Chopin: Chamber Works
View all works by Chopin in the main appExplore the complete catalog of Chamber compositions by Chopin. This curated list includes composition years, historical Wikipedia context, and interactive audio to add specific tracks directly to your listening queue.
| Title | Year | Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Cello Sonata in G minor, op. 65 |
The Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65, was written by Frédéric Chopin in 1846–47. It is one of only nine works of Chopin published during his lifetime that were written for instruments other than piano (although the piano still appears in every work he wrote). Chopin composed four sonatas, the other three being piano sonatas. The cello sonata was the last of Chopin's works to be published in his lifetime. The sonata was written for and dedicated to Auguste Franchomme. The sonata is remarkable for the concentration of its material: much of the music of the first movement grows out of the cello’s opening statement, and certain theme-shapes appear in all its movements. The last three movements were first publicly performed by Franchomme and Chopin at the composer's last public concert, at the Salle Pleyel on 16 February 1848. |
|
| Grand Duo on Themes from Robert Le Diable, B.70 |
Robert le diable (Robert the Devil) is an opera in five acts composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer between 1827 and 1831, to a libretto written in French by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne. Robert le diable is regarded as one of the first grand operas at the Paris Opéra. It has only a superficial connection to the medieval legend of Robert the Devil. The opera was immediately successful from its first night on 21 November 1831 at the Opéra; the dramatic music, harmony and orchestration, its melodramatic plot, its star singers and its sensational stage effects compelled Frédéric Chopin, who was in the audience, to say, "If ever magnificence was seen in the theatre, I doubt that it reached the level of splendour shown in Robert...It is a masterpiece...Meyerbeer has made himself immortal". Robert initiated the European fame of its composer, consolidated the fame of its librettist Scribe, and launched the reputation of the new director of the Opéra, Louis-Désiré Véron, as a purveyor of a new genre of opera. It also had influence on development of the ballet, and was frequently mentioned and discussed in contemporary French literature. Robert continued as a favourite in opera houses all over the world throughout the nineteenth century. After a period of neglect, it began to be revived towards the end of the twentieth century. |
|
| Introduction and Polonaise in C major, op. 3 |
The Polonaise in A♭ major, Op. 53 (French: Polonaise héroïque, Heroic Polonaise; Polish: Heroiczny) is a solo piano piece composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1842 The piece was published in 1843, and is one of Chopin's most admired compositions and has long been a favorite of the romantic piano repertoire. Pianist Arthur Rubinstein once called it "the composition which is the closest to my heart." The piece requires exceptional piano skills and great virtuosity to be interpreted at a high degree of proficiency. It is also very physically demanding, and according to his student Adolphe Gutmann, Chopin played it more gently than most performers. The polonaise was dedicated to Auguste Léo, a German banker and friend of Chopin. The autograph manuscript of the work is preserved in the Morgan Library & Museum. |
|
| Piano Trio in G minor, op. 8 |
The Piano Sonata No. 2 in B♭ minor, Op. 35, is a piano sonata in four movements by Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. Chopin completed the work while living in George Sand's manor in Nohant, some 250 km (160 mi) south of Paris, a year before it was published in 1840. The first of the composer's three mature sonatas (the others being the Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58 and the Sonata for Piano and Cello in G minor, Op. 65), the work is considered to be one of the greatest piano sonatas of the literature. The third movement of the Piano Sonata No. 2 is Chopin's famous funeral march (French: Marche funèbre; Polish: Marsz żałobny) which was composed at least two years before the remainder of the work and has remained, by itself, one of Chopin's most popular compositions. The Piano Sonata No. 2 carries allusions and reminiscences of music by J. S. Bach and by Ludwig van Beethoven; Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 12 also has a funeral march as its third movement. A typical performance of Chopin's second sonata lasts between 21 and 25 minutes, depending on whether the repetition of the first movement's exposition is observed. While the Piano Sonata No. 2 gained instant popularity with the public, critical reception was initially more doubtful. Robert Schumann, among other critics, argued that the work was structurally inferior and that Chopin "could not quite handle sonata form", a criticism that did not withstand time. The work has been recorded by numerous pianists and is regularly programmed in concerts and piano competitions. The Marche funèbre exists in countless arrangements and has been performed at funerals all over the world (including Chopin's own), having become an archetypal evocation of death. |
|
| Variations on 'Non più mesta', B.9 |
Most of Frédéric Chopin's compositions were for solo piano, though he did compose several pieces for piano and orchestra (including two piano concertos) as well as some chamber works that include other instruments. His larger scale works such as the three piano sonatas, the four scherzi, the four ballades, the Fantaisie in F minor, Op. 49, the Barcarolle in F♯ major, Op. 60, and the Polonaise-Fantaisie in A♭ major, Op. 61 have cemented a solid place within the piano repertoire, as have his shorter works: the polonaises, mazurkas, waltzes, impromptus, rondos, and nocturnes. Two important collections are the Études, Op. 10 and 25 (which are a staple of that genre for pianists), and the 24 Preludes, Op. 28 (a cycle of short pieces paired in a major key/relative minor key pattern following the circle of fifths in clockwise steps). In addition, Chopin wrote numerous song settings of Polish texts, and chamber pieces including a piano trio and a cello sonata. This listing uses the traditional opus numbers where they apply; other works are identified by numbers from the catalogues of Maurice J. E. Brown (B), Krystyna Kobylańska (KK), Józef Michał Chomiński (A, C, D, E, P, S), and Jan Ekier (WN, Dbop.). |