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Chopin's Death and Funeral Details

Chopin's health deteriorated further in 1849, and his sister Ludwika came to Paris to be with him. He died in the early morning of October 17th at the age of 39 with a small number of close friends at his bedside. His funeral was held two weeks later at the Church of the Madeleine in Paris and was attended by over 3,000 people, though George Sand was absent. Mozart's Requiem was sung at the funeral along with two of Chopin's preludes.

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193 views1 page

Chopin's Death and Funeral Details

Chopin's health deteriorated further in 1849, and his sister Ludwika came to Paris to be with him. He died in the early morning of October 17th at the age of 39 with a small number of close friends at his bedside. His funeral was held two weeks later at the Church of the Madeleine in Paris and was attended by over 3,000 people, though George Sand was absent. Mozart's Requiem was sung at the funeral along with two of Chopin's preludes.

Uploaded by

Reo28
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Death and funeral

With his health further deteriorating, Chopin


desired to have a family member with him. In
June 1849 his sister Ludwika came to Paris with
her husband and daughter, and in September,
supported by a loan from Jane Stirling, he took an
apartment at Place Vendôme 12.[120] After 15
October, when his condition took a marked turn
for the worse, only a handful of his closest friends
remained with him. Viardot remarked
sardonically, though, that "all the grand Parisian
ladies considered it de rigueur to faint in his
room."[118]

Some of his friends provided music at his request; Chopin on His Deathbed, by Teofil Kwiatkowski, 1849,
among them, Potocka sang and Franchomme commissioned by Jane Stirling. From left: Aleksander
played the cello. Chopin bequeathed his Jełowicki; Chopin's sister Ludwika; Marcelina
unfinished notes on a piano tuition method, Czartoryska; Wojciech Grzymała; Kwiatkowski.
Projet de méthode, to Alkan for completion.[121]
On 17 October, after midnight, the physician
leaned over him and asked whether he was suffering greatly. "No
longer", he replied. He died a few minutes before two o'clock in
the morning. He was 39. Those present at the deathbed appear to
have included his sister Ludwika, Princess Marcelina
Czartoryska, Sand's daughter Solange, and his close friend
Thomas Albrecht. Later that morning, Solange's husband
Clésinger made Chopin's death mask and a cast of his left
hand.[122]

The funeral, held at the Church of the Madeleine in Paris, was


delayed almost two weeks until 30 October.[123] Entrance was
restricted to ticket holders, as many people were expected to
attend.[123][124] Over 3,000 people arrived without invitations,
from as far as London, Berlin and Vienna, and were
excluded.[125] Absent from the funeral attendees was George
Sand.[126]

Mozart's Requiem was sung at the funeral;[124] the soloists were Chopin's death mask, by Clésinger
the soprano Jeanne-Anaïs Castellan, the mezzo-soprano Pauline (photos: Jack Gibbons)
Viardot, the tenor Alexis Dupont, and the bass Luigi Lablache;
Chopin's Preludes No. 4 in E minor and No. 6 in B minor were
also played. The organist was Louis Lefébure-Wély.[127] The funeral procession to Père Lachaise
Cemetery, which included Chopin's sister Ludwika, was led by the aged Prince Adam Czartoryski. The
pallbearers included Delacroix, Franchomme, and Camille Pleyel.[128] At the graveside, the Funeral
March from Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 was played, in Reber's instrumentation.[129]

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