Overview
Frédéric Chopin was one of music’s first superstars—a virtuoso pianist whose checkered love life and tragic early death have made him an icon of the Romantic era. He was also a prodigious and groundbreaking composer, who created new musical forms and whose compositions were imbued with an unprecedented sense of nationalism. In Simply Chopin, Dr. William Smialek explores Chopin’s masterworks in the context of historical events, while illuminating the life and often troubled times of this revered and influential luminary of classical music.
Description
Born in a small town near Warsaw, Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) was a musical prodigy who began giving public concerts and composed his first piano pieces at the age of seven. Following studies at the Warsaw Conservatory, he left his native Poland in 1830, eventually settling in Paris, where he lived for the rest of his life. There he cultivated friendships with prominent musicians and intellectuals of the period and quickly achieved renown as a virtuoso performer and pioneering composer. However, by 1842, his lifelong health issues had become increasingly serious, and his brilliant career went into a precipitous decline, concluding with his untimely death at the age of thirty-nine.
In Simply Chopin, Dr. William Smialek presents an accessible and revealing portrait of a musical genius, including his artistic development, his tempestuous love life, and his towering artistic achievements. Relating Chopin’s life story to his historical place and time, Dr. Smialek intimately chronicles his influences and significant relationships, in particular, his long love affair with the writer George Sand. The book also draws on recent research to explore the compositional technique displayed in Chopin’s piano compositions, with commentary on his most important works.
Intended for a general readership, Simply Chopin is both a lucid introduction to a giant of classical music and an insightful look at a key moment in musical history, as nineteenth-century Europe turned toward Romanticism and the powerful idea of nationalism.
About the author
William Smialek is emeritus vice president and professor of music at Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins, Texas. He received his Ph.D. in musicology from the University of North Texas and was a Fulbright Scholar in Poland in 1979-80. His books include Frédéric Chopin: A Research and Information Guide (2015), Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński and Musical Life in Nineteenth-Century Poland (1991), and The Symphony in Poland (1982). Dr. Smialek's scholarly work also includes a number of papers and reviews on nineteenth- and twentieth-century music and culture in Eastern Europe.
About the series
Simply Charly's Great Lives Series offers brief, but authoritative introductions to the world's most influential people—scientists, artists, writers, economists, and other historical figures whose contributions have had a meaningful and enduring impact on our society. Each book, presented in an engaging, accessible and entertaining fashion, offers an illuminating look at their works, ideas and personal lives, and the legacies they left behind.