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Frederic Chopin
1810 - 1849
This year marks 200 years since the birth of one of the greatest composers for piano the world has ever known. Frederic Chopin himself could never understand the source of his inspiration nor the cause of his popular success.
Life and Music
- Born in Poland in 1810, Chopin was inspired by the melodies and dance rhythms of his homeland.
- Chopin was composing and writing poetry at six, and gave his first public concerto performance at the age of eight.
- Marked down as Poland’s hottest young musical talent, in 1822 Chopin came under the personal supervision of Jozef Elsner, the founder-director of the Warsaw Conservatory.
- He became a leading advocate of 'absolute music', producing some of the earliest Romantic pieces inspired by national idioms and arguably the finest body of solo music for the piano.
- Chopin made a promising debut in Vienna in 1829 with his Krakowiak for piano and orchestra.
- Chopin dedicated his Second Concerto to Delfina Potocka, with whom he hit the headlines during the 1940s when a sensational series of highly erotic love letters, supposedly written by Chopin to Delfina, were 'discovered'. All evidence has shown these letters to have been largely forgeries.
- In 1836 Chopin met the novelist George Sand (alias Aurore Dudevant), and so began one of the most famous love affairs in the history of music. The composer’s mild manners, conservative nature and devout Catholicism contrasted with Sand’s outgoing lifestyle, which included dressing as a man, smoking cigars and taking snuff. The couple's differences in temperament ultimately proved irreconcilable and in 1847 the pair split up, a wrench felt most keenly by Chopin.
- Chopin's health began to deteriorate rapidly and, with Paris in revolutionary turmoil, he left for England in 1848 at the invitation of his Scottish piano pupil, Jane Stirling. He was desperately ill with tuberculosis yet still managed to cope with a heavy round of social engagements.
- He returned to Paris in November 1848, where, despite gifts of money and many kind attempts to comfort him, he died on 17 October 1849.
Did you know?
Chopin paid for his expensive lifestyle by giving piano lessons to rich people in Paris. He never liked the idea of asking them for money, so would look away while they left the fee on his mantelpiece!
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