As a manuscript
MORDASOVA EKATERINA IVANOVNA
Creative heritage F. Chopin
in theory and practice of teaching music
13.00.02 - theory and methods of teaching and education (music)
Dissertations for an academic degree
Candidate pedagogical sciences
Moscow - 2011
The work was carried out at the Tambov State
Musical Pedagogical Institute named after S.V. Rachmaninov
At the Department of Music Pedagogy
Scientific supervisor: Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor
Sukhova Larisa Georgievna
^ Official opponents: Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor
Mariupolskaya Tatyana Gennadievna
Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor
^ Khazanov Pavel Abramovich
Leading organization: State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "Moscow City
Pedagogical University"
The defense will take place on November 09, 2011 at 12.30 pm at a meeting of the dissertation council D 212.136.06 at the Moscow State Humanitarian University. M.A. Sholokhov at the address: 109240, Moscow, st. Verkhnyaya Radishchevskaya, 16-18.
The dissertation can be found in the library of Moscow State University for the Humanities. M.A. Sholokhov at the address: 109240, Moscow, st. Verkhnyaya Radishchevskaya, 16-18.
Scientific secretary
dissertation council,
candidate of pedagogical sciences,
Associate Professor N.R. Gevorgyan
^ 1. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WORK
Russian music pedagogical practice is currently characterized by a pronounced focus on the development of performing technology, understood as the motor-motor potential of the student. The priority is to improve gaming skills as required component training the performer has undoubted practical value, however, on the other hand, it contributes to the formation of highly specialized professional skills, without ensuring the versatile and harmonious development of the student. This contradiction acquires particular significance in the process of developing understanding musical style for students in performing classes. Understanding as the active involvement of all personal structures of the student in educational process requires the involvement in the comprehension of musical style of not only the motor-motor, but also the emotional-volitional and intellectual spheres of the students’ personality. Hence the need to search for and apply techniques and methods in the music-performing educational process that promote such involvement and, ultimately, the versatile, balanced development of the student’s personality.
In order to resolve this problem in the formation and development of understanding of musical styles among students in performing classes, it seems advisable to turn to the creative activities of major musicians who influenced the formation of the stylistic appearance of their contemporary era. Among them, a special place is occupied by the figure of Fryderyk Chopin, whose creative heritage includes the results of his activities as a composer, performer and teacher. Through the study of F. Chopin's creative heritage as a complex of compositional, performing and pedagogical aspects of his activity, it seems possible for students to examine the composer's piano technology as clearly as possible as a result of the implementation of the peculiarities of his musical thinking, as well as to reveal the main patterns inherent in the music of romantic composers in general, achieving thus, an in-depth understanding of the romantic style. This determines the relevance of the topic of this work.
The purpose of this study is to identify and substantiate the didactic value of F. Chopin’s creative heritage in the theory and practice of teaching music when studying the romantic piano style in performing classes at universities.
The object of the study is the educational process in music and performing classes at pedagogical universities.
The subject of the study is the creative heritage of F. Chopin, understood as a complex of compositional, performing and pedagogical aspects of his activity, used in the study of works of the romantic style in performing classes in order to develop an in-depth understanding of it among students.
^ Research hypothesis:
Within the framework of this work, it has been suggested that the didactic value of F. Chopin’s creative heritage as a complex of compositional, performing and pedagogical aspects of his activity, used in the study of the romantic style in performing classes at universities, can be revealed in the following positions:
A qualitatively new level of students’ comprehension of Chopin’s piano style becomes possible thanks to the assimilation of the specifics of the musician’s creative thinking through the disclosure of developed interdependencies between various aspects of his work;
The development of students' ideas about romanticism as a musical style of the era is achieved through the study of its attributive features embodied in Chopin's work, as well as the influence of Chopin's legacy on the activities of musicians different countries in subsequent eras;
Students’ creative thinking is activated through their creation of several stylistically competent interpretations of the work being studied, based on the principle of variation inherent in Chopin’s work;
The negative consequences of training focused on the development of the motor component are compensated for thanks to the versatile and harmonious development of the student in the process of forming an in-depth understanding of the romantic style in music.
In accordance with the purpose and hypothesis of the study, a number of tasks were formulated:
Analyze the current state of the problem of studying works of the romantic style in the theory and practice of teaching piano playing;
Consider the creative heritage of F. Chopin as an artistic and stylistic phenomenon of the romantic musical era, in which the attributive features of the romantic style are expressed through an individual creative style in composition, performance and pedagogical activity;
To identify the relationship between F. Chopin’s compositional and performing creativity and the provisions of his pedagogical system;
To develop a methodology for the integrated use of F. Chopin’s creative heritage as part of the development of the romantic style in music and to experimentally test the effectiveness of the developed methodology.
^ Research methods include:
Study and analysis of scientific sources on didactics, educational psychology, music theory, theory and methods of teaching musical performance;
Generalization of advanced music-performing and music-pedagogical experience;
A comprehensive analysis of the creative heritage of F. Chopin (composer, performer, teacher); identification of internal relationships determined by the logic of his artistic and imaginative thinking;
Generalization and systematization of the personal performing and teaching experience of the author of the dissertation;
Methods of the empirical level - pedagogical observations, interviews, questionnaires, interviewing, training experiments.
^ The methodological basis of the study is:
General didactic principles that determine the goals, objectives and content of training (E.B. Abdullin, Yu.K. Babansky, I.Ya. Lerner, B.T. Likhachev, M.N. Skatkin, etc.);
Basic principles of the theory and methodology of teaching piano playing, contained in the works of A.D. Alekseev, L.A. Barenboim, N.I. Golubovskaya, G.M. Kogan, A.V. Malinkovskaya, G.G. Neuhaus, S.E. Feinberg, G.M. Tsypin and others.
Research into the problems of musical style (M.K. Mikhailov, E.V. Nazaykinsky, S.S. Skrebkov, etc.), works highlighting the style of the Romantic era, its characteristic features, the system of its stylistic features (V. Vanslov, A.I. .Demchenko, M.S.Druskin, D.V.Zhitomirsky, K.V.Zenkin, V.D.Konen, Yu.N.Khokhlov, etc.), works devoted to performing style (A.A. Kandinsky-Rybnikov , A.I. Nikolaeva, D.A. Rabinovich, etc.);
Monographic studies of the life and creative heritage of F. Chopin, the features of his style and his pedagogical system (F. Liszt, F. Nix, I. S. Belza, Yu. A. Kremlev, L. A. Mazel, A. Cortot, Ya. I. Milshtein, V. A. Nikolaev, etc.).
^ The reliability of the research is ensured by relying on fundamental scientific works in the field of pedagogy, psychology, musicology, and the use of large-scale research into the work of F. Chopin; using a set of methods at the theoretical and empirical level that correspond to the object and subject of the study, its goals and objectives; optimal balance between theoretical and experimental aspects of the study; testing the main provisions and research methods in the process of pedagogical observations, questionnaires and the use of other empirical methods.
^ The scientific novelty of this study is as follows:
Chopin's creative heritage is explored as a necessary component of professional training for a pianist based on an analysis of the place and role of Chopin's work in the general evolution of romantic art, as well as the influence of Chopin's aesthetics on the work of Russian and foreign composers of the second half of the 19th century– beginning of the 20th century.
