Great Musicians of All fames

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 286, 29 August 1931, Page 21

Great Musicians of All fames

CHOPIN, POET OF THE PIANO.

By

P.E.M.

A poet who transported bis dreams to the keys of the piano, Chopin was probably the greatest pianist history has known. His brief but tragic story is told to-day.

Francois Frederic Chopin was born near Warsaw in 1809. His first appearance in public was at the age of nine years. At nineteen he set out on a concert tour, and, three years later settled in Paris. His mother was a Polish lady, while his father was a French teacher. Chopin has been described as the “Poet of the Piano,” and doubtless, with the exception of Liszt, he was the greatest pianist the world has ever known.

Not only was he the most poetic of all writers for the pianoforte, but pre-eminently the pianist’s own composer. Chopin cannot be denied a place among the great composers, nor refused the homage due to a master of unquestionable genius, although in the early part of his career he met with lack of appreciation in certain quarters. In the midst of his popularity Chopin was attacked b y consumption. Through the care of a brilliant nov-

elist who published Ills books under the name of “George Sand,” his early death was averted until he was 39, when he succumbed to the dread disease. Of a quiet, retiring disposition, he spent his last years in an atmosphere of deep melancholy, which is reflected In many of his compositions. The peculiar bias of his genius caused him to produce works incomparable with, those of any other composer. The characteristics of his works form

a wealth of poetic imagery and beauty which renders them fascinating. He made free use of dance forms and rhythms, notably that of the “Mazurka.” It has been said that if destruction threatened the whole of Chopin’s works one might pray that the preludes be saved from the wreck, for they exemplify all the moods of humanity. His preludes were published in 1839, and sold for £BO (a sum which defrayed the expenses of a holiday in Magorca)

to the composer’s friend, Pleyel the publisher. Chopin’s fame was for his pianoforte compositions, but a number of Polish songs attained much popu- z larity. One of the best known, "The Maiden’s Wi s h,” was transcribed as a pianoforte piece. His Polonaise in A Major, his nocturnes, his valses and mazurkas are most popular, and, on the appropriate occasion, what is more beautiful and sympathetic than the “March Funebre”? <

Chopin was among the first— if not . the first, in his method of fingering, to use the thumb freely on the black keys, an innovation which had a very important influence on modern pianoforte technique. When we take the question of the most popular composer into consideration, we nearly always decide on Chopin. Chopin died in 1849, having lived in a period of great political restlessness among his countrymen, the Poles. [IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII