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 most beautiful melodies are those that are whispered.
Play as you feel, but always with taste.
The public is a great beast, and one must know how to tame it.
I am not a revolutionary. I am a traditionalist.
One must have a good ear, a good memory, and a good heart.
The piano is a friend, a confidant, a companion.
I wish I could throw off the thoughts that make me so unhappy.
I am not fit for giving concerts. The crowd intimidates me.
My piano is my only friend.
The artist must be a poet, a philosopher, a painter, a sculptor, a musician.
I have no talent for public speaking.
The most beautiful music is that which is played from the heart.
I would rather play for one person than for a thousand.
The piano is a mirror of the soul.
My greatest ambition is to be forgotten.
I am a man of the salon, not the concert hall.
The true artist is one who can express the inexpressible.
I have no need of a public. I play for myself.
The piano is a universe in itself.
I am a dreamer, and my music is my dream.
Contemporaries of Frédéric Chopin
Other Musics born within 50 years of Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849).