Immortal Composers

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 88, 15 April 1939, Page 6 (Supplement)

Immortal Composers

In the music Frederic Chopin left behind him. with ito esprit and feeling, he has traced a faithful picture not only of himself, but also of all that surrounded him, and he shows us, too, the hiyh romance that flamed underneath the airy elegance of his period.

sojourn in Paris. He had little taste for German nnu. except Bach and Mozart, considered Schubert roush, and mocked Schumann, one of his greatest admirers, and who had called liim The proudest poetic spirit of h» time." Of Schumann's "Carnival" dedicated to Chopin, he said "It's not really music at all. Chopin's works are the most typical eyer written for the keyboard, employing its every resource* and calling for a performers full emotional gamus. He composed no symphonies or operas, and only two concertos for orchestra, a few songs and several chamber music examples. For his chosen instrument he created with innovating harmonies, a new piano idiom, and all the variety and colouring which other com|>csers devote to the orchestra. In his own writing Chopin was a perfectionist, never allowing a page to be published until tuxe and refinement. His musical he considered it faultless. He affixed precocity showed itself early, and he no titles to his works, but let them was already an accomplished pianist 1 tell their own stories as ballades, and composer when he arrived in Paris, where he stayed, except for short trips to Germany and England, until his death in IS-4S.

Half Polish, half French, Chopin came to Paris in 1831 at the age of> 22. Hi* French father, a professor at the Warsaw Lyseum. and hLs mother, a Polish noblewoman, had given him a happy childhood, surrounded by cul-

By LEONARD LIEBLING.

Chopin was slight, not tall, and extremely frail, carrying always the tubercular affliction which ended in his death. His eyes were large and brown, his nose long. His hands and feet were small. He dressed always in the height of style, never being without gloves and a cane. He revelled in the atmosphere of aristocracy, disliking crowds and the proletariat. His concerts were always attended preponderantly by titled auditors, and had more of the atmosphere of a salon soiree than a conventional recital. Chopin would circle the small chamber and shake hands with the fashionables before mounting the platform to play. It has 'been said that his waltzes were written to be danced only by the nobility. He had a sarcastic wit, and loved to mimic his friends and enemies alike. He was particularly adept in imitating his piano rival, Franz Liszt. Inherently retiring, Chopin liked only restricted social gatherings, where he would sit at the piano and ■play by the hour, with an audience of princesses, countesses and their cavaliers. He rarely read anything except Polish books, but admired Voltaire. He drank little, smoked not at all. He spoke French with a Polish accent in spite of his long

The Poet Of The Piano 111. Frederic Chopin

"Leave him alone; he follow the common way because his talents are uncommon. He has a method of his own and his works will reveal an originality hitherto unknown," said Joseph Eisner, Chopin's instructor in composition, replying to criticism that his pupil did not observe rules strictly. He Was right. Chopin was destined to be one of the world's most brilliant pianists and one of the greatest composers for the piano. He was the poet of the piano, and his best works are to be found in the Nocturne, the Mazurka, the Ballade and the Study. He gives us music of great charm in eighteen Nocturnes and twenty-four Studies. The Impromptu, the Ballade and the Valse de Salon are his special creations.

etudes, waltzes, mazurkas, nocturnes, polonaises, impromptus, sonatas, etc.

A passionate Polish patriot, he wrote his famous "Revolutionary Etude" while he was torn with anxiety in 1831 over the outcome of his country's revolt against Russia. Chopin's polonaises have been alluded to as "cannon buried in flowers." His most characteristic Polish music occurs in the mazurkas.

It was in 1837 that Chopin met Georges Sand and his friendship with the authoress was' the outstanding romance of his life. It lasted for 10 years, and was finally severed in 1848. Undoubtedly the shock of this parting seriously aggravated his illness, which terminated his life the next year. He. died poor, but his last hours were made comfortable by the princely gift of 25,000 francs from his Scottish pupil; Miss Sterling. It is said that on the night of his death a mysterious'woman stood outside his windows weeping. It was Georges Sand. In the cemetery of Pere la Chaise, Paris, stands a white marble statue bearing the inscription: "Frederic Chopin. Erected by his Friends." There he sleeps in the musicians' corner close beside Rossini, Cherubini, Herold and Boieldieu. There he sleeps but his works will live for ever.

Over his coflin at the burial they scattered Polish earth. To every Pole the earth of his native land is most dear, and that earth Chopin had brought with him when he left his home. There had been a touching little incident at Wola, a village beyond Warsaw. His old music teacher, Joseph Eisner, and all the pupils of the Warsaw Conservatoire, had gathered to sing a cantata composed for the occasion. They gave him the earth, which in a few short years was to rest with him in a Parisian cemetery in a silver goblet.

A library of books has appeared about Chopin, the most rhapsodical one being written by Liszt whom he used to mimic so maliciously, but Chopin's best biography is still his musk.