Chopin wrote music that was to be understood in purely musical terms and did not depend on evoking literary or pictorial elements from the past. His most famous works, on which his reputation is built, are his Nocturnes and Preludes. His Polonaises and Mazurkas are also famous. Each of these styles had a tradtion before Chopin, but his experimental nature and talent transcended what had been done with each form of music.

    Chopin endowed his Nocturnes, short lyrical pieces in which a simple melody expresses a range of emotions, into what is perhaps his most seminal works. The Preludes, written while he stayed in Majorca with George Sand, are at once ecstatic and melancholic.

• Nocturne in E-flat Major, Op. 9 No. 2  
• Raindrop Prelude in D-flat Major, Opus 28. No. 15     

   The polonaises and the mazurkas are Polish dance forms which Chopin used to express his love and longing for his home country.

• Polonaise Heroica in A-flat Major Op. 53   
• Mazurka Op. 17 No. 4     
• Fantasie Impromptu  in C-sharp Minor Op. 66