The Life and Works of Chopin Essay

Fredrick Chopin is a renowned composer and pianist regarded as greatest of all time. He was born on 1st, March 1810 according to the family and his statements, but his baptismal certificate indicates that he was born on 22nd February the same year (Persson, Hans, Bertil and Birgitta 321). Chopin was born in the Zelazowa Wola village in the Duchy of Warsaw, Poland. He spent a more considerable portion of his life in Paris, and he later became a good friend with other artists including Delacroix and Ingres. The music pieces that Chopin wrote notes on and played are regarded as romantic in content, however, very different from the contemporary romanticism (Zamoyski 3). He even detested the music pieces of such classification because he regarded them as vulgar.

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The capability of Chopin was apparent in his early years of life. His talent in music was compared with the genre of Mozart. At the age of seven, he was already an author of two polonaises. The first work was published in the workplace of Father Cybulski (Persson, Hans, Bertil and Birgitta 322). The sensation of this piece featured in the papers in Warsaw, and at that moment, Chopin was the center of focus; his songs became commonly used in the receptions and the salons within the capital. He became famous, and he even decided to offer the charity public concerts.

At the time Chopin was 16, he was already known and famous because of his music. He was already learning music at the Warsaw Conservatory Music School at the time. The credits go to his teacher Joseph Elsner who prepared him for life in music composition. Elsner saw the potential in Chopin as a great composer and musician and helped him in realizing his potential. His professional lessons on piano lasted between 1816 and 1822 because his teacher felt that he did not need to give any further help than what he already did to a student whose piano skills exceeded his own (Persson, Hans, Bertil and Birgitta 322). Wilhelm Wurfel, a professor and a pianist at the Warsaw Conservatory Music School, supervised the continuous development of Chopin. He provided valuable, however, irregular guidance concerning organ and piano playing to the young Fredrick Chopin.

Chopin later in his life went to the Warsaw Lyceum School, a place where he had his father as one of the professors. He would spend most of his summer vacations in estates that belonged to his school friends' parents from various parts of the nation. Chopin used to listen and note down the lyrics of the folk songs and participated in the harvest and wedding festivities, as well as played and danced the folk instrumentals that were similar to double bass, performed by the village musicians. He used to describe the entire music genre he listened to, and appropriately rate them.

Chopin is viewed as a mesmeric performer of the time he lived before dying at the age of 49 in Paris, France. He lived on his music, the mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes, preludes, etudes, two piano concertos, and three piano sonatas among others (Jonson 4). His life began in Poland and ended in France. In France, he had a famous affair with the writer George Sand, but most of all, his music featured prominently.

Chopin only performed 30 public concerts in 30 years. However, no one has ever since matched his significant work in the piano collection. When Chopin was in Paris, his performances and effects were felt by the year 1830, the moment when the city became the focus of the European culture, and the art focused on romanticism from music. In the year 1832, Chopin was one of the performers at the age of 22 (Zamoyski, 6). The other performers included the celebrities including Franz Liszt, Luigi Cherubini, and Felix Mendelssohn. The performance in Salle Pleyel made him one of the superstars of the time. The music works of Chopin, in his early years in Paris, are Nocturnes of Op. 9 and 15 of between 1830 and 1832, the Scherzo in B-flat minor Op. 31 of 1837, the 12 Etude, Op. 25 of between 1835 and 1837.

The works of Chopin got to the plateau as a result of his involvement with his senior George Sand (Jonson 5). A number of the great works he did can be associated with the emotional satisfaction he experienced in the nine-year liaison with Sand. In the years 1838 and 1839, Chopin endured illness, tuberculosis, but he still managed to finish the work that was almost due during the same period. During this time, he compiled the complete 24 Preludes, Opp. 28. In the 1840s, Chopin had emotional issues and chronic illness, but he produced a body of his music compositions which were the Ballades Op. 47 in A-flat, the A-flat major Polonaise, Opp. 53, the Mazurkas, Op. 67, 63, 59, 56, and 50, the Nocturnes of Op. 62, 55, and 48, the Sonata in B minor, Opp. 58, and the F-minor, Opp. 52. The best works out of these compositions are the B-minor sonata of Opp. 55 and the Mazurkas of Opp. 56 (Persson, Hans, Bertil and Birgitta 324). They are characterized by their complexities and refinements as well as a rich sense of ambivalence. Chopin came up with the sonata when at the summit of romantic yearning, inspiration, and weaving turbulence when he was yearning for a beautiful and seamless expression.

The association of Chopin and Sand began to fail in 1843, and he received a break in 1847. This time Chopin was severely ill, and he sought to leave Paris in 1848 for Scotland and England and later returned very exhausted in the same year November. During this time, he composed nothing, and it was the final year of his life.

Chopin is the pioneer of unique piano sounds composed by individuals. His works were either written for single instruments or a combination of piano and other instruments. The solo instrument pieces that he composed are of shorter versions and are improvisatory. The examples of the short solos are the 27 Etudes, 58 mazurkas, 15 polonaises, 20 Nocturnes, 17 waltzes, and 25 preludes (Persson, Hans, Bertil and Birgitta 323). The emotions in these works are precious and fleeting, especially the mazurkas, nocturnes, and Preludes. The more extensive forms of compositions that Chopin achieved in his life are the ballade (his invented genre), the sonata, and the scherzo (his invented form). The sonatas in both B-minor and B-flat minor and the four ballades are mentioned among his greatest compositions that involve a mixture of passionate drams and music lyrical softness in a memorable manner.

In the treatment of harmony and rhythm, he omitted the traditional sounds of his music and created an emotional ambiguity that often intrigues his listeners. The musician worked smart to achieve communication purpose in his music and attained subtleties of implementation of which the other pianists after him labored a lot to accomplish. He used the haunting melodies and the luminous textures to achieve his goal of expressing his thoughts using the sounds and range of color shadings that are unique to him and the people who follow him recognize as his ideas. The also applied to the harmonics question marks, which are evident throughout his music pieces; these are linked with the gentle longing look. Finally, he came up with a smaller composition of works than his significant contemporaries; however, each of his pieces was a treasure.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the life of Fredrick Chopin was between the year 1810 and 1848. He was born in Poland, spent his significant part of his life in France, where he later died. Chopin's life is mainly surrounded by his music and piano activities since he had passion as a musician and a pianist. His compositions have an enormous impact on the music of his time as well as of the time. The pieces of music genre that people can associate Chopin to include his short solos like; the 27 Etudes, 58 mazurkas, 15 polonaises, 20 Nocturnes, 17 waltzes, and 25 Preludes. The large forms of his compositions are like the four ballades (his invented genre), the Sonata in both B-minor and B-flat minor, and the scherzo (his invented form).

Works Cited

Jonson, Ashton. A handbook to Chopin's works. BoD-Books on Demand, 2010.Persson, Hans, Bertil Wikman, and Birgitta Strandvik. "Frederic Chopin--the man, his music and his illness." (2005): 321-325.

Zamoyski, Adam. Chopin: Prince of the romantics. HarperCollins UK, 2010.