*Complete works

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)- The Complete Works-Garrick Ohlsson (piano)

Chopin’s very existence is one of pleasing symmetry. Though Polish by birth, he was half-French by blood. Just as his father Nicolas Chopin changed his name to Mikolaj, becoming more Polish than the Poles (and, incidentally, never revealing to his children his French origins), his son, christened Fryderyk Franciszek, metamorphosed into the dandified Parisian known to the world as Frédéric François Chopin. For the first twenty years, his life was based in Poland; for the remainder of his life, just six months shy of a further twenty years, he was based in France. This duality was central to (and is reflected in) his music—the epic struggle and nationalist characteristics of the Poles and the refined elegance of the French.

Chopin was one of the greatest and most original pianists in history. More than any other, he was responsible for the development of modern piano technique and style. His influence on succeeding generations of writers for the instrument was profound and inescapable. He introduced a whole range of new colours, daring harmonies and means of expression in which he exploited every facet of the new developments in piano construction. His career coincided happily with a period in which significant improvements were being made constantly.

Chopin occupies a unique position in the pantheon of great composers in three respects: he wrote no symphonies, operas, ballets or church music, and very little chamber music; his claim to immortality rests not on large-scale works but on miniatures (even his concertos and sonatas are really shortish pieces sewn together into larger classical forms which, he realized early on, were not his strength); thirdly, every single composition that he ever wrote, regardless of form, involves the piano.