Hats Off Gentlemen, a Genius!

Next, you would have been handed this concert program. The original you see here is now in the James Fuld Collection at the Morgan Library in New York City. The concert, planned for February 25, was delayed until the next night.

Let's take a closer look.

As the program announces at the top, this will be a “Grand Vocal and Instrumental Concert, given by M. Frédéric Chopin, of Warsaw.” 

“Who is this kid?” you might think. “Never heard of him.”

Remember, you just time-traveled to 1832, before Chopin was famous.

Just twenty-one years old, Chopin had recently arrived in Paris after leaving his native Poland to seek his fortune first in Vienna, then Paris.

His talents had been recognized back home, from his first polonaise published when he was just seven years old, in 1817, to the gift of a diamond ring from Tsar Alexander I, who heard him perform at age fifteen.

Back to the concert program. A little later we'll look at Chopin's music manuscript of one of the pieces first heard that evening.

The "Première Partie" includes: a Beethoven quintet (1), a sung duet (2), and an Allegro de concerto "composed and executed by Chopin" (3)—that's his E minor Piano Concerto. Then another sung duet (4), and another movement from his concerto (5), again performed by the composer

The second part of the concert begins with a sung quartet (item 1), then a “Grand Polonaise, preceded by an Introduction and a March, composed for six pianos, by M. Kalkbrenner" (item 2). 

Wait, does that say SIX pianos!?

And is that the composer Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy himself, playing second piano?

Yes, and yes. There are six pianists listed. Remember, this concert was in a piano factory so it wasn’t that hard to get six pianos together.

And yes, Felix Mendelssohn, who was only twenty-three, was in Paris like many other young musicians trying to get ahead. Though, as it turns out, he wasn’t able to make it that evening and his spot was filled by someone else.

On to the next items on the program. That was quite a loud racket with the six pianos, so good idea to follow it with a quiet oboe solo (item 3), and then a tune sung by Mademoiselle Toméoni (item 4).

And finally, we come to the piece that made it all worthwhile for the young Chopin. Saving best for last, item 5: his Grand Variations on a theme from W.A. Mozart’s opera, Don Giovanni. 

Let’s hear the introduction, rendered beautifully by Argentine pianist Nelson Goerner.

Here is the first page of the manuscript. But what's going on? It seems to start right in the middle of a musical phrase. There's no title, not even a treble or bass clef.

Except this one.

This page does contain a bit of interesting information, though: the year 1829, in the lower right corner. That means Chopin was working on this when he was eighteen or nineteen, two years before his arrival in Paris.

Ah! Here we go. This looks more like the first page of a piece of music. Title at the top, clefs and instrument names at the left, dynamic markings ("pp" for pianissimo, nice and quiet), everything we need.

And, it is written for orchestra, with the strings at the top, then flutes, oboes, and so on down to the solo fortepiano—the instrument we now call the piano.

Our mystery is solved! This manuscript shows us that in 1829, Chopin had first written the music for piano with orchestra. But by the time of this 1832 concert, he had dropped the orchestral component.

So at the Salle Pleyel on that February evening in 1832, Chopin played the solo fortepiano (piano) version. In general, he lost interest in orchestral accompaniments early in his career, and the vast majority of his music is for solo piano.

Let's look at the opening phrase. It begins in the wind instruments, doubling the fortepiano (piano), written below. Doubling means they are playing the same notes in sync.

Let's listen again. The orchestral version we hear here is different than the one we see, beginning instead with the string section. Before long, the piano enters, stealing the show. Perhaps it's not surprising that Chopin decided to drop the orchestral element.

And on goes the piece. After this introduction there's a movement presenting the theme, then five variation movements, and a coda. 

We won't go through the whole thing, but I do want to show you one more page...

Near the end of the manuscript, we find a page with more sketches, and a funny little doodle.

Just guessing, but the doodle may have started with an attempt to cross out some unwanted music.

So that wraps up our visit to the year 1832, when the city of Paris first discovered Chopin. Very soon after that February evening at the Salle Pleyel, fame found the young composer.