The history of the term ballad begins with a type of French medieval narrative song which was generally danced to. Ballet derives from the same base word in French, so both words have the action of dance in common. While the etymology of the word may be French, the ballad was a narrative song or poem that has been historically found across Europe and England and was associated with minstrels for centuries.
This cursory description of an historical ballad has a direct bearing on the term as used in the instrumental form. The historical ballad tells a story in verse with or without music, while the Romantic era ballad is an instrumental work. More specifically, in the case of Chopin's use of the term, it is a musical composition for solo piano that tells a story in purely musical terms.
When the first ballade was published in 1836 it was considered somewhat of a novelty at the time, for no composer had used the term for a work for solo piano before Chopin. Chopin wrote four ballades (the spelling he used derives from French) during his lifetime, from 1831 to 1842. During his second trip to Vienna in 1831, he began to write the first ballade. He completed it in 1835 after he had moved to Paris. Each of the 4 Ballades are singular works. There are a few purely technical similarities between them, but musically and emotionally they are separate pieces. They contain some of the most difficult technical and interpretive challenges of any pieces for solo piano in the repertoire.
Lento - The ballade begins with seven bars of slow arpeggios in common time that serves as a recitative/introduction to the work.
Moderato -The short introduction blends into the first of two primary themes, a gently pensive theme in 6/4 time and the home key of G minor. After this theme is repeated and slightly expanded, a motive is heard and passage work leads to the second major theme with the indication,
Meno mosso - This theme is in E-flat major. This theme gets a proper hearing and elaboration, and leads up to the next section.
What has gone on before may be considered as the exposition of a piece in Chopin's personal use of sonata form, as the first theme reappears. It gradually leads to the reappearance of the second theme in a more powerful rendering in a different key. Another motive is heard, and leads to what can be considered as a recapitulation, although the themes appear in reverse order than they did in the exposition. A stunning coda begins, complete with powerful runs in both hands alternating with solemnly quiet chords until a thunder of octaves brings the piece to a close.
In the end, no amount of analysis, slight or detailed, will convey the strength of Chopin's artistry in this ballade. Or is there anything of much value to trying to tie the ballade with any kind of literary work. Chopin made no reference to any outside inspiration. It is as Chopin intended; a story told in purely musical terms to be understood by emotions and feelings brought on by the music. In that aspect, Chopin is one of the most Romantic of all Romantic era composers.
Franz Liszt and Chopin met each other in Paris about 1831, and
they performed in concert together a few times. The two composers developed a
somewhat uneasy friendship for many reasons, perhaps mostly because of their differing
personalities. Liszt was the most dynamic piano virtuoso of the time, and had a
huge stage presence and charisma. Chopin was never the towering virtuoso that
Liszt was, and his piano playing was more suited to the salon than the concert
hall. But Liszt showed no hesitation in showing his admiration for Chopin's
compositions, and Chopin admired Liszt's playing abilities.
Chopin was a composer that attended opera on a regular basis and helped create a singing style of
Frederic Chopin
piano playing,
but his output for voice is very small. He wrote only 19 completed songs in his
lifetime, and a few others that remain incomplete. And though many tried to
persuade him to try his hand at opera, he refused. None of his songs were
published in his lifetime. It wasn't until 1853 that one of his songs was
published. The Opus 74 set of 17 songs was first published in 1859, and it is
not a song cycle as there are no connecting themes to the poems. Each song is
independent of the other.
After Chopin's death in 1849, Liszt wrote
a biography of his friend and transcribed six of Chopin's songs for solo piano.
The six transcriptions helped make Chopin's songs better known, and became
popular encore pieces.
I. The Wish, The Maiden's Wish -In the original song, the title is simplyThe Wish. Liszt gives the song
a German title that translates toThe
Maiden's Wish. Liszt deftly combines the piano part with the vocal
part, and gives three variants of the melody. Liszt's transcriptions can be
described as paraphrases. He used the term himself on occasion, and it meant
that the work in question was not being literally transcribed, but passed
through the filter of Liszt's tremendous genius, sometimes to the benefit of
the work, sometimes not. With Chopin's songs, Liszt makes new pieces of
them that are complimentary related to the original.
