肖邦出生在波兰中部小镇热拉佐瓦-沃拉（Żelazowa Wola，位于波兰首都华沙附近）。肖邦的母亲是波兰人，父亲Nicolas Chopin（1771年—1844年）是波兰籍的法国人，原本居住在洛林的一座从父辈继承下来的葡萄园，1787年移居波兰并加入波兰籍，参加过1792年的俄波战争和1794年的科希丘什科起义（科希丘什科，Kościuszko，1746年—1817年，波兰人民英雄），第二次瓜分波兰后在贵族家庭当法语家庭教师，认识了一个雇主的亲戚也就是后来肖邦的母亲Justyna Krzyżanowska，他们在1806年结婚，肖邦的父亲也得到了一份在中学教授法语的工作。肖邦一家在1810年搬到了华沙。
肖邦在波兰被视为神童，1816年6岁的时候开始学习钢琴，相继由他的姐姐和母亲教授钢琴演奏。肖邦是个音乐天才，从小就展现出他惊人的音乐天赋，7岁时便能作曲，他的第一首作品B大调和g小调波兰舞曲创作于1817年，体现出肖邦不同寻常的即兴创作能力，他在华沙被誉为“第二个莫扎特”。
第二年也就是1818年，8岁的肖邦在一次慈善音乐会上演奏了奥地利作曲家阿德尔伯特·基洛维茨（Adalbert Gyrowetz）的作品，这是肖邦的第一次登台演奏，从此跻身进入了波兰贵族的沙龙。
1822年起肖邦师从约瑟夫·艾尔斯内（Józef Elsner，1769年—1854年）学习音乐理论和作曲，一年后公开演奏了德国作曲家费迪南德·里斯（Ferdinand Ries，1784年—1838年）的作品。1826年从中学毕业后，肖邦在音乐学院继续跟随约瑟夫·艾尔斯内学习钢琴演奏和作曲。肖邦作曲相当勤奋，他发表的第二部作品是B大调钢琴和管弦乐变奏曲（Là ci darem la mano，op.2，1827年），来自莫扎特的歌剧“Don Giovanni”，几年后在德国引起了轰动，1831年罗伯特·舒曼作为音乐评论家在莱比锡的一份19世纪最重要的音乐报纸中，以《作品二号》为题（德语：Ein Werk II.）写道：“先生们，向天才脱帽致敬吧”[1]，对肖邦的作品给予极高的评价。
他十九岁时已经创作了两首钢琴协奏曲。1829年至1831年间，肖邦在华沙、维也纳和巴黎各地举行了多场音乐会，他的演出受到了专业报刊的高度评价，“柔和的演奏，难以形容的流畅，能够唤起最深感受的完美演绎。”[2]，他是“音乐地平线上最闪亮流星中的一颗”[3]。1829年肖邦爱上了音乐学院的女同学Konstanze Gladkowska，但是这段秘密的爱情无疾而终。因为1830年波兰爆发了反对外国势力瓜分波兰的起义，萧邦无法回国，而肖邦的父亲也建议肖邦暂时先留在国外，1831年肖邦最终忍痛离开故乡波兰移居到了法国巴黎，开始以演奏、教学和作曲为生。
[编辑] 巴黎的生活
1833年的肖邦画像，作者Francesco Hayez。 移居到巴黎后，肖邦很快爱上了这座城市，巴黎的建筑和大城市氛围深深吸引着肖邦，他在一份寄回波兰的信中写道，巴黎是“世界上最美丽的城市”。他在巴黎先是拜他的偶像法国籍德国钢琴家和作曲家弗里德里希·卡尔克布伦讷（Friedrich Kalkbrenner，1785年—1849年）为师，继续学习钢琴，但是他感觉受到了教学方式的限制，课程只进行了不到一个月。肖邦在巴黎参加音乐会的演出以赚取生活费，起先肖邦还未出名，收入仅够糊口，后来一位极具影响力的资助者带肖邦参加了银行家罗斯柴尔德家族的一次接待活动，肖邦的钢琴演奏打动了客人，转眼间赢得了一大批的钢琴学生，其中的大部分是女学生。肖邦通过音乐会、作曲和教授钢琴课，从1833年起便有了稳定的收入，经济上没有了后顾之忧，肖邦甚至有一辆私人马车和随从，他的衣服都是高档的材料制成。而相比之下，19世纪的其他音乐家如理查德·瓦格纳和彼得·伊里奇·柴科夫斯基则还需要指望着资助者的赞助。
在巴黎期间萧邦做了多次访问，1834年，他和席勒共同访问了在亚琛举行的的莱茵河畔音乐节。萧邦、席勒还有门德尔松三人在此次音乐节中碰面并一起去了杜塞尔多夫、科布伦茨和科隆，他们三人彼此欣赏对方的音乐才华，并互相学习和切磋了音乐技艺。
肖邦交友广泛，他的好友包括诗人缪塞、巴尔扎克、海涅和亚当·密茨凯维奇，画家德拉克罗瓦，音乐家李斯特、费迪南德·希勒，以及女作家乔治·桑。肖邦在李斯特家第一次见到了身着男装、抽着烟的乔治·桑，并对她一见倾心。
[编辑] 与乔治·桑的恋情
1835年时的乔治·桑 1837年肖邦因为与18岁的Maria Wodzińska一段不幸的恋情，陷入了生活危机，正在这时，他邂逅了比他大6岁的乔治·桑，这使得他又重拾了精神上的信心。
第一眼见到乔治·桑，肖邦就感受到了她与Maria Wodzińska的截然不同，Maria Wodzińska是个典型的大家闺秀，而诗人乔治·桑看上去却是十分高傲和极具自我意识。但是肖邦与乔治·桑的恋情却是具有传奇色彩的，一方面，乔治·桑是一个热情似火的女人，受到许多年轻才俊的追求，另一方面，乔治·桑后来销毁了大部分寄给她的信件，使得人们无法确定肖邦同她之间的真正关系。
1838年11月乔治·桑带着她的两个孩子Maurice和Solange移居西班牙的马洛卡岛上的法德摩萨镇，Maurice患有风湿症，乔治·桑根据医生的建议，希望西班牙的气候可以有助于Maurice健康状况的好转。而肖邦也一同搬到了马洛卡，肖邦一生患有肺结核，他也希望温暖的气候能够缓解他的病痛，但是事与愿违，Maurice的病情有了明显好转，而肖邦的肺结核却因为房间条件差，加上糟糕的天气，发展成了肺炎。98天后肖邦和乔治·桑离开了马洛卡岛，这段旅程虽短，但是对肖邦和乔治·桑都印象深刻，乔治·桑将这段经历记录在了她的小说《马洛卡岛上的冬天》中。
1839年到1843年的夏天，肖邦都是在乔治·桑位于家乡诺昂（Nohant）的庄园里度过的。这是一些宁静的日子，肖邦创作了大量的作品，其中包括著名的波兰舞曲《英雄》。
肖邦和乔治·桑的恋情在1847年画上了句号，两人都没有公开分手的原因。当时乔治·桑的女儿Solange爱上了贫困潦倒的雕刻家August Clésinger，这引发了乔治·桑一家的家庭矛盾，乔治·桑变得非常好战，当肖邦得知Solange和August Clésinger秘密订婚的消息后，非但没有反对，还表现出来赞同，这使得乔治·桑大为恼火。
[编辑] 英年早逝
1849年时的肖邦，肖邦的唯一一张照片，银版摄影法 肖邦1848年在巴黎举办了他的最后一次音乐会，此后他访问了英格兰和苏格兰，本打算11月在伦敦在举行几场音乐会和沙龙演出，但由于肺结核病情严重不得不放弃这些计划返回巴黎。1849年他的病情加重，已无法继续授课和演出，最终于10月17日在巴黎市中心的家中去世，时年39岁。
肖邦曾希望在他的葬礼上演奏莫扎特的安魂曲，但是莫扎特安魂曲的大部分是由女性演唱的，举办肖邦葬礼的教堂历来不允许唱诗班中有女性，葬礼因此推迟了近两周，最后教堂终于做出让步，允许女歌手在黑幕帘后演唱，使得肖邦的遗愿能够达成。有将近三千人参加了10月30日举行的肖邦葬礼，演唱者还包括Luigi Lablache，他此前曾为1827年贝多芬的葬礼演唱安魂曲，为1835年贝利尼的葬礼演唱Lachrymosa。
根据肖邦的遗愿，他被葬于巴黎市内的拉雪兹神父公墓，下葬时演奏了奏鸣曲op.35中的葬礼进行曲。虽然萧邦被葬在巴黎的拉雪兹神父公墓，但他要求将他的心脏装在瓮里并移到华沙，封在圣十字教堂的柱子里。拉雪兹神父公墓里的萧邦墓碑前，总是吸引著许多参访者，即使是在死寂的冬天里，依然鲜花不断。后来肖邦在波兰的好友将故乡的一罐泥土带到巴黎，洒在肖邦的墓上，使肖邦能够安葬在波兰的土地下。
[编辑] 作品肖邦的作品以钢琴曲为主，虽然他不少作品技巧颇为艰深，但是他从来不会以炫技为最终目的，肖邦的作品更注重诗意和细腻的情感。
[编辑] 独奏曲作为一个波兰作曲家，肖邦为故乡的波兰舞曲和玛祖卡做出了里程碑式的贡献。其中最早的作品是1817年的g小调波兰舞曲（K. 889），那时肖邦才刚7岁，肖邦一生都在作波兰舞曲，年轻时候的许多波兰舞曲作品最后都没有发表，因为他认为这些作品过于单调。肖邦先是专注于先驱卡尔·马利亚·冯·韦伯和Johann Nepomuk Hummel的作品，此后在巴黎完成的作品中充满了肖邦对家乡波兰的渴望和思念，他所有现存的波兰舞曲（从op.26 Nr. 1开始），都有一段华彩乐章作为开场。
玛祖卡与波兰舞曲不同，在19世纪初还是一个相当崭新的音乐形式，但很快就风靡了全欧洲。肖邦不仅在城市沙龙中听玛祖卡，也在波兰听民俗原始形态的玛祖卡，15岁时完成了他的第一部玛祖卡（B大调玛祖卡，891年—895年），最具特色的是对变音阶的精彩运用和五度音阶的低音，从op.6（1830年—1832年）起的玛祖卡多使用循环的形式。
总的来说，肖邦的这些作品并不适合于舞蹈，因为它们大都节奏过快，他的华尔兹作品也是如此。肖邦的华尔兹是为沙龙谱写的，大都使用大调，因为大调比小调更加欢快，其中著名的有《一分钟圆舞曲》，作品节奏极快，而且充满激情，其实它并非人们经常所听到的那样，不是为了让人尽量在一分钟内演奏完毕，肖邦本人或其他钢琴家是否能够在一分钟内完成作品的演奏也不得而知，之所以取名《一分钟圆舞曲》，是要表达“把握瞬间”的意思；这部作品的灵感来自一条追逐自己尾巴团团转的小狗，所以这部圆舞曲也被称为《小狗圆舞曲》。
另一类肖邦所发展的音乐形式是夜曲，肖邦共有21部夜曲作品，他的夜曲作品很大程度上受到爱尔兰作曲家和钢琴家、夜曲的发明者John Field的影响，而肖邦的夜曲作品听上去更加地和谐，充满变换的韵律，曲调也更加灵活，有美声唱法的风格。
24首钢琴前奏曲创作于肖邦在马洛卡的短暂旅程中，按顺序对应着五度音阶，从C大调开始，到a小调结束，大小调交替。
[编辑] 奏鸣曲
巴黎拉雪兹神父公墓中的肖邦墓 肖邦大量的钢琴作品中只有3部奏鸣曲，当时维也纳古典主义音乐对音乐形式的严格要求，使得肖邦无法自如掌握，或者肖邦可能是根本不愿意受形式所约束。肖邦的第一部奏鸣曲是早期创作的，献给了他的老师Józef Elsner，他的第三部奏鸣曲（op.58，1844年）是一部纪念作品。
最受欢迎的是钢琴奏鸣曲2号b小调（op.35，1839年），其中的第三乐章是著名的《葬礼进行曲》（marche funèbre），这个乐章与之前的Grave – doppio movimento和诙谐曲（Scherzo）乐章，以及之后Finale的节拍，初听起来前后没有关联，但是音乐学的研究却发现之间联系紧密。肖邦的这部钢琴奏鸣曲作品在当时便引起了争议，第一，奏鸣曲的所有乐章都是用小调写的，这在当时是不同寻常的，小调奏鸣曲习惯上至少应当有一个乐章使用大调；第二，各个乐章的主题令人憎恶，这引起了舒曼的抗议，第一乐章Grave – doppio movimento令人喘不过气来，第二乐章Scherzo诙谐曲近乎粗暴地激烈，第三乐章葬礼进行曲被舒曼形容成“残暴”（德语：grauenhaft），而第四乐章则缺乏曲调，所有这些在当时都是不合时宜的。
