12 Tremendous Composers 12 Composers    

Lesson 19: Preludes, Op. 28 - No. 15 'Raindrop'

by Frédéric Chopin

Performer: Jeannette Fang

Directions

Study the musical selection for one week.

Over the week:

• Listen to the music daily.
• Read the synopsis.
• Review the vocabulary terms.
• Read about the composer.
• Complete the enrichment activities.
• Study the review questions.

Synopsis

The next tremendous composer for study is Frédéric François Chopin, and the title of his story is 'The Story of the Boy Who Made Beautiful Melodies' by Thomas Tapper. The title of Chopin's composition featured in this lesson is 'Preludes, Op. 28 - No. 15 Raindrop.' Written between 1835 and 1839, Chopin's 24 Preludes, Op. 28, are a set of short piano compositions. If you recall, Under the Home First Grade Music Lessons 16-23 incorporated eight of Chopin's Op. 28 preludes, including 'Tolling Bells,' 'The Night Moth,' 'The Dragonfly' and 'The Duel.' If you wish, harken back for a quick review. As you listen to the composition, imagine the accompanying sounds, sights, and scents of rain pattering against an open window.

Vocabulary

Prelude: A short musical piece that often introduces a more complex piece, although Chopin's preludes stand alone.

Composer

1. As long as we live and keep in touch with the works of the great composers, we shall love more and more the music of Frédéric François Chopin. This is Frédéric Chopin.

2. Perhaps we may begin by learning that Frédéric Chopin was born in a little village in Poland not far from the City of Warsaw, beside which flows the famous river Vistula. Here is a picture of the lovely Vistula in Poland.

3. Here is a picture of the house in which Frédéric Chopin was born.

4. Frédéric Chopin's father, a Frenchman by birth, was a schoolmaster. (So was the father of Franz Schubert, you remember.) The boy's mother was a native of Poland. From the time when he was a little boy, the future great composer loved his mother's country and the people just as much as he loved his dear mother herself.
5. Frédéric Chopin's father knew that his little son was musical, so he took the greatest care to have him taught by the best teachers. He watched over him quite as Leopold Mozart watched the progress of Wolferl; and as Mendelssohn's mother guided Felix and Fanny in their first music lessons.
6. Felix Mendelssohn and Frédéric Chopin were indeed very nearly the same age. Mendelssohn was born in February, 1809, and Chopin was born the first of March in the same year. Let us keep their names together in our memory for the future.
7. Mendelssohn died two years before the death of Frédéric Chopin. Both of these great composers kept busily at their work until the last year of their lives although neither of them was very strong. This is Felix Mendelssohn.

8. Here is a picture of little Chopin playing for a group of boyhood friends.

9. Frédéric Chopin was only nine years old when he first played in public. It is said that he created quite a sensation. But like all those who know that talent is something to be worked for, he did not stop studying just because his playing was pleasing to other people. In fact, it was just on that account that he began to work all the harder.
10. Then there came a great change. Frédéric Chopin left his home and went to Paris, where he lived for the rest of his life. Even though he was but a youth of twenty-one, he had already composed two concertos for the piano. These he had played in public to the great delight of all who heard him, but especially of his countrymen.
11. You see, Frédéric Chopin's going to Paris was a strange journey. The boy was leaving his mother's country and going to the land of his father. Like Joseph Haydn, who went away at the age of six, Chopin never lived at home again.
12. But Frédéric Chopin did not reach Paris a stranger. The world of music had heard of him and some of its great ones welcomed his coming. Let us always think of these men who knew each other well as a family.
13. Franz Liszt was a great composer and pianist.

14. Hector Berlioz was a famous composer for the orchestra. His most famous composition is called 'Symphonie Fantastique.' Berlioz was the only one of the group who was born in France.

15. Giacomo Meyerbeer was best known as an operatic composer.

16. Heinrich Heine was a great German poet whose verses were set to music by many song composers including Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Recite the Composition Information

• Recite the name of the composer and the composition.

Activity 2: Study the Music Timeline

Examine the music timeline to answer the following questions.

• What is the year of birth of the lesson composer?
• What is the year of death of the featured composer?
• How old was the composer upon death?
• Which composer (if any) directly precedes the studied composer by date of birth?
• Which composer (if any) directly succeeds the lesson composer by date of birth?
• Which other timeline composers were alive at the same time as the studied composer?

Activity 3: Map the Music

• Frédéric Chopin was born near Warsaw, Poland.
• What is the capital of Poland?
• Which countries border Poland?

Activity 4: Study Facts About Frédéric Chopin

• Frédéric François Chopin was born in Poland.
• His birthday was March 1, 1809.
• He spent most of his life in the two cities of Warsaw and Paris.
• His father was French; his mother Polish.
• At the age of nine he made his first public appearance as a pianist.
• Many distinguished people welcomed him to Paris.
• Among them were Liszt, Berlioz, Meyerbeer, and Heine.
• His first weeks in Paris were discouraging. His first concert poorly attended.
• This tempted him to return to Poland.
• But his friends urged him to remain in Paris.
• Finally success came.
• Chopin was described as one who spoke little, especially among strangers.
• Some of the music forms which he wrote are the nocturne, waltz, mazurka, impromptu, concerto, polonaise, etude.
• Schumann was one of the first to declare Chopin a genius.
• Chopin worked hard all his life.
• But in his last years he suffered from ill-health.
• Like Milton, Beethoven, Stevenson and Grieg, he kept on with his work, in spite of his illness.
• Chopin once went to England and Scotland.
• Chopin was very fond of Bach and urged his pupils to practice Bach pieces every day for the mental drill as well as the drill for the fingers.

Review

Question 1

In which country was Frédéric Chopin born?

1 / 5

Answer 1

Chopin was born in Poland.

1 / 5

Question 2

In which great French city did Frédéric Chopin live?

2 / 5

Answer 2

Chopin lived in Paris, the capital of France.

2 / 5

Question 3

Which composer was born around the same time as Frédéric Chopin?

3 / 5

Answer 3

Mendelssohn was born in February, 1809, a month before Chopin.

3 / 5

Question 4

At what age did Frédéric Chopin first appear in public?

4 / 5

Answer 4

Chopin first appeared in public at the age of nine.

4 / 5

Question 5

Who were some of the people who welcomed Frédéric Chopin to Paris?

5 / 5

Answer 5

Pianist Liszt, composer Berlioz, opera composer Meyerbeer, and poet Heine welcomed Chopin to Paris.

5 / 5

❮ ❯

1. In which country was Frédéric Chopin born? Chopin was born in Poland.
2. In which great French city did Frédéric Chopin live? Chopin lived in Paris, the capital of France.
3. Which composer was born around the same time as Frédéric Chopin? Mendelssohn was born in February, 1809, a month before Chopin.
4. At what age did Frédéric Chopin first appear in public? Chopin first appeared in public at the age of nine.
5. Who were some of the people who welcomed Frédéric Chopin to Paris? Pianist Liszt, composer Berlioz, opera composer Meyerbeer, and poet Heine welcomed Chopin to Paris.

References

Tapper, Thomas. Frédéric François Chopin - The Story of the Boy Who Made Beautiful Melodies Philadelphia, PA. Theodore Presser Co., 1917.

'Preludes (Chopin).' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.