II. Spring - For a song titledSpring, the mood is decidedly
forlorn as the lyrics to the original song tell of a person lamenting the death
of a lover. Liszt reinforces that mood by adding the tempo designation ofAndantino maliconico. Liszt
doubles the vocal line with octaves.
III. The Ring -Liszt's highly decorated version adds spice and movement to
a song about a man seeing the engagement ring he got his former lover still on
her hand after she married someone else. Hardly a sad song, but some
of the anger that the man has does come through.
IV. Drinking Song -The previous song segues directly to this jaunty drinking
song. Liszt boldly colors the bright and festive melody with glissandos,
including a double glissando near the end.
V. My Darling -A passionate song about a beautiful woman and the love a
man has for her. As he shows his affection by kissing her, Liszt adds to the
original with decorations and short, expressive runs in this longest song of
the set.
VI. The Bridegroom -The original song tells of a bridegroom furiously riding his horse to
his lover, not knowing she has died. Liszt retains the rushing scale figures to
represent the galloping horse, while the rest of the song is a dramatic piece,
one inspired by Chopin's original, and transformed into a Listzian composition.
Chopin was not suited to a life of a performing virtuoso such as Liszt, not least of all on account of his health. He had been sickly as a child and had serious fits of coughing for most of his life. As a young man of 22, he was 5' 7" tall and weighed under 100 pounds. After giving a few concerts early on, he restricted himself to performing in the salons of Paris, and made his living by composing and teaching.
By contemporary accounts Chopin appears to have been a very good teacher. He never had a student that blossomed into a virtuoso, but he tended to concentrate his teaching efforts on the elite of Paris for the money they would pay for lessons. He emphasized a legato, singing touch and went so far as to recommend singing lessons for some of his students. Chopin himself would say,"You must sing if you wish to play." He urged his students to attend the opera and emulate the great singers. Chopin carried this love of singing into his compositions as well as his piano playing.
Chopin was a composer that attended the opera on a regular basis and helped create a singing style of piano playing, but his output for voice is very small. He wrote only 19 completed songs in his lifetime, and a few others that remain incomplete. And though many tried to persuade him to try his hand at opera, he refused. None of his songs were published in his lifetime. It wasn't until 1853 that one of his songs was published. The Opus 74 set of 17 songs was first published in 1859, and it is not a song cycle as there are no connecting themes to the poems. Each song is independent of the other.
Perhaps if his health allowed him more vigor and a longer life, he may have grown in his ability, interest and confidence to write more for the voice. As it is, his songs have been mostly passed over as inferior to others. But his songs are interesting, and there a handful that are masterworks.
Chopin used poems by six different Polish poets in the songs. Stefan Witwicki - Nos. 1-5, 7, 10, 14, 15 Adam Mickiewicz - Nos. 6 and 12 Bohdan Zaleski - Nos. 8, 11 and 13 Zygmunt Krasiński - No. 9 Ludwika Osiński - No. 16 Wincenty Pol - No. 17 1) Życzenie (The Maiden's Wish) Stefan Witwicki
Witwicki was a close friend of Chopin and Chopin regarded his writings highly. He used ten of his friend's poems in his 19 songs, nine of them in opus 74. The songs were not put in chronological order of composition by the publisher. This song was written in 1829 before Chopin left Poland. As can be expected from a composer who wrote no music that did not include the piano, Chopin uses the instrument to set the mood, sometimes with a short solo from the beginning. The first song in this set begins with the piano playing a mazurka that is taken up by the soloist:
If I were the sun shining in the sky
I would shine only for you.
Not on lakes nor forests
but for all time,
Under your window and only for you,
If I could change myself into sunshine.
If I were a bird of the grove
I wouldn't sing in any foreign country.
Not on lakes nor forests
but for all time
Under your window and only for you.
If I could change myself into sunshine.
2) Wiosna (Spring) Stefan Witwicki
Composed in 1838.
Sparkling drops of dew,
A brook whispers through the field
Hidden somewhere in heather,
A heifer's bell rings.
I look out over the pasture,
the beautiful, happy pasture
All around, flowers bloom
Stefan Witwicki
And bushes bloom.
