This paper examines instrumental lyricism in the music of Frédéric Chopin, focusing on the expressive role of the cello and its close connection to vocal modes of musical thought. Across Chopin’s oeuvre, the instrument appears consistently in both chamber contexts and in the manner of cello writing, reflecting the evolution of his musical language and emerging as a structurally significant element after the piano. Rather than treating lyricism as a fixed stylistic feature, the study approaches it as an expressive principle that develops alongside changes in Chopin’s compositional idiom. In this context, the cello participates in a mode of writing shaped by cantabile phrasing, linear continuity, and the articulation of melodic breath. Its presence often extends beyond accompanying function, contributing to the formation of musical narrative through a distinctly singing quality. Drawing on selected examples from works featuring the cello, the paper traces how changes in Chopin’s harmonic and textural thinking affect the instrument’s expressive role. Particular attention is given to instances where the cello assumes a leading or structurally significant role within the musical fabric. By situating the cello within Chopin’s evolving musical language, the study suggests a view of instrumental lyricism shaped by the interplay of texture, line, and vocal imagination, as well as by changing conceptions of cello playing and its expressive possibilities in the nineteenth century.

Authors:
Wiktor Misiak, Wroclaw University, Poland

About the Presenter(s)
Wiktor Misiak is a musicologist and cellist, graduate of the Bacewicz Academy of Music in Łódź and the University of Wrocław. He specializes in Chopinology related to the cello and has performed with prominent musicians in major venues worldwide.

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