Chopin, 11 years old: Polonaise in A-flat

In 1817, a Chopin family friend, a priest, had the first polonaise written by Frédérick published. The composer, in short pants, was seven years old. Dedicated to a young countess, the piece earned a glowing review in the Warsaw Review:

"The composer of this Polonaise dance is barely eight years old... He not only performs on the piano the most difficult fragments but has already composed several dances and variations that fill connoisseurs and critics with amazement...".

Soon after, Warsaw will talk about him, dubbing him "a second Mozart", as expected. 

Grand Duke Constantine, in charge of dominating indomitable Poland, invited Frédérick to the Belvedere palace on more than one occasion. Attracted by the fashion, countesses, princes, viceroys, and high dignitaries, would take turns to hear the little musician. Similar privileges were enjoyed by foreign artists touring Poland. In 1820, a famous Italian primadonna, Angelica Catalani, gave little Chopin a gold watch after listening, amazed, to the "best pianist of Warsaw", then ten years old.

Zywny, the child's teacher
As odd as it may seem, Chopin was about to "graduate" around this time. In 1822, his teacher, the elderly violinist and harpsichordist Wojciech Zywny reckoned, somewhat jokingly and somewhat seriously, that "he had nothing more to teach him." Frédérick, believe me, agreed. The lessons, lavish with music by Bach and Mozart, ended that year. Chopin would never again have another piano teacher. As if he had known it, the previous year Frédéric had paid homage to his only teacher by offering him a polonaise written that year, when he was eleven.

Polonaise in A flat major
Six simple but charming minutes. If it had been written by an adult, perhaps it would astonish by revealing a certain inexperience. For an eleven-year-old boy, it is notable for the opposite: the simplicity of his writing is offset by a keen sense of proportion that Chopin will maintain throughout his life. According to scholars, the experienced eye should see in this gentle Polonaise the germ of a superior gift.

The rendition is by the eleven-year-old French boy Elian Ramamonjisoa, a pupil at the Marseilles Conservatory.