Chopin's piano style is considered in the dissertation as an exemplary embodiment of the attributive features of romantic musical art (the interpenetration of various types of intonation, improvisation, the significant role of folklore, etc.); Based on the interpretation of style as an integrative unity of a certain direction in musical art and, at the same time, as an expression of the individual creative style of the composer, the features of studying Chopin's style in performing classes in the context of comprehending musical romanticism as a style of the era are determined.
In Chopin's works, the relationships between their content, form-structure, complex expressive means, performance attitudes and pedagogical approaches of a musician to the education and professional development of student pianists; Based on these relationships, the possibility of using Chopin’s pedagogical principles as a means of in-depth comprehension of his compositional style was identified.
Dan critical analysis trends based on the priority of the rational (“technological”) principle in the artistic and creative upbringing and education of modern youth; the importance of Chopin's creativity is substantiated as a means of compensating for the negative features of a rationalist, excessively technologized approach to teaching in music performance classes.
^ Theoretical significance research.
The significance of the stylistic approach in music pedagogy as a means of professional and personal development of students in performing classes is specified. The theoretical position on the possibility of using the results of a comprehensive analysis of various aspects of Chopin’s activity at the applied level in the study of the romantic musical style in performing classes at universities has been substantiated and experimentally confirmed. The methodology for mastering musical style in the performing class (A.I. Nikolaeva) has been modified in relation to the peculiarities of musical romanticism: the features of using general pedagogical methods (heuristic, problem presentation, etc.) have been clarified, the content of techniques that ensure the action of special pedagogical methods has been expanded (the study of musical text and extra-textual information).
^ Practical significance of the study.
Specific methodological recommendations aimed at developing in students adequate ideas and concepts about the stylistic features of Chopin’s work in the context of musical romanticism as a whole are proposed and justified. Pedagogical guidelines related to the study of Chopin's works in piano classes and increasing the efficiency of this process have been clarified and experimentally tested. The research materials can also be used as part of the lecture courses “History of Piano Performance”, “Methods of Teaching Piano Playing”, “Theory and Methods musical education and education”, as well as in advanced training programs for music education workers.
^ The following provisions are submitted for defense:
The priority of developing motor-technical potential, which is characteristic of modern performing arts and music pedagogy, while having undoubted practical value, is to a certain extent a one-sided approach to learning. Provided that the condition for students of performing classes to develop adequate ideas about the romantic musical style, which to the greatest extent (compared to other style models) requires co-creation between the performer and the composer, is met, the study of these works is an effective way to make up for the shortcomings of the technological approach, which manifest themselves in the form of one-sided, narrowly professional development student musician.
Chopin's music organically combines the musical traditions of the classical era assimilated by him and the attributive features of the romantic style, refracted in accordance with his individual creative style, thanks to which Chopin's work had a significant influence on both the author's contemporaries and the musicians of subsequent eras. Through the study of Chopin's works, the student comprehends the style of romantic pianism in general, acquiring the performing skills necessary to study and interpret most works related to this direction. These qualities allow us to consider Chopin's work as an exemplary stylistic model of romantic musical art. In addition, Chopin’s work had a significant influence on the activities of composers in different countries during the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries, which makes its mastery a necessary component of the education of a professional pianist.
Chopin's pedagogical views, when examined comprehensively, are built into a unified system of pedagogical principles, which are based on the ideas that determined the musician's compositional and performing creativity (the musical image as a semantic, defining beginning for a complex of expressive means; the relationship of musical intonation with orally; variation as a comprehensive approach in creativity, etc.). Chopin's pedagogical views, when extrapolated to the musical text of Chopin's works, explain these ideas, revealing to the student both the aesthetic attitudes of the composer and the features of his performing style.
The methodology for the integrated use of F. Chopin's creative heritage, based on revealing the implementation of Chopin's performing and pedagogical principles in his works, contributes to the development of adequate ideas about the romantic musical style and the activation of the student's creative thinking, which allows for the harmonious development of his personality in the learning process. In order to achieve this result, Chopin’s work should be considered in line with the general aesthetic principles of romantic art, in particular literature and painting, which contributes to the comprehension of Chopin’s work as a universal artistic and stylistic phenomenon.
Testing of the research results was carried out in the form of publications on the topic of the dissertation; the main provisions and results of the work were discussed at meetings of the Department of Music Pedagogy of the TSMPI named after S.V. Rachmaninov; presented at the IV International Scientific and Practical Conference “Music in the Modern World: Science, Pedagogy, Performance” (Tambov, 2008); at the V International Scientific and Practical Conference “Music in the Modern World: Science, Pedagogy, Performance” (Tambov, 2009); at pedagogical readings (Tambov, 2010).
^ Stages of research. 2006-2007 - collection of theoretical and experimental material, determination of goals and objectives, object, subject and methods of research;
2007-2009 - further development of theoretical materials; formation of the research concept; work on the text of the dissertation; conducting pilot studies;
2009-2010 - processing of data obtained during experimental research; completion of the learning experiment; design and editing of the main text of the dissertation.
Work structure. The study consists of an introduction, two chapters, conclusions, bibliography and appendices.
^ MAIN CONTENT OF THE WORK
The introduction substantiates the relevance of the topic, formulates the purpose, object, subject, and objectives of the study; the hypothesis and provisions submitted for defense are determined; the theoretical and practical significance of the work is revealed, as well as its novelty; data related to the reliability of the work and its testing are provided.
The first chapter of the dissertation - The creative heritage of F. Chopin as a complex of composer, performing and pedagogical aspects of activity and its role in the process of studying the romantic piano style in performing classes - consists of four paragraphs. The first paragraph is devoted current state problems of studying works of the romantic style in music pedagogy.
In the twentieth century, a new system of expressive means that emerged in the field musical composition, marked changes, first of all, in the aesthetic concept. These changes directed the musical thinking of composers in a new direction, different from the romantic tradition. YES. Rabinovich points to natural changes in the musical stylistics of the 20th century: “It (stylistics) was prompted by the entire course of mental and actually aesthetic development of our century with its general craving for intellectualism”1. The demands placed on compositions designed within new stylistic and aesthetic frameworks lead to the dominant role of the intellect in the performing process, which inevitably affected musical pedagogy.
Another significant factor that determined the position of the romantic musical heritage in modern performing arts and music pedagogical practice was the priority of developing the motor-technical potential of students in performing classes as an established approach in domestic music pedagogy. The current tendency to concentrate on the development of motor-technical potential has a long origin in the history of Russian music education.
Thus, in a study devoted to the problem national traditions in teaching music, T.G. Mariupolskaya notes that, despite the inherent priority of the artistic and meaningful principle when working on works inherent in the Russian musical pedagogical tradition, in teaching practice a highly specialized, “artisanal” orientation of teaching remains, which should be recognized as a negative factor in the professionalization of music education. Professional specialization in training, stimulating the formation of certain skills and abilities, at the same time determines a certain one-dimensionality of training, and as a result - the formation of a “professionally competent, but unspiritual individual”2.
In turn, the currently widespread practice of participation of students in performing classes at universities music competitions, being an important condition for the professional formation and development of a student musician, serves as an illustrative example of both positive and negative aspects a one-sided rational-technological approach rooted in music pedagogical practice. By directing both students and their teachers to create an interpretation that is not subject to sudden changes in the conditions of public performance, participation in a musical competition creates an attitude towards achieving some predetermined result of appropriate quality in performance.
