Frederic Chopin
Chopin wrote almost nothing that is not for piano, and he did it by choice rather than limitation. He knew the instrument's mechanics well enough to write figures that lie under the hand and sound harder than they are, and others that sound simple and are not.
His forms are mostly small: preludes, nocturnes, mazurkas, waltzes, studies. A piece often states an idea, varies its surface rather than developing it, and closes. Where a Beethoven movement argues, a Chopin piece elaborates. The exceptions are the ballades and scherzos, which are long and do argue.
Two habits shape the sound. The melody is written as if for a singer, with ornaments that behave like vocal decoration rather than filler. And the left hand supplies a wide, pedalled harmonic field that the right hand floats over, with the two hands often not quite in step, which is what people mean by his rubato.
What to listen for
- A singing right hand over a spread left-hand accompaniment, held together by the pedal.
- Chromatic inner voices moving under a plain tune. The harmony is often busier than it first sounds.
- Dance rhythms used as structure, especially the mazurka's stress on the second or third beat.
- Endings that thin out to one line or one chord rather than building to a finish.
Source: Frédéric Chopin