The only known photograph of Frederic Chopin, 1849, by Louis-Auguste Bisson
The music of Frederic Chopin continues to fascinate music lovers all over the world, its appeal sustained in particular by a certain dreaminess and sentimentality that critics often compare to poetic expression. Among all the great composers who emerged from 19th-century Europe, Chopin was unique for his intense and almost exclusive concentration on music for solo piano. He possessed an uncanny feel for the expressive capabilities of the instrument. His style of piano writing was enriched by dazzling virtuosic effects, highly distinctive melodic ideas, bold harmonic experiments, passionate evocations of emotions, and exotic gestures derived from Slavic musical traditions.
Musicologist and pianist Daniel Freeman traces Chopin’s life and major works, interweaving musical analysis with visual materials, music recordings, and live piano performance.
9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Biography
Chopin was born on a country estate in 1810, the son of a French father and Polish mother, and was brought up mainly in Warsaw. His musical talents were recognized at a very early age and were developed to the utmost degree possible in Poland of the 1810s and 1820s. He left his homeland permanently in 1830 and soon made Paris his principal residence. An acclaimed concert pianist, he gradually gave up public appearances because of his fragile constitution and temperament. He made his living instead from composing, teaching, and generous financial support from wealthy admirers, among them his longtime companion, the novelist Georges Sand. He died prematurely in 1849 from the effects of tuberculosis.
11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Dance Styles
Chopin composed many so-called “genre” pieces for solo piano—short works that were associated with broad categories of instrumental styles. Compositions in dance style constitute some of the most memorable categories. His mazurkas and polonaises reflect Polish influences more directly than any of the other genres he treated, but he is better known for his waltzes, which incorporate both Viennese and Parisian traditions. His most familiar dance pieces include the “Minute Waltz” and the “Military Polonaise.”
12:15 to 1:30 p.m. Lunch (participants provide their own)
1:30 to 2:45 p.m. Nocturnes, Preludes, and Études
If any genre could be considered the most characteristic of Chopin, it would surely be the nocturne, which is supposed to transport the listener into dreamy evocations of the night. His études represented a tremendous stylistic advance in the genre. Publishers, eager to market them gave them nicknames such as “Revolutionary,” “Black Key,” “Winter Wind,” and “Aeolian Harp.” His preludes were intended to be a modern re-interpretation of the concept of an anthology of short keyboard pieces in free style as pioneered by J. S. Bach.
3 to 4:15 p.m. Scherzos, Ballades, and Sonatas
Several of Chopin’s large-scale compositions are preserved in the form of ballades, scherzos, and sonatas. The scherzos all conform to a simply ABA structure built around the idea of subtle musical jesting. The sonatas, all based on the Beethovenian model of monumental keyboard compositions in four movements, were considered boldly original when they first appeared—even incomprehensible in some respects. Nonetheless, a theme from one of them—Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 35—remains the most recognizable music for funeral marches ever composed. The four ballades belong to a vaguely defined genre developed by Chopin himself--compilations of musical episodes that were perhaps intended to suggest a literary narrative.
Freeman teaches at the University of Minnesota.