除此之外，肖邦还作有4首叙事曲和4首诙谐曲，都是相当精致的作品。肖邦的练习曲op.10、op.25和另外三首肖邦去世后才发表的作品，对弹奏技术的要求很高，同时又非常适合于音乐会上的演出，代表作品有c小调《革命练习曲》（op.10 Nr.12）。肖邦将练习曲带入了一个新的境界，此前的练习曲，比如卡尔·车尔尼的练习曲，大都只专注于教学目的，而后来的弗兰兹·李斯特、亚历山大·斯克里亚宾和克劳德·德彪西也都对练习曲做出了发展。
肖邦的即兴曲作品中，代表作品是升c小调《幻想即兴曲》，它是在肖邦去世后才发表的，因为肖邦在作曲完毕后才发现，作品的中段与波希米亚作曲家Ignaz Moscheles（1794年—1870年）的一首钢琴作品惊人地相似，所以肖邦不愿意将其发表。
[编辑] 协奏曲除了独奏作品外，肖邦还有2部钢琴协奏曲1号（E小调）和2号（F小调）。
[编辑] 代表作品肖邦共发表编号作品65首（op.1—op.65），去世后发表11首（op.66—op.74，其中op.72有3首）。其中包括比较有名的：
- 降E大调华丽大圆舞曲
- 降D大调“小狗”圆舞曲，又称“一分钟圆舞曲”
- 升C小调圆舞曲
- 降A大调圆舞曲《离别》
- 降G大调圆舞曲
- A大调波兰舞曲《军队》
- 降A大调波兰舞曲《英雄》
- 降E大调夜曲
- 升F大调夜曲
- 降B小调夜曲
- 降A大调夜曲
- 第二十三号玛祖卡舞曲
- 第四十四号玛祖卡舞曲
- C小调练习曲《革命》
- E大调练习曲《离别》
- 第一号叙事曲
- 第一号诙谐曲
- 第七号前奏曲
- 升C小调幻想即兴曲
自萧邦逝世后，以下以其名命名：
- 小行星萧邦3784（Asteroid 3784 Chopin）
- 华沙萧邦国际机场（Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport / Frederic Chopin International Airport）
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Life
Chopin" redirects here. For other uses, see Chopin (disambiguation).
Chopin, by Eugène Delacroix, 1838 
Chopin's autograph · Frédéric Chopin (Polish: Fryderyk [Franciszek] Chopin , sometimes Szopen ; French: Frédéric [François] Chopin ; family-name pronunciation in English: IPA : /ˈ ʃ o ʊ pæn/ ; March 1, 1810[1] – October 17, 1849) was a Polish[2][3] virtuoso pianist and piano composer of the Romantic period. He is widely regarded as the greatest Polish composer, and one of the most influential composers for piano in the 19th century.
Chopin was born in the village of Żelazowa Wola, in the Duchy of Warsaw, to a Polish mother and French-expatriate father, and came to be regarded as a child-prodigy pianist. In November 1830, at the age of twenty, Chopin went abroad. After the suppression of the Polish 1830–31 Uprising, he became one of the many expatriates of the Polish Great Emigration. In Paris he made a comfortable living as composer and piano teacher, while giving few public performances. A great Polish patriot, in
France he used the French version of his given name and, to avoid having to rely on Imperial Russian documents, eventually became a French citizen.[4][5][6] From 1837 to 1847 he conducted a turbulent relationship with the French writer George Sand (Aurore Dudevant). Always in frail health, at 39 in Paris he succumbed to pulmonary tuberculosis.[7] Chopin's extant compositions all include the piano, predominantly alone or as a solo instrument among others. Though his music is technically demanding, its style emphasizes nuance and expressive depth rather than technical virtuosity. Chopin invented new musical forms such as the ballade,[8] and made major innovations in existing forms such as the piano sonata, waltz, nocturne, étude, impromptu, and prelude. His works are mainstays of Romanticism in 19th-century classical music. His mazurkas and polonaises remain the cornerstone of Polish national classical music.
Early years
Chopin's birthplace at Żelazowa Wola, now venue to piano recitals. Fryderyk Chopin was born in Żelazowa Wola, some fifty kilometers west of Warsaw in Sochaczew County in what was then part of the Duchy of Warsaw. His father was Nicolas (in Polish, Mikołaj) Chopin, originally a Frenchman from Lorraine who had emigrated to Poland in 1787 at age 16 and served during the Kościuszko Uprising in Poland's National Guard. Mikołaj subsequently worked in Żelazowa Wola as a tutor to some aristocratic families, including the Skarbeks, one of whose poorer relations, Tekla Justyna Krzyżanowska, he married.[9]
According to the composer's family, Fryderyk (Frederick) Chopin, the couple's second child, was born on March 1, 1810. There is no known birth certificate. His baptismal certificate gives the birthdate as February 22, 1810.
In October 1810, when Fryderyk was seven months old, the family moved to Warsaw, where his father took a position as teacher of French language at a school housed in the Saxon Palace. The family lived on the palace grounds.
In 1817-27, Chopin's family lived in this Warsaw University building, now adorned (center) with Fryderyk's profile, adjacent to the Kazimierz Palace. In 1817 Mikołaj Chopin became a teacher of French at the Warsaw Lyceum, housed in Warsaw University's Kazimierz Palace. The family lived in a spacious second-floor apartment in an adjacent building. In 1823-26 Fryderyk himself would attend the Warsaw Lyceum.
