Paper transcribed from the National Chopin Conference Warsaw: 'Through the Prism of Chopin: Women, Music, and Social Change in the Long Nineteenth Century' Paper delivered by Dylan Henderson PhD ‘A fragrance of the freshest flowers’: Chopin, Pleyel and the soprani sfogati
National Chopin Conference Warsaw December 2025 'Through the Prism of Chopin: Women, Music, and Social Change in the Long Nineteenth Century' Paper delivered by Dylan Henderson PhD ‘A fragrance of the freshest flowers’: Chopin, Pleyel and the soprani sfogati Bouquet Of Violets (1 872) Edouard Manet This was a particularly important and absolutely original paper as it involved the sound of Pleyel pianos and the relationship with the voice. As well known, Chopin was deeply concerned with opera, singing and the voice in his teaching and compositions. His favourite flowers were violets. This was an intensely interesting conference in total, but I have decided to post this transcription of Dr. Henderson's unique paper in its entirety. ‘A FRAGRANCE OF THE FRESHEST FLOWERS’ CHOPIN, PLEYEL AND THE SOPRANI SFOGATI DYLAN HENDERSON In the literature published during or shortly after Chopin’s lifetime, passages from three differe...