Frédéric Chopin

Frederic Chopin was an important Franco-Polish composer of the early nineteenth century. Arguably he was the first composer for piano to apply the Romantic ethos to piano technique - his works make physical demands of the performer that surpass the late works of Beethoven, at least in terms of the expression of raw emotion.

Nevertheless, his romanticism concealed a craftsman thoroughly schooled in older contrapuntal and harmonic methods - he was an avid admirer of JS Bach, and his works reveal a masterly combination of textural and harmonic innovation combined with old school discipline.