Artists

Chopin, Frederic

image of Chopin, Frederic Greatest composer of Poland

Frédéric Chopin (1810 – 1849) was a Polish piano composer of the Romantic period. He is widely regarded as one of the most famous, influential and prolific composers for piano. Chopin'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 also endowed popular dance forms, such as the Polish mazurka and the Viennese waltz, with a greater range of melody and expression. Chopin was the first to write ballades and scherzi as individual pieces. Several of Chopin's pieces have become very well known — for instance the “Revolutionary Étude“, the “Minute Waltz“ and the third movement of his sonata “Funeral March“, which is often used as an iconic representation of grief.