A Polish spirit, and the Polish language, pervaded Mikołaj Chopin's home, and as a result Fryderyk would never, even in Paris, perfectly master the French language.[10] The boy inherited his blond hair and blue eyes from his mother; his frail health, rather from his father. The father played the flute and violin, and the mother—the piano, and gave lessons to the boys who lived in their boarding house. Thus Fryderyk early became conversant with music in its various forms. He was drawn to the piano powerfully and exclusively from as early as his hands could reach the keyboard. On it he began picking out melodies on his own. He received his earliest "piano lessons" not from his mother but from his three-years-older sister Ludwika (in English, "Louise").[11]
Mikołaj Chopin. Portrait by Ambroży Mieroszewski, 1829 Chopin received his first professional piano lessons, in 1816–22, from the respected, elderly Wojciech Żywny. Chopin later spoke highly of him, though the youngster's skills soon surpassed those of his teacher. Seven-year-old "little Chopin" gave public concerts, prompting comparisons with the earlier little Mozart and with the still living Beethoven. That same year, he composed two polonaises, G minor and B flat major. The first was published in the engraving workshop of Father Cybulski, director of a School of Organists and one of the few music publishers in Poland; the second survives in a manuscript prepared by Mikołaj Chopin. These small works could withstand comparison with the popular polonaises of the leading Warsaw composers, and even with the famous polonaises of Michał Kleofas Ogiński. A very substantial development of melodic and harmonic invention and of piano technique was shown in Chopin's next surviving polonaise, which the young artist offered in 1821 as a name-day present to Żywny.[12]
In these years, Chopin would be invited to the Belweder Palace as a playmate for the son of Russian Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich, and charmed the irascible Grand Duke with his piano playing. "Little Chopin's" popularity is attested by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz's "dramatic eclogue," "Nasze verkehry" ("Our Intercourse," 1818), in which one of the main motifs in the dialogs was the then-eight-year-old musician.[13]
Justyna Chopin. Portrait by Ambroży Mieroszewski, 1829 As a child, Chopin showed a remarkable "open intelligence" that easily absorbed everything and made use of everything for its development. He retained as well in his mature age a certain ability in sketching, a gift for observation, a keen wit and sense of humor, and an uncommon talent for mimicry.[14] A famous anecdote from his school years recounts that a teacher was pleasantly surprised to find that Chopin had drawn a superb portrait of him in class.[15] During vacations in the countryside when Chopin acquainted himself with the folk melodies that he would later refine into his musical compositions, he wrote home famous letters that parodied the Warsaw newspapers. Another anecdote, from Maurycy Karasowski's family traditions, describes how Chopin helped quiet down the rowdy children by improvising a story, then putting everyone to sleep with a berceuse; after he had shown the charming picture to the mother, he woke everyone with an ear-piercing chord.[16]
To the age of thirteen, Chopin studied at home. In 1823 he enrolled in the Warsaw Lyceum. He continued working on piano under Żywny's direction, and when in 1825 he performed a concert of Moscheles and entranced the audience with his free improvisation, he was acclaimed the best pianist in Warsaw.[17]
In 1827 the family moved to lodgings in the Krasiński Palace just across the street at Krakowskie Przedmieście 5, now the Academy of Fine Arts (Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Warszawie). Chopin would live there until he departed Warsaw in 1830.
Thus, from the age of seven months until his final departure from Warsaw and Poland at the age of twenty, Chopin always dwelt with his family either in a palace or in palace precincts.
In the autumn of 1826, Chopin began a three-year course of studies with the composer Józef Elsner at the Warsaw Conservatory, which was affiliated with Warsaw University (hence Chopin is counted among the University's alumni).
Fryderyk Chopin. Portrait by Ambroży Mieroszewski, 1829 It was in 1829, during the latter part of Fryderyk's studies or soon thereafter, that the painter Ambroży Mieroszewski executed a set of five portraits of the surviving members of the Chopin family: the 19-year-old composer (it was his first known portrait), his parents, and his elder sister Ludwika and younger sister Izabela. In 1913 Édouard Ganche would write that the precocious composer's portrait showed "a youth threatened by tuberculosis. His skin is very white, he has a prominent Adam's apple and sunken cheeks, even his ears show a form characteristic of consumptives." Chopin's younger sister Emilia had already died of tuberculosis at age fourteen in 1827, and his father would succumb to the same disease in 1844.[18]
Chopin's contact with Józef Elsner may have dated from as early as 1822, and it is certain that Elsner was giving Chopin informal guidance by 1823. Chopin now studied music theory, figured bass and composition with him. In year-end evaluations, Elsner noted Chopin's "remarkable talent" and "musical genius." Like Żywny, Elsner observed the development of Chopin's talent more than he influenced its blossoming or gave it direction. He did not constrain him with narrow, academic, outdated rules but let him mature according to the laws of his own nature.[19]
On completing his composition studies with Elsner, Chopin was a fully-formed artist. According to Jachimecki, it is difficult to compare him with any earlier composer, for the style of his works already from the first half of his life is incomparably original. At his age, Bach, Mozart and Beethoven were still epigones of earlier masters, whereas Chopin virtually from the first was no epigone but rather a precursor of the coming age.[20]
The beauty of Chopin's works is a purely musical one, requiring no reference to literature or painting. Chopin never gave programmatic titles to his works. His compositions did, however, take their origin in his emotional life. The first inspiration for his emotions and imagination was a beautiful young singer at the Warsaw Opera, Konstancja Gładkowska. In letters to his friend Tytus Woyciechowski, Chopin indicated which of his works and even which of their passages had arisen under the influence of his erotic transports. His artistic soul was also enriched through friendships with leading lights of Warsaw's artistic and intellectual world—with Maurycy Mochnacki, Jan Matuszewski, Józef Bohdan Zaleski, Julian Fontana and others.[21]
In 1827–30, Chopin lived with his family at the Krasiński Palace (Krakowskie Przedmieście 5) before leaving Poland forever. In 1837–39 it would be home to poet Cyprian Norwid, author of "Chopin's Piano" about Russians' 1863 defenestration of the instrument. In September 1828 Chopin struck out for the wider world in the company of a Dr. Jarocki, who was going to a scientific congress in Berlin. There Chopin saw several unfamiliar operas directed by Gaspare Spontini, heard several concerts, and saw Carl Friedrich Zelter, Felix Mendelssohn and other famous people. On the way back from Berlin, he was a guest at Antonin of Prince Antoni Radziwiłł, governor of the Grand Duchy of Poznań, himself an accomplished composer and cellist. For his host Chopin composed his Polonaise for Cello and Piano Op. 3.[22]
In 1829, in Warsaw, Chopin heard Niccolò Paganini play and met the German pianist and composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel.
In August 1829, three weeks after completing his studies at the Warsaw Conservatory, Chopin made a brilliant début in Vienna. He gave two piano performances and received very favorable reviews (along with some that criticized the small tone that he produced from the piano). This success opened the road for him to western Europe, if he wished to take it.
In December 1829, at Warsaw's Merchants' Club, he performed the première of his Piano Concerto in F minor. On March 17, 1830, at the National Theater, he gave the first performance of his other piano concerto, in E minor.
But Warsaw now seemed too small for Chopin. On November 2, 1830, seen off by friends and admirers, with a ring from his beloved on his finger and carrying with him a silver cup containing soil of his native land, Chopin set out, writes Jachimecki, "into the wide world, with no very clearly defined aim, forever."[23]
Later that month the November 1830 Uprising broke out, and his traveling companion Tytus Woyciechowski returned home to take part. Now alone by himself in Vienna, Chopin, afflicted by nostalgia, disappointed in his hopes of giving concerts and publishing, matured and acquired spiritual depth. From a romantic poet he grew into an inspired bard who intuited the past, present and future of his country. Only now, at this distance, did he see all of Poland from the proper perspective, and understand what was great and truly beautiful in her, the tragedy and heroism of her vicissitudes. When, on the way from Vienna to Paris, in September 1831 he learned in Stuttgart that the November Uprising had been crushed, he poured profanities and blasphemies into the pages of a little journal that he would keep hidden to the end of his life. These outcries of a tormented heart found musical expression in his Scherzo in B Minor, Op. 20, and his Revolutionary Etude.[24]
Paris
Chopin's Polonaise by Teofil Kwiatkowski, watercolour and gouache on paper, 1849-1860 (several versions), The National Museum in Poznan. Chopin arrived in Paris in late September 1831, still uncertain whether he would settle there for good.[25]
With a view to easing his entrance into the local musical milieu, he began taking lessons from the prominent pianist Friedrich Kalkbrenner, but already in February 1832 he gave a concert of his own which garnered universal admiration. The influential musicologist and critic François-Joseph Fétis wrote of him in Revue musicale: "here is a young man who, taking nothing as a model, has found, if not a complete renewal of piano music, then in any case part of what has long been sought in vain, namely, an extravagance of original ideas that are unexampled anywhere..."[26]
Robert Schumann, in reviewing Chopin's Variations on "La ci darem la mano" (from Mozart's opera Don Giovanni), Op. 2, had written in December 1831: "Hats off, gentlemen! A genius."