According to major musicians participating in the jury of professional piano competitions, focusing on the technical stability of a performance leads to neglect of musicality, emotionality, and style features of the performed works. Moreover, the performing individuality and originality are significantly leveled out, giving way to a demonstration of virtuoso-technical capabilities: it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish one performance from another due to the significant unification of the performing appearance of the contestants, who, as a rule, are students of music educational institutions.
As a result of the above-described phenomena, significant difficulties arise in performing classes when studying works of the romantic style. The primacy of the emotional sphere, characteristic of romanticism, musical content turns out to be difficult for modern students to assimilate, whose mentality was formed in conditions of the priority of rational-pragmatic aesthetics, which determines modern culture. Focus on overcoming purely technical difficulties, impoverishing creative process and leading to the loss of individuality of performance, deprives romantic compositions of musical meaning to the greatest extent. However, the properties of a romantic musical text, which require the greatest co-creative initiative from the performer, in comparison with works of other styles, allow us to consider these works as a means of compensating for the disadvantages of excessive rationalism and technology in the teaching of musical performing disciplines. Compensating for these shortcomings becomes possible provided that students in performing classes develop adequate ideas about the basic principles of the romantic style and their implementation in a musical text.
The second paragraph of the chapter - The creative heritage of F. Chopin as an artistic and stylistic phenomenon of the era of romanticism - examines Chopin's work, namely, the individual creative style of the composer formed within its framework as a highly indicative phenomenon from the point of view of the aesthetic positions of romantic culture as a whole. In works devoted to romanticism as a style of the era, it is repeatedly emphasized that romanticism, in comparison with chronologically previous styles (Baroque, classicism), has noticeably less internal solidity. This phenomenon, based on the significance affirmed by the aesthetics of romanticism human personality, was expressed in a wide range of “ideological and aesthetic trends, in which the historical situation, country, and interests of the artist created certain accents and determined various goals and means”3. Due to the wide variety of individual styles, the emergence of various schools and trends within romanticism, the need to master basic principles when studying the romantic style by student musicians is especially urgent.
Due to the primacy of the emotional principle, the desire to convey constant changes in the internal state of the individual in romantic art great value it acquired such a quality as improvisation, inherent primarily in the performing arts of the era. In the composer's work of the Romantics, in turn, this quality reflected in the variational manner of presenting the musical text, which provided performers with significant opportunities for a variety of interpretation options. Chopin's compositional creativity, permeated with the principle of variation at all levels of the musical text (also reflecting the performing style of the musician himself), at the same time can serve as the most clear example of the importance of the emotional sphere in the aesthetics of romantic art.
The work of romantic composers, with all the innovations inherent in it, remained based on the fundamental principles of the classical era. Chopin's work is also strongly associated with classical traditions. A characteristic quality of Chopin’s style in this aspect in comparison with contemporary composers is that in his work classical and romantic principles not only sum up, but also mutually enrich each other: “...he (Chopin. - E.M.) is the only romantic who was able to do both small and major works combine the most striking manifestations of the romantic style with the dynamism and intensity of the development of musical thought and with the unity, logic and organicity of musical form that distinguish best works Beethoven"4. Chopin's innovation in the field of harmony and form is based on the classical logic of musical thinking, which implies a combination of the internal unity of a work with its dynamic and organic development within the framework of form.
In addition, one cannot fail to mention Chopin’s genre innovation, which has been repeatedly noted by researchers of his heritage. Chopin enriched piano literature with a new interpretation of the genres characteristic of the work of the romantics (études, preludes, nocturnes, impromptu, dance genres) and the introduction of new ones (ballad, scherzo). The synthesis of features of various genres, in turn, is characteristic feature Chopin's creativity.
The national flavor was very subtly translated by Chopin into his melodies, which absorbed such features of Polish folklore as intonation richness, a combination of song and dance principles that imparted rhythmic sharpness to the melody, and the use of instrumental types of variation. At the same time, Chopin's passages combine both instrumental and vocal elements, which makes them similar to the vocal roulades inherent in the bel canto operatic style. In Chopin's melodies, thus, such qualities as are indicative of musical romanticism appear, such as the interpenetration of the properties of vocal and instrumental genres, as well as the influence of the national element.
The texture of the composer's works demonstrates a special property that manifests itself in connection with the melodization of the accompaniment of the main themes. Chopin's accompanying chords and passages often contain the intonation grains of the main melody. These intonations are sometimes so bright that they turn from passages into thematic formations, and then again dissolve into accompanying figurations. Here the principle of mutual transformation of various types of intonation, also characteristic of romantic music in general, finds expression.
The embodiment in the composer’s piano work of the attributive features of musical romanticism (in accordance with the creative individuality of the author), on the one hand, and the influence that Chopin’s style had on the work of his contemporaries and followers, on the other, allow us to interpret Chopin’s creative heritage as an exemplary stylistic model of romantic musical culture, giving for students of performing classes, the key to understanding the sphere of musical romanticism as a whole, as well as to understanding the influence exerted by Chopin’s work on the entire further development of musical art. These properties predetermine the role of Chopin's works as a necessary component of training a professional musician.
The third paragraph of the dissertation examines the pedagogical principles of F. Chopin and their relationship with his composing and performing work. Chopin's pedagogical system, innovative for his time, necessarily reflected the composer's views on the content of musical works. In his own writings musical means are determined by the artistic idea, and, in turn, determine the technical side as a means of realizing this idea. It was Chopin's system of pedagogical principles that was the first truly piano methodology, in contrast to Chopin's contemporary piano playing manuals, which largely inherited the tradition of clavier performance, which predetermined their lower effectiveness in new conditions compared to Chopin's methodology.
The formation and development of Chopin's pedagogical views was undoubtedly influenced by his performing activities, the principles of which can be called identically equal to his pedagogical guidelines. In the structure of the fundamental principles of Chopin's performance and pedagogy, three levels can be distinguished: a) the priority of the artistic image and its decisive significance in relation to the playing technique; b) a rational approach to classes at all levels of the pedagogical system and the appropriate organization of piano technology - the natural position of the hand on the keyboard (including the selection of natural fingerings), logical phrasing and agogy, a special manner of sound production, an innovative principle of pedaling; c) developing the student’s artistic taste and encouraging it creative individuality.
Confirmation of the importance of these principles for Chopin’s pedagogical system can be found, on the one hand, in the surviving sketches of his unfinished methodological work, on the other hand, in the memoirs of Chopin’s students and contemporaries. Chopin's pedagogical views, when examined comprehensively, are built into a unified system of pedagogical principles, which are based on the same features of musical thinking as the musician's composing and performing creativity.
The relationship between all three components of Chopin's work is revealed as follows. What helped Chopin organize the process of playing the piano most expediently was the fact that the position of his hands, as well as the manner of playing in general, were “auditory-dependent.” Regarding this pattern, in particular, D.K. Kirnarskaya, in her work devoted to the genesis of musical abilities, notes: “The leading role of hearing in the emergence of auditory-motor connections leads to the fact that these connections are easily formed - music itself contains optimal the movements that express it are encrypted in its intonation pattern, in its rhythmic pattern (our italics – E.M.)”5.
