According to this image, he was a tiny, frail creature, otherworldly and naive, he was elegant to the point of dandyism, effete, living only for his art. To some, he is even effeminate. Of course, the Chopin of popular story has very little to do with the historical figure. This mythical Chopin largely exists because so little was actually known about the man during and just after his lifetime; instead, sentimental anecdotes, and the imagination of his early biographers, substituted for facts and documents. It is easier to summarise Chopin's life than to speak accurately about his character. In part, this is because Chopin was a truly private person. His letters reveal very little of his passions.
He had few intimates, although he was friendly with Berlioz, Liszt, Mendelssohn, as well as with Delacroix, Musset, Balzac, and Heine. Perhaps because of his health, his public life was circumscribed as well. At the height of his career, Chopin could go for a year or more without giving a public performance. Very few people actually heard him, although he was far better known through his music and by reputation. His mother was Polish, and of noble birth his father, Nicholas, was a Frenchman who had lived in Poland for many years and taught French to the sons of Polish nobles, whom Chopin grew up with and, in the process, became something of an aristocrat himself.
His family liked to call him Fritsek. Chopin's true name is Fryderyk Chopin, however, after many years in France, he changed his name to Frédéric Chopin. At the age of six, Chopin insisted that his family had someone teach him how to play a musical instrument (Although one source stated that he appeared to be mostly self taught), and by the age of 8 (Although one source stated 7 years old), Chopin played a very difficult concerto by Gyrowetz in public, showing that he had talent as a pianist. He started to compose music even before he knew how to write down his ideas. He also took lessons in composition, and published his first work, Rondeau for Piano, Opus 1, at the age of 15.
Chopin first studied with Adalbert Zywny, but later studied under Joseph (Also spelled Josef and Jozef) Elsner, who was the director of the Warsaw Conservatory, during which Chopin concentrated on theory, harmony, counterpoint, and composition. Elsner, realising Chopin's gift, hoped that Chopin would compose a great Polish national opera, however, he eventually realised that Chopin had a great talent and that it was useless to impose an outside taste on his talents. In 1825, he was given a diamond by the Russian tsar Alexander I for playing for him. At 16, he was enrolled in the Warsaw Conservatory of Music. Soon after in 1827, he composed "Lacidarem", which was a variation for piano and orchestra.
In 1829, Chopin began a concert tour that included Vienna, Munich, and Paris. He began his F-minor concerto on this trip, which, despite its numbering, was the first of two concertos that Chopin was going to write. After Chopin gave two successful concerts in Vienna when he was 19, he began writing works designed for his original piano style. On his return to Poland, he concentrated on completing the piece, and in a letter to a friend, he stated that his inspiration came from Constantia Gladkowska, a vacal student at the Warsaw Conservatory, of "whom I dream of," he stated. At this point, his life was full of hope and his genius was developing with every composition. At the same time as his return to Vienna in 1830, Poland revolted against its Russian rulers.
The uprising failed, and as a result the Russian czar put Warsaw under harsh military rule. He was destined never to see his homeland again. Chopin decided to go to Paris in 1831, which was the centre of the romantic movement in the arts. He also composed and worked on plays. Except for occasional trips, Chopin spent the rest of his life in Paris. He gave lessons and concerts, and publishers paid well for his compositions. The French loved him for his genius and his charm. Poets, musicians, wealthy Parisians, and Polish exiles were his friends. Chopin was championed in print by Schumann, Mendelssohn, and Liszt. In report, he had a reputation for peerless technique, with incredibly fleet fingers.
This was the result of a very light touch, which also resulted in a relatively small tone. Liszt also praised the "new kind of poetic sentiment combined with felicitous formal innovations " in Chopin's compositions. During this time he made many friends and flourished economically. This middle period in Paris was a high point for his composition. This meant he didn't have to play the concerts which he hated to do so much. His playing was so praised in Paris (especially in the Parisian Salons) that in 1832 he decided to settle there, after the news of the Polish rebellion. Chopin preferred Paris's small private salons (soirée) because he could see and get to know his audience but also because his music could blend better into the environment.
In Paris, Chopin played concerts and gave piano lessons. He was a very capable and very fashionable teacher. Young French and Polish aristocrats begged him to take them as pupils. Chopin also met and became friends with composers Bellini, Berloiz, Cherubini, Liszt, Meyerbeer, and Rossini. In the mid 1830's, Chopin's health began to decline, however, in 1836 Franz Liszt introduced Chopin Madame Amandine Lucile Aurore Dupin Aurore Dudevant, whose pen name was George Sand, and who was destined to the to-be greatest love of his life. They both entered a tragic relationship which proved to be a great inspiration to him, since she knew the famous artists of their day.
They travelled often which probably also inspired him greatly, however, they never married which was considered scandalous until the mid nineteenth century (Especially since one source stated that Aurore Dedevant was currently married). They were very different, since she was welcomed by the bohemian literati, a divorcee, strong-willed, and a prolific and disciplined writer (she also wore men's clothing and smoked cigars which made her "une femme fatale"), while he was adopted into the highest aristocratic, wealthy circles, sensitive and gloomy, often ill and in despair, however, she was able to be his lover, nurse, and maternal friend, who was also concerned for his physical and spiritual well-being.
During a stay with George Sand in Palma during 1836 and 1839, where conditions were so primitive that instead of improving his health, he almost died, he composed twenty-four preludes. Chopin left Sand's country retreat at Nohant in 1846 (Although another source stated 1847), growing estranged from her as their differing ideas on managing her two teenaged children (Maurice and Solange), whom he cared for very much, caused "civil war" in the "family". Apparently, she worked hard to comfort the ailing Chopin. But then in 1848, the two broke up. Although family problems were an obvious reason, there is still speculation on her motive. Since he was already ill with tuberculosis, his broken heart because of his separation with Aurore Dudevant caused his health to decline quickly.
He lost his interest in composing, but did continue to tour for another year in Europe. His last public performance in Paris was on February 16, 1848. Shortly after this performance, the Revolution broke out in Paris, and Chopin left for England where he was in demand as a composer and performer for Queen Victoria and other royalty. Although he only performed about 30 public concerts in his lifetime, Chopin retained the reputation as a master pianist. With more than two hundred compositions to his credit, Chopin was soon recognised as the greatest piano composer of his time. Though he wrote two concertos for the piano and orchestras, his best works are short compositions for the piano, which brought the piano out as a major solo instrument, which was undergoing developmental changes during his lifetime.
Such pieces include his etudes, preludes, nocturnes, waltzes, polonaises, impromptus, and mazurkas. The intensity of his music and his style reminds many people of romantic poetry. Chopin's music was full of expression and emotion, never scholarly or intellectual. He was a master piano player, an innovative and brilliant composer who used new finger techniques and the pedals to set a standard that is unsurpassable. He was heavily influenced by the sad state of his homeland, and was both untraditional and opposed to the social order. This came through in a period of romanticism, which Chopin's work showed. Yet he he also maintained impeccable control in every detail, elaborating the virtues of his instrument, the piano.
Most importantly, in the sad state that his health rendered him, Chopin's music still is the voice of hope. Although not recognised for his sonorous orchestral writing for the piano, his use of expression and bravura at all levels are not matched by any other composer. There remains today a question of various editorial markings in scholarly editions of Chopin's works, and this is thought to be due to the fact that three publishers simultaneously released his works in Europe. Therefore, Chopin had to make three manuscripts for each composition, and often employed copyists to assist in the preparation. During copying, errors, changes, and deletions may have occurred. His music structure and form is very unique, and puts him into a class all by himself.
In all, Chopin gained more fame and financial reward as a composer than a performer. Many of Chopin's works were written specifically to showcase his flexibility at the keyboard and his delicate touch, including the two piano concertos, the Andante spianato, the Impromptus, and many of the Nocturnes. But Chopin also wrote over fifty Mazurkas during his life, his first when he was ten and the last only a few months before he died. In these dances, and also in the early Krakowiak (a Grand Concert Rondo for piano and orchestra), in his few songs, and in other works, Chopin explores his Polish musical heritage. The Mazurkas in particular show a less delicate, earthier side of Chopin's style, adapted from strong folk rhythms.
