Annotated Bibliography
"Frédéric François Chopin." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Student
Resources in Context. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.
This source is a biography of Polish composer Frederic Chopin, beginning with a list of general facts about him and a summary of key features from his numerous works. The reading notes that his compositions contain concentration, elaboration, improvisational effects, and episodic, vigorous writing. Next, the article transitions into a synopsis of Chopin, providing information on his musical training. The text states, “Chopin became a full-time student at Elsner’s conservatory, where he received an excellent foundation in theory, harmony, and counterpoint.” Moving onwards, the article describes…show more content… The introduction talks extensively about what distinguishes his compositions from other composers, saying “Chopin devised new figurations, delicate traceries, and elaborate quasivocal fioriture and fashioned them for use at the keyboard.” This shows that Chopin influenced western music greatly by his dedication to the piano rather than other instruments. The article is also able to answer the research question by supplying his achievements. Some modifications he made to the art of playing the piano includes experimenting with new fingerings, adroit use of pedal to obtain “gradations of color,” and making many harmonic innovations that brought even the etude (a piece typically focused on practicing a certain technique) to a concert-worthy piece. With this information, the source is extremely useful in reflecting upon his contributions to…show more content… Although there is a slight bias in the article such as “Chopin was a creator of melody, and some of his pieces now seem as familiar as folk music,” these statements are generally agreed upon. Furthermore, Politoske backs these claims up with the use of audio on some of Chopin’s pieces. The author, Daniel Politoske, has a Ph.D. and is a professor teaching music history at the University of Kansas. He also wrote the book Music, which uses a step-by-step approach to examine significant developments in the history of music ranging from the Middle Ages to the present. The source on Chopin is found in World Book Advanced, a database that serves as an