Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

's compositions for

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

originated from the late 1820s to the early 1830s, and comprise three

concert piece A concert piece (German: Konzertstück; French: pièce de concert, also morceau de concert) is a musical composition, in most cases in one movement, intended for performance in a concert. Usually it is written for one or more virtuoso instrumenta ...

s he composed 1827–1828, while a student at the in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, two

piano concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpiec ...

s, completed and premièred between finishing his studies (mid 1829) and leaving Poland (late 1830), and later drafts, resulting in two more published works.Polonez Opus 22 Edited by Jan Ekier Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne
/ref>
/ref> Among these, and the other works in the brilliant style which Chopin composed in this period, the concertos are the most accomplished ones.

Context

Together with a number of

rondo The rondo is an instrumental musical form introduced in the Classical period. Etymology The English word ''rondo'' comes from the Italian form of the French ''rondeau'', which means "a little round". Despite the common etymological root, rondo ...

s ( Opp. 1, 5, 16 and 73), the ''Polonaise brillante'' (Op. 3) and the Variations on "Der Schweizerbub", Chopin's compositions for piano and orchestra belong to a group of compositions in brilliant style, no longer confined by the tenets of the Classical period, which were written for the concert stage in the late 1820s to early 1830s. Other compositions of the same period, such as the Sonata (Op. 4) and the Trio (Op. 8), kept closer to a classical approach, or had a more limited scope, for example the Nocturnes (Op. 9), and were rather intended for private performance. The circumstances in which Chopin composed and premièred his works for piano and orchestra before leaving Poland in late 1830 are to a large extent documented in his letters to

Tytus Woyciechowski Tytus Sylwester Woyciechowski (31 December 1808 – 23 March 1879) was a Polish political activist, agriculturalist, and patron of art. He was an early friend of the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. The spelling of Woyciechowski's surname is ...

Student years and first visit to Vienna

In September 1828, while a student of

Józef Elsner Józef Antoni Franciszek Elsner (sometimes ''Józef Ksawery Elsner''; baptismal name, ''Joseph Anton Franz Elsner''; 1 June 176918 April 1854) was a composer, music teacher, and music theoretician, active mainly in Warsaw. He was one of the firs ...

at Warsaw's Central School of Music, Chopin visited

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. Chopin graduated in July 1829.Warsaw – youth
at

Fryderyk Chopin Institute The Fryderyk Chopin Institute ( pl, Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina) is a Polish organization dedicated to researching and promoting the life and works of Poles, Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. It was created in 2001 as the result of legi ...

website. The next month, he visited

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where he successfully presented the Variations on "Là ci darem la mano" and the '' Rondo à la Krakowiak'' in concert.

Piano concertos

Chopin premièred his

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp mi ...

and

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: : Changes needed ...

piano concertos in Warsaw in 1830.

Leaving Poland

Chopin left Poland on 2 November 1830, travelling to Vienna.

Compositions

Chronologically: * Variations on "Là ci darem la mano" in B major (1827), Op. 2. * '' Fantasy on Polish Airs'', in A major (1828), Op. 13. * '' Rondo à la Krakowiak'', in F major (1828), Op. 14. * Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor (1829–1830), Op. 21. * Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor (1830), Op. 11. * ''Grande polonaise brillante'' (1830–1831), in 1834 expanded with an introductory ''Andante spianato'' for solo piano, and a fanfare-like transition to the earlier composition, together published as Op. 22. * Drafts for more concertos, ultimately resulting in the '' Allegro de Concert'' for solo piano (1832–41), Op. 46.

Reception

Contemporary press reported on Chopin's concert performances, in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

, of his works for piano and orchestra.

References

Sources

*
Volume I

Volume II
*

External links

at Klassika website. * Compositions for piano and orchestra {{classical-music-stub