Frédéric Chopin
Poland, 1817–1849
Polish composer and pianist (1810-1849) who wrote almost exclusively for the piano. His nocturnes, preludes, etudes and mazurkas, and his use of chromatic harmony and pedal, shaped later Romantic piano writing.
MusicRoots documents 3 artists who influenced Frédéric Chopin and 6 artists Frédéric Chopin influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.
Who influenced Frédéric Chopin?
- Johann Sebastian Bach — Chopin venerated Bach, warmed up with the Well-Tempered Clavier and modelled his 24 Preludes on its key cycle.
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Chopin held Mozart above all other composers and asked for Mozart's Requiem to be performed at his funeral.
- John Field — Field's nocturnes were the direct genre model for Chopin's own — a debt contemporaries and Chopin's teaching repertoire both document.
Which artists did Frédéric Chopin influence?
- Alexander Scriabin — Chopin was the pianistic and harmonic model of early Scriabin, from which he launched toward his own mystical language.
- Edvard Grieg — Chopin's poetic miniatures were the model for Grieg's Lyric Pieces — critics dubbed him 'the Chopin of the North'.
- Anton Rubinstein — Chopin invited the boy Rubinstein to his studio and played for him in Paris; echoes of Chopin run through Rubinstein's own piano writing.
- Gabriel Fauré — Chopin's nocturnes and barcarolles are the direct ancestors of Fauré's own — the genre titles and pianistic idiom are inherited outright.
- Sergei Rachmaninoff — Chopin's piano tradition is the direct ancestor of Rachmaninoff's — his Variations on a Theme of Chopin and his celebrated Chopin interpretations document the lineage.
- Serge Gainsbourg — Gainsbourg trained as a pianist on his father's classical repertoire before he wrote a song, and quoted Chopin outright in 'Jane B.'