THE PIANO AND THE

VIRTUOSO PIANIST
The main instrumental musical traits of the Romantic Era were virtuosity,
individualism, and nationalism (deliberate intent to draw creative inspiration
from the composers, own homeland)
As chamber music became less and less popular, the orchestra and the piano emerged
as the new popular trends of the musical world. The piano became a mainstay of music
in the home. It proved especially attractive to the amateurs enabling them to play
melody and harmony together. It was the favored solo instrument for virtuosos such as
Chopin and Liszt.
Frédéric François Chopin, born Fryderyk
Franciszek Chopin, was a Polish composer
and virtuoso pianist. He is widely considered
one of the greatest Romantic piano
composers.
Chopin was born on March 1, 1810 in
Żelazowa Wola, a village, 50 miles away from
Duchy of Warsaw. It is the same year that
German Composer Robert Schumann was
born and Beethoven composed "Fur Elise".
A church document found in 1892 said that he
was born February 22, 1810, but both Chopin
and his mother said otherwise. His parents
were Mikolaj (Nicolas) Chopin who was
originally from France and Tekla Justyna
Krzyzanowska.
When he was a young child, he would often
listen to his sister Ludwika play the piano.
Chopin began to study the piano at the age of
four, at 7 composed his first polonaise, and at
eight years old played at a private concert in
Warsaw.
He studied harmony and counterpoint at the
Warsaw Conservatory, Wojciech Zywny gave
Chopin his first piano lessons. He will later on
surpass the talent of his teacher.
He was also taught by the pianist and Warsaw
Conservatory professor Wilhelm Würfel.
Throughout his life, Chopin suffered from
tuberculosis that also caused the death of his
sisters. In 1838. Chopin had a relationship with
George Sand, who was a novelist. It was during
this relationship that he wrote some most
beautiful pieces. Though fiercely proud of
being Polish, Frederic Chop wound up moving
to France, and never returned to Poland.
Nearly all of Chopin's compositions are for
piano, earning him the title “Poet of the
Piano”. His mazurkas reflect the rhythms and
melodic traits 01 Polish folk music. His
polonaises are marked by a heroic spirit. His
ballades, scherzos, and études exemplify his
large-scale works for solo piano.
Some of the most famous Chopin pieces
include: “Fantasie” Impromptu, op. 66,
“Minute” Waltz, op. 64 no. 1, “Funeral
March”, part of one of his sonatas,
“Revolutionary” Etude, op. 10 no. 12 and
Ballade no. 1 in g minor, op. 23 no. 1 (made
famous by the film “The Pianist”).
Did you know that Liszt often broke piano
strings when he played? He was also a very
attractive man whom women adored.
He eloped to Switzerland with a married
Countess Marie d'Agoult who left her
husband.
Franz Liszt, (Liszt Ferencz in Hungarian)
officially Franz Ritter von Liszt, was a 19th-
century Hungarian composer, pianist,
conductor, and teacher.
He was born on October 22, 1811, in the
village of Doborján. Franz's father himself
was a good artist. Franz played the piano,
violin, cello, and guitar, servicing the likes of
Prince Nikolaus II Esterházy, with personal
connections with Haydn, Hummel and
Beethoven.
His father, Adám Liszt, worked as a steward
and his mother, Marie Anna Lager, was a
homemaker, Franz's source of inspiration was
his father and he developed a keen interest in
piano at the age of six. Adam took to teaching
piano to Franz and made him familiar with
sacred and Romani music.
When he reached the age of eight, Franz
started composing as well and made
appearances in Sopron and Pozsony during
the end of 1820. Impressed by his musical
talent, a group of wealthy sponsors offered to
finance Franz's musical education abroad.
He started taking piano lessons from Carl
Czerny who in turn received his lessons from
legends like Beethoven and Hummel. Franz
mastered his composing skills when he trained
under Antonio Salieri. And on December 1,
1822, he made his public appearance for the
first time.
Many Austrian and Hungarian aristocratic
circles congratulated him on his successful
performance and he also got the chance to meet
Beethoven and Schubert. In 1823, he moved
with his family to Paris where he toured widely
as a pianist. There, he was greatly influenced
by the phenomenal violinist Paganin.
In 1835 he left Paris and eloped to
Switzerland with a married Countess Marie
d'Agoult who left her husband. They had three
children when the two separated in 1844.
In 1848, he became the Director of Music at
the Court of Weimar. There, living with his
new love Carolyne in her mansion, he
composed and revised his most important
music, including the “Dream of Love”,
dedicated to Carolyne.
They tried to get married, but the Church did
not terminate Carolyne's marriage until her
husband died in 1864.
Under her influence, he became a religious
man and in 1865 Pope admitted Liszt into
Holy Orders, devoting much of his creative
effort to the production of sacred works.
He was one of the greatest piano players who
had ever lived. Most of his music is written
for the piano. And most of this is very, very
difficult to play thus making him known as
the "Originator of the Solo Piano Recital”.
In Liszt's day the pianos weren't as strong as
they are now.
Liszt often broke piano strings when he
played. In fact, audiences used to be
disappointed if he didn't break any strings. He
was a great fan of Wagner, who married his
daughter, Cosima.
He also liked the works of Paganini whose
works he adapted to the piano. Brahms didn't
like Liszt's music, and even went to sleep
when Liszt played his Piano Sonata in B
minor.
The set of pieces Années de Pèlerinage (Years
of Pilgrimage) was written as Liszt travelled
around Europe. They are like a musical diary
of places he went and how he felt about the
things he saw.
He wrote the first ‘symphonic poem'-a piece
of music for an orchestra that tells a story.
Liszt was one of the 19th century's harmonic
innovators, especially in his use of complex,
chromatic chords. He was an innovator also
with respect to form, especially in his
technique of thematic transformation. His
compositions for the piano inaugurated a
revolutionary, difficult playing technique that
gave to the piano an unprecedented variety of
textures and sonorities.
Some of his great pieces include:
Transcendental Etudes, Hungarian Rhapsodies
(for piano), Piano Sonata in B minor, Années
de Pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage)—a set of
pieces for piano, Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and
2, Faust Symphony (a symphonic poem) and
his most famous work Liebesträume (Dreams
of Love) No. 3 (for piano).