Waltzes

The Waltzes have never lost their original attraction for pianists, either in public or in private. Their rhythmic verve, their wealth of melody, their power to evoke well-difined moods and to re-create the atmosphere of excitement, nostalgia, or languor have exercised an irresistible fascination upon generations of music-lovers. Chopin wrote his Waltzes spanning his whole lifetime. They have very little in common with Schuberts's waltzes, neither resemble they the Viennese of the Lanner and Strauss circle, who wrote "unterhaltungsmusik" for a wide audience. Chopin's waltzes are designed for the salons of the aristocracy, they are sophisticated works in which, behind the glitter and glamour, deeper and often melancholic feelings are hiding.

Preludes

The Préludes are for several reasons very much related to the Etudes of op. 10 & 25. While composing them he had a conception similar to Bach with the Well Tempered Clavier: like his predecessor Chopin put all Préludes into an order of tonalities, however with a difference; in the Well Tempered Clavier all tonalities are rising chromatically, while Chopin put his Préludes into an order which follows the circle of tonalities. It is known, that Chopin studied thoroughly the works of Bach before writing his Préludes. He admired a lot the perfection of form and harmony in Bach's music. Inspite of this example, however, Chopin created something completely new. Originally the french word "prélude" means nothing else than "introduction", but in this form Chopin let the 24 Préludes develop into independent pieces of music.

Robert Schumann:"I would term the Preludes strange. They are sketches, beginnings of Etudes, or, so to speak, ruins, individual eagle pinions, all disorder and wild confusions."

Franz Liszt (1841): "Chopin's Preludes are compositions of an order entirely apart. They are not only, as the title might make one think, pieces destined to be played in the guise of introductions to other pieces; they are poetic preludes, analogous to those of a great contemporary poet, who cradles the soul in golden dreams, and elevates it to the regions of the ideal."

Etudes

The publication of the 'Douze Grandes Etudes' Opus 10 in 1833 provided the musical world with its first conclusive evidence of the depth of Chopin's creative talent. They mark the end of his artistic adolescence, the clear beginnings of a maturity that was resoundingly confirmed by the contents of his second collection, Opus 25. These etudes are inspired by Paganini's caprices, and were written between 1829 and 1836. Individual Etudes became the first pieces by Chopin to appear in many pianists' concert programmes.

Nocturnes

The Nocturne is generally credited to the Irish composer/pianist John Field, who published his first three Nocturnes in 1814. These romantic character pieces are written in a somewhat melancholy style, with an expressive, dreamy melody over broken-chord accompaniment. The majority of Chopin's nocturnes adopt a simple A-B-A form. The A-part is usually in a dreamy bel-canto style, whereas the B part is of a more dramatic content. In distinction of melody, wealth of harmony and originality of piano style, Chopin's nocturnes leave Field's far behind. The similarity of Chopin's nocturnes to Bellini's cavatinas (such as `Casta diva' from Norma) has often been noticed, though there is little evidence of direct influence in either direction.

Fransz Liszt: "We have seen the shy, serenely tender emotions which Field charged them to interpret, supplanted by strange and foreign effects. Only one genius possessed himself of this style, lending to it all the movement and ardour of which it was susceptible. Chopin, in his poetic Nocturnes, sang not only the harmonies which are the source of our most ineffable delights, but likewise the restless, agitating bewilderment to which they often give rise."