Chopin almost exclusively wrote music for the piano. He is the only iconic composer who did not write symphonies, operas or choral works, and only a handful of compositions involves other instruments. Among his nearly 200 compositions, we find 169 for solo piano. Yet surprisingly, the composer seems to have been in love with the sound of the guitar. According to a quote attributed to him, “nothing is more beautiful than a guitar,” he writes, “save perhaps two”.

Taking Chopin by his word, the KUPINSKI DUO enlarged guitar repertoire by transcribing piano works by Fryderyk Chopin.

Our recital programme includes Mazurkas, Waltzes and Nocturnes by Chopin in our arrangement. The mazurka tends to be considered one of the most elusive of genres to understand, and a difficult one to perform idiomatically. Alongside the polonaises, mazurkas are the most ‘Polish’ of Chopin's works. There would be no mazurkas without Polish folk dances and Polish folk music. The waltzes are among the best known and loved of Chopin’s works. Recognisable from the very first bars, full of elegance, charm and brilliance, not infrequently marked by profound expression. ‘Songs of the night’, ‘piano bel canto’: such is how Fryderyk Chopin’s nocturnes are usually described. The nocturne, perfectly suited to the mood of the era, evokes with its very name romantic images of the night, the moon, and all the shades of lyrical and dramatic expression associated with them.