Graze and wander, my little herd,
I will sit by a rock,
and a sweet song that I like
I'll sing to myself.
A pleasant and quiet place!
But sorrow is in my memory
my heart mourns,
and my eye a tear forms.
The tear escapes my eye,
The brook sings with me,
and from above
A skylark responds.
It spreads its wings
Barely visible to the eye,
Higher and higher,
Lost already among the clouds.
Above prairies and fields it flies,
Still singing its song;
And takes the gentle song of earth
up into the sky!
3) Smutna rzeka (The Sad River) Stefan Witwicki
Composed in 1831.
River, flowing from the mountains,
Tell me why your waters are swollen.
Is the snow thawing
And flooding your banks?
"The snow lies unmelted in the hills,
And flowers hold my banks firm.
At my source sits a mother,
Sorrowful and weeping.
Seven daughters she loved;
And seven she has buried.
In death they know neither night or day;
They lie facing east.
Waiting in pain by their graves,
She tells her sorrow to their spirits.
And her unceasing tears water the graves,
Swelling my waters to a flood."
4) Hulanka (Drinking Song) Stefan Witwicki
Composed in 1830.
Take care, pretty girl; be careful!
You are laughing so much
You're spilling wine on my coat!
I'll not let you go, I'll make you pay;
I'll kiss you over and over.
Your lips and eyes
set my blood afire!
Come now, despondent one,
What are you brooding about?
Drink! Don't waste time worrying.
This sorry world is not worth it.
So what if you can barely walk.
Where's the disgrace in that?
When your wife shouts you won't hear;
You'll be out cold on the floor!
Drink, or I'll beat you with a stick.
Hey, pretty girl, over here!
Serve us. Don't entice us.
Pour us some beer!
5) Gdzie lubi (Where She Loves) Stefan Witwicki
Composed in 1829.
Streams run through the valley;
Birds nest under the eaves;
Deer hide in the forest,
But where can a girl's heart find a home?
Maybe in bright blue eyes,
Or dark, deep, mysterious ones;
Maybe in happy songs,
or maybe in sad songs too.
She herself is powerless
As to where her heart will go
She is powerless
As to where her heart will go.
6) Precz z moich oczu! (Out Of My Sight!) Adam Mickiewicz
Composed in 1830.
Out of my sight! Listen right away!
Adam Mickiewicz
Out of my heart! I will obey!
Out of my thoughts! No, that cannot
happen with either of our memories.
As evening shadows lengthen
Getting longer in the distance
I will shine brighter in your mind
The further you are from me.
In every season in places close to our hearts,
Where I cried with you, where I played with you
Always and everywhere shall I be with you,
For everywhere I have left a part of my soul.
7) Poseł (The Messenger) Stefan Witwicki
Composed in 1830.
The grass is beginning to grow,
The winter is waning,
And you, faithful swallow,
Are with us once more.
With your coming the days are longer,
Oh bringer of spring.
Welcome back home,
Joyful singer!
Wait! Do not leave.
I will feed you grain.
Sing a new song,
Your journey was long, take a rest.
Fly around and look
with your dark eyes.
But do not look so merry;
My loved one is not here, not there!
She left with a soldier,
left the village.
At the roadside cross
her weeping mother stood.
Tell me, swallow, tell me
If you've seen her.
Is she happy and laughing, or
Sad and weeping?
8) Śliczny Chłopiec (Handsome Lad) Bohdan Zaleski
Composed in 1841.
Sublime, slender and young,
Oh, quite a beauty!
What more could I want?
Black hair and golden cheek!
If he barely blinks an eye
Bohdan Zaleski
It makes my heart beat faster.
What more could I want?
Black hair and golden cheek!
When we're dancing together
all eyes swarm on us.
What more could I want?
Black hair and golden cheek!
If he is late
My heart grows faint and numb in me.
What more could I want?
Black hair and golden cheek!
Every fond word he whispers
Clings in my heart and ear.
What more could I want?
Black hair and golden cheek!
He's already told me
I am everything in the world to him.
What more could I want?
Black hair and golden cheek!