The texture of Chopin's compositions, presenting the composer's style as a complex of means of artistic expression, determines performance decisions that are adequate to it. The study of Chopin's pedagogical attitudes allows us to trace the process of organizing game movements that reflect the features of Chopin's performing technology, including those that determined it aesthetic principles musician. Studying Chopin's musical text on the basis of the acquired knowledge, the student realizes not only the performance technique determined by the element of texture, but also expressed through this element musical meaning. Thus, by comprehending the structure of his creative thinking in the interconnected study of Chopin’s work, the student rises to a new level of understanding of musical style. The consequence is that the student achieves performative stylistic adequacy, understood as “recreating the composer’s semantic world with the help of the necessary performing means”6. In other words, music students develop a complex of performing means that corresponds to the style of the work being studied and is based on an understanding of its content.
The undoubted didactic value of Chopin's work lies in the fact that his works provide an opportunity to promote the development of an understanding of the composer's style, the features of his musical text and piano technology through an appeal to his pedagogical principles. Also, the multi-level variations in the presentation of Chopin’s works provide a rich choice of opportunities for realizing the individual performing characteristics of the student musician.
The fourth paragraph of the first chapter is devoted to methodological approaches to the integrated use of F. Chopin’s creative heritage, taking into account general didactic concepts of developmental education. Based on the current situation in music-pedagogical and performing practice, discussed in paragraph 1.1 of the study, the development of the student’s emotional-imaginative thinking as compensation for the negative aspects of the professionalization of education in performing classes is of particular relevance. To best comprehend the emotional and figurative content of a musical work, in turn, it is necessary to comprehensively study it in the historical and cultural context from the standpoint of perception (listening), text analysis and performance interpretation. The need to correlate a musical work with the general aesthetic context of the era of its creation and the personality of its creator leads, in turn, to the need to use a whole complex of teaching methods, combining, in accordance with the classification of M.N. Skatkin and I.Ya. Lerner, reproductive (information- receptive and actually reproductive) and productive (problem presentation, heuristic, research) teaching methods.
The content of methodological approaches, formed on the basis of the methodology for mastering musical style in the performing class, proposed by A.I. Nikolaeva, is revealed in the following positions. When choosing a work by Chopin, it is necessary, focusing on the student’s repertoire, to select, if possible, such a work, when studying which it would be possible to most clearly illustrate the relationship between the features of the style of composers of the Baroque and Classical eras and the style of Chopin. In a similar way, the issue of including in the repertoire works of composers who were influenced by Chopin’s piano style in their work is being resolved. This approach allows the student, using the example of his own repertoire, to observe both the influence of the style of classical composers on Chopin’s work, and the influence of Chopin’s style experienced by such composers as Debussy, Ravel, Scriabin, Lyadov, etc.
Work on Chopin's works should be preceded by a stage of preliminary acquaintance with the environment in which the specific work being studied arose. If necessary, gaps in the student’s knowledge about the cultural and historical situation of romanticism should be filled; it is advisable to highlight for the student the issue of interaction various types romantic art. From general information about musical romanticism we should move on to a description of Chopin’s work and its place in romantic culture. Particular attention should be paid to Chopin’s system of pedagogical principles in the general context of his work, revealing the interaction of the composer, performing and pedagogical aspects of the musician’s activity.
After the described stage of preliminary preparation, it is necessary to move on to the stage of analyzing the musical text of the work being studied, which should be accompanied by a thorough analysis of the features of the author’s text, expressed through performance instructions. The interconnected sequence of studying the author's text is as follows: identifying the structural features of musical phrases, including the study of rhythmic features musical presentation; analysis of the articulation pattern of the musical text; selection of fingering taking into account the studied qualities of the text.
It is advisable to illustrate the comprehension of the described aspects of musical presentation and performance with information about Chopin’s pedagogical activity as follows: firstly, indicate how this or that fragment of a musical text illustrates this or that position of Chopin’s pedagogical system (presentation dictating a certain choice of fingering options, phrasing features , determining the most appropriate hand movements, pcs.
Message quote Frederic Chopin | A genius of piano music. (“Chopin-Lust for Love” (2002) Biographical film.)
Chopin's work is a vast world of extraordinary beauty. Listening to it, you forget that you are listening to only one instrument - the piano. Boundless expanses open up before you, windows open into unknown distances, full of secrets and adventures. And I really want this new, newly discovered world to never leave you.
(Anna German - Letter to Chopin)
|
Fryderyk Chopin was born near Warsaw, the capital of Poland, in the town of Zhelazova Wola.
Justina Chopin (1782 - 1861), mother of the composer.Nicolas Chopin (1771 - 1844), father of the composer
Chopin's mother was Polish, his father was French. Chopin's family lived on the estate of Count Skarbek, where his father served as a home teacher.
After the birth of his son, Nikolai Chopin received a position as a teacher at the Warsaw Lyceum (secondary educational institution), and the whole family moved to the capital. Little Chopin grew up surrounded by music. His father played the violin and flute, his mother sang well and played the piano a little. Not yet able to speak, the child began to cry loudly as soon as he heard his mother singing or his father playing. His parents believed that Fryderyk did not like music, and this greatly upset them. But they soon became convinced that this was not the case at all. By the age of five, the boy was already confidently performing simple pieces, learned under the guidance of his older sister Ludvika. Soon, the famous Czech musician Wojciech Zivny, famous in Warsaw, became his teacher.
Wojciech Zywny (1782 - 1861), the first teacher who taught Fryderyk Chopin to play the piano
A sensitive and experienced teacher, he instilled in his student a love of classical music and especially the works of I.S. Bach. Bach's keyboard preludes and fugues subsequently always lay on the composer's desk. The little pianist's first performance took place in Warsaw when he was seven years old. The concert was a success, and the whole of Warsaw soon learned Chopin's name. At the same time, one of his first works was published - a polonaise for piano in G minor. The boy's performing talent developed so quickly that by the age of twelve, Chopin was on par with the best Polish pianists. Living refused to study with young virtuoso, declaring that there was nothing more she could teach him. At the same time as studying music, the boy received good general education. Already as a child, Fryderyk was fluent in French and German languages, was keenly interested in the history of Poland, read a lot fiction. At the age of thirteen he entered the lyceum and three years later he successfully graduated. During the years of study, the versatile abilities of the future composer were revealed.
The young man drew well, and he was especially good at caricatures. His talent for mimicry was so brilliant that he could have become a stage actor. Already in his youth, Chopin was distinguished by his sharp mind, observation and great curiosity. Since childhood, Chopin showed a love for folk music. According to the stories of his parents, during country walks with his father or comrades, the boy could stand for a long time under the window of some hut, from where folk tunes could be heard. While on vacation in the summer at the estates of his lyceum comrades, Fryderyk himself took part in the performance of folk songs and dances.
Singer Angelica Catalani (1780 - 1849) gave F. Chopin a gold watch with the inscription “Madame Catalani (Fryderyk Chopin ten years old) in Warsaw. 3. 1. 1820"
Over the years, folk music became an integral part of his work and became close to his being. After graduating from the Lyceum, Chopin entered High school music. Here his classes were led by the experienced teacher and composer Joseph Elsner. Elsner very soon realized that his student was not just talented, but a genius. Among his notes there is a brief description he gave to the young musician: “Amazing abilities. Musical genius." By this time, Chopin had already been recognized as the best pianist in Poland. His talent as a composer also reached maturity. This is evidenced by two concertos for piano and orchestra, composed in 1829-1830. These concerts are invariably performed in our time and are favorite works of pianists from all countries. At the same time, Fryderyk met the young singer Konstanzia Gladkowska, who was studying at the Warsaw Conservatory. Gladkovskaya was destined to become Fryderyk's first love. In a letter to his friend Woitsekhovsky, he wrote:
“...I, perhaps, unfortunately, already have my own ideal, which I faithfully serve, without speaking to it for six months, which I dream about, the memory of which became the adagio of my concert, which inspired me to write this morning this waltz being sent to you.”