Still other pieces, notably the Etudes , were inspired by the abstract example of J.S. Bach, whom Chopin revered above all other composers. Certainly, his works, taken in their entirety, refute any assertion that he lived and worked in a rarefied dream. Chopin's music, no matter what the setting, is instantly recognisable. His unique sense of lyricism and unparalleled melodic genius produced some of the most purely beautiful music ever written - music which would influence many composers who followed, from Brahms to Debussy.
His works tend to fall into one of three categories - small "technical" pieces (or études) for piano, published between 1833 and 1837; larger, more developed works for the piano (nocturnes, preludes, impromptus, mazurkas, polonaises); and the even larger, freely-conceived works (ballades, fantasies, scherzos). He also wrote several sonatas, piano concertos, and a smattering of music for other instruments. He was a revolutionary light in Romantic music, the ultimate craftsman of whimsical melody and heart-rending harmony. In the structure and form of his compositions, he is quite alone; his sense of balance and architecture in music was not particularly related to the Classical or budding Romantic tradition, but seemed to spring from some unknown well-source.
The overwhelming power and influence of his musical legacy is forever assured. Notable among his later compositions were the Mazurkas, C sharp minor (op. 30) and op. 68 no. 4 in F minor, which was probably his last work. The mazurkas were originally Polish dances in triple meter. However, Chopin is reported to have said, "They are not for dancing!" His last concert was played to benefit Polish refugees on November 16, 1948. When he returned to Paris, he was too ill to teach or perform. He died on October 17, 1849, and over 3,000 people attended his funeral at which the Paris Conservatory orchestra and chorus performed the Mozart Requiem. He was buried between Bellini and Cherubini.
FRYDERYK CHOPIN - A CHRONOLOGICAL BIOGRAPHY
1810 Fryderyk Francois Chopin is born in Zelazowa Wola, 54 kilometres from Warsaw, by his own statement on March 1, on February 22, according to the entry in the register of births; arguments as to the precise date continue.
1816 The six-year old Chopin begins to learn the piano with the Czech teacher, Wojciech Zywny (1756-1842), who used to base his teaching on Bach and Mozart.
1817 First efforts at composition: the Polonaise in B flat major, written down by his father, and other dances, as well as marches and variations now lost.
1819 As a so-called "child prodigy", Chopin begins to play in such aristocratic houses as those of the Czartoryski, Sapieha, Czerwertynski, Radziwill, Lubecki, Skarbek, Tenczynski, Zajaczek, Zamoyski, Mokronowski, Grabowski, and other families.
1822 Completes piano studies with Zywny and begins private composition lessons with Josef Elsner. He enters classes at the Warsaw Lyceum in September of 1823 concentrating on classical literature, singing, drawing, music theory and harmony.
1826 He completes his studies at the Warsaw Lyceum on July 27 with commendation. Among his friends there was Julian Fontana. In September, he enrols at the Fine Arts Department of the Warsaw University. There he composes his Sonata in C minor op. 4 and the Variations in B flat Major on the theme La ci darem la mano op. 2 from Mozarts Don Giovanni.
1829 First visit to Vienna where he played concerts and received critical acclaim. The audience's response was very favourable and Chopin was impressed with the warm acceptance of his music and pianistic abilities.
1830 Performs the Concerto in F minor with a small orchestra for family and friends. Then gives its premiere in Warsaw's National Theatre on March 17. On October 11, he played the Concerto in E minor at the National Theatre. From this period also came the Rondo a la Krakowiak, Fantasia on Polish Airs, and some of the Etudes op. 10. He is upset about the political situation in Poland and the Warsaw uprising.
1831 While in Vienna he continues to compose some Mazurkas and Etudes, attends the opera and immerses himself in the local musical life. According to some unconfirmed sources, the first sketches of the 1st Scherzo and Ballade originated in Vienna. He leaves Vienna in the summer, travelling via Linz to Salzburg, Munich, Stuttgart and Paris, where he settles in an apartment at Boulevard Poissonniere 27. More unconfirmed sources indicate that sketches of the Revolutionary Etude op. 10, No. 12 and the Prelude op. 28, No. 24 were composed in Stuttgart. First reports of his ailing health begin.