9) Melodia (Melody)
Zygmunt Krasiński
Zygmunt Krasiński
Composed in 1847. A poem that ostensibly relates the Biblical tale of the Jews who reached but could not enter the promised land. It also represents the plight of Poland and its people under Russian oppression. This is the last song Chopin ever wrote.
Under the cruel weight of the crosses they bear
They stand on the mountain to see from afar the promised land.
Their eyes see the heavenly light
As the people struggle to descend.
They see the land they cannot enter!
The land they will never live in.
And here their bones will lie forgotten
Perhaps forever.
10) Wojak (The Warrior) Stefan Witwicki
Composed in 1830. Written before Chopin left Poland, the song gives an idea of the patriotic fervor in Warsaw (that Chopin supported) just before the November Uprising of 1830. Chopin creates the masculine rhythms of a polonaise:
My bay is stomping the ground!
Let's go! It is time!
Farewell to mother and father and sisters;
Farewell all!
We'll ride like the wind
Our enemies will tremble in the bloody battle.
We will return hale and hearty
Run like the wind, my faithful horse!
Onward to battle!
But if I am chosen to die
My steed shall return to the farm
without a rider.
I can still hear the cries of my sisters
that beg my horse to stop.
But the horse refuses,
So onward into battle!
11) Dwojaki koniec (The Double End) Bohdan Zaleski
Composed in 1845
They loved each other for a year,
for an age they have been apart.
She lies dead in her chamber;
He at the crossroads under an oak tree.
O, the whole family grieves over the girl.
Over the Cossack a raven caws.
In both passions burned hot.
They suffered great pain until the mercy of death.
O, for the girl the bell tolls in the village.
Over the Cossack the wolves howl in the woods.
The girl's bones were lain in consecrated ground,
The Cossack's whiten in the cruel light.
12) Moja pieszczotka (My Darling)
Adam Mickiewicz
Composed in 1837.
When my darling is in a happy mood she
Sings, trills and chirps as a bird,
I enjoy each sweet moment,
And dwell on each happy note.
I dare not interrupt or say a word.
I only want to listen, listen, listen.
But when her singing makes her eyes bright
And her cheeks red as berries,
And her pearly teeth shine between coral lips,
Then boldly I gaze deeply into her eyes,
And I no longer want to listen.
I only want to kiss kiss kiss her!
13) Nie ma czego trzeba (There Is Nothing For Me Here)
Bohdan Zaleski
Composed in 1845.
Tears in my eyes comes from deep within.
Darkness gathers on my left and right.
A Dumka wells up within me but dies on my lips.
I am in the silence of unhappiness.
Sometimes I look heavenward.
The howling wind hears my grief.
All is cold, all is cold, but my heart hopes
That I and my Dumka will leave for other lands.
14) Pierścień (The Ring)
Stefan Witwicki
Composed in 1836.
Sad songs were sung to you,
I was in love already.
On the little finger of your left hand
I slipped a silver ring.
Girls married others,
I was faithful.
A young stranger came.
Though I had given you a ring.
With other musicians
I sang at the festivities.
You became another’s wife,
I have always loved you.
Today the girls mocked me.
I wept bitterly:
I was faithful and constant,
I gave you the ring in vain.
15) Narzeczony (The Bridegroom)
Stefan Witwicki
Composed in 1831. In rushing chromatic figures in the piano that represent the wind blowing through the forest and the pounding hooves of the rider's horse, Chopin sets the stage for this dramatic and morbid song:
The wind howls through the trees: You gallop wildly on. Your black hair streams behind you. But, strange horseman, you ride in vain.
Don't you not see above the trees How the ravens gather, Soaring, cawing, flying, swooping, Down into the forest?
Where are you, where are you, my darling?
Why don't you come out to meet me? How can she run out? She is dead. She lies cold in her grave.
I am sick with grief.
Let me see her!
As she lay dying, did her eyes
Search for me?
When she hears me crying
Feels my tears over her grave,
Maybe she will wake from the dead,
and live again!
16) Piosnka lietwska (Lithuanian Song) Ludwik Osiński
Composed in 1831.
Ludwik Osiński
Early one morning, the sun was rising as
Mom sat at the glass window.
"Where," she asks, "have you been, my daughter?
Where did you get your scarf all wet?" "It is no wonder that those who must bring water so early might get dew on their scarves."
"You made that up, my child!
You went into the field
To talk with that boy!" "True, true, Mother, I confess I saw my sweetheart in the field; We were only a few minutes in conversation and dew settled on my scarf."
17) Spiew z mogilki (Hymn from the Tomb)
Wincenty Pol
Composed in 1836. Chopin accentuates the mood of the sad and mournful poem that deals with the plight of Poland after the Russians crushed the revolt. It is the longest song Chopin wrote.
Leaves are falling off
Trees that once grew freely.
A little bird sings
On top of a grave.
Poland is in great sorrow.
It was all as a dream.
The land is draped in black,
Your children dead.
Burned hamlets,
Wincenty Pol
Destroyed towns,
And a homeless woman
Cries in a field.
People have fled
and taken their scythes.
Crops shrivel and die,
With no one to harvest them.
Brave men gathered to defend
the walls of Warsaw
Poland began to rise
In glory and honor.
They fought through blizzard,
Through the summer heat.
Then came autumn, but there were
not enough young ones to continue.
The war is now over,
The struggle all in vain.
Many soldiers never came home
and the fields lay barren.
Some are buried;
Some rot in prison;
Some roam in exile,
without home or food
No help from heaven,
or human hands.
Unsown fields turn to waste,
Nature's gifts are nothing.
Leaves are falling off trees,
thick and dark.
Oh Poland, If your sons,
That fought for your sake
had each taken a handful of soil
they could have built a new Poland.
But now, freedom through
force seems impossible,
Because traitors flourish and the
common people are too honest.
The Waltz as a form of dance had its origins in the Austrian/German Ländler, a folk dance that includes stomping, leaping and twirling about, although mention of gliding and twirling dances where dancers were described as walzen (German for turning or spinning) are mentioned as early as the 16th century in some texts.
Composers such as Beethoven and Schubert wrote waltzes, but these pieces were the equivalent of modern dance music. They were functional and meant to be danced to. Carl Maria von Weber's Invitation To The Dance written for piano was the first instance of a waltz written to be listened to instead of danced to. Chopin helped refine the concert waltz and his first attempts in the form used Weber's as a model.
Chopin wrote at least 36 waltzes, but only 18 verified waltzes still exist. The others are either destroyed, held by private owners while the fate of others is unknown. Chopin had only eight waltzes published during his lifetime, and on his death bed he instructed his publisher to destroy all of his unpublished works, but this was not done. Five waltzes were published shortly after his death and another five later. The two waltzes of Opus 69 were published in 1854, 5 years after his death.
Chopin painted by Maria Wodzińska
No. 1 In A-flat Major, Valse de l'adieu or Farewell Waltz - This waltz was written in 1835 during Chopin's early years in Paris and was given to Maria Wodzińska as a gift. Chopin had proposed to Maria (a talented artist and musician that studied with John Field) in 1835, and while her mother consented her father considered Chopin too sickly and their engagement ended in 1837. Chopin's waltzes have been considered to be lesser compositions by some, and there are a few of the waltzes that can be considered trifles compared to other works. but taken as a whole, the waltzes reflect a wide range of moods from the giddy and extroverted to the melancholy and introverted. The A-flat Waltz of opus 69 is one of the introverted works of the set. Despite being written in A major, a feeling of nostalgia (perhaps for his native Poland and the native Polish mazurka) can be heard in the main theme, no doubt because the minor mode is interwoven with the major to creates an ambiguity of sound that equates to the reverie of a mind dwelling on things past. The waltz ends gently with the main theme.
No. 2 In B Minor - This waltz was written in 1829 before Chopin left Poland. The main theme is in B minor that is more melancholy and restless than the previous waltz, partially on account of the chromaticism of the main theme. Once again Chopin mixes major and minor (or in this instance minor with major) as the first episode after the statement of the theme changes to B major, but the overall feeling doesn't change. This piece is one of the least technically demanding waltzes, but that's no reason to dismiss it. Chopin was above everything else, a master of the piano miniature, with this waltz being a good example of his skill and artistry.
