Original subtitles

Adalbert Dankowski - Symphony in E-flat major (1788)

Fryderyk Chopin did not hail from 2 family of great musicians

but from musical folk who made music at home

There were no radios or records in those days

Music-making ranged from the humble home to the salons of the aristocracy

Chopin's mother played the harpsichord and then the piano

She played when at Zelazowa Wola, the Skarbek estate

and continued after moving to Warsaw.

Polonaise in G minor (1817)

The teenage Chopin was fascinated by the outside world

He especially wanted to study the works of other composers

but he read on many subjects

and spent hours in discussion with friends in Warsaw cafés

His travels during his holidays were also very significant

As a 14 and 15-year-old

he travelled to the Dobrzyn countryside to visit his friend Dominik Dziewanowski

There he came into contact with traditional music,

danced the lively obereks and waltzes,

listened to Jewish orchestras

All of this was very influential in shaping his character.

Opus 1 - Rondo in C minor (1825)

Sonata in A minor (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1778)

Polonaise in G-sharp minor (1622)

Opus 72 no.1 - Nocturne in E minor (1827)

Opus 2 - Variations in B-flat major on La ci darem la mano from Mozart's Don Giovanni (1827-28)

Opus 14 - Rondo 2 la Krakowiak in F major (1828)

The Grosse Fuge (Ludwig van Beethoven, 1825)

Opus 21 - Piano Concerto in F minor (1829-30)

If you want to understand Chopin

you have to look at the important works he wrote in Warsaw

These are all the works he wrote for piano and orchestra

His two piano concertos are, despite Chopin's youth,

masterpieces.

The F-minor is my favourite piano concerto

It is connected with my own biography

It was the very first piano concerto I ever played

My mother still cries when she listens to it

I've got many good memories from playing this concerto

I've played it so many times with different orchestras and conductors

Let me put it this way:

It almost feels as if I composed it myself

Don't take it seriously, but this is how I feel

I quite simply adore Chopin's Piano concerto in F-minor.

Nocturne no.20 in C-sharp minor (1830)

Opus 11 - Piano Concerto in E minor (1830)

Opus 22 - Andante spianato and grande polonaise in E-flat major (1830-34)

Opus 20 - Scherzo no.1 in B minor (1831-32)

Opus 9 no.2 - Nocturne in E-flat major (1830-32)

Opus 9 no.2 - Nocturne in E-flat major (1830-32)

Rakéczy March (Franz Liszt)

Opus 70 no.1 - Waltz in G-flat major (1832-1833)

Opus 7 no.2 - Mazurka in A minor (1830-1832)

Opus 53 - Polonaise in A-flat major (1842)

Without doubt Chopin's music

is the soul of Poland for Polish people

It's in our blood

and nobody can take it away from us

But music is not attached to a country

Therefore you don't have to be Polish

to play Chopin's music well

However, if you are Palish and you are 3 pianist

it is possible that you will play Chopin's music more naturally.

Opus 30 no.4 - Mazurka in C-sharp minor (1836-1837)

Opus 23 - Ballade no.1 in G-minor (1831-1835)

Opus 27 no.2 - Nocturne in D-flat major (1835-1836)

George Sand was one of the greatest female artists of her time

She had a career that lasted 45 years and had a very large literary output

At the time there were prejudices and so, as a result,

for women who wanted to get published the use of an assumed name

or even anonymity was quite common

She applied for a judicial separation from her husband

That didn't happen very often either

She was a woman who loved in a rather free way

George Sand had two children

Chopin's relationship with George Sand's children was different for each child

He didn't seem to be very close to Maurice

They didn't have much in common

On the other hand, he was much closer to Solange

Solange was a musician, she played piano,

so they had much more of a bond than Chopin ever had with Maurice

George Sand had a large income which came mainly from her writing

She was one of highest paid authors of her generation

She was very well paid, far better paid than Chopin.

Opus 28 no.15 - Prelude in D-flat major (1838)

Opus 33 no.3 - Mazurka in C major (1838)

Opus 33 no.4 - Mazurka in B minor (1838)

They came here because that was their way of life

They were in Paris in the autumn, winter and beginning of spring

because that was the artistic season

You couldn't miss anything important,

especially if you were George Sand or Fryderyk Chopin

Chopin gave piano lessons daily to an extremely privileged Parisian clientele

It was a vital source of income

He couldn't be anywhere other than Paris during those winter months

On the other hand she couldn't live without Nohant

So when things quietened down in Paris

they made their way here, often by train

They would stay for five or six months,

for as long as the countryside was beautiful,

for as long as the days were long.

Opus 35 - Piano Sonata no.2 in B-flat minor (1837-39)

Opus 47 - Ballade No.3 in A-flat major (1840-1841)

Opus 52 - Ballade No.4 in F minor (1842-1843)

Opus 48 no. 1 - Nocturne in C minor (1841)

Opus 70 No. 2 - Waltz in F minor (1842)

Opus 57 - Berceuse in D-flat major (1843-44)

Opus 62 no.1 - Nocturne in B major (1846)

Opus 64 no.2 - Waltz in C-sharp minor (1847)

Opus 67 no.2 Mazurka in G-minor (1846)

Opus 68 no.4 - Mazurka in F minor (1849)

Requiem in D minor (Wolfgang Mozart 1791)