Indeed, piano style had been fundamentally reshaped by the innovations and techniques that had been introduced by Chopin's works. Franz Liszt and Robert Schumann began drawing on these innovations for their own compositions. Chopin's innovations involved poetic forms such as the ballade, taken from vocal music, and the scherzo, prelude and étude, and they elevated to full-fledged artistic forms, dances: the mazurek, waltz, polonaise, even the tarantella and bolero. Chopin transformed nocturnes from John Field's sentimental genre into what Schumann described as "ideals of the kind, the tenderest and most soulful things that may be conceived of in music."[27]
In Paris, Chopin found all that he needed as an artist: the stimulation of art and distinguished company, opportunities to exercise his talents and achieve celebrity, and before long a handsome income from teaching piano to affluent students from all over Europe. The most famous artists became faithful friends to the young Polish musician: Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt, Vincenzo Bellini, Ferdinand Hiller, Felix Mendelssohn, Heinrich Heine, Eugène Delacroix.[28] Chopin also formed friendships with Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, residing at the Hôtel Lambert, Alfred de Vigny and Charles-Valentin Alkan.
Chopin seldom performed publicly in Paris. In later years he would generally give only a single concert a year at the Salle Pleyel that seated three hundred. He played more frequently for social gatherings at great aristocratic salons, but preferentially at his own home for a circle of friends. His frail physique did not allow him to become a traveling virtuoso. Outside of Paris he only once played at Rouen, otherwise seldom venturing out of the capital.
In 1834, with Hiller, he visited a Rhenish Music Festival at Aachen organized by Ferdinand Ries. There Chopin and Hiller met with Mendelssohn, and the three went on to Düsseldorf, Koblenz and Cologne, enjoying each other's company and playing music together.
Maria Wodzińska, self-portrait, ca. 1830s In 1835 Chopin went to Carlsbad, where for the last time in his life he met with his parents. En route back to Paris through Saxony, he met at Dresden with old Warsaw friends, the Wodzińskis. Chopin had by then gotten over the loss of Konstancja Gładkowska, who had married shortly after his departure from Warsaw. Seeing the sixteen-year-old Maria Wodzińska, whom he had met in Poland five years earlier, he fell in love with the charming, intelligent, artistically talented young lady. (She painted a remarkable water-color portrait of him that must be one of the best renderings of the young Chopin.) He proposed to her in September 1836, while in Dresden again after vacationing with the Wodziński family at Marienbad. Maria accepted, and her mother approved in principle. But Maria's tender age and his own tenuous health (in the winter of 1835–36 he had been so ill that word had circulated in Warsaw that he had died) forced him to postpone the wedding indefinitely. The engagement remained a secret to the world and never led to the altar. Chopin long suffered in secret, then placed the letters from Maria and her mother into a large envelope, wrote on it the words "My sorrow" ("Moja bieda"), and to the end of his life retained in a desk drawer this keepsake of the second love of his life.[29]
Chopin's feelings for Maria Wodzińska left their traces in his music. He expressed those feelings in his enchanting Waltz in A flat major, Op. 69, no. 1, written on the morning of the September day before his departure from Dresden in his cramped room in the modest Hotel Stadt Berlin near the Frauenkirche, whence he heard the sound of the clock in the tower, reminding him of the hour of his stage coach's departure. On his return to Paris, he composed the Étude in F minor, the second in the Op. 25 cycle, light as a breath of floral fragrances, which Chopin called "a portrait of Maria's soul." In addition, the composer sent her an album with copies of seven of his songs to words by Witwicki, Zaleski and Mickiewicz, mainly from his Warsaw days, and a copy of his earlier Nocturne in C sharp minor, which would be easy enough for her to play.[30]
After Chopin's matrimonial plans had been shattered, there appeared on his erotic horizon, but only episodically, a great lady, the beautiful and talented Delfina Potocka.[31] She would be a muse to him (he composed for her his Waltz in D flat major, Op. 64) but even more so to the Polish Romantic poet Zygmunt Krasiński.
Before long, Aurora Dudevant—the French novelist George Sand—would become the mistress of Chopin's heart.[32]
During his years in Paris, Chopin participated in a small number of public concerts. The programs provide some idea of the richness of Parisian artistic life during this period, such as the concert on March 23, 1833, in which Chopin, Liszt and Hiller played the solo parts in a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's concerto for three harpsichords; and the concert on March 3, 1838, when Chopin, Chopin's pupil Adolphe Gutman, Alkan, and Alkan's teacher Pierre Joseph Zimmerman played Alkan's 8-hand arrangement of Beethoven's 7th symphony.
Chopin was also involved in the composition of Hexaméron (1837) — Chopin's was the sixth (last) variation on Bellini's theme.
A distinguished English amateur described seeing Chopin at a salon:
George SandImagine a delicate man of extreme refinement of mien and manner, sitting at the piano and playing with no sway of the body and scarcely any movement of the arms, depending entirely upon his narrow feminine hand and slender fingers. The wide arpeggios in the left hand, maintained in a continuous stream of tone by the strict legato and fine and constant use of the damper pedal, formed a harmonious substructure for a wonderfully poetic cantabile. His delicate pianissimo, the ever-changing modifications of tone and time (tempo rubato) were of indescribable effect. Even in energetic passages he scarcely ever exceeded an ordinary mezzoforte.[33]
This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling.
You can assist by editing it now. A how-to guide is available. (April 2008)In 1836, at a party hosted by Countess Marie d'Agoult, mistress of fellow-composer Franz Liszt, Chopin met Amandine-Aurore-Lucille Dupin, Baroness Dudevant, better known by her pseudonym, George Sand. She was a French Romantic writer noted for her numerous love affairs with Prosper Mérimée, Alfred de Musset (1833–34), her secretary Alexandre Manceau (1849–65) and others, possibly including the actress Marie Dorval.
Chopin initially did not find her attractive. "Something about her repels me," he told his family. Sand, however, in an extraordinary June 1837 letter to her friend Count Wojciech Grzymała, debated whether to let Chopin go with his fiancée Maria Wodzińska or to abandon another affair in order to begin a relationship with Chopin. Sand had strong feelings for Chopin and pursued him until a relationship developed.
Chopin's piano at Valldemossa A notable episode in their time together was a turbulent and miserable winter on Mallorca (8 November 1838 to 13 February 1839), where the four (her two children were included) had problems finding habitable accommodation and ended up lodging in the scenic but stark and cold Valldemossa monastery. Chopin also had problems having his Pleyel sent to him. It arrived in from Paris on 20 December but was held up by customs. (Chopin wrote on 28 December: "My piano has been stuck at customs for 8 days ... They demand such a huge amount of money to release it that I can't believe it".) In the meantime Chopin had a rickety rented piano on which he practised and may have composed some pieces. On 3 December he complained about his bad health and the incompetence of the doctors in Mallorca: "I have been sick as a dog during these past 2 weeks. Three doctors have visited me. The first said I was going to die; the second said I had breathed my last; and the third said I was already dead". On 4 January 1839 George Sand agreed to pay 300 francs half the demanded amount) to have the Pleyel piano released from customs. It was finally delivered on 5 January. From then on Chopin was able to use the long waited instrument for almost five weeks, time enough to complete some works: Preludes (Op. 28); a revision of the Ballade No. 2, Op. 38; 2 polonaises, Op. 40; the Scherzo No. 3, Op. 39; a mazurka (Op. 41); and probably revisited his Sonata No. 2, Op. 35. This became the reason that the winter in Mallorca is still considered one of the most prolific periods in Chopin's life.
During that winter, common bad weather conditions had such a serious effect on Chopin's health and his chronic lung disease that, in order to save his life, the entire party were compelled to leave the island. The beloved French piano became an obstacle to a hasty escape. Nevertheless George Sand managed to sell the piano to a French couple (Canut), today's inheritors of Chopin's legacy on Mallorca and owners of his piano and his cell-room museum in Valldemossa. They went first to Barcelona, and then to Marseille where they stayed for a few months to recover. Although his health improved, he never completely recovered from this bout.
Chopin spent the summers of 1839 until 1843 at Sand's estate in Nohant. These were quiet but productive days during which Chopin composed many works. They included his great Polonaise in A flat major, Op.53 "Heroic," one of his most famous pieces. On Chopin's return to Paris in 1839, he met the pianist and composer Ignaz Moscheles.
In 1845, even as a further deterioration occurred in Chopin's health, a serious problem emerged in his relations with George Sand, further soured in 1846 by problems involving Sand's daughter Solange and the young sculptor Jean Baptiste Auguste Clesinger. This was the year that Sand published Lucrezia Floriani, whose main characters — a rich actress and a prince in weak health — may be interpreted as Sand and Chopin; the story was uncomplimentary to Chopin. In 1847 the family problems finally brought to an end the relations between Sand and Chopin that had lasted ten years, since 1837.
Final two years This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling.
