Composers Like Chopin: Ten Composers to Check Out

By Emily E.Hogstad, Interlude

Delicacy. Poignancy. Romance. These are just a few of the words often associated with Frédéric Chopin‘s timeless compositions for piano.

Frédéric Chopin © ClassicFM

That said, Chopin’s music doesn’t have a monopoly on those adjectives.

Today, we’re looking at ten works by ten composers who, just like Chopin, understood the piano’s expressive power…while forging their own creative identities, too.

If you’re looking for music like Chopin’s, here are ten suggestions for your playlist:

John Field (1782-1837)

Pianist and composer John Field was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1782.

He studied with Muzio Clementi in London and toured Europe with him, finally settling in St. Petersburg in 1802.

John Field, 1820

In his late twenties, he began experimenting musically. He started writing short pieces for solo piano featuring an arpeggiated accompaniment in the left hand and a highly chromatic melody in the right hand. These pieces would usually be poetic and melancholy in nature. He called them “Nocturnes.” And so a new genre of piano music was born, that Chopin would later perfect.

You can hear Field’s influence in Chopin’s nocturnes.

Maria Szymanowska (1789-1831) 

Maria Szymanowska was born Marianna Agata Wołowska in Warsaw in 1789.

Maria Szymanowska

In 1810, she married a man named Józef Szymanowski, a wealthy landowner, and she also made her public debut as a pianist.

Many women musicians of this era gave up their careers once they got married, but not Szymanowska. Ultimately, she split from her husband and began touring Europe, spending a great deal of time in St. Petersburg. (And in case you’re wondering, yes, she did cross paths with Field!) She died there in 1831 during a cholera epidemic.

Musicologist Sławomir Dobrzański writes, “Szymanowska’s musical style is parallel to the compositional starting point of Frédéric Chopin; many of her compositions had an obvious impact on Chopin’s mature musical language.”

Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857)

Glinka was born in Russia in 1804. He attended a school in St. Petersburg for children of the nobility and took three lessons from John Field while there.

Portrait of Mikhail Glinka, 1840

When he became an adult, he joined the Foreign Office, but by night, he kept pursuing music. He ultimately developed a great passion for expressing Russian nationalism in music, and encouraging a specifically Russian school of music.

Most of his best-known music dates from after that revelation. However, the music from his young dilettante days – like this Nocturne from 1828 – feels similar in some ways to Chopin’s and certainly reveals Field’s influence.

Franz Liszt (1811-1886) 

Liszt and Chopin met at the latter’s first Parisian concert in 1832. They moved in the same aristocratic Parisian circles and their lives shared important themes, chief among them their devotion to their respective homelands (Hungary and Poland).

Franz Liszt, 1847

They respected each other a great deal, and Liszt was deeply saddened by Chopin’s early death in 1849. Liszt went so far as to write a biography in memory of his friend.

It is believed that Liszt’s third Consolation in D-flat major is modeled after Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 27, No. 2. This piece by Liszt was published in 1850, the year after Chopin’s death.  

Clara Schumann (1819-1896) 

Clara Wieck, who became known as Clara Schumann after her marriage to composer Robert Schumann, began championing the works of Chopin when she was a child prodigy touring across Europe.

Robert and Clara Schumann

In 1832, the same year that Liszt and Chopin met, a young Clara Wieck heard Chopin in concert. She never forgot the experience.

Clara Wieck Schumann was always excited to play any new music that Chopin would write. She continued playing Chopin for decades after his death at important and prestigious venues, helping to ensure that he would stay in the repertoire. She ultimately emerged as one of the greatest pianists of her generation, and she brought Chopin’s music with her on that journey.

When Chopin came to visit her in 1836, she played this Chopinesque nocturne for him, as well as a variety of other pieces. He was delighted.

Thomas Tellefsen (1823-1874) 

Pianist and composer Thomas Tellefsen was born in Trondheim, Norway, in 1823.

As a young man, it became his dream to study with Chopin, and so he left his native Norway for Paris.

Thomas Tellefsen

Unfortunately for Tellefsen, however, not just anyone could study with Chopin; he was in high demand as a teacher.

Luckily, in 1844, Chopin’s partner, authoress George Sand, put in a good word for Tellefsen, and Chopin accepted him as a student. Chopin was impressed by his talent, and eventually, the two men became friends and traveling companions.

Chopin viewed Tellefsen as a major pedagogical heir, tasking him with writing a pianoforte method based on what he’d learned. However, if Tellefsen did complete it, no record of it exists.

What does exist are his compositions in a style a la Chopin.

Carl Filtsch (1830-1845) 

Carl Filtsch was born in present-day Romania in 1830. He was a child prodigy, and his family relocated to Paris when he was eleven so he could take lessons from Chopin.

Chopin didn’t teach children, but he made an exception for Filtsch. Indeed, he started teaching him three lessons a week.

Carl Filtsch

Filtsch eventually began touring Europe to acclaim, but he died of tuberculosis in Venice when he was only fifteen years old.

One of Chopin’s friends wrote in 1843 that, “My God! What a child! Nobody has ever understood me as this child has…It is not imitation, it is the same sentiment, an instinct that makes him play without thinking as if it could not have been any other way.”

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) Play

Chopin died when Fauré was only a few years old, but something about Chopin’s brand of poignancy and elegance spoke to the Frenchman. When Fauré began writing his own nocturnes in the mid-1870s, he reached back to an earlier generation for inspiration.

John Singer Sargent: Gabriel Fauré, 1896

Fauré, like Chopin, was obsessed with writing for piano. “In piano music, there’s no room for padding – one has to pay cash and make it consistently interesting. It’s perhaps the most difficult genre of all,” he wrote.

His first nocturne, dating from ca. 1875, features an opening theme that immediately recalls to mind Chopin’s Prelude in E-minor.

Even when the nocturne wanders into more experimental harmonies or rhythms, a Chopinesque character still remains.

Juliusz Zarębski (1854-1885) 

Juliusz Zarębski was born in 1854 in present-day Ukraine, a country that in the past had been under Polish rule. His hometown Zhytomyr is between Kyiv (two hours away by car) and Warsaw (nine hours).

Juliusz Zarębski

Zarębski studied in Rome and St. Petersburg as a young man, taking lessons from Liszt and setting to music work by poet Adam Mickiewicz (who, interestingly, was Maria Szymanowska’s son-in-law). He spent formative time in places that were deeply influenced by Chopin’s own influences, and it shows.

Tragically, his life path followed Chopin’s in a grim way: he became ill with tuberculosis and died at the age of 31. He left behind a catalog of lovely music, perfect for a Chopin listener looking for something fresh.

Rosemary Brown (1916-2001)

Rosemary Brown was a psychic medium from twentieth century Britain who claimed to channel the works of the great composers.

Rosemary Brown

The story of Rosemary Brown’s musical career is odd and fascinating. To make a long story short, Brown said that she could communicate with dead composers. (For what it’s worth, she claimed that Chopin was horrified by television.)

During their interactions, the composers dictated pieces to her in a variety of ways. She said that Chopin wrote this one.

Is this piece really Chopin composing from the afterlife? Well, frankly, deciding that is a bit beyond our pay grade, but you’re free to believe whatever you want! If nothing else, it’s a great story.

Conclusion

Regardless of what you think about the work of Rosemary Brown, here’s the truth: Chopin didn’t need a psychic medium to speak through the music of those who came after him.

Many composers shared his artistic priorities and delicate touch and wrote incredibly poignant, romantic pieces of Chopinesque music that we can still enjoy today. We hope you enjoy our picks!

Six of the Wildest Piano Duels in Music History

by Emily E. Hogstadt, Interlude

Audiences can never resist a duel. For hundreds of years, audiences have enjoyed watching confrontations between virtuoso pianists that showcase both their technical prowess and competitive spirits.

© wshu.org

Today we’re looking at six of the most famous piano duels in the history of classical music, from the time Mozart was pitted against a rival on Christmas Eve in a Viennese palace to the time Liszt and his greatest rival trying to settle the question of who was best in a sparkling Romantic Era Paris salon.

Let’s get started!

Bach vs. Marchand (1717)

In 1717, when Bach’s work travels took him through Dresden, he unknowingly walked into a veritable snake’s pit of musical intrigue.

An irascible musician named Louis Marchand, who had left (or possibly been fired) the French royal court, was visiting Dresden at the same time that Bach was.