1832 On February 26, he gives his first performance in Paris at the Salle Pleyel playing the Concerto in E minor, and joined by other artists including Hiller, Osborne and Stamaty. In the audience were Franz Liszt and Felix Mendelssohn. In the summer, the poet Adam Mickiewicz arrives in Paris. Chopin becomes a well known teacher and frequents the best Parisian aristocratic, social and political circles. He dedicates his entire set of Etudes op. 10 to Liszt, whose way of playing them quite impressed Chopin. His relationships with the Paris' artistic and literary elite intensify.
1833-1834 Very productive time; a period in which the number of Chopin's editions greatly increases, published by the following: M. Schlesinger in Paris, F. Kistner in Berlin and Breitkopf and Hartel in Leipzig. Among the works are the Variations Brillantes, the Rondo op. 16, and the Waltz op. 18. Enters the soirees among Vincenzo Bellini's circle.
1835 Completes the Andante Spianato, Grande Polonaise Brillante, and the Scherzo No. 1. Prepares the Mazurkas Op. 24 and the Polonaises Op. 26 for publication. He later meets the poet Adam Mickiewicz. He travels to meet his parents and continues on to Dresden and Leipzig where he has a series of meetings with Robert Schumann, Mendelssohn. Chopin is very ill during the winter months and drafts a will and testament.
1836 His illness returns in the Spring, but in September he makes an offer for the hand of 17-year-old Maria Wodzinska. The engagement is kept secret. Later he travels to Leipzig and meets Schumann, playing for him fragments of the Ballade No. 2, some studies, nocturnes, and mazurkas. This is the year when the following works appear in print for the first time: Concerto in F minor, Polonaise Op. 22, Ballade Op. 23, Mazurkas Op. 24, Polonaises Op. 26, and Nocturnes Op. 27. In late October he meets George Sand at a soiree of Countess Marie dAgoult. He did not like Sand on the first meeting.
1837 Continues to work on the Etudes Op. 25, Mazurkas Op. 30 and 33, Scherzo Op. 31 and the Nocturnes Op. 32. He travels to London in the summer with Camile Pleyel. Upon his return, his relationship with Madame Sand intensifies. In October, he publishes his Etudes Op. 25 dedicating them to Countess Marie dAgoult. In November he writes the Trio from the Funeral March Sonata on the eve of the anniversary of the 1930's November uprising in Poland.
1838 The rave reviews continue in Paris. Chopin gives a concert in the Tuileries at the court of Louis Philippe I, then at a concert given by Valentin Alkan at the Pape salons. He also plays at the apartment of the Duc dOrleans. More impressive names cross Chopin's path: Victor Hugo, Eugene Delacroix, all attending the musical soirees where performances of Chopin's music took place, but also of his many welcomed improvisations. Sand, her children and Chopin leave for Majorca via Barcelona on the ship "El Mallorquin".
1839 As he awaits for his Pleyel piano from Paris, Chopin works on his Preludes Op. 28. Also from this period is Scherzo in C sharp minor and the Polonaises Op. 40. On February 13, he leaves Majorca as his health continued to deteriorate. After a week in Barcelona at the doctor, Madame Sand and Chopin arrive in Paris. He continues to work on those works, the Nocturne Op. 37, No. 2, more Mazurkas from Op. 41 and the Funeral March Sonata. Chopin teaching methodology included works by Bach, Beethoven, Clementi, Hummel, Moscheles, Cramer, Liszt, Hiller, Thalberg, as well as some of his own Etudes and Preludes.
1840 His illness progresses as he continues to give piano lessons to members of the aristocracy. It was the fashion among the ladies and girls of Paris society to be known as a "pupil of Chopin". The following works were published during the summer: Sonata Op. 35, Impromptu Op. 36, Nocturne Op. 37, Ballade Op. 38, Scherzo Op. 39, Polonaises Op. 40, Mazurkas Op. 41, and the Waltz Op. 42.
1841 He continues to compose, among others: Polonaise Op. 44, Prelude Op. 45, Allegro de concert Op. 46, Ballade Op. 47, and Nocturnes op. 48. He later completes the Fantasie in f minor and begins working on the Mazurkas Op. 50.
1842 Chopins performances are regular and lucrative for him. He works on the Ballade Op. 52, Polonaise Op. 53, Scherzo Op. 54, the Impromptu, and the Mazurkas Op. 50. His popularity reaches Poland, where rave reviews and articles about him are written frequently.
