The handsome Louis XV bourgeois house Nohant in Berry provided the
beautiful country setting where Chopin resided in the summer of 1839 with
George Sand. Chopin's liaison with Sand had begun in 1838, two years after
their introduction by Franz Liszt. This was a time of contentment in Chopin's
life. His health was improving following illness in Majorca
the preceding winter, he had the comfort of a devoted woman who loved him and
understood his compositional frustrations and above all he was free to compose
without the daily distractions of running a home. Compositions dating from this
period were the G Major Nocturne opus 37, three of the four Mazurkas opus 41
and the F Sharp Major Impromptu opus 36. The other major achievement of this
summer was the piano sonata in B flat minor opus 35.
The phase of creativity which began in Majorca with the
second Ballade and the twenty-four preludes opus 28 continued in Marseilles with the C
Sharp Minor Scherzo opus 39. The ideal working conditions at Nohant offered
Chopin the opportunity to extend this productive phase;
it is widely known that he composed little during the ensuing eighteen months
in Paris. Sand
noted his manner of working at the country residence:
