Lesson 8: Frederic Chopin

Frederic Chopin

Frederic Chopin is one of the most noted composers for piano music in the history of music. A talented pianist as well as composer, Chopin's works are not only very complex and complicated, but they are also infused with a great deal of the Romantic emotion and drama. Most of his works require skill on the piano in order to play them, and it has been said that it takes a piano virtuoso, or expert, to make the music 'sing'.

Chopin was born in 1810 in Poland. Like many other composers, he was considered a child prodigy for his talent in composing and playing the piano. As a young adult, he traveled through different parts of Europe, performing and listening to the music of the places he visited. He struggled with health issues during his lifetime and he gave his last public concert in 1848. He died a year later in 1849.

Chopin wrote in many of the existing forms of music, including the waltz and sonata. His works feature frequent use of chromaticism and counterpoint, and most of his works were written for the piano as a solo instrument. Some of his work includes references to Polish folk dances. Some of Chopin's work has become fairly well known, even if we are not always able to place his name with the music. The funeral march from Piano Sonata No. 2, for example, has been played at a number of important funerals, including that of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

Another pianist who made his mark on the Romantic period was Franz Liszt. Liszt might be compared to the rock stars of our day; he was famous all over Europe for his performing skills, and contemporaries noted that he had great showmanship during his performances. Musical scholars often consider Liszt to be one of the greatest pianists of all time. As a composer, Liszt was innovative and diverse. He wrote in many different forms and some of his music shows signs of the ideas and trends that would become popular in twentieth century classical music.

Born in 1811 in Hungary, Liszt learned about music from his father, who had served Prince Esterhazy, a member of the famous Esterhazy family that had employed Haydn. As an adult, Liszt determined to become a piano virtuoso and he spent time traveling through Europe performing. Although we do not know exactly what Liszt sounded like when he played, contemporaries described his music as vivid and related that he played with abandonment and infused a spirit into the music that no one else was able to equal. He also gave piano lessons throughout his life to help support himself. He died in 1886, at the age of seventy-four.

Chopin: Nocturne op.9 No.2

Chopin: Etude in C Minor, Op. 25/12

Chopin: Sonata No. 2 in B Flat Minor 'Funeral March'

Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2

In addition to his skills in playing the piano, Liszt is credited with inventing the symphonic poem. The single movement pieces that he created would eventually become the form for popular music, in contrast to the multiple-movement pieces that dominate a great deal of classical music. The best-known works of Liszt are not surprisingly his piano works. He not only composed his own music, but also took the music of the past and created 'transcriptions' of the music, changing the composition in various ways and adding his own style.