When comparing the piano works of Frederick Chopin and Robert Schumann, it is important to take into account the number of works each wrote in comparison to their other outputs as a composer. Chopin wrote almost exclusively for piano but this was far from the case with Schumann. The important piano works of Chopin include sonatas, preludes, etudes, polonaises, mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes, scherzi, and ballades. Thematic development and structure are considered to be Chopin's weak points in his compositions and this is thought to be especially true in longer pieces such as the three piano sonatas. One critic strongly criticised these pieces as they did not stick strictly to sonata form. Others however, feel that as they are Romantic sonatas, and therefore the structure is not as important as it was in Classical music, that they "should not be straightjacketed by the rigours of sonata form." The 24 Préludes (Op 2) are often compared to the Préludes of J.S Bach's Well Tempered Clavier and although both sets are similar in many ways, Chopin's are not meant as introductory pieces as Bach's, which are designed to lead into fugues, as they stand strongly on their own as poetic miniature piano pieces. Chopin wrote two collections of twelve Études (Op 10, Op 25) and they are very different to the piano studies of composers from Clementi to Kalkbrenner, which had gone before. The nature of Chopin's Études is the same as that of other composers in that individual pieces are devised to deal with a specific technical difficulty, but Chopin transformed them into pieces of music which had real feeling and depth. The Polonaise is a stately national dance originating from Poland and written in triple time. Chopin's Polonaises, though retaining the characteristics of the dance, became a way for the composer to convey his passionate feelings of his homeland. Also composed was a Polonaise-Fantasie which begins as a Polonaise but then continues into almost an extended improvisation. Waltzes were very popular in Chopin's time as they had grown in the late eighteenth century and, in the same way the composer had reacted to Polonaises, Chopin wrote his waltzes in a personal way, conveying the moods and feelings of a ballroom in which they would be danced. The third dance form that Chopin wrote music for was the Mazurka, which again was a Polish dance in triple time, but this time with a dotted rhythm. It was danced in a speed somewhere between that of the Polonaise and the Waltz, though Chopin never intended his Mazurkas to be danced to, they were again to project a view of Poland though a different one to the Polonaise.
Chopin was a piano instructor and composer of the Romantic Period. His body of work consists primarily of piano music. Born and classically trained in Poland, he left his homeland due to declining political conditions and moved to Paris, where he moved through the ranks and gained the respect of many other composers of the day. He had a famous relationship with the novelist George Sand, although the exact nature of the relationship is a bit unclear. He suffered from Tuberculosis and died at the young age of 39, not unlike so many other composers of this period.
classic nineteenth century Waltz. With heads thrown back and ribbons flowing, their movement seems light and fully of energy, yet the image still portrays a sense of finesse and refinement. The young woman’s hair is neatly pulled back in an updo while the male’s hair is carefully combed and controlled. Additionally, their arms are precisely placed while their legs and motions are in perfect unison. Both thin framed, they illustrate a sense of whimsy and attractiveness. Although the artist was sure to portray the movement of the couple’s clothing, their outfits remain smooth and reserving. Even the distance between the dancers’ heads prevents the dance from seeming too sexually suggestive. By portraying such a composed couple, the artist implies
Chopin's stories seem very modern in different ways even though it was written about two hundred years ago. Chopin says that it "..does not always find that marriage necessarily requires that a wife be dominated by their husband,.."(Oklopcic 19) and she was trying to show that women can get along just fine without having man interfere. The story represents a disdain for the way women are treated in some relationships and in society as well. "Her concern w...
This site, based on a television presentation by the PBS, gives further information on Chopin. In contains a transcript of the television presentation, a chronology of major events in Chopin’s life, interviews with Chopin’s grandson, David Chopin and Elizabeth Fox-Genovese of Emory University, and shares links on the author.
All had great influence on later composers, Mozart on Beethoven, Bartók on Copeland and Bach on everyone including his twenty or so children
Seyersted, Per, and Emily Toth, eds. A Kate Chopin Miscellany. Natchitoches: Northwestern State University Press, 1979.
Chopin’s decision to focus on and emphasize the imbalances between the sexes is heavily influenced by her upbringing, her feelings towards society, and the era she subsisted in. How Chopin was raised and educated not only inspired her, but it also assisted her with her writing capabilities.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Koloski, Bernard, ed. Approaches to Teaching Chopin's The Awakening. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1988. Print.
The history behind ballet began in the Italian Renaissance courts of the fifteenth century. The word ‘ballet’ stemmed from masked ball. Noblemen and women in the Italian Renaissance were treated to lavish events such as wedding celebrations were ballet dancing and music was incorporated to be an elaborate spectacle. During this time in the fifteenth century, dancing masters aka ballet teachers (instructors) as we call them nowadays would teach the court who participated in the performances. Also during the Italian Renaissance, the wife of King Henry II of France, Catherine de Medici adored ballet and began to fund ballet in the French court. With funding the French Ballet court, Cathering de Medici added to the elaborate festivals which she included to have the ballet have a theme meaning costumes, music, poetry, and décor that went along with it. A century passed, King Louis XIV also contributed into popularizing the form of dance. During King Louis XIV’s reign, he was a passionate dancer and danced many roles himself....
Schumann remarked, “Chopin’s works are guns buried in flowers” (Walker, 1967, p. 258). He was a revolutionary composer. His works are delicate yet harmonically powerful. Chopin expressed the idea of nationalism in his music by creating new forms of harmonies and using distinctive and colorful rhythmical features.
...use of imagery in her writing gives it a more natural feel, blending the emotions of the story as a chameleon does itself in the trees. Many authors do not use such techniques in their writing, leading to a lack of substance in some cases. Without the images of nature that Chopin incorporates into her stories, they would not be as enjoyable to read as they are.
Chopin, fatherless at four, was certainly a product of her Creole heritage, and was strongly influenced by her mother and her maternal grandmother. Perhaps it is because she grew up in a female dominated environment that she was not a stereotypical product of her times and so could not conform to socially acceptable themes in her writing. Chopin even went so far as to assume the managerial role of her husband's business after he died in 1883. This behavior, in addition to her fascination with scientific principles, her upbringing, and her penchant for feminist characters would seem to indicate that individuality, freedom, and joy were as important to Chopin as they are to the characters in her stories. Yet it appears to be as difficult for critics to agree on Chopin's view of her own life as it is for them to accept the heroines of her stories. Per Seyersted believes that Chopin enjoyed living alone as an independent writer, but other critics have argued that Chopin was happily married and bore little resemblance to the characters in her stories (150-164).
The stories were not appropriate or lady like at this time. Women were looked down upon as being merely housewives; their needs and desires weren't considered in everyday living. Through her writing, she was able to give a voice to women that felt trapped in their marriages and even in society. Chopin grew up with three strong, independent women who were a great influence on her life. The story “The Storm” “became a classic of spontaneously released female desire” (Snodgrass, par 4).
Kate Chopin was a woman and a writer far ahead of her time. She was a realistic fiction writer and one of the leaders and inspirational people in feminism. Her life was tragic and full of irregular events. In fact, this unusual life had an enormous effect on her writings and career. She depicted the lifestyle of her time in her works. In most of her stories, people would find an expansion of her life’s events. In her two stories “The Storm” and “The Story of One Hour” and some of her other works she denoted a lot of her life’s events. Kate Chopin is one of those writers who were influenced by their life and surrounded environment in their fiction writing, and this was very clear in most of her works.
Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. “Kate Chopin.” Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, Sep2013. Academic Research Database. 1 Nov. 2013