Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leading musician of his era, one whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation."
Chopin was born in Żelazowa Wola in the Duchy of Warsaw and grew up in Warsaw, which in 1815 became part of Congress Poland. A child prodigy, he completed his musical education and composed his earlier works in Warsaw before leaving Poland at the age of 20, less than a month before the outbreak of the November 1830 Uprising. At 21, he settled in Paris. Thereafter – in the last 18 years of his life – he gave only 30 public performances, preferring the more intimate atmosphere of the salon. He supported himself by selling his compositions and by giving piano lessons, for which he was in high demand. Chopin formed a friendship with Franz Liszt and was admired by many of his other musical contemporaries, including Robert Schumann.
After a failed engagement to Maria Wodzińska from 1836 to 1837, he maintained an often troubled relationship with the French writer Aurore Dupin (known by her pen name, George Sand). A brief and unhappy visit to Mallorca with Sand in 1838–39 would prove one of his most productive periods of composition. In his final years, he was supported financially by his admirer Jane Stirling, who also arranged for him to visit Scotland in 1848. For most of his life, Chopin was in poor health. He died in Paris in 1849 at the age of 39, probably of pericarditis aggravated by tuberculosis.
All of Chopin's compositions include the piano. Most are for solo piano, though he also wrote two piano concertos, a few chamber pieces, and some 19 songs set to Polish lyrics. His piano writing was technically demanding and expanded the limits of the instrument, his own performances noted for their nuance and sensitivity. His major piano works also include mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes, polonaises, the instrumental ballade (which Chopin created as an instrumental genre), études, impromptus, scherzos, preludes, and sonatas, some published only posthumously. Among the influences on his style of composition were Polish folk music, the classical tradition of J. S. Bach, Mozart, and Schubert, and the atmosphere of the Paris salons of which he was a frequent guest. His innovations in style, harmony, and musical form, and his association of music with nationalism, were influential throughout and after the late Romantic period.
Chopin's music, his status as one of music's earliest celebrities, his indirect association with political insurrection, his high-profile love-life, and his early death have made him a leading symbol of the Romantic era. His works remain popular, and he has been the subject of numerous films and biographies of varying historical fidelity. Among his many memorials is the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, which was created by the Parliament of Poland to research and promote his life and works. It hosts the International Chopin Piano Competition, a prestigious competition devoted entirely to his works.
Chopin Biography
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The Divertimento K. 138 in F major was written in 1772, a date which carries various social, political, and musicological connotations – but more fundamentally that Wolfgang Amadè* Mozart was only 15 years old at the time.
Then, he was a celebrated child prodigy and pride of Salzburg under the wing of his father Leopold, a wing he would find difficult to fly from later in life. That was also the year that Count Hieronymus Colloredo was elected Prince-Archbishop, with whom he would eventually develop a stormy working relationship.
The divertimenti written in this period reflect the innocence of his youth. The genre, prior to more formal categorization from 1780, was generally “diverting” music, in the sense of light, possibly outdoor music or even as background music for some social event.
The Grove Online entry references H.C. Koch’s definition of music that should “please the ear rather than express different shades of emotion.” It is ironic then that today’s ‘proper’ performances of the work in concert halls may less reflect the context of the era than its use during wedding gigs.
In any setting, however, the beauty of the composition remains clear more than two hundred years later. In the style of the operatic composer he was destined to be, the singing melodic lines of the first violin take the lead through the first two movements, only giving some equal ground to the other string parts in the closing rondo movement.
Mozart - Divertimento in F major, K.138
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A barcarolle (from French, also barcarole; originally, Italian barcarola or barcaruola, from barca 'boat') is a traditional folk song sung by Venetian gondoliers, or a piece of music composed in that style. In classical music, two of the most famous barcarolles are Jacques Offenbach's "Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour", from his opera The Tales of Hoffmann; and Frédéric Chopin's Barcarolle in F-sharp major for solo piano.
A barcarolle is characterized by a rhythm reminiscent of the gondolier's stroke, almost invariably in 6/8 meter at a moderate tempo.
While the most-famous barcarolles are from the Romantic period, the genre was known well enough in the 18th century for Burney to mention, in The Present State of Music in France and Italy (1771), that it was a celebrated form cherished by "collectors of good taste".
Other notable barcarolles include: the three "Venetian Gondola Songs" from Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words, Opp. 19, 30 and 62; the "June" barcarolle from Tchaikovsky's The Seasons; Charles-Valentin Alkan's "Barcarolle" from the Op. 65 Troisième recueil de chants; Béla Bartók's "Barcarolla" from Out of Doors; Barcarolle, Op. 27, no. 1, by Moritz Moszkowski, and several examples by Anton Rubinstein, Mily Balakirev, Alexander Glazunov, Edward MacDowell, Mel Bonis, Ethelbert Nevin; and a series of thirteen for solo piano by Gabriel Fauré.