You can assist by editing it now. A how-to guide is available. (April 2008)
Only known photograph of Chopin, by Bisson, ca. 1849 
Ludwika Chopin. Portrait by Ambroży Mieroszewski, 1829 In February 1848, Chopin gave his last concert in Paris. To escape the hard times caused by the French revolution of 1848 and like many other artists, he travelled with his former pupil Thomas Tellefsen to London in April.[34] His former pupil Jane Stirling had found him an inexpensive apartment in London at Bentinck Street.[35] Soon after, he met the celebrated soprano and wealthy philanthropist Jenny Lind (1820-1887) who was adored by Queen Victoria and other monarchs in Europe.[36]. Chopin’s letters to family and friends tell upbeat about their many encounters in London and Scotland.[37] The possibility of a romance was apparently first seen in 1932.[38]
Although Chopin admits to be considered “some sort of amateur”[39], the piano manufacturer Henry Broadwood, appointed to Queen Victoria, assisted him generously with grand pianos and public performances in London, Manchester and Scotland.[40] However, Chopin’s ill health took a bad turn, and after a last appearance at the Polish Ball at Guildhall in London on 16 November 1848,[41] he returned later in the month to Paris where he was unable to teach or perform anymore.
In May 1849, Chopin was visited by Jenny Lind who, with Queen Victoria in the know, now wanted to marry him.[42] When it failed and Jenny Lind had fled the cholera epidemic in Paris, Chopin continued apparently to benefit from her financial patronage.[43][44]
Postmortem cast of Chopin's left hand In early August, at Chopin’s request, his sister Ludwika Jędrzejewiczowa, who had given him his first piano lessons, arrived in Paris and joined him in his new apartment at the prestigious Place Vendôme.[45] There in the small hours of 17 October 1849, Chopin died – apparently of tuberculosis. Later that morning, Auguste Clésinger made the death mask and casts of his hands. Before Chopin's funeral, pursuant to his dying wish (which stemmed from a fear of being buried alive), his heart was removed. His sister later took it in an urn to Warsaw, where it was sealed within a pillar of the Holy Cross Church (Kościół Świętego Krzyża) on Krakowskie Przedmieście, beneath an inscription from Matthew VI:21: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." There Chopin's heart remains, within the church that was rebuilt after its virtual destruction in World War II.
According to Paris and London press reports and Frederick Niecks’ biography of Chopin[46], the funeral at the imposing Église de la Madeleine was attended by nearly 3,000 people who did not all know Chopin.[47]. Giacomo Meyerbeer led the funeral procession together with Prince Adam Czartoryski.[48] In the aftermath of the popular insurrection and street fights and the rampant cholera which afflicted Paris in 1848-1849, the city is said not to have seen a funeral of such pomp and circumstance since 1838 and 1842.[49]
Chopin had apparently requested that Mozart's Requiem be performed at his funeral. Its movement Tuba Mirum for four voices[50] was sung by the bass Signor Lablache, the tenor Alexis Dupont and – concealed behind a black velvet curtain – the mezzo soprano Pauline Viardot and allegedly the soprano “Madame Castellan”[51]. However, as it is suggested that Jenny Lind arranged the whole funeral,[52][53][54] it is seen as more likely that she herself sang for Chopin.[55] - Chopin’s Funeral March from Sonata Op. 35[56] and Preludes no. 4 in E minor and no. 6 in B minor were also performed at the ceremony.
Chopin was buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery near Vincenzo Bellini.[57] At graveside, the Funeral March was played again. Later, some of Chopin's Polish friends journeyed to Paris with a jar of earth from their native land and scattered it over his grave so that Chopin would lie under Polish soil. Chopin's grave, with its monument carved by Clésinger, attracts numerous visitors and is invariably festooned with flowers, even in winter. – Jenny Lind continued for the rest of her life to pay tribute in many different ways to Chopin's musical legacy.[58] Institutional participation in the continued research on artworks commemorating Chopin well into La Belle Époque would be welcome.[59]
Memorials
Chopin statue, Warsaw's Łazienki Park In 1926 a bronze statue of Chopin, which had been designed by sculptor Wacław Szymanowski in 1907, was erected in the upper part of Warsaw's Łazienki Park, adjacent to Aleje Ujazdowskie (Ujazdów Avenue). The statue was originally to have been erected in 1910, on the centennial of Chopin's birth, but its execution was delayed by controversy about the design, then by the outbreak of World War I.
During World War II, the statue was destroyed by the Germans, on May 31, 1940. It was reconstructed after the war, in 1958. At the statue's base, since 1959, on summer Sunday afternoons are performed free piano recitals of Chopin's compositions. The stylized willow over Chopin's seated figure echoes a pianist's hand and fingers. Until 2007, the statue was the world's tallest Chopin monument.
A 1:1-scale replica of the statue is found in Hamamatsu, Japan.
There are numerous other monuments to Chopin around the world. The most recent, and by a small margin taller than the Warsaw statue, is a modernistic bronze sculpture in Shanghai, China, that was unveiled on March 3, 2007.
Every five years, the International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition is held in Warsaw; and periodically the Grand prix du disque de F. Chopin is awarded for notable Chopin recordings, both remastered and newly-recorded work.
Named for the composer is the largest Polish conservatory, the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw.
MusicChopin's music for the piano combined a unique rhythmic sense (particularly his use of rubato), frequent use of chromaticism, and counterpoint. This mixture produces a particularly fragile sound in the melody and the harmony, which are nonetheless underpinned by solid and interesting harmonic techniques. He took the new salon genre of the nocturne, invented by Irish composer John Field, to a deeper level of sophistication. Three of his twenty-one nocturnes were only published after his death in 1849, contrary to his wishes.[60] He also endowed popular dance forms, such as the Polish mazurka and the waltz, Viennese Waltz, with a greater range of melody and expression. Chopin was the first to write ballades[8] and scherzi as individual pieces. Chopin also took the example of Bach's preludes and fugues, transforming the genre in his own preludes.
Chopin's grave, with monument by Clévenger, at Paris' Père Lachaise Cemetery Chopin reinvented genres, namely the étude [citation needed] . Chopin changed this by expanding on the idea and making them into gorgeous, eloquent and emotional showpieces. He also used his études to teach his own revolutionary style, for instance playing with the weak fingers (3, 4, and 5) in fast figures (Op 10 No 2) and playing black keys with the thumb (Op 10 No 5). Despite their poor reception [citation needed] , the études have become standard repertoire for all serious pianists.
Several of Chopin's pieces have become very well known—for instance the Revolutionary Étude (Op. 10, No. 12), the Minute Waltz (Op. 64, No. 1), and the third movement of his Funeral March sonata (Op. 35), which is often used as an iconic representation of grief. Chopin himself never named an instrumental work beyond genre and number, leaving all potential extra-musical associations to the listener; the names by which we know many of the pieces were invented by others. The Revolutionary Étude was not written with the failed Polish uprising against Russia in mind; it merely appeared at that time. The Funeral March was written before the rest of the sonata within which it is contained, but the exact occasion is not known; it appears not to have been inspired by any specific personal bereavement.[61] Other melodies have been used as the basis of popular songs, such as the slow section of the Fantaisie-Impromptu (Op. posth. 66) and the first section of the Étude Op. 10 No. 3. These pieces often rely on an intense and personalised chromaticism, as well as a melodic curve that resembles the operas of Chopin's day — the operas of Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and especially Bellini. Chopin used the piano to re-create the gracefulness of the singing voice, and talked and wrote constantly about singers.
Chopin's style and gifts became increasingly influential. Robert Schumann was a huge admirer of Chopin's music, and he used melodies from Chopin and even named a piece from his suite Carnaval after Chopin. This admiration was not reciprocated.
Pillar in Warsaw's Holy Cross Church, containing Chopin's heart (just above bouquet near bottom) Franz Liszt was another admirer and personal friend of the composer, and he transcribed for piano six of Chopin's Polish songs. However Liszt denied that he wrote Funérailles (subtitled "October 1849", the seventh movement of his piano suite Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses of 1853) in memory of Chopin. Although the middle section seems to be modelled upon the famous octave trio section of Chopin's Polonaise in A flat major, Op. 53, Liszt said the piece had been inspired by the deaths of three of his Hungarian compatriots in the same month.
Chopin performed his own works in concert halls, but more often in his salon for friends. Later in life, as his disease progressed, Chopin gave up public performance altogether.
Chopin's technical innovations also became influential. His Préludes (Op. 28) and Études (Op. 10 and Op. 25) rapidly became standard works, and inspired both Liszt's Transcendental Études and Schumann's Symphonic Études. Alexander Scriabin was also strongly influenced by Chopin; for example, his 24 Preludes, Op. 11 are inspired by Chopin's Op. 28.
Jeremy Siepmann, in his biography of the composer, named a list of pianists he believed to have made recordings of works by Chopin generally acknowledged to be among the greatest Chopin performances ever preserved: Vladimir de Pachmann, Raoul Pugno, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Moriz Rosenthal, Jozef Hofmann, Benno Moiseiwitsch, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Alfred Cortot, Ignaz Friedman, Raoul Koczalski, Arthur Rubinstein, Mieczysław Horszowski, Claudio Arrau, Vlado Perlemuter, Sviatoslav Richter, Vladimir Horowitz, Dinu Lipatti, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Martha Argerich, Maurizio Pollini, Murray Perahia, Krystian Zimerman, Evgeny Kissin.