1843 As his health worsens, his reputation increases. Wrote Heinrich Heine in Lutece: "Chopin is a great poet of music, an artist of genius who can only be mentioned beside Mozart, Beethoven, Rossini or Berlioz." Chopin and Sand go to Nohant in the summer where he works on the Nocturnes Op. 55 and the Mazurkas Op. 56. Composes the Sonata Op. 58 and perhaps the Berceuse in the summer and autumn.
1845 His health continues to deteriorate as he composes and corresponds with friends and family. He also attends concerts in Paris and receives visits from the likes of Delacroix and Mickiewicz. He composes the Mazurkas Op. 59, completes the Sonata for cello, the Barcarolle and the Polonaise-Fantasie.
1846 This was the last summer at Nohant, a long and stormy one. He worked hard on the Nocturnes Op. 62, Mazurkas Op. 63, and the Sonata for cello Op. 65.
1848 February 16, at the Pleyel salon, he plays his last concert in Paris, which included some preludes, mazurkas, waltzes, the Berceuse, the Barcarolle, and with Auguste Franchomme his own cello sonata. A few days later the February revolution breaks out in Paris, reducing the number of lessons, and thus affecting his livelihood. He travels to England and stays there for 7 months. He gives concerts in salons and public halls and lessons to the aristocracy; meets Queen Victoria, Charles Dickens and Lady Byron. From England he goes to Scotland, where he performs and also composes (Waltz in b minor). Returns to Paris via London in November. He is very ill...
1849 He stops teaching, visits the sick Mickiewicz, plays and improvises there. He receives numerous visits from friends, pupils and society ladies. Also Delacroix is a regular visitor. Sketches of his last work, the Mazurka in f minor, dates from this summer. His sister Ludwika with her daughter and husband arrive in Paris in August to visit the ailing Chopin. Many people visit him at his new apartment at Place Vendome 12. He orders all his unpublished and uncompleted works to be thrown on the fire. He said to Wojciech Grzymala:
You will find many works, more or less worth of me; in the name of the affection which you hold for me, please burn them all apart from the beginning of my method for piano. The rest, without any exception, must be consumed by fire, for I have too much respect for my public and I do not want all the pieces unworthy of my public to be distributed on my responsibility under my name. In his last hours, as Pauline Viardot recounts, he still found the strength to say a warm word to everyone.
At two o'clock on October 17, after midnight, Chopin is dead. Cyprian Kamil Norwid wrote in his obituary: "A member of the family of Warsaw by nationality, a Pole in his heard and a citizen of the world by his talent has passed from this world." On October 30, funeral in the Church of St. Magdalene. Preludes in E minor and B minor as well as Mozart's Requiem were performed in accordance with his wishes. At the Pere-Lachaise cemetery the Funeral March from the Sonata Op. 35 was played in Napoleon-Henri Reber's instrumentation. Also in accordance to his wishes, his heart was taken to Warsaw and placed in the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw.
| Title | Arranger/Composer |
| Ballade No. 3 In A Flat Op. 47 | Frederic Chopin |
| Barcarolle In F Sharp Op. 60 | Frederic Chopin |
| Etude In E Op. 10 No. 3 "Tristesse" | Frederic Chopin |
| Etude In G Flat Op. 10 No. 5 "Black Keys" | Frederic Chopin |
| Fantasie Impromptu | Frederic Chopin |
| Impromptu No. 4 In C Sharp Minor Op. 66 | Frederic Chopin |
| Nocture No. 42 In D Flat | Frederic Chopin |
| Piano Concerto No. 2 In F Minor Op. 21 - Larghetto | Frederic Chopin |
| Polonaise | Frederic Chopin |
| Polonaise No. 3 In A Op. 40 No. 1 "Military" | Frederic Chopin |
| Polonaise No. 6 In A Flat Op. 53 "Heroic" | Frederic Chopin |
| Scherzo No. 2 In B Flat Minor Op. 31 | Frederic Chopin |
| Waltz In C# Minor | Frederic Chopin |
| Waltz No. 11 In G Flat | Frederic Chopin |
| Waltz No. 6 In D Flat Op. 64 No. 1 "Minute" | Frederic Chopin |
| Waltz No. 7 In C Sharp Minor Op. 64 No. 2 | Frederic Chopin |
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