Constance Gladkowska (1810 - 1889) singer at the National Theater in Warsaw. Miniature of Anna Chametz, made in 1969 based on a drawing by Wojciech Gerson
It was under the impression of this youthful feeling of love that Chopin composed one of his best songs, “Desire” or “If I Shined Like the Sun in the Sky.” In 1829, the young musician traveled briefly to Vienna. His concerts were a huge success. Chopin, his friends and family realized that he should go on a long concert tour. Chopin could not decide to take this step for a long time. He was tormented by bad feelings. It seemed to him that he was leaving his homeland forever. Finally, in the autumn of 1830, Chopin left Warsaw. Friends gave him a farewell cup filled with Polish soil. His teacher Elsner said goodbye to him touchingly.
Joseph Elsner (1769-1854), teacher of Fryderyk Chopin in music theory and composition
On the outskirts of Warsaw, where Chopin was passing through, he and his students performed a choral work he had written especially for this occasion. Chopin was twenty years old. The happy youthful time, full of searches, hopes, successes, is over. Chopin's premonitions did not deceive him. He parted with his homeland forever. Remembering the good reception he received in Vienna, Chopin decided to begin his concerts there. But, despite intense efforts, he was never able to give an independent concert, and publishers agreed to publish his works only for free. Unexpectedly, alarming news came from home. An uprising against the Russian autocracy, organized by Polish patriots, began in Warsaw. Chopin decided to interrupt his concert tour and return to Poland. He knew that among the rebels were his friends, perhaps even his father. After all, in his youth, Nicolas Chopin took part in the popular uprising led by Tadeusz Kosciuszko. But his family and friends persistently advise him in letters not to come. People close to Chopin are afraid that persecution may affect him too. Let him better remain free and serve his homeland with his art. With bitterness, the composer submitted and headed to Paris. On the way, Chopin was overtaken by news that shocked him: the uprising was brutally suppressed, its leaders were thrown into prison and exiled to Siberia. With thoughts about tragic destinies Chopin's most famous etude, created even before his arrival in Paris, called “Revolutionary,” was directly related to his homeland. It embodied the spirit of the November uprising, as well as anger and sorrow. In the autumn of 1831, Chopin arrived in Paris. Here he lived until the end of his life. But France did not become the composer’s second homeland. Both in his affections and in his work, Chopin remained a Pole. And he even bequeathed his heart to be taken home after death. Chopin “conquered” Paris first as a pianist. He immediately amazed the audience with his unique and unusual performance.
Friedrich Kalkbrenner (1788 - 1849). From a lithograph by G. Richardi. German pianist, composer and teacher. From 1824 he lived in Paris, where he was considered the most outstanding teacher of piano playing.
At that time, Paris was flooded with musicians from various countries. The most popular were the virtuoso pianists: Kalkbrenner, Hertz, Hiller.
Ferdinand Hiller (1811 - 1885) - German pianist, composer, conductor, musician. theorist, music historian and critic; founder of the Cologne Conservatory. He had a warm friendship with F. Chopin (there is a bronze medal depicting Chopin and Hiller)
Their playing was distinguished by technical perfection and brilliance that stunned the audience. That's why Chopin's first concert performance sounded like such a sharp contrast. According to the recollections of contemporaries, his performance was surprisingly spiritual and poetic. The famous Hungarian musician Franz Liszt, who also began his brilliant career as a pianist and composer at that time, remembers Chopin’s first concert: “We remember his first performance in the Pleyel Hall, when the applause, which increased with redoubled force, seemed unable to sufficiently express our enthusiasm in the face of talent, which, along with happy innovations in the field of his art, opened a new phase in the development of poetic feeling."
F. Liszt (1811-1886)
Chopin conquered Paris, just as Mozart and Beethoven once conquered Vienna. Like Liszt, he was recognized as the best pianist in the world. At concerts, Chopin mostly performed his own works: concertos for piano and orchestra, concert rondos, mazurkas, etudes, nocturnes, Variations on a theme from Mozart's opera Don Giovanni. It was about these variations that the outstanding German composer and critic Robert Schumann wrote: “Hats off, gentlemen, before you is a genius.”
Chopin's music, as well as his concert performances, aroused universal admiration. Only music publishers waited. They published Chopin's works, but, as in Vienna, for free. Therefore, the first editions did not bring income to Chopin. He was forced to give music lessons for five to seven hours every day. This work provided him, but took too much time and effort. And even later, being a world-famous composer, Chopin could not afford to stop these studies with his students that were so exhausting for him. Along with the growing popularity of Chopin as a pianist and composer, his circle of acquaintances expanded.
F. Chopin among the famous pianists of his time (1835). From left to right: standing - T. Deller, J. Rosengein, F. Chopin, A. Dreishok, S. Thalberg; sitting - E. Wolf, A. Henselt, F. Liszt.
Among his friends is Liszt, an outstanding French composer Berlioz, French artist Delacroix, German poet Heine. But no matter how interesting his new friends were, he always gave preference to his compatriots. For the sake of a guest from Poland, he changed the strict order of his working day, showing him the sights of Paris. He could spend hours listening to stories about his homeland, about the lives of his family and friends.
With youthful insatiability he enjoyed Polish folk songs, and often wrote music to the poems he liked. Very often these poems, turned into songs, found their way back to Poland and became the property of the people. If a close friend, the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz, came, Chopin immediately sat down at the piano and played for him for hours. Forced, like Chopin, to live away from his homeland, Mickiewicz also yearned for it. And only Chopin’s music slightly eased the pain of this separation and transported him there, far away, to his native Poland. It was thanks to Mickiewicz and the frenzied drama of his “Conrad Wallenrod” that the First Ballad was born. And Chopin’s Second Ballad is associated with the images of Mickiewicz’s poetry. Meetings with Polish friends were especially dear to the composer because Chopin did not have his own family.
His hope of marrying Maria Wodzinska, the daughter of one of the rich Polish nobles, did not come true. Maria's parents did not want to see their daughter married to a musician, even if he was world famous, but earned his living by working. For many years he connected his life with the famous French writer Aurora Dudevant, who appeared in print under the pseudonym Georges Sand.
Judging by the “musical portraits” of Konstancia Gladkowska and Maria Wodzinska, Chopin valued above all else the charm of purity created by his imagination. In George Sand one could find anything but this. By that time she enjoyed a scandalous reputation. Chopin could not have known this. But Liszt and his friend Marie d'Agoux highly valued the literary talent of George Sand and talked about this with Chopin and Mickiewicz, emphasizing that they valued her primarily as a writer. They also contributed to the appearance of George Sand on musical evenings at Chopin's.
George Sand
It must be said that there is not much reliable information about the history of Chopin’s relationship with Georges Sand. Not everyone agrees with George Sand herself, who portrayed Chopin’s guardian angel to his friends and described to them her “self-sacrifice” and “maternal care” for the composer. Liszt, in a book published during George Sand’s lifetime, very unequivocally accused her of being the cause of his untimely death. Wojciech Grzymala, one of Chopin's closest friends, also believed that George Sand, “who poisoned his entire existence,” was responsible for his death. “A poisonous plant” was called by Wilhelm Lenz, a student of Chopin, who was deeply indignant at how impudently, arrogantly and disdainfully George Sand treated Chopin even in the presence of strangers. Over the years, Chopin gave concerts less and less, limiting himself to performing with a small circle of friends.
