Frédéric Chopin
Poet of the piano, transformed piano music
Most quoted
"One needs only to study a certain positioning of the hand in relation to the keys to obtain with ease the most beautiful sounds, to know how to play long notes and short notes and to [attain] certain unlimited dexterity... A well formed technique, it seems to me, [is one] that can control and vary a beautiful sound quality."
— from Prose writings
"Paris is whatever you want it to be. You can amuse yourself, be bored, laugh, cry, do whatever you like, and no one will so much as look at you, because thousands of others are doing exactly the same thing, each in his own way."
— from Letter, 1831
"When one does a thing, it appears good, otherwise one would not write it. Only later comes reflection, and one discards or accepts the thing. Time is the best censor, and patience a most excellent teacher."
— from Attributed remark
All quotes by Frédéric Chopin (369)
The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of his own creation.
I feel music in my bones.
Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor.
To play Chopin well, one must sing inside.
I am always writing music in my head.
The public is like a piano; you must know how to play it.
My heart is in Warsaw.
Music must strike the heart.
I compose by the light of the moon.
Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures.
The piano is a confessional.
I am melting like snow in the sun.
Great art is born of great suffering.
My melodies are like Polish folk songs.
To be a musician is to be a poet.
I find my rest in music.
The nocturne is a dream without end.
Love is the essence of all music.
I am a child of music.
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Contemporaries of Frédéric Chopin
Other Musics born within 50 years of Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849).