Arthur Rubinstein said the following about Chopin's music and its universality:
StyleChopin was a genius of universal appeal. His music conquers the most diverse audiences. When the first notes of Chopin sound through the concert hall there is a happy sigh of recognition. All over the world men and women know his music. They love it. They are moved by it. Yet it is not "Romantic music" in the Byronic sense. It does not tell stories or paint pictures. It is expressive and personal, but still a pure art. Even in this abstract atomic age, where emotion is not fashionable, Chopin endures. His music is the universal language of human communication. When I play Chopin I know I speak directly to the hearts of people!
Although Chopin lived in the 1800s, he was educated in the tradition of Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart and Clementi; he used Clementi's piano method with his own students. He was also influenced by Hummel's development of virtuoso, yet Mozartian, piano technique. One of his students, Friederike Müller of Vienna, wrote the following in her diary about Chopin's playing style:
His playing was always noble and beautiful; his tones sang, whether in full forte or softest piano. He took infinite pains to teach his pupils this legato, cantabile style of playing. His most severe criticism was "He—or she—does not know how to join two notes together." He also demanded the strictest adherence to rhythm. He hated all lingering and dragging, misplaced rubatos, as well as exaggerated ritardandos ... and it is precisely in this respect that people make such terrible errors in playing his works.
—20px, 20pxThe series of seven polonaises published in his lifetime (another nine were published posthumously), beginning with the Op. 26 pair, set a new standard for music in the form, and were rooted in Chopin's desire to write something to celebrate Polish culture after the country had fallen back into Russian control. The A major polonaise Op. 40 No. 1, the "Military," and the polonaise in A flat major Op. 53, the "Heroic," are among Chopin's best-loved and most-often-played works.
RomanticismChopin regarded most of his contemporaries with some indifference, although he had many acquaintances associated with romanticism in music, literature and the arts (many of them via his liaison with George Sand). Chopin's music is, however, considered by many to be a peak of the Romantic style.[62] The relative classical purity and discretion in his music, with little extravagant exhibitionism, partly reflects his reverence for Bach and Mozart. Chopin also never indulged in explicit "scene-painting" in his music, or used programmatic titles, castigating publishers who renamed his pieces in this way.
In popular cultureChopin's life and his relations with George Sand have been fictionalized in film. The 1945 biopic A Song to Remember earned Cornel Wilde an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor for his portrayal of the composer. Other film treatments have included Impromptu (1991) starring Hugh Grant as Chopin; La note bleue (1991); and Chopin: Desire for Love (2002).
Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport is named for Chopin, as is asteroid 3784 Chopin.
The role-playing video game Eternal Sonata is based on the fictional proposition of a world based on Chopin's music and life, as dreamt by Chopin while on his deathbed. Chopin is a playable character in the game, and much of the music within the game is based on his compositions. The game includes brief descriptions of major events in Chopin's life that reflect on the events and characters in the game.[63]
Works
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Chopin
又名：Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin,弗雷德里克·弗朗西斯克·肖邦
伟大的波兰音乐家 作曲家
代表作：马厝卡舞曲、圆舞曲
自幼喜爱波兰民间音乐，在七岁时写了《波兰舞曲》，八岁登台演出，不满二十岁已成为华沙公认的钢琴家和作曲家。后半生正值波兰亡国，在国外渡过，创作了很多具有爱国主义思想的钢琴作品，以此抒发自己的思乡情、亡国恨。其中有与波兰民族解放斗争相联系的英雄性作品，如：《第一叙事曲》、《bA大调波兰舞曲》等；有充满爱国热情的战斗性作品，如《革命练习曲》、《b小调谐谑曲》等；有哀恸祖国命运的悲剧性作品，如《降 b小调奏鸣曲》等；还有怀念祖国、思念亲人的幻想性作品，如不少夜曲与幻想曲。