He devoted himself entirely to creativity. His sonatas, scherzos, ballads, impromptu, new series etudes, the most poetic nocturnes, preludes and the still beloved mazurkas and polonaises. Along with light lyrical plays, more and more often from his pen came works full of dramatic depth, and often tragedy. This is the Second Sonata, with a funeral march, belonging to the number highest achievements composer, all Polish music and romantic art in general. Józef Chominski, characterizing the first two movements of the sonata, said: “After the heroic struggle, the funeral march is obviously the last act of the drama.” Chopin viewed the funeral march as an emotional conclusion that dramatically completes the development of images. We have the right to call this drama, the images of which unfold in Chopin’s sonata, a national tragedy. Chopin's funeral march is recognized as the most outstanding work of this genre. This march occupied a special, exceptional place not only in musical literature, but also in the life of mankind, for it is difficult to find a more sublime, more beautiful and more tragic embodiment of the feeling of grief. Chopin's life in Paris was, if not happy, then favorable for creativity. His talent reached its peak.
The publication of Chopin's works no longer encounters any obstacles; taking lessons from him is considered a great honor, and hearing him play is a rare happiness, available to a select few. The last years of the composer's life were sad. His friend Jan Matuszynski died, followed by his beloved father. A quarrel and break with George Sand made him completely lonely. Chopin was never able to recover from these brutal blows. The lung disease that Chopin suffered from since youth. The composer has written almost nothing for the last two years. His funds have dried up. To improve his difficult financial situation, Chopin undertook a trip to London at the invitation of English friends. Having gathered his last strength, sick, he gives concerts and lessons there. The enthusiastic reception at first pleases him and instills him with cheerfulness. But the damp climate of England quickly had its destructive effect. A hectic life, full of secular, often empty and meaningless entertainment, began to tire him. Chopin's letters from London reflect his gloomy mood, and often suffering:
“I’m no longer able to worry or rejoice - I’ve completely stopped feeling anything - I’m just vegetating and waiting for this to end as soon as possible.”
Chopin gave his last concert in London, which turned out to be the last in his life, in favor of Polish emigrants. On the advice of doctors, he hastily returned to Paris. The composer's last work was a mazurka in F minor, which he could no longer play and only wrote down on paper. At his request, his elder sister Ludwika arrived from Poland, in whose arms he died.
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The creative path of the Polish composer and pianist Frederic Chopin. Lyricism, subtlety in conveying moods, breadth of national-folklore and genre language in Chopin's musical works. Voluntary exile of Chopin. Order from George Sand, the composer's remaining rocks.
Chopin's creative heritage amazes with the richness of musical genres and musical forms. Chopin wrote sonatas and concertos - works of large forms, so characteristic of Mozart and Beethoven. He wrote a lot of works in genres that composers of the classical era did not turn to. And although these genres, for the most part, existed before Chopin, the history of musical culture rightfully connects them with his name. Chopin raised such genres as polonaise, mazurka, ballad, nocturne, and etude to enormous artistic heights.
In the field of musical form , as in all other elements of his creative style, Chopin is a bold innovator. Without avoiding traditional structural schemes, Chopin interprets them extremely freely, creating essentially new, deeply original musical forms. But Chopin always preserves the harmony, completeness, and strict logic of thought development characteristic of the best examples of classical music.
Deserves special attention structure of Chopin's major works. Let us first turn to the most significant cyclic works - the B-toll and H-moll sonatas.
· Like most classical sonatas, they are four-movement cycles.
· In the first parts Chopin does not deviate far from the usual scheme of sonata al1egro, preserving the unity of movement and form, the traditional structure (exposition - development - reprise - coda), classical functions of the parts and tonal relationships between the main and secondary parts (minor - parallel major in the exposition and minor-eponymous major in reprise) and even repeating the exposition.
· We see here, at the same time, a brighter contrast of the main images than in the classical sonatas(main and side parties); the reprises are shortened (the main parts are omitted). The connections with the traditions of classicism are no less clear in the structure of Chopin’s other cyclical works (piano sonata in C minor, concertos for piano and orchestra, trio, sonata for cello and piano).
Chopin departs significantly further from classical norms in large one-movement works. The very genre of one-part plays on a large scale, if not arose, at least received wide development precisely in the music of the romantics - especially in the work of Chopin, as well as Liszt.
Two origins of this typically romantic genre can be identified..
· On the one hand, as noted by V. A. Tsukkerman, romantic music is characterized by isolation, a kind of “emancipation” of parts of the sonata cycle. Chopin's scherzos are not only parts of a cyclic form, but also independent works. In the same way (this, however, applies more to small forms) some of Chopin’s lyrical pieces can be considered as the slow parts of the sonata cycle that have received the right to independent life.
· On the other hand, romantic music is characterized by compression of the sonata cycle into one movement; or, which is approximately the same thing, the penetration of cyclical elements into one-part plays. Particularly indicative in this regard are Liszt's major works (sonata in B minor, concertos). However, Liszt developed those tendencies that were clearly revealed already in a number of piano pieces Chopin. Individual themes acquire much greater independence in them than in musical works of the classical type and in the sonatas of Chopin himself. Let's give a few examples.
For a person unfamiliar with ballad F-dur, its first theme may at first give the impression of an independent part of a cyclic composition: it is complete tonally and separated from next topic long-term fermata. The impression of independence of the first theme is strengthened with the appearance of the second theme, which contrasts with the first both in general character and tempo(Presto con fuoco instead of Andantino), and texture, and, finally, tonality(A minor instead of F major). And only when the first theme returns, it becomes clear that it is not an independent part of the cycle, but one of the contrasting images of a one-part composition. We're about the same see in the ballad As-dur. The first theme, also tonally and structurally complete, is so clearly demarcated from the second that it can be taken as an independent part of the composition. However, this theme returns both in development and in reprise - therefore it should be considered as the main part of a work written in a very freely interpreted sonata form.
In some works, the middle episodes grow to become independent parts. Let us point out the middle part (H-dur) of the polonaise-fantasy. By the general character of the music, structural and tonal completeness, texture and dynamics, this episode is quite clearly distinguished from the first and third parts of the polonaise-fantasy. In terms of scale, the H-major episode could well become one of the parts of the sonata cycle. The same can be said about the middle part of the scherzo b-moll.
Independence and wide development of themes and images give a special character to the sonata form in some of Schoen's works.
Let us dwell on other features of the sonata form in Chopin’s one-movement works. In some works he replaces the elaboration with an independent central episode (skepzo b-minor and E-major). Only in a few works does the reprise literally repeat the exposition; it is often shortened and modified, which always dynamizes the dramaturgy of the work.
Chopin's large one-movement works are characterized by synthetic forms, and above all, a combination of sonatas with elements of rondo and variation Yu. One of the illustrative examples is the ballad f-mol1. Variation is a very significant feature of the style of major Chopin works.