Gabriel Urbain Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. Among his best-known works are his Pavane, Requiem, Sicilienne, nocturnes for piano and the songs "Après un rêve" and "Clair de lune". Although his best-known and most accessible compositions are generally his earlier ones, Fauré composed many of his most highly regarded works in his later years, in a more harmonically and melodically complex style.
Fauré - Barcarolle No.1 in A minor, Op.26
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was one of the most influential, popular and prolific composers of the classical period. He composed over 600 works, including some of the most famous and loved pieces of symphonic, chamber, operatic, and choral music. Mozart was born in Salzburg to a musical family. From an early age, the young Mozart showed all the signs of a prodigious musical talent. By the age of 5 he could read and write music, and he would entertain people with his talents on the keyboard. By the age of 6 he was writing his first compositions. Mozart was generally considered to be a rare musical genius, though Mozart said that he was diligent in studying other great composers such as Haydn and Bach.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria. His father, Leopold Mozart, a noted composer, instructor, and the author of famous writings on violin playing, was then in the service of the archbishop of Salzburg. Leopold and Anna Maria, his wife, stressed the importance of music to their children. Together with his sister, Nannerl, Wolfgang received such intensive musical training that by the age of six he was a budding composer and an accomplished keyboard performer. In 1762 Leopold presented his son as performer at the imperial court in Vienna, Austria, and from 1763 to 1766 he escorted both children on a continuous musical tour across Europe, which included long stays in Paris, France, and London, England, as well as visits to many other cities, with appearances before the French and English royal families.
Mozart was the most celebrated child prodigy (an unusually gifted child) of this time as a keyboard performer. He also made a great impression as a composer and improviser (one who arranges or creates). In London he won the admiration of musician Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782), and he was exposed from an early age to an unusual variety of musical styles and tastes across Europe.
From the age of ten to seventeen, Mozart's reputation as a composer grew to a degree of maturity equal to that of most older established musicians. He spent the years from 1766 to 1769 at Salzburg writing instrumental works and music for school dramas in German and Latin, and in 1768 he produced his first real operas: the German Singspiel (that is, with spoken dialogue) Bastien und Bastienne. Despite his growing reputation, Mozart found no suitable post open to him; and his father once more escorted Mozart, at age fourteen (1769), and set off for Italy to try to make his way as an opera composer.
In Italy, Mozart was well received: in Milan, Italy, he obtained a commission for an opera; in Rome he was made a member of an honorary knightly order by the Pope; and at Bologna, Italy, the Accademia Filarmonica awarded him membership despite a rule normally requiring candidates to be twenty years old. During these years of travel in Italy and returns to Salzburg between journeys, he produced his first large-scale settings of opera seria (that is, court opera on serious subjects): Mitridate (1770), Ascanio in Alba (1771), and Lucio Silla (1772), as well as his first string quartets. At Salzburg in late 1771 he renewed his writing of Symphonies (Nos. 14–21).
Mozart's years in Vienna, from age twenty-five to his death at thirty-five, cover one of the greatest developments in a short span in the history of music. In these ten years Mozart's music grew rapidly beyond the realm of many of his contemporaries; it exhibited both ideas and methods of elaboration that few could follow, and to many the late Mozart seemed a difficult composer.
In the field of the string quarter Mozart produced two important groups of works that completely overshadowed any he had written before 1780: in 1785 he published the six Quartets (K. 387, 421, 428, 458, 464, and 465) and in 1786 added the single Hoffmeister Quartet (K. 499). In 1789 he wrote the last three Quartets (K. 575, 589, and 590), dedicated to King Frederick William (1688–1740) of Prussia, a noted cellist.
On concluding The Magic Flute, Mozart turned to work on what was to be his last project, the Requiem. This Mass had been commissioned by a benefactor (financial supporter) said to have been unknown to Mozart, and he is supposed to have become obsessed with the belief that he was, in effect, writing it for himself. Ill and exhausted, he managed to finish the first two movements and sketches for several more, but the last three sections were entirely lacking when he died. It was completed by his pupil Franz Süssmayer after his death, which occurred in Vienna, Austria, on December 5, 1791.
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The Coriolan Overture (Ouvertüre Coriolan), Op. 62, is a 1807 composition by Beethoven, based on Heinrich Joseph's von Collin's 1804 tragedy about the ancient Roman leader Gaius Marcius Coriolanus, not, as is sometimes claimed, for Shakespeare's play Coriolanus.
