Frédéric CHOPIN 1810 — 1849

Chopin has always been my favourite composer. Almost all of his music is very well-known, and is easily available to buy or borrow; and so only a few items will be included here.

Chopin's late Sonata for cello and piano, Op 65, was not well received by his contemporaies. For example Niecks quotes Moscheles as saying "But a trial of patience of another kind is imposed on me by Chpin's Violoncello Sonata which I am arranging for four hands. To me it is a tangled forest, through which now and then penetrates a gleam of the sun". Niecks himself echoes the metaphor, describing the first and last movements as "immense wildernesses with only here and there a small flower" and dismisses the Largo as "lacking distinction (The Life of Chopin, Novello 1888, Vol 2 p 229). I have always disagreed with these judgements, and quite recently came across a recording by Cortot of his transcription for solo piano of the slow movement which I thought singularly beautiful. Such a transcription maintaining the pitches of the original dialogue between the two instruments preserves for me the contrasting sonorities, sounding rather like Alkan's The voice of the Instrument.

Comments are welcome. Please write to williamww@aol.com    Last modified: 01 July 2008.