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Frédéric Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu in C♯ minor, Op. posth. 66, WN 46 is a solo piano composition. It was composed in 1834 and published posthumously in 1855 despite Chopin's instruction that none of his unpublished manuscripts be published. The Fantaisie-Impromptu is one of Chopin's most frequently performed and popular compositions.
The Piano Sonata No. 2 in B♭ minor, Op. 35, is a piano sonata in four movements by Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. Chopin completed the work while living in George Sand's manor in Nohant, some 250 km (160 mi) south of Paris, a year before it was published in 1840. The first of the composer's three mature sonatas, the work is considered to be one of the greatest piano sonatas of the literature.
The Polonaise in A♭ major, Op. 53 for solo piano, was written by Frédéric Chopin in 1842. This composition is one of Chopin's most admired compositions and has long been a favorite of the romantic piano repertoire. Pianist Arthur Rubinstein once called it "the composition which is the closest to my heart." The piece requires exceptional piano skills and great virtuosity to be interpreted at a high degree of proficiency. It is also very physically demanding, and according to his student Adolphe Gutmann, Chopin played it more gently than most performers. The polonaise was dedicated to Auguste Léo, a German banker and friend of Chopin.
Dino Ciani was an Italian pianist.
Frédéric Chopin wrote a number of preludes for piano solo. His cycle of 24 Preludes, Op. 28, covers all major and minor keys. In addition, Chopin wrote three other preludes: a prelude in C♯ minor, Op. 45; a piece in A♭ major from 1834; and an unfinished piece in E♭ minor. These are sometimes referred to as Nos. 25, 26, and 27, respectively.
The Études by Frédéric Chopin are three sets of études for the piano published during the 1830s. There are twenty-seven compositions overall, comprising two separate collections of twelve, numbered Op. 10 and Op. 25, and a set of three without opus number.
Étude Op. 10, No. 5 in G♭ major is a study for solo piano composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1830. It was first published in 1833 in France, Germany, and England as the fifth piece of his Études Op. 10. The work is characterized by the rapid triplet figuration played by the right hand exclusively on black keys, except for one note, an F natural in measure 66. This melodic figuration is accompanied by the left hand with staccato chords and octaves.
Étude Op. 10, No. 1 in C major is a study for solo piano composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1829. It was first published in 1833 in France, Germany, and England as the first piece of his Études Op. 10. This study in reach and arpeggios focuses on stretching the fingers of the right hand. The American music critic James Huneker (1857–1921) compared the "hypnotic charm" that these "dizzy acclivities and descents exercise for eye as well as ear" to the frightening staircases in Giovanni Battista Piranesi's prints of the Carceri d'invenzione. Virtuoso pianist Vladimir Horowitz, who refused to perform this étude in public, said, "For me, the most difficult one of all is the C Major, the first one, Op. 10, No. 1."
Étude Op. 10, No. 2, in A minor, is a technical study composed by Frédéric Chopin for the piano. It was preceded by a relative major key. Composed in November 1829, it was first published in 1833 in France, Germany, and England. This étude is an exercise in developing the independence of the weaker fingers of the right hand by playing rapid chromatic scale figures with the third, fourth, and fifth fingers of the right hand. Meanwhile, the first two fingers of the right and the left hand play an accompaniment of short intervals and single notes. Chopin indicated the fingering himself note by note for almost 800 notes.
Étude Op. 10, No. 3, in E major, is a study for solo piano composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1832. It was first published in 1833 in France, Germany, and England as the third piece of his Études Op. 10. This is a slow cantabile study for polyphonic and expressive legato playing. In fact, Chopin himself believed the melody of the piece to be the most beautiful one he ever composed. It became famous through numerous popular arrangements. Although this étude is sometimes identified by the names "Tristesse" (Sadness) or "Farewell (L'Adieu)", neither is a name given by Chopin, but rather his critics.
Étude Op. 10, No. 4 in C♯ minor, known as the Torrent étude, is a study for solo piano composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1830. It was first published in 1833 in France, Germany, and England as the fourth piece of his Études Op. 10. This study, a very fast Presto con fuoco, features continuous sixteenth notes (semiquavers), in perpetuum mobile fashion involving both hands.
