus, in his ballades, scherzos,
and especially in the fantasy, Op. 49, one finds freedom of invention
and variety of treatment combined with logical development and real
coherence. The ballads are dramatic poems in which sentiment and
virtuosity are happily united. The scherzos are original conceptions
quite distinct from the accepted type; they have bold outlines, variety
of mood and demand virtuosity in their performance. The fantasy
is instructive in its logical structure, there is no sign of the
constraint of the sonatas, and its contents are both dramatic on a
large scale and lyric by contrast. The impromptus are shorter pieces
of a lyric nature, although the element of virtuosity is not lacking.
The nocturnes are lyric pieces of simple form but intimate style.
Their general plan was at first copied from Field, but the imitator
went so far ahead of his model as almost to eclipse it. Some of them
portray idyllic moods, others are sentimental or even dramatic in their
outlines. The studies, Op. 10 and 25, epitomize in a remarkable way
Chopin’s technical innovations, and piano style. They are brilliant,
poetic and highly dramatic by turns, and in their contents are the most
musical studies composed up to their time.
=National Spirit in Chopin’s Music=.—Chopin, the patriot, was devoted
to the dances and Folk-melodies of his own country. He was thoroughly
national as a composer; hence in some respects his mazurkas and
polonaises are the most characteristic of his compositions. The
mazurkas with their vital rhythms and novel harmonies, contain much
poetry of mood and variety of expression within small limits. The
polonaise, as treated by Chopin, was less a dance form, and more an
independent form with characteristic rhythms. The polonaises, Op. 44
and 53, are virtually patriotic poems. The preludes are sketches of
varying size; some are genuine lyrics; some frankly technical in their
object; others have a distinct touch of the dramatic. Some of the
waltzes suggest the _salon_, but in others Chopin has individualized
the type until it has risen above its origin. Among the single
pieces, the Concert Allegro is large in dimensions, very interesting
technically and musically. The Barcarolle, in nocturne-form on a larger
scale, is almost heroic in its outlines, and a superb example of his
mature style. Another piece equally deserving of distinction is the
Berceuse, an ingenious series of variations on a persistent bass. The
Tarantelle and Bolero are merely fascinating salon pieces.
Of the youthful works with orchestra, the variations on a theme from
Mozart’s “Don Juan” are more interesting from the novelty of their
piano styles than as variations; the Fantasie on Polish themes attracts
attention chiefly on account of its Folk-song character, while the
“Krakowiak” rondo is remarkable for its spirited national-dance
rhythms. The orchestral accompaniments to these pieces are not
significant; in fact, Chopin’s use of the orchestra was his weakest
point. The Polish songs are unequal, and at best add little to his
fame. Liszt, however, has transcribed six, of which two are frequently
heard in concert, while Sgambati has arranged one.
=Originality and Freshness of Invention=.—The most extraordinary trait
of Chopin as a composer is that, in spite of the limitations imposed by
repeating the same form over and over again, he is almost inexhaustible
in variety of expression. As the poet of lyric mood he accomplished
almost as much as Schumann for the development of the short piece,
while in his longer pieces of dramatic mood and large contours he
has shown that the sonata-form is not the only structure by which to
convey heroic sentiment. His was the most subtle originality, the
most personal style which stamped itself indelibly on nearly every
composition. He immeasurably broadened the technical treatment of the
piano, not only as a virtuoso, but in the direction of variety of
expression, delicate accentuation and exquisite tone. Among romantic
composers he has done more for the advancement of piano style than
anyone except Liszt. In spite of the latter’s gigantic achievement,
the value of Chopin’s contribution is still unimpaired. From the point
of view of expression, Chopin is more individual even than Schumann,
but the honors as the most important composer for the piano during
the Romantic period must be divided between them. Chopin’s influence
has been immense not only on the composers and pianists of France and
Germany but also markedly among living composers in Russia. Chopin is
the preëminent poet of the piano.
=Representative Compositions=.—The following list for the student
contains the works and pieces most thoroughly characteristic of his
genius: The sonatas, Op. 35 and 38; the scherzos, Op. 20, 31 and 39;
the ballades, Op. 23, 38, 47 and 52; the polonaises, Op. 22, 26, 40,
44 and 53; the waltzes, Op. 18, Op. 34, Nos. 1 and 2; Op. 42, Op. 64,
Nos. 1, 2, and Op. 69, No. 1; the studies, Op. 10, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7, 10 and 12; Op. 25, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12; the
mazurkas, Op. 6, Nos. 1, 2; Op. 7, Nos. 1, 2, 3; Op. 17, Nos. 2, 3, 4;
Op. 24, Nos. 1, 3, 4; Op. 30, Nos. 2, 4; Op. 33, Nos. 1, 3, 4; Op. 41,
Nos. 1, 2; Op. 56, No. 2; Op. 59, Nos. 2 and 3; Op. 63, No. 3; Op. 68,
No. 2; the nocturnes, Op. 9, Op. 15, Nos, 2, 3; Op. 27, Op. 37, Op. 48,
No. 1; Op. 55, Op. 62, No. 1; the preludes, Op. 28, Nos. 1, 3, 4, 6, 7,
8, 9, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23 and 24; the prelude, Op. 45; the
impromptus, Op. 29, Op. 35, Op. 51, and the Fantasie-Impromptu, Op. 66;
the Fantasy, Op. 49; the Tarantelle, Op. 43; the Berceuse, Op. 57; the
Barcarolle, Op. 60, and the Concert Allegro, Op. 46.