J.S. Bach © ClassicFM

Dresden-based musician J.B. Volumier feared that Marchand would be hired in Dresden and become a rival. So he began scheming to get Marchand out of the way.

He started by offering Bach an opportunity to hear Marchand practice. Volumier kept Bach “concealed” so that Marchand wouldn’t know anyone was listening.

Bach was then encouraged by courtiers to challenge Marchand to a duel. Since he’d just heard Marchand play and felt confident that he’d win in a head-to-head battle, he agreed.

The scheduled time for the face-off arrived, with a variety of wealthy and powerful people assembling to watch the musical carnage. Then came a shocking twist: Marchand had taken an early morning carriage and vanished from the city altogether.

It is theorized that Volumier may have sneaked Marchand into one of Bach’s practice sessions and that Volumier was so intimidated by what he heard there that he left town rather than embarrass himself onstage.

Louis Marchand

One caveat: eliable biographical details about Bach’s life are scarce, and it’s unclear exactly how much of this story is true. It has likely been embellished over the generations. But it remains one of the most famous keyboard duels of all time, whether it actually happened or not.

Handel vs. Scarlatti (1709) 

George Frederick Handel and Domenico Scarlatti were born in 1685. By their mid-twenties, they both had earned major reputations as organ and harpsichord players.

In 1709, a cardinal and patron of the arts named Pietro Ottoboni was keeping court at the Palazzo della Cancelleria. Both Handel and Scarlatti were present, and they challenged each other to a friendly duel.

The night of the duel arrived. There would be two rounds to the competition. One would compare the musicians’ abilities on harpsichord, the other on organ.

Scarlatti won the harpsichord round; Handel won the organ round. In the end, the competition was labeled a draw.

Mozart vs. Clementi (1781)

Mozart vs Clementi

In 1781, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart moved to Vienna to pursue a career as a freelance musician.

His reputation had spread far and wide, and on Christmas Eve, he was summoned by the Emperor. He wanted Mozart to have a musical duel with an Italian pianist currently making a splash in Vienna, a man named Muzio Clementi.

Clementi later remembered, “On entering the Emperor’s music room, I found there someone whom, because of his elegant appearance, I took for one of the Emperor’s chamberlains; but scarcely had we begun a conversation when we soon recognized each other as Mozart and Clementi.”

The two got down to business. Clementi began by playing one of his own sonatas; Mozart replied by playing an improvisation. Next came a sight-reading competition.

In the end, the assembled aristocrats declared the evening a draw, and prize money was split between the two men.

But the Emperor had a private side-bet going. He had bet on Mozart winning, while his Italy-loving sister-in-law bet on Clementi. Later, the Emperor, privately believing that Mozart had performed the best, collected his money from her.

Beethoven vs. Woelfl (1798)

Joseph Woelfl was born in 1773 in Salzburg and studied music under Mozart’s father. In 1790, he moved to Vienna to find work as a musician.

Beethoven also moved to Vienna in 1792. Cliques of fans soon arose. Some preferred the genial, gentler style of Woelfl, while others gravitated toward the stormy virtuosity of Beethoven.

Joseph Woelfl © Wikipedia

Woelfl also had a striking biological advantage: his fingers were freakishly long, allowing him to reach the interval of a tenth on the keyboard.

In 1798, the two men agreed to a piano duel and carried it out. In the end, Beethoven was declared to be the winner.

Woelfl was unbothered. In fact, he underlined his admiration for Beethoven by publicly dedicating a 1799 piano sonata to him.

Beethoven vs. Steibelt (1800) 

Daniel Steibelt was born in 1765 in Berlin. His father forced him to join the military, but he deserted and began a career as a piano virtuoso and composer instead.

In March 1800 he arrived in Vienna. Beethoven was not thrilled about this newcomer trying to usurp his place. They ended up meeting at the home of nobleman and banker Count Moritz von Fries to settle their differences with a good old-fashioned piano duel.

Daniel Steibelt

The duel featured three rounds. The first consisted of playing another composer’s work. Beethoven played a Mozart work; Steibelt played a Haydn work. Beethoven won.

The second round required the participants to improvise on a theme supplied by the other man. Beethoven won this round, too. By this time, Steibelt was surely sweating.

The third round would be the most challenging of all: sight-reading a work composed by the other man. Beethoven chose to pass along his eleventh piano sonata, which Steibelt interpreted very ably.