Frédéric Chopin composed his Piano Concerto No. 2 In F Minor in 1829-1830. It was actually the first piano concerto that he composed but was published second. He was 19 years old and had completed a course of study with Józef Elsner at the Warsaw Conservatory. Chopin performed the work in March of 1830 at his Warsaw debut. It was also the work he performed at his Paris debut in 1832 with musical dignitaries such as Berlioz, Liszt and Rossini in the audience.
Chopin was not happy on the concert platform and played very few concerts in his short life. He made most of his living by teaching wealthy students in Paris and by composing. Interestingly enough, Chopin evidently did not like to write his music out on paper. He would even change works that already appeared in print. Perhaps his drive for perfection made him think they could be made better.
The few works Chopin wrote for piano and orchestra are usually criticized for the orchestral writing. But Chopin used as his model the concertos of Hummel and Kalkbrenner, not Beethoven. He wrote the piano concertos as display vehicles for himself as pianist at a time when most other piano virtuosos were doing the same, and in more or less the same style. Thus the piano is naturally the star with the spotlight on it, but that is not to say that the orchestra doesn't have some interesting things to contribute. Chopin's piano concertos are extremely effective works that are still played. The concerto is in three movements:
I. Maestoso - The concerto begins with the usual (for the time) part of the exposition where the orchestra introduces the themes of the movement without the piano. The two themes are nothing exceptional, but when the piano enters and comments on them the atmosphere changes. The piano plays the first theme with a very light accompaniment by the orchestra strings and the theme becomes emboldened and more passionate. The second theme gets the same type of embellished treatment from the piano. The development section bristles with virtuosity for the soloist as well as a short episode for orchestra alone. Both themes are developed before the recapitulation. The two themes are dominated by the piano, until the piano reaches a climax with trills (a double trill in the right hand, single trill in the left) and bare octave F's in both hands. The orchestra plays the denouement alone. II. Larghetto - Although Chopin is considered a musical innovator, he was notorious for not liking much of the music his contemporaries were writing. Chopin became friends with Liszt but didn't much care the music he wrote, and the list goes on. His composing ideals were J.S. Bach, Mozart, Hummel and in his early years Kalkbrenner. Another composer in this short list is John Field, the Irish composer and pianist who developed the genre of the nocturne. Field was more than twenty years older than Chopin and by the time Chopin came on the scene Field was a famous composer and virtuoso. The second movement is a sweet, melancholy nocturne for soloist and orchestra, one of the most famous and beautiful pieces written. The movement shows the influence of not only Field, but the bel canto opera singing Chopin heard on trips he made to Berlin in 1828 and 1829. III. Allegro vivace - Chopin spent his vacations of 1824-1828 in rural areas of Poland and it was on these vacations where he came into direct contact with Polish folk dances, namely the mazurka, and what Field did for the nocturne Chopin did for the mazurka. This movement as well as most of the other mazurkas wrote were not restricted to the form of the original folk dance. Chopin created much more interest in his expanding of the dance. This movement also has some of the most colorful orchestral writing of the concerto, as a few minutes into the movement Chopin instructs violins and violas to play col legno, where the wood of the back of the bow strikes the string which creates a quite different effect. The music has the distinctive off the beat accents and figurations that Chopin used in his mazurkas. After a short climax near the end of the movement, a solo horn plays:
A horn signal that is followed by music for the soloist that is marked brillante, and the brilliance for the soloist continues until another climax is reached, after which the piano quietly plays a fragment of the mazurka before the final flourish by the soloist and the ending chords by the orchestra.
Frédéric Chopin has been called the poet of the piano, and for good reason. Chopin wrote over 200 hundred pieces in his short life with the vast majority of them being for solo piano, some of the greatest music ever written for any instrument. Early in his career he composed two piano concertos and 4 other works for piano and orchestra, a few songs for voice and piano, and a handful of chamber music pieces. But it is interesting to note that all of Chopin's collected works were either for the piano or included the piano. Seldom has a major composer been associated almost exclusively with one instrument.
After the piano, the cello seems to have been Chopin's favorite instrument. He wrote three pieces for cello and piano, more than for any other instrument. Two of the pieces were written early in his career while the Sonata For Piano And Cello was written late in his career, and it was the last work to be published while the composer was alive.
