- Based on Meyerbeer‘s opera, Robert le diable, Chopin’s Grand Duo Concertant on ‘Robert le diable’ is a work for cello and piano written in 1832 and comprising four sections:
- Introduction
- Andantino (Alice’s romance theme from Act I)
- Allegretto (theme from the choral introduction to Act II)
- Andante cantabile (theme from Act V trio, “O, mon fils, ma tendresse”)
- Each of these three themes is first presented and then paraphrased.
- While Chopin is often credited with composing Grand Duo Concertant on ‘Robert le diable’, its creation was a collaborative effort with cellist Auguste Franchomme, with Chopin taking the piano part and Franchomme the cello part.1
- Franchomme was one of the first friends Chopin made after arriving in Paris in 1831. That same year, Chopin witnessed the premiere of Robert le diable at the Paris Opera, writing:
- “If ever magnificence was seen in the theatre, I doubt that it reached the level of splendor shown in Robert… It is a masterpiece…Meyerbeer has made himself immortal.”2
- Franchomme was one of the first friends Chopin made after arriving in Paris in 1831. That same year, Chopin witnessed the premiere of Robert le diable at the Paris Opera, writing:
Sources
- Mieczysław Tomaszewski, “Grand Duo Concertant in E major on themes from Meyerbeer’s opera ‘Robert le diable’, Dbop. 16A,” Instytut Fryderyka Chopina, accessed December 18, 2025, https://chopin.nifc.pl/en/chopin/kompozycja/60.
- Georg Predota, “Minors of the Majors: Frédéric Chopin: Grand Duo Concertant,” Interlude (2016), accessed December 18, 2025, https://interlude.hk/minors-majors-frederic-chopin-grand-duo-concertant/.
Cut IDs
27632