Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu

Classical Music / Solo Piano Music

 

Fantaisie-Impromptu in C♯ minor, Op. posth. 66, WN 46 is a solo piano composition by Frédéric Chopin. It was composed in 1834 and published posthumously in 1855 despite Chopin's instruction that none of his unpublished manuscripts be published. This melodious lovely solo piano music is one of Chopin's most frequently performed and popular compositions. 

As were the Four Mazurkas (Op. 17) and the Grande valse brillante in E♭ major (Op. 18) were also written in 1834, unlike these other works, Chopin never published the Fantaisie-Impromptu. Instead, Julian Fontana published it posthumously, along with other waltzes Opp. 69 and 70. The mystery may have been solved in 1960 when pianist Arthur Rubinstein acquired the "Album of the Baroness d'Este" which had been sold at auction in Paris. The album contained a manuscript of the Fantaisie-Impromptu in Chopin's own hand, dated 1835, stating on the title page in French "Composed for the Baroness d'Este by Frédéric Chopin".  (Refer to video below)

Video 1: Chopin's Fantaisie-impromptu with Arthur. Rubinstein Edition

The facts of its authenticity having been "guaranteed by the French authorities" and that it shows "a delicate care for detail" and "many improvements in harmony and style" in comparison to the previously published version, Rubinstein considered absolute proof that it is the finished work. In his preface to the "Rubinstein Edition", published by G. Schirmer, Inc. in 1962, Rubinstein surmises that the words "Composed for" in place of a dedication imply that Chopin received a paid commission for the work, so he had actually sold it to the Baroness.

Video 2: Judy Garland sings "Im Always Chasing Rainbows", from the film Ziefgeld Girl.

I'm Always Chasing Rainbows

"I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" is a popular Vaudeville song. The music is credited to Harry Carroll, but the melody is adapted from Fantaisie-Impromptu by Frédéric Chopin. The lyrics were written by Joseph McCarthy, and the song was published in 1917. It was introduced in the Broadway show Oh, Look! which opened in March 1918. The song was sung in the show by the Dolly Sisters. Judy Garland sang it in the 1941 film Ziegfeld Girl. It was subsequently sung by Jack Oakie in the 1944 film The Merry Monahans and was again featured in the 1945 film The Dolly Sisters (1945 in film), where it was sung by John Payne. 

Lovely haunting song. The phrase "chasing rainbows" is an idiom that means pursuing something that is impossible or unlikely to be achieved. It suggests going after a dream or goal that is elusive, much like trying to catch a rainbow, which is an optical illusion and can never be reached.

Video Credit:

Chopin – Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66F. Chopin - Fantaisie-impromptu in C-Sharp Minor, Op. posth. 66 (A. Rubinstein Edition). Youtube, uploaded by Kassia. Accessed March 1, 2022. (Note: Please read Kassia's pinned post about significant information about this lovely solo piano music by Chopin.) 

I'm Always Chasing Rainbows-Judy Garland. Youtube, uploaded by Allan Fisch. Accessed March 1, 2022. From the MGM film Ziegfeld Girl, with Lana Turner and Hedy Lamarr. Restored from the original music recordings. In memory of my friend , Steve Sanders, author of Rainbow's End.

 

Resources:

Fantaisie-Impromptu. en.wikipedia.org. Accessed March 1, 2010.

I'm Always Chasing Rainbow. en.wikipedia.org.  Accessed March 1, 2010.

 

(c) March 1, 2010. Updated March 1, 2022. Tel. Inspired Pen web. All rights reserved.

John Steinbeck

Literature / Writers Datebook: February 27

 

Brief biography of novelist and short-story writer John Steinbeck, famous for The Grapes of Wrath

 

American writer John Steinbeck is famous his compassionate treatment of his characters. Aside from his best known novel The Grapes of Wrath, also considered a classic book is Of Mice and Men. He was awarded Pulitzer Prize, 1940, and Nobel Prize for Literature, 1962.     

Early Life of John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California. He attended Stanford University and studied marine biology, but he never got a degree. He wanted to be a writer and worked his way to New York seeking for literary fortune. Soon after, he returned, unsuccessful.

In 1928, he was 26, Steinbeck moved to San Francisco to be with his girlfriend, who he married two years later. Eventually, he settled in California and was married three times.   