肖邦一生不离钢琴，所有创作几乎都是钢琴曲，被称为“钢琴诗人”。他在国外经常为同胞募捐演出，为贵族演出却很闱俊?837年严辞拒绝沙俄授予他的“俄国皇帝陛下首席钢琴家”的职位。舒曼称他的音乐象“藏在花丛中的一尊大炮”，向全世界宣告：“波兰不会亡”。肖邦晚年生活非常孤寂，痛苦地自称是“远离母亲的波兰孤儿”。他临终嘱附亲人把自己的心脏运回祖国
1810年3月1日，肖邦生于华沙郊区热拉佐瓦沃拉。父亲原籍法国，是华沙一所中学的法语教师，后来开办了一所为来华沙学习的外省贵族子弟的寄宿学校。母亲是波兰人，曾在一个贵族亲戚的家庭中任女管家。肖邦幼年时向一位捷克音乐家W.日夫尼学习钢琴，8岁时开始公开演奏。1824年师从德国音乐家、华沙音乐学院院长J.A.F.埃尔斯纳学习音乐理论。1826年中学毕业后入华沙音乐学院学习，同时开始了他的早期创作活动，1829年毕业于该院。当时正值波兰民族运动走向高潮的年代，反对外国奴役、争取自由独立的民族斗争对青年肖邦的思想产生了深刻影响，培育了他的民族感情和爱国热忱。1830年3月肖邦在华沙演出了自己的早期代表作《第二钢琴协奏曲》（f小调），同年10月在告别华沙的音乐会上演奏了自己的另一部代表作《第一钢琴协奏曲》（e小调），均获得成功。11月2日肖邦携带一抔朋友们赠送的波兰泥土离开华沙，出国深造，从此永远离开了祖国。12月初在维也纳逗留期间得知华沙爆发起义的消息，他为未能参加这次起义而焦急。当时曾想返回波兰参加斗争，被友人劝阻，未能实现。次年初在赴巴黎途经斯图加特时得知起义遭沙俄镇压、华沙陷落的噩耗，精神受到强烈震撼，这些，都在他当时的创作中留下了深刻印记。抵巴黎后，他放弃了去伦敦的计划，在巴黎定居，从事钢琴演奏教学和创作活动。在这里他除了与流亡巴黎的波兰侨民密切交往之外，还结识了西欧文艺界许多重要人物，其中包括波兰流亡诗人A.密茨凯维奇，德国诗人H.海涅，法国画家E.德拉克洛瓦，意大利音乐家V.贝利尼，匈牙利音乐家F.李斯特等人。这些交往对肖邦精神生活的影响是不能低估的，特别是同法国女作家乔治·桑的关系，对肖邦的思想、生活产生了深刻的影响。他们从1838年同居到1846年关系破裂，前后共生活了8年。从30年代初抵巴黎到40年代中期，肖邦的思想和艺术高度成熟，在创作上获得了极其丰硕的成果。从1846年起肖邦的创作开始出现衰退的趋势。其原因是多方面的：40年代波兰民族运动的几次挫折，使对此一直抱着热烈期望的肖邦在精神上受到了沉重打击，深深陷入了失望和消沉的情绪之中；同乔治·桑之间爱情的破裂，故乡亲人和挚友的相继去世，自己健康情况的不断恶化，这一切都给他的身心造成深深的创伤，加重了他的悲哀和孤独。1848年衰弱的肖邦去英国逗留了一段时间，从事短期的教学和演奏活动。在那里他为流亡国外的波兰侨胞开了最后一次演奏会。回巴黎后健康情况急剧恶化，1849年10月17日逝世于巴黎寓所，临终时嘱咐死后将自己的心脏运回祖国波兰安葬。
肖邦的创作可分为4个时期，即华沙时期、华沙起义时期、在巴黎的全盛时期、晚期。
华沙时期（早年～1830） 这一时期的创作除少数作品外，在肖邦的整个创作中不占很重要的地位。但是，它是肖邦一生创作的起点，其中已经闪耀着民族感情和民族风格的光辉，这在他的《d小调波洛奈兹舞曲》（1827）钢琴与乐队合奏的《降E大调大波洛奈兹舞曲》（1831）《C大调马祖卡舞曲》（1829） 《F大调马祖卡舞曲》（1829）、钢琴与乐队合奏的《波兰主题幻想曲》（1828）和《克拉科维亚克舞曲风格回旋曲》（1828）中都有鲜明的体现。这个时期最重要的作品是1830年作的两部钢琴协奏曲。这两部作品富于浪漫主义气质，对爱情生活的体验，对幸福的热烈向往，以及由此而产生的明朗欢快情绪贯穿全曲。音乐富于民族民间彩，《第二钢琴协奏曲》的末乐章主题有质朴优美的马祖卡舞曲风格，《第一钢琴协奏曲》的末乐章主题则是一支带有强烈的克拉科维亚克舞曲风格的强劲、粗犷的旋律。
华沙起义时期（1830年末～1831年） 在这一短暂的时间里，肖邦的创作出现了一个飞跃。《b小调谐谑曲》（1831）写于逗留维也纳时期。起义激起的爱国热情同对祖国亲人的思念交织在一起，构成一首既严峻又温存的音诗。《c小调练习曲》（别称《革命练习曲》，1831）《d小调前奏曲》（1831）则写于得知华沙沦陷之后，激愤悲痛之情同严整洗练的艺术形式之间达到高度完美的统一，成为肖邦早期音乐创作中的杰作。同时期创作的《a小调前奏曲》则充满了迷惘、茫然的情绪，音乐构思奇特而新颖。
在巴黎的全盛时期（1832～1845） 在肖邦这一时期的创作中，深刻的民族内容，富于独创性的艺术形式和娴熟的音乐风格使他的艺术达到了炉火纯青的地步。他的创作涉及到钢琴音乐的各种体裁，从练习曲、前奏曲、马祖卡舞曲、波洛奈兹舞曲、夜曲、圆舞曲、即兴曲，直到结构更为复杂的叙事曲、谐谑曲、奏鸣曲，都获得了丰硕的艺术成果。肖邦的绝大部分练习曲都是在这个时期创作的，其中《E大调练习曲》（1832） 《b小调练习曲》（1834）、《a小调练习曲》（1834）等最为突出。《E大调练习曲》是一首感情温存、深沉的哀歌，它的曲调属于肖邦创作的最优美的曲调之一，倾注了对祖国无限爱恋的感情。《b小调练习曲》则是一首充满了阴郁激愤情绪的作品。它的主题紧张强烈富于戏剧性，而它的中部却渗透着一种沉思宁静的悲凉气氛。在适宜于主要表现单一形象的练习曲体裁中，采用如此强烈的双主题对比的原则以造成尖锐的戏剧性冲突，这在肖邦的练习曲中也是不多见的。《a小调练习曲》则情感严峻，气势磅礴，全曲由号角性的简单音乐动机发展成为波澜壮阔的巨流，把音乐推向戏剧性的悲壮的高潮，具有震撼人心的力量。肖邦的3首奏鸣曲中，在内容的深刻性和艺术的独创性方面最突出的是《降b小调钢琴奏鸣曲》（1839），其中的第3乐章《葬礼进行曲》，寄托着对华沙起义中为民族解放而献出生命的烈士的哀思，是肖邦音乐中最脍炙人口的篇章之一。夜曲是肖邦创作中最富于浪漫主义气质的体裁。他早年创作的夜曲深受英国作曲家J.菲尔德夜曲的影响，追求音乐风格的细腻、华美和典雅秀丽，有比较浓厚的浪漫主义感伤情调。流亡巴黎后创作的夜曲在内容上愈加深刻，音乐风格也更富于个性化了。他的《c小调夜曲》（1841）完全摆脱了菲尔德的影响，主题朴实无华、严肃而又悲哀，音乐的发展愈来愈富于戏剧性。它标志着肖邦已经将夜曲的创作提高到前所未有的水平，大大地挖掘了夜曲的表现潜力，使它成为一种能容纳深刻社会内容的音乐体裁。肖邦的4首叙事曲全是这个时期创作的，其中有的是直接同波兰的民族史诗和民间传说相联系。如《g小调叙事曲》（1835）的创作是直接受到了波兰民族诗人密茨凯维奇的长诗《康拉德·华伦洛德》的启示。肖邦把握了为民族献出生命的英雄华伦洛德的深沉、严肃、大无畏的性格以及贯穿整个长诗的紧张的悲剧性气氛，将它们体现在严整的奏鸣曲快板乐章的形式中。《F大调叙事曲》（1839）则取材于同一位诗人的民间幻奇故事诗《希维德什扬卡》。原诗描写一个负心的少年猎人，由于背叛了爱情誓言终于受到了惩罚，被希维德什扬卡仙女拖入湖底。肖邦在这首叙事曲中没有企图去描绘或暗示原诗的故事情节，而是用高度概括的方法展现了两个相互对立的情境，通过它们之间矛盾冲突的发展来揭示原诗的意境和感情气氛。波洛奈兹舞曲是肖邦在这个时期创作中民族精神体现得最为强烈的体裁。他早年创作的波洛奈兹舞曲中的那种注重外在华丽效果的倾向被一种深刻、强烈的民族精神和朴实无华、刚毅豪放的艺术风格所代替。肖邦或从波兰民族历史上的英雄人物中吸取精神力量，或从缅怀祖国光荣的往昔，悲叹今日沦亡的苦难中激励自己的民族感情，以抒发他内心的郁愤，振奋民族精神。《A大调波洛奈兹舞曲》（1838）是一首胜利凯旋的颂歌，贯穿始终的管弦乐队般的丰满强大的音响，展现了古代波兰庆祝民族胜利时光辉灿烂的情景。《c小调波洛奈兹舞曲》（1839）则是一首哀叹祖国沦亡的沉痛音诗，主题的感情基调是悲哀和压抑的，但丝毫没有感伤。《升f小调波洛奈兹舞曲》（1841）规模宏大，富于戏剧性，它同对波兰历史上的民族战争情景的想象有联系。悲壮严峻的首尾部分同色彩暗淡、感情忧郁的中间部分形成对照，在波洛奈兹舞曲体裁中别具一格。《降A大调波洛奈兹舞曲》（1842）是同类体裁乐曲中性格最刚毅、豪迈，气势最宏伟、磅礴的一首。它的主题具有果断、刚健的节奏，热情豪迈的旋律以及明亮的大调式和声，体现着不屈不挠的民族英雄豪杰的形象。乐曲的中部富于鲜明的造型性，马蹄声同号角声交织在一起，构成了一幅战马奔驰、月光剑影的古代沙场的情景。作曲家思古的幽情同现实的感情融合在一起，形成了一股汹涌澎湃的民族感情的巨流，不可抑制。
晚期（1846～1849） 这一时期肖邦的创作呈现出明显的衰退趋势。《幻想波洛奈兹舞曲》（1846）是这个时期的重要作品，虽然在这里已经听不到像《降A大调波洛奈兹舞曲》那样高昂、豪迈的声音，但它的那些由于对祖国、民族未来的某种憧憬而唱出的激昂慷慨的段落仍是极富于感染力的。《g小调马祖卡舞曲》（1849）、《f小调马祖卡舞曲》（1849）是肖邦最后的两部作品。前者是一首亲切、温存的歌，表达了对生活的最后一点眷恋；后者在淡淡的哀愁中倾诉着对故国和亲人的最后思念。
1.《夜曲》
《夜曲》为英国作曲家费尔德（1782—1837）所首创。他采用平静的和弦伴奏下的优美旋律这种形式，表现夜的幽静和梦幻的情调。肖邦继承了这种形式，又极大地发展、创新了这种形式。肖邦的《夜曲》，包含了相当多样的意境，甚至是热情的戏剧性形象。令人惊疑的是，无论音乐多么复杂、激动，却仍不失“夜”的总的感觉。由于肖邦赋予了《夜曲》以新面貌，后人都将《夜曲》看作是肖邦创作特有的标志之一。