The structure and themes of the overture follow the play very generally, the main Cm theme represents Coriolanus' resolve and war-like tendencies, while the more tender Eb theme represents the pleadings of his mother to desist. The overture was premiered in March 1807 at a private concert of the home of Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz. The Symphony No. 4 in B flat and the Piano Concerto No. 4 in G were premiered in that same concert.
Beethoven - Coriolan Overture Op. 62
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The sonatina op. 100, written during Dvorák's stay in the USA in 1893, is dedicated to his six children. On January 2, 1894, the composer wrote to his publisher Simrock: "Thank God, I am healthy and well, having just completed my 100th work, a sonatina for violin and piano.
It is intended for the youth (dedicated to my children), but grown-ups, adults, shall enjoy themselves with it as they see fit."
It was the last chamber composition he wrote during his sojourn in the United States. Dvořák catered the sonatina to the gradually developing musical abilities of his children, especially those of his 15-year-old daughter Otilie and 10-year-old son Toník, who played piano and violin respectively.
Inspired by the fascinating landscape of Northern America and by meetings with the native Indian inhabitants, a wealth of impressions has found its way into the movements of this sonatina. And that, accordingly, makes it a part of the teaching canon that is not only useful, but also very attractive.
The sonatina was published by Simrock in Berlin in 1894. It also exists in a version for cello and piano.
The four short movements of the sonatina each exhibit a simple and clear, formal structure (hence the diminutive, cf. sonata). They all contain themes, which, like those already found in his other American chamber works (the String Quartet in F and the String Quintet in E♭), owe their inspiration to Indian melodies and Negro spirituals, which are characterized by pentatonic scales and syncopated rhythm, among other traits. The mood of the composition is fresh and joyful. Only the second movement and part of the last movement are nostalgic; they are inspired by the composer's longing for his home country.
A motive for the slow movement Larghetto was hurriedly noted down on Dvořák's shirt sleeve while on a visit to Minnehaha Falls, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Simrock sold this movement separately, without the composer's permission, and Fritz Kreisler often performed it as Indian Lament. It also appeared as Indian Canzonetta; such romantic titles were not the composer's, but were added subsequently by publishers.
Dvorak - Sonatina for Violin and Piano Op. 100
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The two Nocturnes, Op. 55 by Frédéric François Chopin, the fifteenth and sixteenth of his nocturnes, were composed between 1842 and 1844, and published in August 1844.
Composed in 1842-1844, the F minor nocturne has an average duration of about 5 minutes.
The second nocturne in E♭ major features a 12/8 time signature, triplet quavers in the bass, and a lento sostenuto tempo marking. The left-hand features sweeping legato arpeggi from the bass to the tenor, while the right-hand often plays a contrapuntal duet and a soaring single melody. There is a considerable amount of ornamentation in the right hand, for instance the prolonged trills in measures 34 and 52-54. The characteristic chromatic ornaments, in measures 7, 25, 36, and 50, often subdivide the beats in a syncopated fashion in contrast with the steady triplets in the left hand.
Of this nocturne, Niecks wrote:
The second nocturne (in E flat major) differs in form from the other nocturnes in...that it has no contrasting second section, the melody flowing onward from beginning to end in a uniform manner. The monotony of the unrelieved sentimentality does not fail to make itself felt. One is seized by an ever-increasing longing to get out of this oppressive atmosphere, to feel the fresh breezes and warm sunshine, to see smiling faces and the many-coloured dress of Nature, to hear the rustling of leaves, the murmuring of streams, and voices which have not yet lost the clear, sonorous ring that joy in the present and hope in the future impart.
The second and third duets of the ballet In the Night by Jerome Robbins (1970) were choreographed to this music.
Chopin - Nocturne in E flat major, Op. 55 No. 2
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Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV 855, is the 10th prelude and fugue for keyboard (harpsichord) in the first book of The Well Tempered Clavier, composed in 1722 by Johann Sebastian Bach. The Prelude in E minor, BWV 855a, features as No. 18 ("Praeludium 5") in the 1720 Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. BWV 855a may also refer to both this Prelude and a Fughetta in the same key, an early version of BWV 855. Alexander Siloti made a piano arrangement in B minor of the Prelude BWV 855a.
Where the 1998 version of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (BWV2a) described BWV 855a as only a Prelude, based on its appearance in the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, BWV 855a may also refer to both this Prelude and a Fughetta in E minor, found in a manuscript copy made between 1750 and the early 19th century, once owned by F. Konwitschny but later lost. The Prelude and Fughetta were published in Series V, Volume 6.1 of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, based on various sources for the Prelude, and on the Konwitschny source (of which a film copy had been preserved) for the Fughetta. BWV 855a is an early version of BWV 855, No. 10 in the 1722 first book of the Well-Tempered Clavier.
