Piano Street Magazine

Chopin’s 200th Anniversary, March 1 2010

March 1st, 2010 in Piano News by | 124 comments

Celebrate one of the greatest piano composers in history, Frédéric Chopin, with us today by listening to the Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman’s performance of Ballade no 2 in F-major while following along in Chopin’s autograph manuscript (available for free from pianostreet.com throughout the year 2010).
Or if you are up for an even more exciting birthday experience, print out the manuscript and play from it (and then let us know by posting a reply if that gave you any new thoughs or insights into this piece)!

Click the sheet music to open the printable autograph score (3.9Mb ) in a new browser window or right click “Save target as…” to download the file.

Please share your comments and personal thoughts about Chopin’s music here and let your friends and colleagues know about this blog post by making use of the “Share/Save” button below.

Happy birthday Frédéric! We love your music!
And thanks Krystian for your extraordinary rendition of the Ballade!
/The Piano Street Team


Related posts:
Poland throws bash for Chopin’s 200th
Sa Chen plays Chopin
Tiempo’s Revolutionary Thirds Equals Three?
The Great Arthur Rubinstein Revisited

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Comments

  • Lisa Lanza says:

    With the utmost sincerest gratitude to you, dear Chopin, for giving my life purpose and meaning. I thank you for every one of your musical compositions that you brought to this earth. Thank you for staying with us, even so, 200 years later! You are awesome! And an extra special thankyou for the Preludes. XXX Lisa

  • ngun sam says:

    Happpy birthday Frédéric Francois Chopin.

  • Jesslyn says:

    Happy Birthday Frederic Chopin, the awesome man who contributed to classical music sooo much =)

  • Jim Lichtenberg says:

    Happy Birthday Frederic!

    This Ballade is heavenly, and captures the extremes that make Chopin such a unique and timeless and heartbreaking composer, his incredible musical bi-polarity: from the sweetness of a Bach choral to a crazed, storm-tossed romanticism, coherently all in one piece of gorgeous music. The musical equivalent of Keat’s “negative capability” taken to an astounding pinnacle of sonic creativity.

    Did I mention Happy Birthday?

  • niloofar says:

    happy birthday my favorite composer! CHOPIN!
    I love it!

  • Matthew says:

    I love the poetic nature of Chopin’s music. Absolutely genius!

  • RadioChopin says:

    Don’t miss 200 stories for the 200 years of Fryderyk Chopin at http://www.radiochopin.org! Two-minute radio stories about Chopin’s works followed by full performances. A gem!

  • Gerry Jansen says:

    Thank you Maestro! and Happy birthday! The perfect expression of emotion and harmonies vibrate through ones body when playing and listening to your music! No wonder the ladies all swooned . “head over heels – drowning in passion” I think describes your music…perfectly.

  • Hans Hylen says:

    I have always loved your music. Just now am I struggling with the Mazurka 17 no 4. Happy birhtday!

  • Theo says:

    Happy birthay, Fryderyk!!!

  • Thales de Lema says:

    Chopin’s music is a bridge to God… for me!

  • bethany says:

    Happy birthday to Chopin!

  • geraluvi says:

    I knew him at my 17’s. We talked about our innermost feelings and since then he is one of my better friends; I always listen his advices; he always gives good advices. The preludes hit me first. Twentee four hard devices. I have nostalgia for the Nocturnes. Etudes make me powerfull. ¡Frederik! ¡My friend!, you know Fpy by sight! ¡Be happy Wherever you may find yourself!

  • joke pouw says:

    Happy birthday to Chopin,
    One of my favourites is etude in C minor op. 10/12 ‘Revolution’
    I have always loved his music, beautiful, but often difficult to play.

  • David says:

    Chopin is magnificent. If only he (like Mozart, Schubert, Mendelssohn, and others who died way too young) could have lived a 70+ year lifespan like we have today. As is, his legacy is immortal! Amazing poetry, lyricism, passion, tranquility, ecstasy, storminess, and heartbreak, often in the same piece! I learned his easy music when young, but there’s always more to reach for. Favorites include both sets of Etudes, Ballades, Sonatas 2-3, Polonaise-Fantasie, Fantasie in F minor, Preludes 15, 16 and 24, several nocturnes. There are other great composers for piano too, and some may have written more massive and difficult pieces, but for me Chopin is the quintessential piano composer, the ideal combination of melody, harmony, brilliance, and beauty.

  • Chloe says:

    Thank you SO MUCH to coming to the world. Your ballade is heaven. Etudes,waltzes.mazurkas,nocturnes are so cute. I must admit that I am more in to German school but i alway alway have your pieces in my repertoire. I hope you enjoy your 200th birthday party with all your friends including Schumann! Dont forget him haha. I will see ya at you 300th bday party! :]

  • Afolayan Jacob says:

    I feel deliciously happy when I tasted your music. Oh,it’s my joy meeting you if you were alive. When you rest in peace as you are widely celebrated. Good music icon,happy birthday.

  • Yuka says:

    I’m crazy for Chopin. He always give me energy to live tommorow.Especially I love ballade no.4. I’m refursing now.It’s my happy time to play. I think his all composes are been forever.Please allow me wrong English.Thank you.

  • Javier Davila says:

    Thanks for the music
    Too difficult por my piano playing, so I didn’t print it, but I have listened with delight.
    And I have just sing in at FB, thanks for that, too

  • luis garduno says:

    Chopin one of the greatest composers virtuous king of instruments piano

  • Branca Paxiuta says:

    Just magnificent. Chopin is a composer with a great soul.

  • Ruud Hagen says:

    I’ve never been able to play as a professional. Performances as this one always leave me both happy and with ‘tristesse’ if not ‘flabbergasted’. Thanks for the possibility to hear and see it.

  • misook says:

    Happy birthday my dear Chopin!!!

  • Lea Gentile says:

    What a gift to the world you were and still are…..your music transports us to other worlds as real or more real than this contingent one of water, clay, time and space. Lucky are we to have such music and the opportunity to study and play it! May your music live forever and may composers now and in the future be better understood, accepted and appreciated thanks to your sufferings and achievements.

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