12 Tremendous Composers 12 Composers    

Lesson 21: Nocturne in B flat minor, Op. 9 no. 1

by Frédéric Chopin

Performer: Olga Gurevich

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

Frédéric Chopin composed his 21 solo piano Nocturnes between 1827 and 1846. The featured composition in this lesson, "Nocturne in B flat minor, Op. 9 no. 1," is the first of three nocturnes that make up "Nocturne in B flat minor, Op. 9."

Vocabulary

Nocturne: A dreamlike or pensive composition, usually for the piano.

Composer

1. Frédéric Chopin was never a robust person, though he was well and busy most of his life. But in the last years he suffered much from illness. This led him to travel to many places from Paris for the good of his health.

2. Chopin was devoted to Poland, the beloved land of his birth. Here is a picture of the great composer who has fallen asleep at the keyboard and is dreaming of a glorious future for Poland.

3. Once he went to England and to Scotland. He played in London and was highly praised for the beautiful way he performed his own music.
4. While it is true that Chopin was ill in the last years of his life, we must notice that he kept right on with his work. He played and composed just as he always had done. Chopin died in Paris, October 17, 1849, just two years after Mendelssohn, who died in 1847.
5. Many men, who would have given up everything had they not been brave, have worked right on through illness.
6. English poet John Milton was blind, but he dictated Paradise Lost to his daughter.

7. German composer Ludwig van Beethoven was deaf, but he did not give up composing.

8. English poet and novelist Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote the lovely 'Child's Garden of Verses,' was ill all his life, but he kept on writing.

9. Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg was probably never well all his life, but he never gave up.

10. Have you ever thought that the beautiful ideas of great people sometimes outlive famous cities?
11. What a lot of cities and countries we must visit in our thoughts, to see the great composers at their work. For example—
12. George Frideric Handel to Germany and England.

13. Johann Sebastian Bach to Thuringia in Saxony, Germany.

14. Franz Joseph Haydn to Hungary.

15. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to Salzburg and Vienna in Austria.

16. Ludwig van Beethoven to Germany and Vienna. (He was born at Bonn on the Rhine).

17. Franz Schubert to Vienna in Austria.

18. Felix Mendelssohn (born 1809) to Hamburg and Berlin, Germany.

19. Frédéric Chopin to Warsaw and Paris.

20. Robert Schumann to Germany.

21. Composer and pianist Edvard Grieg belongs to Norway.

22. It is a pleasant thing for us to examine these names in order of birth on the Composers Timeline, beginning with the oldest, Handel and Bach, and coming down to the latest. By doing such things, time and time again, they begin to stick in the memory.

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

Find the countries of birth and/or residence of the famous composers on the map of Europe.

• Norway: Edvard Grieg
• Poland: Frédéric Chopin
• France: Frédéric Chopin
• Austria: Franz Schubert, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Germany: Johann Sebastian Bach, Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, George Frideric Handel, and Ludwig van Beethoven
• England (UK): George Frideric Handel
• Hungary: Franz Joseph Haydn

Activity 4: Read Aloud Your Paper About Frédéric François Chopin

• Read your one-page story about Frédéric François Chopin to your family.
• Make any corrections, as needed, after reading the paper aloud.

Review

Question 1

Name some great writers and composers who kept at work even though they were not in the best of health.

1 / 5

Answer 1

Blind English poet John Milton, deaf German composer Ludwig van Beethoven, and chronically ill English poet and novelist Robert Louis Stevenson continued working through poor health.

1 / 5

Question 2

In which country was Edvard Grieg born?

2 / 5

Answer 2

Grieg was born in Norway.

2 / 5

Question 3

In which country was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart born?

3 / 5

Answer 3

Mozart was born in Austria.

3 / 5

Question 4

In which two countries did George Frideric Handel live?

4 / 5

Answer 4

Handel lived in Germany and England.

4 / 5

Question 5

Which music by Frédéric Chopin have you heard?

5 / 5

Answer 5

At a minimum, you've heard some of Chopin's Preludes, his Fantaisie-Impromptu, and his Nocturne, Op.9 no.1.

5 / 5

❮ ❯

1. Name some great writers and composers who kept at work even though they were not in the best of health. Blind English poet John Milton, deaf German composer Ludwig van Beethoven, and chronically ill English poet and novelist Robert Louis Stevenson continued working through poor health.
2. In which country was Edvard Grieg born? Grieg was born in Norway.
3. In which country was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart born? Mozart was born in Austria.
4. In which two countries did George Frideric Handel live? Handel lived in Germany and England.
5. Which music by Frédéric Chopin have you heard? At a minimum, you've heard some of Chopin's Preludes, his Fantaisie-Impromptu, and his Nocturne, Op.9 no.1.

References

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

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