It was written in 1845-1846, a time of personal turmoil and physical illness for Chopin. His relationship with George Sand, the French authoress, had come to an end and the tuberculosis that he had been suffering with for years was getting worse. He struggled with the sonata and wrote to his sister:
I write a little and cross out a lot. Sometimes I am pleased with it, sometimes not. I throw it into a corner and pick it up again.
Auguste Franchomme
Chopin wrote the sonata for his friend the cellist Auguste Franchomme and also dedicated the work to him. The work has never been a popular one, but it does give a glimpse of where Chopin may have been headed with his music if he had lived longer. The sonata is in 4 movements:
I. Allegro moderato - The work begins with an introduction by the piano. After this, the cello enters with a theme that is taken from material in the introduction. Most of the material of the first movement is derived from the piano introduction. The second theme is more gentle and is not developed; when it appears again it remains the same as its first hearing. New themes are heard with each changing the character of the mood. Indeed, the ever-changing moods and complexity of the first movement has been one of the reasons the sonata is not one of Chopin's more popular works. The development section continues introducing themes and changing others. The recapitulation is much shorter as some f the themes are not revisited, but the gentle second theme is heard once again. Chopin pushes the music to the conclusion of the movement and it ends with two terse chords.
II. Scherzo -The scherzo is written in D minor and varies from lyrical to rapid runs and hammered chords. The trio is in D major with a long melody sung by the cello. The scherzo is repeated and ends with a loud chord.
III. Largo -A brief nocturne written in B-flat major. Piano and cello have a tender conversation that gently ends all too soon.
IV. Finale, Allegro - Chopin begins the finale with a dramatic theme. The second theme is less dramatic but still carries the dotted rhythms of the first theme. The dotted rhythms continue as Chopin changes the mood with material in the major mode. The development section has Chopin treat material contrapuntally. The tempo increases and both instruments make their way to the brilliant ending in G major.
Chopin was traveling to Vienna in 1830 when he first heard of the November Uprising in Poland, which brought on the war between Poland and their Russian occupiers. Chopin was on his way to Paris from Vienna in 1831 when he heard that the uprising had been brutally crushed. He arrived in Paris in September of the same year and was advised by friends and family to not go back to Poland until the political situation changed, but it never did in his lifetime. He became a more nationalistic composer after the crushing of the uprising, and expressed his longing for his country by writing more music in the form of Polish native dances, such as the polonaise and mazurka. The mazurka is a dance that is usually lively in tempo, in triple time, and has distinctive rhythms such as the examples below:
Chopin used some of the characteristics of the traditional mazurka but also added other features to it such as counterpoint and other classical compositional techniques. Chopin's mazurkas are stylized versions of the folk dance and as such they are not suitable to dance to. This was Chopin's intent and he made a different form of the dance that was more suited for the recital hall.
He began writing mazurkas in 1825 while still in Poland and continued to write them until his death in 1849.
He wrote at least 69 of them, with 58 being published. The rest are still in manuscript form in private hands or are lost.
He wrote the four mazurkas of opus 17 in 1832-1833 and they are the first ones he wrote in Paris. They were published in 1834. 1. In B-flat, Vivo e risoluto -Chopin retains much of the flavor of the traditional dance with the rhythmic opening theme which id followed by a section of accented chords. The first theme repeats along with the accented chords. There is a third section that begins with a four-bar introduction to it that is accented off the beat, as is some of the third section. After the third section is played the opening two sections are repeated.
2. In E minor, Lento, ma non troppo -A mazurka in contrast to the preceding one as there is a touch of sadness to the beginning. The next section is a little brighter in mood, but the melancholy melody of the first section repeats and the music ends quietly.
3. A-flat major, Allegro assai -The first theme is gently accented on the second beat of the measure and repeats. The 2nd section shifts the accent to the third beat of the measure, and the first theme is repeated, and the entire 2nd section repeats. A short transition is part of the third section and leads to eighth note triplets. After this section, the mazurka plays the beginning theme along with the 2nd section. The first theme ends the mazurka quietly.