One of the manifestations of variational development is heterogeneous (intonation, texture, tonal, etc.), often very subtle and difficult to discern connections between the themes of one composition. These connections enable Chopin to achieve stylistic unity, thematic integrity with a wealth of musical images. The coda of the f-minor ballad does not follow from the main themes of the work. But it “echoes” with them (primarily with main theme) individual intonations, texture features. Therefore, it very logically completes the “story told by Chopin.”
* Speaking about the variety of genres in Chopin’s music, V.V. Stasov noted its extremely important feature. “Despite its apparent, miniature and limited forms, its preludes, nocturnes. etudes, mazurkas, polonaises, impromptus are full of great and deep content, and all of them, except perhaps a few, rare exceptions, belong just as much to the field of “program” music as his magnificent ballads[...] No one doubts the “programmatic” nature of his 2nd sonata (B minor). The programmatic nature of music is determined not only by the title (or the program as such), but also by the programmatic intent.
It is difficult to say with complete certainty why Chopin avoided making his programmatic plans public. Undoubtedly, his characteristic restraint was reflected here. At the same time, it is very likely that the composer’s creative imagination often led him beyond the boundaries of his intended program. One way or another, Chopin spoke only to his closest people about the intentions of some of his works. True, there is a known case when Chopin had the intention of publishing one of his compositions with program instructions. On the manuscript of the nocturne g-moll op. 15 Chopin wrote: “After the performance of Hamlet.” But this time too, Chopin remained true to himself. The above phrase is crossed out, and next to it is written in Chopin’s hand: “No, let them guess for themselves.”
Among Chopin's friends, some of his works were apparently known under program names. E. Delacroix in his “Diary” mentions Chopin’s play “The Mill at Nohant”. Unfortunately, it remains unknown which work Delacroix had in mind.
So, we know that Chopin has works that undoubtedly belong to the sphere of program music. These works are few. Biographers of Chopin name no more than one and a half to two dozen plays that are definitely related to certain programs or life impressions (we are not talking about the guesses, however convincing, of researchers of Chopin’s work). In order to show that these plays are no exception to Chopin's art, we must dwell on the problem of the diversity of his music , on the type of its programming.
One of the most popular, deservedly loved by both listeners and performers of Chopin's plays - impromptu Fis-dur:
· Against the background of a very calm, seemingly “rocking” accompaniment, a calm, wide and soft folk melody also sounds. Without losing its calm character, the melody develops in typically Chopin graceful “piano coloraturas” and is replaced by a new image - gentle, transparent music; I remember a women's or children's choir.
· Then follows a courageous heroic march.
· The melodious first theme sounds again and gradually turns into gentle, airy, softly flowing passages (tonal reprise).
· In conclusion, the second theme (“children’s choir”) returns.
In the contrasting musical images that formed the basis of Chopin's play, genre connections are very clear (lullaby, chorus, march), evoking almost visually distinct associations. The sequence of these musical images leaves an impression of unusualness and involuntarily makes you think about the intention of the play. Indeed, according to the data that came to us through Chopin's first biographers, the Fis-dur "impromptu is a programmatic work. Chopin was inspired by the following picture: a young Polish woman, bending over the cradle, hums a song to her only son; gradually the mother falls asleep; she imagines a magical choir , predicting the future of her baby - he will become a brave, courageous fighter for the fatherland... Singing a song, the young mother fell asleep, immersed in a world of unclear dreams...
This program reveals the meaning of impromptu musical images, its dramaturgy and at the same time the ideological concept of the play. IN in this case we can talk about Story programming. Some other Chopin program works also belong to the same “plot” type - for example, F-dur" ballad, inspired by Mickiewicz’s poem “Svitezianka”. In the ballad we see a kind of musical painting. However, the musical imagery here (as always with Chopin) is subordinated to deep psychologism.
Both the impromptu Fis-dur and the ballad F-dur make it possible to judge Chopin’s principles of musical embodiment of program ideas. We see that in the F-dur ballad, Chopin, without following step by step the poet's story, without illustrating all the events described, draws the most significant episodes. And scenes of Mickiewicz's ballad in deeply contrasting images. The same is true for impromptu Fis-dur.
Based on specific ideas, Chopin creates generalized artistic images with deep thoughts and exciting emotions. The first episode of the ballad is not so much a landscape as a musical revelation of the happiness of lovers. In the music of Presto and the final Agitato, one can hear the howl of a hurricane and the noise of raging waves, but the main thing here is mental confusion and a premonition of approaching death.
Chopin also encounters - mainly in small pieces - another type of program - generalized. Let's turn to etude As-dur op. 25. According to legend cited by Chopin's biographers, this sketch was inspired by the following episode: while walking, Chopin was caught in a storm; through the noise of the rain and wind he could hear the sounds of a horn played by a shepherd who had taken refuge in the grotto. Chopin avoids detailed sound recording in the As-dur Etude. We do not hear the traditional imitation of pastoral tunes and the equally traditional imitation of howls and gusts of wind. Here too, the direct life impression is translated by Chopin into a generalized artistic image. The shepherd's song, the sound of rain and wind, the rural landscape - all this awakened Chopin's creative imagination, but he did not set out to give a “visual sketch”, an accurate “ musical description” episode that brought to life the study As-dur. This is what the As-dir etude and the second ballad have in common. The difference is that in the etude there is no development of the plot, no change of sound pictures. This is, in essence, a single artistic image. We see the same type of programming in the etude c-minor op. 10. Here, too, there is no development of the plot in the change of musical scenes. The whole scene is imbued with one thought, one feeling - pain for the homeland. The same single image is in the study in f-moll op. 25, which represents " musical portrait» Maria Wodzinska.
Thus, we can say that almost all of Chopin’s work is programmatic in essence. We have the right to draw a conclusion about the program based on the content of the music and certain stylistic features. It is almost impossible to doubt the programmatic content of almost all polonaises or f-minor fantasies. The extraordinary relief of the musical images of fantasy, the features of its dramaturgy (in particular, the introduction of a mournful and pathetic recitative monologue in the middle of the play) - all this convincingly indicates the presence of a programmatic plan in Chopin’s brilliant creation.
In works about Chopin we encounter numerous programmatic interpretations of his works. Some of these programs look more or less convincing, others are clearly subjective. But the very fact of the persistent search for programs in Chopin’s works shows that many of them are difficult to perceive without connection with certain specific ideas. No wonder Saint-Saëns said about Chopin: “His music is always a picture.”
ABOUT THE EVOLUTION OF STYLE:
Chopin's work, like that of any other artist, did not remain unchanged:
· His early Warsaw works are dominated by bright moods and youthful joy.
· With the defeat of the Polish uprising, Chopin's music includes dramatic, tragic, and heroic images.
· In many of Chopin’s later works, self-absorption and refined psychologism are rightly noted.
Chopin's musical speech also evolved:
· The harmonic language and structure of his early works are comparatively simple. The piano presentation tends towards elegant, “brilliant” virtuosity.
· In Chopin's mature works we see a wealth of piano texture and harmonies. In some late works one can notice the sophistication of piano writing and harmony, and in some places the sophistication of musical thinking.
And yet, Chopin's music is the art of unified style. Already in his youthful writings he speaks to his own musical speech. Basics ideological content His art - a fiery love for his oppressed homeland - remained unchanged throughout his life. Likewise, the connections between his music and Polish remained invariably strong. folk art. Therefore, in any fragment of any Chopin composition - no matter when it was written - the creative handwriting of its author is immediately recognizable. It’s not without reason that you can put next to, for example, one of the most early works Chopin, Mazurka a minor op. 17 No. 4, and Mazurka in g minor op. 67 No. 2, written in recent years life. It cannot be said that these plays are completely of the same type, but from the very first bars it is clear that their author is Fryderyk Chopin.
