Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
5/5
Audiobook23 hours
Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times
Written by Dr. Alan Walker
Narrated by Corrie James
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
A landmark biography of the Polish composer by a leading authority on Chopin and his time.
Based on ten years of research and a vast cache of primary sources located in archives in Warsaw, Paris, London, New York, and Washington, D.C., Alan Walker's monumental Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times is the most comprehensive biography of the great Polish composer to appear in English in more than a century. Walker's work is a corrective biography, intended to dispel the many myths and legends that continue to surround Chopin. Fryderyk Chopin is an intimate look into a dramatic life; of particular focus are Chopin's childhood and youth in Poland, which are brought into line with the latest scholarly findings, and Chopin's romantic life with George Sand, with whom he lived for nine years.
Comprehensive and engaging, the biography wears its scholarship lightly: this is a book suited as much for the professional pianist as it is for the casual music lover. Just as he did in his definitive biography of Liszt, Walker illuminates Chopin and his music with unprecedented clarity in this magisterial biography, bringing to life one of the nineteenth century's most confounding, beloved, and legendary artists.
Based on ten years of research and a vast cache of primary sources located in archives in Warsaw, Paris, London, New York, and Washington, D.C., Alan Walker's monumental Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times is the most comprehensive biography of the great Polish composer to appear in English in more than a century. Walker's work is a corrective biography, intended to dispel the many myths and legends that continue to surround Chopin. Fryderyk Chopin is an intimate look into a dramatic life; of particular focus are Chopin's childhood and youth in Poland, which are brought into line with the latest scholarly findings, and Chopin's romantic life with George Sand, with whom he lived for nine years.
Comprehensive and engaging, the biography wears its scholarship lightly: this is a book suited as much for the professional pianist as it is for the casual music lover. Just as he did in his definitive biography of Liszt, Walker illuminates Chopin and his music with unprecedented clarity in this magisterial biography, bringing to life one of the nineteenth century's most confounding, beloved, and legendary artists.
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Reviews for Fryderyk Chopin
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
16 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very well researched and engaging biography of Chopin. Well worth reading or listening to.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This extensive biography on the life of Chopin brings to life the characteristics of the man and the times that influenced him. It is debatable whether he should be considered the greatest composer of the piano in history but there is no question the marks he made set him apart.The biography takes us through the formative time in Poland to his imposed exile to France, his forays into England and back to his final period in France. His heart that began in his beloved Poland returns physically to its resting place back in Warsaw. Chopin's life in music is on display here in its prolific output broken down by staves and chords that made it his genius. We are also presented with the arduous twisting and turning of his long term relationship with his life partner George Sand. It is sad to think of what we have missed with his early passing, but there is no doubt what he left behind is still and will continue to be the standard of excellence in artistry on the keyboard.