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Frédéric Chopin: Life and Legacy

Frédéric Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuosopianist of the Romantic era. He wrote primarily for the solo piano and was renowned for his poetic genius and unparalleled technical skill. Chopin was born in Poland in 1810 and began composing at a young age, but left Poland at 20 just before a nationalist uprising. He settled in Paris, where he supported himself by teaching piano and selling his compositions. All of Chopin's works featured the piano, and included mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes, and other forms. His piano style was highly individual and technically demanding. Chopin was influential both during and after his lifetime due to his innovations in musical style

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95 views2 pages

Frédéric Chopin: Life and Legacy

Frédéric Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuosopianist of the Romantic era. He wrote primarily for the solo piano and was renowned for his poetic genius and unparalleled technical skill. Chopin was born in Poland in 1810 and began composing at a young age, but left Poland at 20 just before a nationalist uprising. He settled in Paris, where he supported himself by teaching piano and selling his compositions. All of Chopin's works featured the piano, and included mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes, and other forms. His piano style was highly individual and technically demanding. Chopin was influential both during and after his lifetime due to his innovations in musical style

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Frédéric Chopin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


"Chopin" redirects here. For other uses, see Chopin (disambiguation).

Photograph of Chopin daguerreotype by Bisson, c. 1849

Frédéric François Chopin (/ˈʃoʊpæn/; French: [fʁedeʁik fʁɑs̃ wa ʃɔpɛ]̃ ; 1 March 1810 – 17 October
1849) was a Polish composer and virtuosopianist of the Romantic era who wrote primarily for the
solo piano. He gained and has maintained renown worldwide as a leading musician of his era,
whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his
generation."[1]
Chopin was born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin[n 1] in what was then the Duchy of Warsaw and grew
up in Warsaw, which in 1815 became part of Congress Poland. A child prodigy, he completed his
musical education and composed his earlier works in Warsaw before leaving Poland at the age of
20, less than a month before the outbreak of the November 1830 Uprising. At 21 he settled in Paris.
Thereafter, during the last 18 years of his life, he gave only some 30 public performances, preferring
the more intimate atmosphere of the salon. He supported himself by selling his compositions and by
teaching piano, for which he was in high demand. Chopin formed a friendship with Franz Liszt and
was admired by many of his musical contemporaries, including Robert Schumann. In 1835 he
obtained French citizenship. After a failed engagement to Maria Wodzińska from 1836 to 1837, he
maintained an often troubled relationship with the French writer Amantine Dupin (known by her pen
name, George Sand). A brief and unhappy visit to Majorca with Sand in 1838–39 was one of his
most productive periods of composition. In his last years, he was financially supported by his
admirer Jane Stirling, who also arranged for him to visit Scotland in 1848. Through most of his life,
Chopin suffered from poor health. He died in Paris in 1849, at the age of 39, probably
of tuberculosis.
All of Chopin's compositions include the piano. Most are for solo piano, though he also wrote
two piano concertos, a few chamber pieces, and some songs to Polish lyrics. His keyboard style is
highly individual and often technically demanding; his own performances were noted for their nuance
and sensitivity. Chopin invented the concept of the instrumental ballade. His major piano works also
include mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes, polonaises, études, impromptus, scherzos, preludes and son
atas, some published only after his death. Influences on his composition style include Polish folk
music, the classical tradition of J. S. Bach, Mozart and Schubert, as well as the Paris salons where
he was a frequent guest. His innovations in style, musical form, and harmony, and his association of
music with nationalism, were influential throughout and after the late Romantic period.
Chopin's music, his status as one of music's earliest superstars, his association (if only indirect) with
political insurrection, his love life and his early death have made him a leading symbol of the
Romantic era in the public consciousness. His works remain popular, and he has been the subject
of numerous films and biographies of varying degrees of historical accuracy.

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