It is possible to reveal the deep originality of the works of the great Polish composer, to show the commonality that brings together all Chopin's nocturnes and mazurkas, only if we consider his work by genre. Within the framework of individual genres, we will also highlight the evolution of Chopin’s style, drawing, for example, attention to the difference between youthful polonaises, polonaises of mature years and the fantasy polonaise written in the last years of the composer’s life.
Frederic François Chopin is a great Polish pianist and composer. He was born in the small town of Zhelyazova Wola on March 1, 1810. The parents tried to give the talented child good music education. Six-year-old Frederic begins to study music with teacher Wojciech Zywny. His pronounced ability to play the piano and write music made the boy a favorite of the high society salons of Warsaw.
Pen sample - polonaise B-dur (1817)
Having learned that young Frederick had composed a polonaise, Prince Radziwill helped ensure that the work was published in the newspaper. Under the notes there was a note that the composer was only seven years old. Chopin's children's works, the list of which began with the polonaise, were strongly influenced by the popular Polish composers of that time - Michała Kleofasa Ogińskiego and Maria Szymanowskiej.
For my creative life F. Chopin composed 16 polonaises. But he considered only seven of them worthy of public execution. Nine works that were created in the early period were not published during the composer’s lifetime. The first three polonaises, written in the period 1817-1821, became the starting point for the development of the young musician’s composing talent.
Almost all of F. Chopin's polonaises were solo piano works. But there were exceptions. In “Great Polonaise in Es-major” the piano was accompanied by an orchestra. The composer composed “Polonaise in C major” for piano and cello.
New teacher
In 1822, Wojciech Zywny was forced to admit that as a musician he could give the young Chopin nothing more. The student surpassed his teacher, and the touched teacher said goodbye to talented child. Taking part in his fate, Zivny wrote to the famous Warsaw composer and teacher Joseph Elsner. A new period began in Chopin's life.
First Mazurka
Frederick spent the summer of 1824 in the town of Shafarnya, where the estate of the family of his school friend was located. Here he first came into contact with folk musical creativity. Masovian and Jewish folklore penetrated deeply into the soul of the aspiring musician. The impressions inspired by him were reflected in the Mazurka a-minor. She became known as "Jewish".
The Mazurkas, like other works by Chopin, the list of which was constantly increasing, combined various musical movements. The tonality and form of the melody flow harmoniously from the intonation of folk singing (the mazurka in the national Polish tradition was a dance accompanied by singing). They combine elements of rural folklore and urban salon music. Another feature of Chopin's mazurkas is the combination of various dances and the original arrangement of folk melodies. The cycle of mazurkas has intonations characteristic of folklore and combines characteristics of folk music elements with the author's way of constructing a musical phrase.
The Mazurkas are Chopin's numerous and best-known works. Their list has been updated throughout creative career composer. In total, between 1825 and 1849, Chopin created 58 mazurkas. His creative legacy gave rise to the interest that composers began to show in this dance. Many Polish writers tried to work in this genre, but were never able to completely free themselves from the charm of Chopin's music.
Becoming an artist
In 1829 it began concert activity Frederic Chopin. He successfully tours in Krakow and Vienna.
Musical Austria was conquered by the young Polish virtuoso. In 1830, Chopin left his homeland and moved to France.
The first concert in Paris made Chopin famous. The musician was only 22 years old. He rarely performed in concert halls. But he was a frequent guest of the social salons of the French aristocracy and the Polish diaspora of France. This allowed the young Polish pianist to acquire many noble and wealthy fans among the French aristocracy. The popularity of the Polish pianist increased. Soon everyone in Paris knew this name - Frederic Chopin. Works, the list and order of performance of which were unknown in advance even to the performer himself - Chopin was very fond of impromptu performances - caused a storm of applause from the shocked audience.
1830: piano concertos
In 1830, the composer finished composing the Concerto in F minor. On March 21, its premiere performance took place in National Theater in Warsaw. A few months later, there was a public performance of another work, the e-moll concerto.
Chopin's piano concertos are touching romance. They have the same three-part shape. The first movement is a double exposure sonata. First the orchestra sounds, and after it the piano part takes a solo role. The second part is in the form of a nocturne - touching and melancholic. The final movements of the two concertos are rondos. In them you can clearly hear the melodies of the mazurka, kujawiak and krakowiak - the popular Last Dance was very popular with Chopin, who often used it in his compositions.
Many famous musicians turned to his work and performed works by Chopin. List - titles piano concerts and other works - this is a sign of the highest performing professionalism and good musical taste.
1835 First performance of Andante spianato
Frederic Chopin planned to write a concert piece with an introduction for a long time. He began work by composing “Polonaise,” leaving the writing of the introduction for a later time. In his letters, the composer wrote that “Polonaise” itself was created at the turn of 1830-1831. And only five years later the introduction was written, and the essay took on a finished form.
Andante spianato is written for piano in the key of g-dur and time signature 6/8. The nocturne character of the introduction sets off the beginning of the Polonaise, in which a heroic motif sounds. During recital performances, Chopin often included the Andante spianato as a separate concert piece.
On April 26, at the Warsaw Conservatory, Chopin performs “Andante spianato and Grand Polonaise in Es major.” The first performance with the orchestra took place to a full house and was a huge success. The work was published in 1836 and was dedicated to Baroness D’Este. The collection of masterpieces, which contained Chopin’s famous works, the list of which already included more than 150 works, was replenished with another immortal creation.
Three Sonatas (1827-1844)
Frederic Chopin's sonata cycle was composed of works written in different periods of his creativity. “Sonata in c minor” was created in 1827-1828. Chopin himself called it “the sin of youth.” Like many other early works, it was published after his death. The first edition is dated 1851.
“Sonata in b minor” is an example of monumentally dramatic, but at the same time lyrical work. Chopin, whose list of compositions was already significant, was fascinated by the complex musical form. First the “Funeral March” was born. His manuscript is dated November 28, 1837. The entire sonata was written by 1839. Some of its parts refer to music characteristic of the Romantic era. The first part is a ballad, and the final one has the character of an etude. However, it was the “Funeral March,” tragic and deep, that became the culmination of the entire work. In 1844, another work was written in sonata form, “Sonata in B minor”.
Recent years
In 1837, Chopin suffered his first attack of tuberculosis. The disease haunted him throughout his remaining years. The trip to Mallorca, which he made together, did not bring relief. But it was fruitful creative period. It was in Mallorca that Chopin wrote a cycle of 24 preludes. The return to Paris and the break with J. Sand had a detrimental effect on the composer’s weakened health.
1848 - travel to London. This was the last tour. Hard work and the damp British climate finally undermined the health of the great musician.
In October 1849, at the age of 39, Frédéric François Chopin died. Hundreds of admirers of his talent came to Paris for the funeral. According to Chopin's last will, the great musician's heart was taken to Poland. He was walled up in a column of the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw.
The works of F. Chopin, the list of which amounts to more than 200 compositions, are often heard today in the concert programs of many famous pianists. Television and radio stations all over the world have Chopin's works in their repertoire lists. The list - in Russian or any other language - is freely available.
