FRYDERIK CHOPIN (1810-1849)

Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of French-Polish parentage. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music.

Life and Music

• Frederic Chopin was born in Poland, west of Warsaw, on either February 22nd or March 1st 1810 - local records differ with when Chopin's parents claimed he was born.

• Chopin was composing and writing poetry at six, and gave his first public concerto performance at the age of eight.

• 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 and arguably the finest body of solo music for the piano.

• Chopin dedicated his second piano concerto (1830) to Delfina Potocka, with whom he hit the headlines during the 1940s when a sensational series of highly erotic (forged) love letters were discovered.

• 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 pair split up in 1847.

• Chopin's Funeral March, one of the piano repertoire's most famous works, was composed in 1837.

• By 1841, both sets of Chopin's Etudes had been published. They went on to become indispensable tomes for piano students everywhere.

• Among the most famous of his works was composed late in his life - The Minute Waltz was finished in 1847.

• Chopin's health began to deteriorate rapidly and he left for England at the invitation of his Scottish piano pupil, Jane Stirling.

• He returned to Paris, where, despite gifts of money and many kind attempts to comfort him, he died on 17 October 1849.

FRYDERYK CHOPIN’S WARSAW

For the first half of his 39 years, Fryderyk Chopin was associated with Warsaw. It was in Warsaw that he studied music, where he was formally educated, and where his heart found its final resting place.

Fryderyk Chopin is without a doubt the most famous Varsovian. It was in Warsaw that he studied music, made friends, expanded his knowledge and gave his first concerts; the prodigious man even wrote for a newspaper. It was in Warsaw where he also experienced his first love. If we stroll through the city streets, most notably those along the Royal Route, we come across places he lived or frequented.
The most important stops on the route are Holy Cross Church (kościół św. Krzyża), where his heart is interred, the cutting-edge and super-modern biographical museum, which opened on the 200th commemoration of Chopin’s birthday, and the memorial in Łazienki Park, where recitals of Chopin’s music are held every Sunday afternoon from May to September. Also worth visiting is Żelazowa Wola – which is about 50 km outside of Warsaw – the place where Chopin was born.
He died in Paris and his body lies in the cemetery of Père Lachaisse,  except his heart which is in the Holy Cross church in Warsaw as he wanted it to be.