Étude Op. 25, No. 12 in C minor is the last of Frédéric Chopin's formal studies for the piano, opus 25, dedicated À Madame la Comtesse d'Agoult. It was first published in 1837 in French, German, and English. In the first French edition, the time signature is 4/4, but most recent editions of this piece follow the manuscript and German editions, which indicate cut time. This work is a series of rising and falling arpeggios in various chord progressions from C minor. In addition, its opening bars recall the chord structure of the opening bars of the second prelude of the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach.
The Nocturnes, Op. 9 are a set of three nocturnes for solo piano written by Frédéric Chopin between 1831 and 1832, published in 1832, and dedicated to Madame Marie Pleyel. These were Chopin's first published set of nocturnes. The second nocturne of the work is often regarded as Chopin's most famous piece.
The Ballade No. 2 in F major, Op. 38 is a ballade for solo piano by Frédéric Chopin, completed in 1839. A typical performance lasts six to eight minutes.
Étude Op. 10, No. 6, in E♭ minor, is a study for solo piano composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1830. It was preceded by the relative key. It was first published in 1833 in France, Germany, and England as the sixth piece of his Études, Op. 10. The tempo Andante in 6
8 and con molto espressione indicate a more moderate playing speed than Chopin's other études with the exception of Op. 10, No. 3 and Op. 25, No. 7. This étude focuses on expressivity and chromatic structuring of the melody as well as polyphonic texture.
Frédéric Chopin's Allegro de concert, Op. 46, is a piece for piano, published in November 1841. It is in one movement and takes between 11 and 15 minutes to play. The principal themes are bold and expressive. It has a curious place in the Chopin canon, and while its history is obscure, the evidence supports the view, shared by Robert Schumann and others, that it started out as the first movement of a projected third piano concerto, of which the orchestral parts are either now non-existent or were never scored at all. There is no evidence that Chopin ever even started work on the latter movements of this concerto.
The Klavierübung, by the Italian pianist-composer Ferruccio Busoni, is a compilation of piano exercises and practice pieces, comprising transcriptions of works by other composers and original compositions of his own.
The Prelude Op. 28, No. 16, the "Hades" prelude, by Frédéric Chopin, is considered by many to be the most difficult of the Chopin preludes. Hans von Bülow dubbed this prelude "Hades." It was composed between 1836 and 1839, published in 1839 and dedicated to Camille Pleyel who commissioned the opus 28 preludes for 2,000 francs.
Alexander Scriabin's 24 Preludes, Op. 11 is a set of preludes composed in the course of eight years between 1888–96, being also one of Scriabin's first published works with M.P. Belaieff in 1897, in Leipzig, Germany, together with his 12 Études, Op. 8 (1894–95).
Frédéric Chopin's four scherzos (or scherzi) are single-movement pieces for solo piano, composed between 1833 and 1843. They are often linked to Chopin's four ballades, composed in roughly the same period; these works are examples of large scale autonomous musical pieces, composed within the classical framework, but surpassing previous expressive and technical limitations. Unlike the classical model, the musical form adopted by Chopin is not characterised by humour or elements of surprise, but by highly charged "gestures of despair and demonic energy". Commenting on the first scherzo, Robert Schumann wrote: "How is 'gravity' to clothe itself if 'jest' goes about in dark veils?"
References
- 1 2 "Preludes". Chopin Music. Chopin Music. Archived from the original on 5 September 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
- 1 2 3 "Preludes pour le Piano". Chopin First Editions Online. Breitkopf and Haertel. 1839. p. 2. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
- ↑ "Vingt-quatre Préludes pour le Piano". Chopin First Editions Online. Breitkopf and Haertel. 1839. p. 2. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
- ↑ "Twenty Four Grand Preludes, through all Keys, for the Piano Forte, Op. 28". Chopin First Editions Online. Breitkopf and Haertel. 1839. p. 2. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
- 1 2 Meier, Marilyn Anne (1993). Chopin Twenty-Four Preludes Opus 28 (1 ed.). University of Wollongong: School of Creative Arts. pp. 73–7. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
