Biography of Frederic-Francois Chopin - Essay Example

Frederic Chopin made his debut in 1818 when he played a concerto by Gyrowetz, which was then followed by the publication of his Rondo in C minor at the Warsaw Conservatory in 1825 (Piano-Paradise.com, 2005). Following his debut, he presented his own compositions, F minor and E minor Concerti in Warsaw in March and October of 1830 (Piano-Paradise.com, 2005). Before Frederic Chopin became a pianist, he was left to develop on his own.

Since the Warsaw Conservatory had no great piano teachers, he had to use his own skills (Biography of Frederic…). His love for Bach and Mozart served as his inspiration as he kept on mastering the piano (Piano-Paradise.com, 2005). Frederic Chopin eventually became a skilled pianist and a good number of his works were for solo piano (Paterson, 2008). “Many of these works are fairly short in duration, such as the Preludes, Etudes, Waltzes, Impromptus, Nocturnes, and Scherzos, as well as the previously mentioned Polish dance forms of the Mazurka and Polonaise” (Paterson, 2008).

More significant was his ballade, which is “free in style like a stream of consciousness but with an internal logic” (Paterson, 2008). This theme of consciousness was present in all his preludes, most especially Prelude Numbers 15, 4, 6, 7, and 20. Another famous work was the Minute Waltz which was said to be the nickname of his piece (Paterson, 2008). Frederic-Francois Chopin had the novelist George Sand as his companion for ten years, but she left him when Chopin had tuberculosis while in Paris (Piano-Paradise.com, 2005).

Soon after that, on October 17, 1849, Chopin died at the age of 39 (Polish American Journal, 2007). “Chopin's technique was flawless, and he always caused great excitement with the evenness of his scales and the careful manipulation of his legato (Piano-Paradise.com, 2005). Today he remains one of the world’s greatest pianists and composers and is rightly known as the “Poet of the Piano” (Piano-Paradise.com, 2005).