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Simply Chopin

Biography and Memoir

,

Simply Chopin

William Smialek

Simply Chopin

Length2h 18m

About this audiobook

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.

Identity

Folklore

Coming of Age

Journey

Political Intrigue

Rebellion

Family

Audiobook details

GenreBiography and Memoir, History

Length2 hrs 18 mins

Publish dateSep 21, 2018

LanguageEnglish

Table of contents

1Other Great Lives

85. Illness and Final Years 1848

2Series Editor's Foreword

96. Chopin’s Legacy

3Preface

10Sources

41. Early Years

11Suggested Reading

52. Education and Coming of Age 1825-1830

12About the Author

63. Exit from Warsaw 1831-1838

13A Word from the Publisher

74. Chopin and Sand 1839-1847

About the author

William Smialek

View all audiobooks by William Smialek

Series

Great LivesBook 14 of 1

Great LivesBook 14 of 6

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