Frederic Chopin as the Greatest Romantic Composer

In the course of the development of music, many great composers have contributed their brilliance towards the revolution of music. To be a great composer does not necessarily mean that they have reached a vast amount of fame. However, it means that their compositions have ingenuity and value. The melodies they have cleverly created have reached a point of worthiness in the world of music. For it is the sweet harmonies a composer creates that defines who he is. One of these gifted composers was Frederic Chopin, born on February 22, 1810 in Zelazowa Wola, Poland. Young Chopin was already composing by the age of eight and as his musical career developed he became known as a master of piano composition. Although he was often misunderstood and compared to others in his field, Frederic Chopin was the greatest romantic composer in European history because of his modifications to the piano, his influence over composition, and the beautiful melodies he created with his emotions.

As Frederic Chopin’s musical profession progressed, he successfully created improvements to the way the piano is played. One of these modifications was Chopin’s use of the damper pedal, a pedal on the piano that is used to sustain the tone of the strings. He used this pedal to enrich his music and produce a unique sounding harmony. According to Franz Liszt, Chopin used the pedal more frequently than anyone else. Since this modification, the damper pedal has become an essential to playing the piano (Kelley 25). This technique is one that pianists everywhere continue to use. Chopin’s other clever addition to the piano was his creation of various harmonics or musical tones. His new harmonic progressions created a dynamic function and melodic role when playing the p...

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...t, Franz, and Martha Walker Cook. Life of Chopin. London: W. Reeves, 1877. Print.

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