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 lived in Paris, France.
- What is the capital of France?
- Which countries border France?
Activity 4: Write a One-Page Paper About Frédéric François Chopin
Read these facts about Frédéric François Chopin and write a one-page story out of them, using your own words.
- 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.