Frédéric François Chopin
Being “the poet of the piano”, one name of music cannot go unnoticed, Chopin. Chopin was one of the most influential composers and virtuoso pianists of the Romantic era. Born on 1 March 1810 in Żelazowa Wola, a village in the Duchy of Warsaw, Chopin developed early into a music genius. Compared with the childhood genius of Mozart, at the age of 7, Fryderyk was the author of two polonaises (in G minor and B flat major), the first being published in the engraving workshop of Father Cybulski. The prodigy was featured in the Warsaw newspapers, and “little Chopin” became the attraction and ornament of receptions given in the aristocratic salons of the capital.
In September 1831, Chopin began his love affair with Paris with his dad being French himself. Following the Russian suppression of the Polish November 1830 Uprising, he settled in Paris as part of the Polish Great Emigration. Here in Paris, he continued his fame as a great composer and pianoist. He supported himself as a composer and piano teacher, giving few public performances. From 1837 to 1847 he carried on a relationship with the French woman writer George Sand. For most of his life, Chopin suffered from poor health; he died in Paris in 1849 at the age of 39.
”The vast majority of Chopin’s works are exclusively for solo piano, the most notable exceptions being his two piano concertos. His compositions are technically demanding but emphasize nuance and expressive depth. Chopin invented the musical form known as the instrumental ballade and made major innovations to the piano.”
Chopin will always be remembered as one of the greatest Romantic artists even with his short lived life. What he did in his short life was greater than most.
Coco Chanel
Nothing says Parisian clothing quite like Coco Chanel. Fashion itself was in Chanel. With her trademark suits and those little black dresses, Chanel created timeless apparel for every woman everywhere. The style icon she was infused simple but sophisticated touches of elegance to every outfit with accessories as simple as pearls. With “luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury” as Chanel once said, it is evident to see how Chanel’s reign of style is still alive today.
Born August 19, 1883, Gabrielle Chanel was put into an orphanage by her father after the death of her mother. While brought up by nuns, she learned one of the most important asset that lead to her success, sewing. After leaving the orphanage, she provided herself by becoming a singer with the stage name “Coco”. “Around the age of 20, Chanel became involved with Etienne Balsan who offered to help her start a millinery business in Paris. She soon left him for one of his even wealthier friends, Arthur “Boy” Capel. Both men were instrumental in Chanel’s first fashion venture.” After this she opened her first shop in Paris on Paris’ Rue Cambon in 1910 selling hats. She added to her success by adding two more shops with clothes after she fashioned an old jersey shirt. “My fortune is built on that old jersey that I’d put on because it was cold in Deauville,” she once told author Paul Morand. She then in 1920 catapulted to new heights by launching her perfume, Chanel No. 5(the first perfume to feature the designer’s name). Perfume “is the unseen, unforgettable, ultimate accessory of fashion… . that heralds your arrival and prolongs your departure,” Chanel once explained.
”In 1925, she introduced the now legendary Chanel suit with collarless jacket and well-fitted skirt. Her designs were revolutionary for the time—borrowing elements of men’s wear and emphasizing comfort over the constraints of then-popular fashions. She helped women say good-bye to the days of corsets and other confining garments. Another 1920s revolutionary design was Chanel’s little black dress. She took a color once associated with mourning and showed just how chic it could be for eveningwear. In addition to fashion, Chanel was a popular figure in the Paris literary and artistic worlds. She designed costumes for the Ballets Russes and for Jean Cocteau’s play Orphée, and counted Cocteau and artist Pablo Picasso among her friends. For a time, Chanel had a relationship with composer Igor Stravinsky.”
After much scandal due to relations with a Nazi Officer and other risque relationships, Chanel made a triumphant come back to the fashion world that gladly accepted her arrival after much skepticism. “Coco Chanel died on January 10, 1971, at her apartment in the Hotel Ritz. She never married, having once said “I never wanted to weigh more heavily on a man than a bird.” Hundreds crowded together at the Church of the Madeleine to bid farewell to the fashion icon. In tribute, many of the mourners wore Chanel suits.”
Chanel may have had her scandals but the magnitude of the influence she had on fashion greatly outweighs any mishaps. Coco Chanel will always be loved and remembered for the helpful little black dress to all women. Whether you like her style or not, there is no doubt that Chanel greatly influenced fashion for the better.
La Belle et la Bête
Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740. The best-known written version was an abridgement of her work published in 1756 by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont, in Magasin des enfants, ou dialogues entre une sage gouvernante et plusieurs de ses élèves; an English translation appeared in 1757.
Variants of the tale are known across Europe. In France, for example, Zémire et Azor is an operatic version of the story of Beauty and the Beast written by Marmontel and composed byGrétry in 1771. It had enormous success well into the 19th century. It is based on the second version of the tale.
Amour pour amour, by Nivelle de la Chaussée, is a 1742 play based on Villeneuve’s version.
There have been a multitude of films and series depicting this love story based in Paris, mostly famously the adaption in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Paris really is the home of a happy ending.
Claude Debussy
Achille Claude Debussy, born on August 22, 1862, in St-Germain-en-Laye, France and died March 25, 1918, in paris, France,was a French composer and arranger of music being one of the most influential artists of the 20th century with his dislike of classical melodies and to reform them to an uncommon arrangement that produced a new language of sound. Claude attended the Paris Conservatory in Paris, France,that sparked not only his love affair with music but also Paris. Because of his original and unlikely style in music, Debussy became one of the most controversial composers of the 20th century. People either accepted and respected his taste, or they completely rejected all he did with disgust. His most widely known composition was Claire de Lune. “Influenced by Mallarmé, Debussy wrote one of his most famous works, the revolutionary Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, truly original in form and execution. In contrast to the large orchestras so favoured by late-romanticism, Debussy wrote this piece for a smaller ensemble, emphasizing instrumental colour and timbre. Despite Mallarmé himself, and colleague and friend Paul Dukas having been impressed by the piece, it was controversial at its premiere. Préludesubsequently placed Debussy into the spotlight as one of the leading composers of the era.”
Claude Debussy changed music for the better. His style transitioned the late Romantic music to the 20th century modernistic music. Many loved him and may opposed him, but his legacy of imperfect, contrasting melodies will keep his name alive forever.
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso,born October 25, 1881, Málaga, Spain—died April 8, 1973, Mougins, France, with his first word being “pencil”, was by far the most influential artist of the 20th century with over 2000 paintings to prove it. At the tender age of 9, Picasso completed his first painting, Le Picador, and completed his first “academic” painting, La premeire communion, at age 15. Hence forth nothing stopped him from his passion. Picasso dedicated 80 of his 91 years to his passion with the contribution to art of the concept of cubism.
Picasso spent his first four decades as a French resident and died in France even though he was born in Spain. Because of his influence and contribution to France, Paris continued his legacy with Musée national Picasso Paris.