Steibelt then made a daring move: he handed Beethoven not a sonata for piano, but a sonata for piano and cello. Beethoven took the sheet music, turned it upside down, read it, and began improvising on themes from it. 

According to legend, Steibelt left the room in a huff.

We don’t know exactly how much of this story is true. The most extensive record of it comes from a man named Ferdinand Ries, who wrote the account decades later, and who was also a friend and ally of Beethoven, with every incentive to make him look good. But regardless of if the details are accurate, it’s a great story.

Liszt vs. Thalberg (1837) 

The duel between Franz Liszt and Sigismund Thalberg is probably the most famous piano duel in the history of classical music.

In 1837, these two young virtuoso pianists were taking Paris by storm. That March, writer and journalist Countess Cristina Belgiojoso – once the wealthiest heiress in Italy, and a supporter of Italian revolutionaries – invited Liszt and Thalberg to participate in a duel. Proceeds from the event would go to Italian refugees.

Each man played a series of their own works, including wildly flashy and virtuosic variations on operatic themes, which were extremely popular at the time.

Franz Liszt vs Sigismond Thalberg

The savvy countess, not wanting to alienate either giant, famously proclaimed, “Thalberg is the greatest pianist, but there is only one Liszt.”

Critic Jules Janon was more descriptive when he wrote about the event the following day:

Never was Liszt more controlled, more thoughtful, more energetic, more passionate; never has Thalberg played with greater verve and tenderness. Each of them prudently stayed within his harmonic domain, but each used every one of his resources. It was an admirable joust. The most profound silence fell over that noble arena. And finally Liszt and Thalberg were both proclaimed victors by this glittering and intelligent assembly. Thus two victors and no vanquished.

A Brief History of Clementi, the Underrated Innovator His Music and His Life)

Muzio Clementi

Italian composer and pianist

    

Alternate titles: Mutius Philippus Vincentius Franciscus Xaverius Clementi

Born: January 23, 1752 Rome Italy

Died: March 10, 1832 (aged 80) Evesham England

Muzio Clementi, in full Mutius Philippus Vincentius Franciscus Xaverius Clementi, (born Jan. 23, 1752, Rome, Papal States [Italy]—died March 10, 1832, Evesham, Worcestershire, Eng.), Italian-born British pianist and composer whose studies and sonatas developed the techniques of the early piano to such an extent that he was called “the father of the piano.”

A youthful prodigy, Clementi was appointed an organist at 9 and at 12 had composed an oratorio. In 1766 Peter Beckford, a cousin of William Beckford, the author of Vathek, prevailed upon Clementi’s father to allow him to take the boy to England, where he lived quietly in Wiltshire pursuing a rigorous course of studies. In 1773 he went to London and met with immediate and lasting success as a composer and pianist. The piano had become more popular in England than anywhere else, and Clementi, in studying its special features, made brilliant use of the new instrument and its capabilities. From 1777 to 1780 he was employed as harpsichordist at the Italian Opera in London. In 1780 he went on tour to Paris, Strasbourg, Munich, and Vienna, where he became engaged in a friendly musical duel with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the instigation of the emperor, Joseph II.

In 1782 Clementi returned to London, where for the next 20 years he continued his lucrative occupations of fashionable teacher, composer, and performer. He was a shrewd businessman: in 1799—in the wake of Joseph Haydn’s London visits and after Mozart’s much-publicized remark that he was a “charlatan, like all Italians,” which together had substantially weakened the market for his music—he cofounded a firm for both music publishing and the manufacture of pianos. Among his numerous pupils were Johann Baptist Cramer, Giacomo Meyerbeer, and John Field. Clementi visited the European continent again in 1820 and 1821. In his later years he devoted himself to composition, and to this period belong several symphonies, the scores of which were either lost or incomplete.

Clementi’s chief claims to fame are his long series of piano sonatas, many of which have been revived, and his celebrated studies for piano, the Gradus ad Parnassum (1817; “Steps Toward Parnassus”). His own contributions to the development of piano technique coincided with the period of the new instrument’s first popularity and did much to establish the lines on which piano playing was to develop; important traces of his influence may be found in the piano works of Haydn, Beethoven, and even Mozart, as well as the next generation of pianist-composers.