This arrangement has been described as "perhaps Siloti's most tender and perfect" transcription. It transposes Bach's original down from the original E minor into B minor, with the steady sixteenth note figuration that was originally given by Bach to the left hand being instead assigned to the right hand. Siloti also adds a repeat of the entire work, in order to allow for a change of voicing where the melody in the left hand is emphasized. The chords in the left hand are arpeggiated; however according to Siloti's daughter Kyriena (to whom the work was dedicated), he would omit the arpeggiation on the first pass and restore it on the repeat in order to heighten the effect of the left-hand melody. It has been performed by many pianists, most famously Emil Gilels.
The date of the arrangement is uncertain: it was first published by A. Gutheil of Moscow, and was performed by Siloti in public for the "first time" (according to an announcement in the Manchester Guardian) in February 1912.
Bach - Prelude in B minor, based in BWV 855a
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The Serenade no. 13, K. 525, is a 1787 composition for chamber ensemble by W.A. Mozart. The title means 'a little serenade', though it is often rendered more literally but less accurately as A little night music (which has become a common nickname for the piece).
There are no records of its first performance, but it is suggested that -as with his other serenades- Mozart wrote it on comission. The traditionally used name of the work comes from the entry Mozart made for it in his personal catalog, which begins, "Eine kleine Nachtmusik."
It has been pointed out that Mozart was not giving the piece a special title, but only entering in his records that he had completed a little serenade. The work is written for an ensemble of two violins, viola, and cello with optional double bass, but is often performed by string orchestras.
In the catalog entry mentioned above, Mozart listed the work as having five movements The second movement in his listing, a minuet and trio, was long thought lost and no one knows if it was Mozart or someone else who removed it.
In the catalog entry mentioned above, Mozart listed the work as having five movements ("Allegro – Minuet and Trio – Romance – Minuet and Trio – Finale."). The second movement in his listing — a minuet and trio — was long thought lost, and no one knows if Mozart or someone else removed it. In his 1984 recording, Christopher Hogwood used a minuet of Thomas Attwood (found in his sketchbooks used while he took lessons from Mozart), and an additional newly composed trio to substitute the missing movement. Musicologist Alfred Einstein suggested, however, that a minuet in the Piano Sonata in B♭ major, K. 498a, is the missing movement. K. 498a, which is credited to the composer August Eberhard Müller, incorporates significant amounts of Mozart's work in the form of reworkings of material from the piano concertos K. 450, K. 456, and K. 595, leading Einstein to suggest that the minuet in Müller's sonata might be an arrangement of the missing movement from Eine kleine Nachtmusik.
In 1971, this movement was incorporated into a recording of the work prepared by the musicologist and performer Thurston Dart. In 1989, the minuet and trio of K. 498a was again recorded as part of an arrangement of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik made by Jonathan Del Mar for Nimbus Records.
Mozart - Serenade in G major - Music | History
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The Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111, is the last of Ludwig van Beethoven's piano sonatas. Along with Beethoven's 33 Variations on a waltz by Anton Diabelli, Op. 120 (1823) and his two collections of bagatelles—Op. 119 (1822) and Op. 126 (1823)—this was one of Beethoven's last compositions for piano. The work was written between 1821 and 1822. Like other "late period" sonatas, it contains fugal elements. It was dedicated to his friend, pupil, and patron, Archduke Rudolf.
The Sonata comprises only two very contrasting movements, with the second, an Arietta with variations, being consecrated in the words of Thomas Mann as a 'farewell to the Sonata'. Nearly ignored by contemporaries, it was not until the second half of the 19th century that it found its way into the repertoire of most leading pianists. Rhythmically visionary and technically demanding, it is one of the most discussed of Beethoven's works.
Beethoven conceived of the plan for his final three piano sonatas (Op. 109, 110 and 111) during the summer of 1820, while he worked on his Missa Solemnis. Although the work was only seriously outlined by 1819, the famous first theme of the allegro ed appassionato was found in a draft book dating from 1801–1802, contemporary to his Second Symphony.
Moreover, the study of these draft books implies that Beethoven initially had plans for a sonata in three movements, quite different from that which we know: it is only thereafter that the initial theme of the first movement became that of the String Quartet No. 13, and that what should have been used as the theme with the adagio—a slow melody in A♭—was abandoned. Only the motif planned for the third movement, the famous theme mentioned above, was preserved to become that of the first movement.
The Arietta, too, offers a considerable amount of research on its themes; the drafts found for this movement seem to indicate that as the second movement took form, Beethoven gave up the idea of a third movement, the sonata finally appearing to him as ideal.
Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 32 In C Minor, Op. 111
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