Literary Life

Steinbeck's first novel, Cup of Gold, came out in 1929 when he was 27. It was not a great success, but at least the income from its sales allowed him to write. It was his fourth novel, Tortilla Flat, about Mexican-American farmhands that claimed him success. However, his most famous book is The Grapes of Wrath.   

The Grapes of Wrath is a portrait of poor Oklahoma farmers forced off their land and onto the road by drought, a frequent occurrence during the Great Depression of the 1930s. This novel, a strong voice of social protest, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1940. One of Steinbeck's best works, Of Mice and Men, is a tragic story that demonstrates simple human values. It explores the close bond between George, a physically strong but mentally impaired farmhand, and his friend and guardian Lennie. It is heartwarming. 

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Literature / Great Writers & Poets

Brief biography and works of English poet Elizabeth Barrett Bowning, famous for "Sonnets from the Portuguese."

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was the finest woman poet in England famous for the line "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways."  She is best remembered for her love poems inspired by her husband Robert Browning.

Early Life of Elizabeth Barrett 

English poet Elizabeth Barrett (1806-1861), was born on March 6, in Coxhoe Hall, Durham. She grew up in the west of England, at Hope Hill in Herefordshire, the eldest of 12 children of a rich British owner of Jamaican estates. Taught at home by a tutor, she quickly learned Latin and Greek and read and wrote fervently that by ten years old she had written a long poem and plays that were acted out in the family nursery. When she was fourteen, her father privately published her poem "The Battle of Marathon." 

Gertrude Stein

Literature / Writers Datebook: February 3

American Avant-Garde Author and Poet   

 

Brief biography of American writer Gertrude Stein, famous for Three Lives and the Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas.

American writer and poet Gertrude Stein is considered on of the great authors of the United States. She is best known for the phrase "A rose is a rose is a rose" and famous for her books Three Lives and The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas.

 

 

 

Even though she lived most of her life in Paris, Gertrude Stein is an important figure in American literature, primarily significant in the development of modern art and literature. The famous phrase "A rose is a rose is a rose" was written by Stein as part of the 1913 poem "Sacred Emily" meant to be a woman's name. Later, Stein used variations on the phrase in her other writings, the phrase often interpreted as "things are what they are."    

Early Life of Gertrude Stein

Gertrude Stein was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania on February 3, 1874, and lived in Austria and France as a child. Her father had become wealthy through his investments in street railroads and real estate. She studied at Radcliffe College and Johns Hopkins University, where she was a medical student.

Life in Paris

Stein was devoted to her artistic brother Leo Stein, and when he went to live in Paris, she deliberately failed her exams in order to leave university and be with him. In Paris they established a famous salon in 27 rue de Fleurus – a kind of private club where intellectuals and artists met to discuss ideas in art and politics.

Paris with Great Artists

These were most exciting times in Paris, in which artists such as Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso were experimenting with new forms of painting. Stein wanted to create a literary version of the new art. Three Lives, Stein's first novel and her first attempt to achieve this new form of literature, was published when she was 35.

Life with Alice B. Toklas after Leo

Stein and her brother Leo gradually parted ways to live their own lives. Another American woman writer living in Paris, Alice B. Toklas, moved in with Stein in 1907 and became her lifelong companion. Their apartment was a center of Parisian culture in the years between the two World Wars.

Prominent fellow-writer friends

Aside from the French artists, important American writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson and Ernest Hemingway were Stein's regular visitors. She wrote about those times in her experimental book The Making of Americans.

Last Years

She died in 1946 from stomach cancer, aged 72. Stein has a monument in New York, on the upper terrace of Bryant Park.   

Legacy

Gertrude Stein is credited with bringing the term "Lost Generation" into use. During the 1930s, Stein and Toklas became famous with the 1933 mass-market publication of The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. She and Alice had an extended lecture tour in the United States during this decade.

 

Works by Gertrude Stein

Three Lives, 1909

The Making of Americans, 1925

Lucy Church Amiably, 1930

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas

Four Saints in Three Acts, 1934

Lectures in America, 1935

Wars I have Seen, 1945

Browsie and Willie, 1946

The Mother of Us All, 1947 (published after she died)

 

Photo Credit:

Gertrude Stein. NNDB.com / Public Domain

 

Resources:

Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Chambers (2002)

Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring, Larousse (1994)   

 

(c) February 2009. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.