Frédéric François Chopin
Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin
(1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849)
Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era struggled with his health and poured his dispair into his piano. He was born in the village of Zelazowa Wola, Duchy of Warsaw. A child prodigy, he began composing at the age of seven and performing at the elegant salons of aristocratic society. He enrolled at the Warsaw Conservatory of Music and completed many works before moving to Vienna and travelling throughout Europe performing. At the age of twenty. he relocated to Paris where he connected with contemporaries like Franz Liszt, Vincenzo Bellini and Felix Mendelssohn. He was introduced to the Rothschild banking family whose patronage opened doors for him. He also found employment as a private teacher, which afforded him the time to compose.
In 1838 Chopin began a love affair with French novelist Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin, aka, George Sand. During a miserable winter on the island of Majorca, south of France, Chopin took ill and was diagnosed with consumption (tuberculosis). Chopin and Sand settled at Sand's country home south of Paris in Nohant and for several years, during which time he composed some of his greatest works. His health continued to decline (some speculate that he suffered from epilepsy, cystic fibrosis, or cirrhosis), as did his relationship with Sand. Her 1846 novel Lucrezia Floriani seemed to depict their relationship in less than flattering terms. In 1848, they separated and Chopin took an extended tour of England and Scotland. His final performance was in November of 1848 and he died in Paris at the age of thirty-eight on October 17, 1849.
Chopin would express: "Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art ... When one does a thing, it appears good, otherwise one would not write it. Only later comes reflection, and one discards or accepts the thing. Time is the best censor, and patience a most excellent teacher ... I wish I could throw off the thoughts which poison my happiness. And yet I take a kind of pleasure in indulging them ... Sometimes I can only groan, suffer, and pour out my despair at the piano!"
1. Etude Opus 25
2. Nocturne Number 1 Opus 9 ( 2:27 )
3. Nocturne Opus 15 ( 7:44 )
4. Nocturne B Flat minor, op 9 No 1 ( 11:08 )
5. Nocturne B major, op 32 No 1 ( 16:33 )
6. Nocturne C minor, op 48 No 1 ( 20:30 )
7. Nocturne C Sharp minor, op 27 No 1 ( 25:06 )
8. Nocturne D Flat major, op 27 No 2 ( 29:02 )
9. Nocturne E Flat major, op 9 No 2 ( 33:35 )
10. Nocturne E minor, op 72 No 1 ( 38:18 )
11. Nocturne F Sharp major, op 15 No 2 ( 41:43 )
12. Nocturne F Sharp minor, op 48 No 2 ( 44:27 )
13. Nocturne G minor, op 15 No 3 ( 50:59 )
14. Piano Prelude No 4 Opus 28 ( 55:33 )
15. Piano Prelude No 15 Raindrop ( 57:39 )
16. Piano Prelude No 7 Opus 28 ( 1:03:14 )
17. Polonaise Opus 53 Heroic ( 1:04:11 )
18. Polonaise No 1 c sharp minor op 26 No 1 ( 1:10:38 )
19. Prelude No 14 e flat minor op 28 ( 1:18:29 )
20. Prelude No 17 Ab major op 28 ( 1:19:03 )
21. Prelude No 18 f minor op 28 ( 1:22:02 )
22. Prelude No 3 G major op 28 ( 1:22:50 )
23. Prelude No 6 b minor op 28 ( 1:23:52 )
24. Prelude No 8 f sharp minor op 28 ( 1:26:00 )
25. Scherzo b flat minor op 31 ( 1:27:50 )
26. Valse f minor op 70 No 2 ( 1:37:49 )
27. Valse No 3 a minor op 34 No 2 ( 1:40:47 )
28. Valse No 6 D flat major op 64 No 1 Minuten-Walzer ( 1:46:15 )
29. Valse brilliante in E b Op 18 ( 1:48:00 )
30. Waltz A Flat major, op 69 No 1 ( 1:50:05 )
Piano Sonata No 3 in B minor, Op 58
Nocturne in F Minor, Op 55, No 1
Mazurka B major op. 56 No 1
Polonaise in G Minor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvowvhjWrrY
Scherzo in B-flat minor
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