Many of
Chopin's most beautiful compositions come from the series of short, reflective
pieces he called Nocturnes. As can be heard in the Nocturne in F-sharp, these
works are usually gentle and dreamlike with a flowing, rocking bass, and aptly
demonstrate Chopin's preconception for sweet, song-like melodies, very much in
the style of Italian bel canto opera of the period. The publication of Chopin's
early works. Chopin first achieved fame as a child prodigy in his native Poland,
and a few of his works were published in Warsaw as early as 1817, when he was
only eight years old. He continued to compose throughout his student years, but
only a handful of these works were printed. Polish editions were not widely
distributed and are now quite rare. When Chopin attained prominence in Paris
during the early 1830s, he allowed a few of his early works (the Rondos, opp. 1
and 5) to be reissued by French, German, and English publishers, but he made no
further effort to revive the other music he had composed before 1828. These
works stayed in manuscript until after his death and have been trickling into
print from widely scattered sources ever since. Chopin's Dedications Like other
young composers, Chopin dedicated his early Parisian publications to well-known
composer-pianists or well-to-do patrons of the arts who were in a position to
provide recommendations, commissions, or employment opportunities. More
generally, by associating himself with famous musicians and wealthy lovers of
music, Chopin enhanced public estimation of his own music. Publishers recognized
the value of these associations for their sales and prominently displayed the
names of dedicatees on title pages. After Chopin became famous, however, most of
his dedications were to personal friends. Many of these were still members of
high society, since that was the circle in which Chopin moved, but there is
little to suggest that he felt the need to court favor. In many cases, he seems
to have been very casual about selecting dedicatees, often making up his mind or
changing it at the last minute.
Chopin dedicated a significant number of works
to his students, ranging from aristocratic ladies to professional pianists like Friedericke Müller. It is curious that Chopin did not dedicate published works
to either of the two known loves of his life, Maria Wodzinska (1819-1896) and
George Sand (1804-1876). Chopin had known the Wodzinski family since childhood
and fell in love with Maria in 1835, when she was sixteen. He proposed, but her
family did not approve, probably because of his chronic ill health. He inscribed
a manuscript of the Waltz, op. 69, no. 1 to Maria during their courtship, but
the work was not published during his lifetime. In later years he did not
hesitate to dedicate copies of it to other ladies. Chopin lived with novelist
George Sand for nine years (1838-1847) and their relationship was common
knowledge among members of Paris society, but Chopin may have felt that a public
dedication stretched the bounds of propriety. Chopin's teaching Chopin took his
piano teaching very seriously. In the early 1840s, he even sketched the
beginnings of a method for playing the instrument, but this project was never
completed. Chopin taught music written by a variety of composers, of whom Johann
Sebastian Bach was particularly prominent. His students cherished the
opportunity to study the master's own works with him. During lessons, he and his
students frequently wrote instructions concerning performance in the students'
printed copies of his music. Most of these were fingerings, with occasional
details of dynamics, articulation, and phrasing. The markings were primarily
educational and tailored to the needs of individual students.
