Frédéric Chopin

Chopin in 1849

Frédéric Chopin (February 22 or March 1, 1810 - October 17, 1849) was a Polish virtuoso pianist and composer.

Early life

Chopin was born in the village of Żelazowa Wola, 60 km from Warsaw. However his correct birthday remains enigma to this day. Chopin himself claimed he was born on March 1. Some sources and paintings give 1809 as his correct birth year. [1] New evidence points out that he was really born on February 29 1808, leap year. His father Mikołaj (Nicolas) Chopin was French. He moved to Poland in 1787 where he married Tekla Justyna Krzyżanowska. They named their son Fryderyk Franciszek. Sometimes Chopin's date of birth is given as February 22 because this is what his birth paper says, but this was written by the priest at Chopin's christening eight weeks later and was probably a mistake. Chopin and his family always celebrated his birthday on March 1.

Chopin's musical ability was clear when he was very young, and newspapers in Warsaw described him as a "second Mozart". He was given private music lessons by several important musicians.

Travels

In 1829, Chopin heard the violinist Niccolò Paganini play, and met the pianist Johann Nepomuk Hummel. He also visited Vienna, where he played a couple of concerts. In December he performed his piano concerto in E minor. He first performed his other piano concerto, in F minor, in March 1830.

In 1830 he visited Vienna again, and when he heard of the troubles of the November Uprising back home he decided not to go back to Poland. He went to Paris instead, and made his home there. He started calling himself by the French version of his name, "Frédéric François". In Paris he made friends with some other important composers, including Hector Berlioz, Felix Mendelssohn, Charles-Valentin Alkan, and Vincenzo Bellini.

Chopin met the writer Amandine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin, the Baroness Dudevant, better known as George Sand. Eventually Chopin started a relationship with her that lasted until 1847. They visited Mallorca together in the winter of 1838-1839, where the bad weather and damp rooms made Chopin ill. He had breathing problems before, but this was so bad that they had to come home. He never got completely better.

In 1847 Chopin and Sand split up. In 1848 he visited England and Scotland to play in concerts, but he was very ill and had to return home. He died in Paris, at about 2 o'clock in the morning on October 17 1849.

Compositions

Nearly all of the pieces of music written by Chopin are only for the piano, and many of the rest have the piano as their main instrument. He wrote piano sonatas (of which the Funeral March sonata is very famous), two piano concertos, studies, ballades, nocturnes, mazurkas, polonaises, waltzes, and a set of preludes. His music was praised in his lifetime. Robert Schumann once wrote about Chopin, "Hats off, gentlemen! A genius." Schumann was a great admirer of Chopin.

Other websites

Chopin Magazine: Fryderyk Chopin born on February 29 1808