On Chopin Etudes Groundbreaking In Art History At The Piano

Frédéric Fran?ois Chopin(1810-1849), born in the small town of Zelazowa Wola,near Warsaw, Poland, is one of the most influential and beloved pianists andcomposers in history. He is the most prominent individual in the history of the musicof Poland, as well as being an iconic figure of19th century European Romantic music.Chopin’s life works can be roughly divided into four periods: Early Creative Years(youth to1830), at the beginning of his career Chopin’s works already reflected hiscreative talent and ingenuity, his compositions combining the Romantic mood withPolish traditional folk sentiments; Warsaw Career Development Period (1830-1831),In this time, Chopin’s works saw a sharp growth, as Warsaw’s wave of folk traditionstimulated his passion and personal yearning toward his nation, causing him toproduce works combining strongly patriotic content with highly perfected artisticforms; Paris Pinnacle Period (1832-1845), the Chopin who arrived at Parisprogressively perfected his creative technique, his musical genres becoming endlesslyexpansive. Because of Chopin’s personal longing and passion toward his countryPoland, his works contained strong elements of folk influences, individual artisticform and expertise in piano techniques; Late Creative Period:(1846-), Due to healthand other reasons, in this period Chopin’s works begin to decline, but in hiscompositions still maintains the yearning and hopeful attitude toward Poland.Chopin’s life works were devoted solely toward compositions for piano. Of all his200+compositions, not a single piece lacks piano. Chopin’s musical genres arediverse, including Preludes, Etudes, Ballades, Impromptus, Scherzo, Sonata, Nocturne,Polonaise, waltzes, Mazureks, Fantasy, Rondo, Variations, Concerto, etc. He isconsidered a master among his contemporaries. Chopin’s etude compositions spannearly half his lifetime. His successful works in technique exercise beautifullyinterweave practical utility and important artistic content, causing this set of etudesto become an important milestone in piano history. Pianist Knicks once commentedon Chopin’s etudes, saying,“Whether from the point of view of aesthetics ortechnique, the excellence of Chopin’s etudes, we can describe as ‘incomparable’.” Not lacking in any way, these etudes are Chopin’s methods and techniques, his pianolanguage’s manifestationExamining Chopins etudes Op.10and Op.25, this paper is divided into threechapters that analyze and explore the composition of Chopins etudes. The firstchapter explores sources of earlier influence in Chopins etudes through comparisonof earlier composers and their works to Chopins composition techniques,demonstrating Chopins study of earlier etude methods; the second chapter is afocused analysis on the composition features of Chopins etudes, together with hiscreative background and specific score examples, as well as analysis of thetechniques, musical expression, dramatic conflict, and the merging of technique andartistic quality in the creative features of Chopins etudes. The third chapter is adiscourse on the influence of Chopins etudes on posterity, through comparison withetudes by later composers, demonstrating how Chopins etudes were a source ofinfluence and inspiration for the composition of etudes by later composers.This text focuses mainly on theoretical analysis, also containing insight fromhistorical documents and score analysis. Chopins etudes were studied byinterpretation, analysis, contrast, and explanation using analyzation, induction,exemplification, and other research methods to collate and examine his works, in thehopes that this novel analytical perspective can provide revelation and direction forthe piano scholar and researcher.