Here for your delectation is the SPECTACULAR & RARE------------------CHOPIN: FOUR BALLADES & TROIS NOUVELLES ETUDES LP /VLADIMIR ASHKENAZY, PIANIST

Frédéric François Chopin (/??o?pæn/; French pronunciation: ?[f?e.de.?ik ??.p??]; 1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849; born, and known in Poland as, Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, the surname being pronounced [???p?n], with alternative, phonetic spelling Szopen) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era. Chopin was born at ?elazowa Wola, a village in the Duchy of Warsaw, then under Russian rule, to a French father and a Polish mother. A child prodigy, he grew up in Warsaw and completed his musical education there, composing many of his works before leaving Poland at the age of 20, shortly before the November 1830 Uprising.

Settling in Paris, during the remaining 19 years of his life Chopin gave only some 30 public performances, preferring the more intimate atmosphere of the salon; he supported himself by selling his compositions and as a sought-after piano teacher. He formed a friendship with Franz Liszt and was admired by many of his musical contemporaries, including Robert Schumann. After a failed engagement with a Polish girl, from 1837 to 1847 he maintained a relationship, often troubled, with the French writer George Sand. A brief and unhappy visit with Sand to Majorca in 1838–39 was also one of his most productive periods of composition. In his last years he was financially supported by his admirer Jane Stirling, who also arranged for him to visit Scotland in 1848. For most of his life Chopin suffered from poor health; he died in Paris in 1849, probably from tuberculosis.

All of Chopin's compositions include the piano; most are for solo piano, although he also wrote two piano concertos, a few chamber pieces, and some songs to Polish lyrics. His keyboard style is often technically demanding; his own performances were noted for their nuance and sensitivity. Chopin invented the concept of instrumental ballade; his major piano works also include sonatas, mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes, polonaises, études, impromptus, scherzos, and preludes. Many of these works were published only after Chopin's death. Stylistically, they contain elements of both Polish folk music and of the classical tradition of J.S. Bach, Mozart and Schubert, whom Chopin particularly admired. Chopin's innovations in keyboard style, musical form, and harmony were influential throughout the late Romantic period and since.

Both in his native Poland and beyond, Chopin's music, his association (if only indirect) with political insurrection, his amours and his early death have made him a leading symbol of the Romantic era in the public consciousness. His works remain popular, and he has been the subject of numerous films and biographies of varying degrees of historical accuracy.

Although the term 'ballade' was associated with the French poetry in the 1400s, it was until the 19th century that it was no longer merely used by only poets to tell story. Chopin composed his four ballades during his mature stage after he left his homeland Poland. It is said that Chopin wrote music for the Lithuanian Ballads of the Polish Adam Mickiewicz. Even Schumann mistakenly commented that Chopin's ballades were as programmatic as Schumann's works. This is misleading since Chopin was never interested in music with titles, programs, or characters in the true sense like Schumann. Chopin even did not consider Schumann's Carnival Op.9 music at all. The narrative sequence in Chopin's ballades does not follow any specific format; it is embedded in many unpredictable and creative phrases throughout the music.

Chopin's ballades are pure music in their finest forms without any suggestive narration. Though Chopin was somewhat inspired by the stories of his native Poland and particularly the poems of Adam Mickiewicz, he wanted listeners to follow their own narration through his music. Therefore all analyses on the content of Chopin's ballades are merely suggestions. It is not necessary to know the poem or content to interpret these abstract works. All four ballades are large-scale works, which last from 8 to 12 minutes, in triple time, 6/4 or 6/8, and have poetry, dramatic and contrasting subjects. They all share these common features, but they are no less than individual works and should not be put in or performed as a group. Even Chopin did not intend to do so. He developed individual motives and combined them through innovative modulations for each ballade. In his ballades are found many classical forms of sonata, rondo, variations in revised forms and daring flexibility. The ballades combine many traditional forms and creative expressions, but still in classical and academic standard.

The ballades are considered the finest of Chopin's creation and among the most representative of romantic music. Liszt, Brahms, among others, also composed the genre ballade after Chopin, but the musical term ballade is widely associated with Chopin and his ballades are among the most frequently played in concerts around the world. Many pianists find the poetic interpretation of these ballades a real challenge once they have mastered the technical difficulty.

Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (Russian: ???????? ????????? ????????, Vladimir Davidovi? Aškenazi; born July 6, 1937) is a Russian-Icelandic conductor and pianist. Since 1972 he has been a citizen of Iceland, his wife Þórunn's country of birth. In 1970, he helped to found the Reykjavík Arts Festival, of which he remains Honorary President. Since 1978, because of his many obligations in Europe, he and his family have resided in Meggen, near Lucerne in Switzerland. He is currently Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. His son is clarinetist Dimitri Ashkenazy who has also performed with his father in Sydney and across Europe and Canada.

Chopin* - Ashkenazy* ?– Four Ballades / Trois Nouvelles Études

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