肖邦的《夜曲》，几乎每一首都是那么迷人。其中最为广大听众熟悉的可能是第二号《bE大调夜曲》，它的主旋律早已深入人心：中段开始是圣咏般的和弦进行，从容而又威严，蕴涵着内在的力量。这力量开始是片断的显露，逐渐积累，显露的片断在增大，终于，酿成双手八度齐奏从上往下排山倒海式的暴发，此时，真是身在“黑夜”心在“白昼”了。经过中段的暴发，“夜”再也无法平静，当第一段再现时，同样的曲调用了织体完全不同的伴奏，原来严整的节奏现在变成了惶惶不安的三连音，音乐变得哀怨、悲痛，久久不能平息。在增加了一段扩充的终止后，才勉强安静下来，最后消失在延长音里，可留下的沉重心绪始终没有消失。
2.《前奏曲》
肖邦在24个大小调上写了24首《前奏曲》。关于这些乐曲，曾有各种不同的评说。有的认为是《练习曲》的雏形，甚至认为有些是草稿，有的认为是音乐的格言，有的认为是即兴式的音乐意念，类似“音乐瞬间”。有的钢琴家将24首当作一个套曲，从头至尾连续演奏，有的按自己的理解重新组合。的确，这些作品有长有短、情趣各异、手法多样，从哪个角度看都是五颜六色。
我们知道肖邦生前曾不肯出版自己的某些作品，而后人将其出版后都公认是音乐的珍品。由此判断，肖邦对正式发表自己的作品是十分严肃的。既然肖邦于1839年将这批《前奏曲》出版，恐怕不会是草稿。事实上，随时间的推移，人们越来越珍爱这些《前奏曲》。下面介绍其中常被演奏的两首。
第15号《bD大调前奏曲》，又名《雨滴前奏曲》。这里又遇上了别人为乐曲起名的事情。说来耐人寻味，标题音乐是浪漫主义音乐的特征之一，但是肖邦这位伟大的浪漫主义作曲家却从不为自己的作品加上一个说明音乐内容的曲名。对于别人给他的乐曲命名，他也十分反感。可见，浪漫主义音乐，根本上在于音乐的气质本身，不在于有名无名。肖邦反对一个具体的名称，说明他的音乐有广泛的概括性。所以，我们欣赏那些已被命名的乐曲时，只能将名称作为理解的一个媒介，一个入门的途径，绝对不必限制自己联想、体验的自由。比如这首《雨滴》的得名，显然是伴奏部中一个bA（＃G）音，几乎从头至尾在八分音符平稳的律动上，持续不停，恰似从屋檐上滴下的雨珠，滴滴答答不绝于耳，行板：
雨滴声衬托出恬静，心中升出高尚、美丽的歌。随着雨滴声声，慢慢地，思绪转向沉重，在低音区出现了小调的曲调，雨滴声化为了宏亮的钟声，心情激动起来。最后又回到开头的安静，仍在雨滴声中结束。
第24首《d小调前奏曲》，有人称之为《雷雨时的祈祷》。这里确有雷雨闪电的气氛而“祈祷”，则绝无此事。这首作品与《革命练习曲》写于同时，也同样是沙皇俄国军队攻占华沙这一事件，在肖邦心中激起的惊涛骇浪。所以，音乐的性质与《革命练习曲》相似。所不同的，这里只有愤怒，“来不及”在悲哀中逗留；这里是慷慨激昂，不屈不挠，已经没有眼泪。左手低音从头至尾这样轰鸣，似沉雷，如战鼓：
主题音调坚定、果敢，一派英姿：冲击力直达末尾，最后三次猛击钢琴最低音区的主音D，以表达作曲家那义无反顾、钢铁般坚强的意志。
3.《玛祖卡舞曲》
《玛祖卡舞曲》是肖邦另一个独特的创作领域。在整个钢琴音乐文献中，提起《玛祖卡》，首先想到的就是肖邦。其他作曲家也有《玛祖卡》。但唯有肖邦写了大量的、闪耀着特异光彩的《玛祖卡》。在肖邦本人的作品中，《玛祖卡》也很特殊。一是这批作品，最具波兰泥土的芳香。另外，这是他较少带有戏剧性、悲剧性成分的创作领域之一。
玛祖卡舞，是波兰玛祖维亚地方的民间舞蹈。它的音乐，都是三拍子的，典型的节奏是：
此外还有库亚维亚克舞曲和奥别列克舞曲也都是三拍子的。肖邦的《玛祖卡舞曲》，是集合上述三种舞曲的特点创作出来的。玛祖卡舞曲的典型节奏，在肖邦《玛祖卡舞曲》中经常显露，但肖邦是出神入化地应用它，远不是刻板地重复民间节奏。旋律，肖邦是天才地吸取民间音乐的精华，按照高度专业化的艺术标准创造出来的。和声、调式更有肖邦独出心裁的创造。尽管如此，《玛祖卡舞曲》的波兰乡土风格毫不减弱；相反，是以更高雅、更诗意的风度，婷婷玉立于钢琴音乐的百花园之中。评论家们说，《玛祖卡舞曲》是肖邦对故乡、土地、人民和对人民光辉精神的生动感觉，是波兰人民的“整个灵魂”。
由于《玛祖卡舞曲》是这么波兰化的音乐，有位波兰钢琴家说只有波兰人才能弹好。然而，值得中国人自豪的一件事是，1955年在华沙举行了第五届肖邦国际钢琴比赛，中国钢琴家傅聪不但获得了第三名，而且还得了《玛祖卡》的最佳演奏奖。
（Op代表作品编码，例如Op.10-3表示作品十号的第三首）
1，圆舞曲(华尔滋) （Waltzes）
萧邦著名的圆舞曲，相信小朋友一定听过！这些圆舞曲是萧邦在维也纳时，运用维也纳华尔滋三拍的节奏，加上优美的曲调与抒情性，同时也发辉高度的钢琴技巧，因此萧邦的圆舞曲适合聆赏与演奏，比较不适合跳舞喔！
◎第1号圆舞曲降E大调Op. 18
◎第3号华丽圆舞曲a小调Op. 34-1
◎第6号圆舞曲降D大调「小狗」Op. 64-1
小狗圆舞曲是描述乔治桑的小狗追逐自己的尾巴的一首曲子，因为曲子很短，因此也被称为「小圆舞曲」(Minute)
◎第7号圆舞曲升c小调Op. 64-2
◎第8号圆舞曲降A大调Op. 64-3
◎第9号圆舞曲降A大调Op. 69-1
◎第10号圆舞曲b小调Op. 69-2
◎第14号圆舞曲e小调Op.Posth
2，钢琴协奏曲(Piano Concertos)
萧邦不太喜欢管弦乐器，所以他的钢琴协奏曲（以钢琴为主，管弦乐搭配的曲子）也只有两首而已。第二号协奏曲的第二乐章就是写给初恋情人的优美「情书」，大家可以听听看唷！
◎第2号钢琴协奏曲f小调Op.21第一乐章
◎第2号钢琴协奏曲f小调Op.21第二乐章
◎第2号钢琴协奏曲f小调Op.21第三乐章
3，夜曲(Noctunes)
夜曲是英钢琴师兼作曲家菲尔德首创的曲式，以优美的旋律为主。萧邦受他的影响，第一首夜曲也已旋律为主，但后来的夜曲则加上更丰富的内容，不单是优美的旋律而已，所以是萧邦独特风格的夜曲。
◎第1号夜曲降b小调Op.9-1
◎第2号夜曲降E大调Op.9-2
4，练习曲(Etudes)
学钢琴的人，一定会弹到萧邦的练习曲！这些曲子运用了高度的钢琴技巧，包括快速的八度音程、还有三或六度的连续平行等等。不过这些练习曲并不只是教学用的，而是同时兼具艺术性，演奏者必须兼顾技巧、节奏、旋律、和声还有音乐的情绪表现，所以还是很到受乐迷的喜爱。
◎第3号练习曲E大调「离别」 Op.10-3
这首练习曲是萧邦离开波兰前往巴黎时的创作，离开祖国与思念故乡的感情都表露无遗。
◎第5号练习曲降G小调「黑键」Black Key Op10No.5
◎第12号练习曲c小调「革命」Revolutionary Op.10-12
这首是萧邦在听到波兰遭俄国攻占时所创作的曲子。
5，前奏曲(Preludes) Op.28
作品28的二十四首前奏曲集是萧邦晚年为了筹措疗养的旅费而创作的曲子。
◎第4号前奏曲e小调「窒息」Suffocation
◎第11号前奏曲B大调「蜻蜓」Dragon Fly
◎第15号前奏曲降D大调「雨滴」Raindrop
◎这首前奏曲左手规律的节奏像雨滴的声音，因此得名。
◎第23号前奏曲F大调「快乐之船」Pleasure Boat
◎第24号前奏曲降D大调「暴风雨」The Storm
6，波兰舞曲(Polonaises)
波兰舞曲是以宫廷为中心，华丽而壮大的民族舞曲。萧邦七岁时就创作了两首波兰舞曲（G小调与降B大调），而后来的创作不但有舞曲，还有波兰语的诗喔！
◎第三号波兰舞曲A大调「军队」MilitaryOp.40-1
象征波兰旗士精神的宏伟。
◎第六号波兰舞曲降A大调「英雄」HeroicOp.53
7，马厝卡舞曲(Mazurkas)
马厝卡舞曲是波兰东普鲁士与俄国之间一带，属于农民的民族舞曲，热爱祖国的萧邦创作了55首马厝卡舞曲，将思乡的情感转化为丰富的旋律。
第五号马厝卡舞曲降B大调Op.7-1
8，奏鸣曲(Sonatas)
萧邦不喜欢被固定的奏鸣曲曲式所拘束，所以他的创作当中只有二首奏鸣曲而已。其中第二号的第三乐章的「送葬」进行曲，是西方葬礼中的送葬曲。
◎第二号奏鸣曲降b小调Op.35第三乐章「送葬」
（Marche Funebre）
9，其他名曲
以下曲子也是萧邦的名曲：
◎幻想即兴曲升c小调Fantaisie-ImpromptuOp.66
◎船歌升F大调BarcarolleOp.60
◎第4号叙事曲f小调BalladeOp.52-4
肖邦音乐的高度思想价值在于它反映了19世纪30～40年代欧洲资产阶级民族运动总潮流的一个侧面，喊出了受压迫受奴役的波兰民族愤怒、反抗的声音。肖邦的音乐具有浓厚的波兰民族风格。他对民族民间音乐的态度非常严肃，反对猎奇，同时又不被它所束缚，总是努力体会它的特质加以重新创造。这样，他既提高了民间音乐体裁的艺术水平，又保持了它纯净的风格，从不丧失其鲜明的民族民间特色。他对当时西欧在音乐创作手段方面获得的经验和成果有深刻的了解和掌握，并将它作为自己创作的起点，从而使自己的音乐具有同古典传统有深刻联系的严谨完整的艺术形式。但是肖邦又从来不受传统的束缚，敢于大胆突破传统，进行创新。这特别表现在他深入地挖掘和丰富了诸如前奏曲、练习曲、叙事曲、夜曲、即兴曲、谐谑曲等一系列音乐体裁的潜在的艺术表现力，赋予它们以新的社会内容。他的旋律有高度的感情表现力，极富于个性，他的和声语言新颖大胆，钢琴织体细腻而富于色彩。这一切因素融合在一起，形成了一种新颖的独特的“肖邦风格”，为欧洲音乐的历史发展做出了贡献。