4. A minor, Lento, ma non troppo -Four bars of pianissimo chords begins the mazurka, one of Chopin's most intimate creations. The melody plays over chords and is embellished with grace notes and runs. The next section is in A major and has a descending motif followed by an ascending motif. The music modulates back to A minor as the first theme repeats with slight differences. There is a final section of descending motifs and after the first playing it is repeated with embellishments. The music ends with the same four bars as the beginning with the last bar a eighth note triplet of d-e-d and a chord that resolves little.
Chopin loved his country before he left it to make a name for himself in the music capital of Europe, Vienna. His subsequent exile from Poland deepened that love and caused him to become nostalgic and homesick. Some of these feelings are expressed in his music, especially the mazurkas. Chopin himself called them 'Little pictures', of his homeland, customs and people.
Arthur Rubinstein (1887 - 1982) was a Polish pianist and one of the great virtuosos of the 20th century. He was declared a child prodigy at the age of four and had perfect pitch. By the age of thirteen he had already made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic.
He toured all over the world during his long life. There may have been other pianists that could play a certain piece or composer with more insight, but everything Rubinstein played was rock-solid in interpretation and technique. His tone was golden, he was incapable of producing a harsh tone from the piano. His repertoire was huge. For example, he could perform in short notice 27 different piano concertos. He was also an excellent chamber music musician.
He made recordings from 1928 to about 1976, with most of his recordings being done for RCA. all of his RCA recordings have been issued on music CD, the entire set contains 94 CD's and runs to 106 hours. He concertized until his eyesight failed him and he retired in 1976 at age eighty-nine. His last concert was in Wigmore Hall in London where he had first played nearly seventy years previously.
Rubinstein is most well known for his Chopin performances. Rubinstein was one of the first pianists early in the 20th century to play Chopin as the music was written. That's not to say he played it coldly and analytically, but Rubinstein purposefully rid himself of the excesses in performance and interpretation that had become somewhat of a tradition in Chopin's music. There is no better player of Chopin's 2nd sonata than Rubinstein. He plays with expression and passion that totally serves the music.
Chopin's 2nd sonata confused music lovers when it was first published in 1837. Schumann said it lacked cohesion and Chopin "simply bound together four of his most unruly children." The sonata is in 4 movements and follows the layout of Beethoven's Piano Sonata #12, which was one of Chopin's favorite Beethoven sonatas. The sonata opens with what some have called a tribute to Beethoven, as it is very similar to Beethoven's opening of his final piano sonata, Opus 111 in C minor, another favorite of Chopin. The second movement is a scherzo, the third movement is the famous Funeral March. The enigmatic final Presto movement has been subject to many interpretations. In the preface to the American edition of the sonatas James Huneker quotes from Karol Mikuli, the editor of the sonatas and one of Chopin's pupils, that Chopin said of this movement, "The left hand and right hand are gossiping after the March". Arthur Rubinstein himself said of the movement that, "One hears the winds of night sweeping over churchyard graves, the dust blowing and the dust that remains."
Frederic Chopin was a virtuoso of the instrument, and the vast majority of his compositions were for the piano. He brought the Mazurka, the national dance of Poland, into the concert hall and helped establish the form of the piano Nocturne.
Chopin has been called the poet of the piano, and many consider him to be the greatest of all the composers for the instrument. He brought to his piano works a type of technical quality that is by no means easy, but at the same time it is not an empty display of rapid finger work. Everything in Chopin comes from the heart, from emotion, and serves musical expression.
Scherzo is an Italian word that means 'joke', but the Scherzo No. 2 In B-flat Minor is hardly a laughing matter. There is something ominous from the very beginning of the piece. One of Chopin's students said of the opening of the Scherzo, "For Chopin it was never questioning enough, never soft enough, never vaulted enough. It must be a charnel-house." When the Scherzo comes to a thundering close in D flat Major some nine-odd minutes later, (some say a triumphant close) in the same rhythm as the opening, the 'bad' joke has been transformed.
This cursory description of an historical ballad has a direct bearing on the term as used in the instrumental form. The historical ballad tells a story in verse with or without music, while the Romantic era ballad is an instrumental work. More specifically, in the case of Chopin's use of the term, it is a musical composition for solo piano that tells a story in purely musical terms. 
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