Fryderyk Chopin

[Florestan]

(This is a precis of a biography by the Fryderyk Chopin Society in Warsaw. See the full version at www.chopin.pl)

Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin was born on 1 March 1810 in the Mazovia region of Poland. Soon after his birth, the family moved to Warsaw. By the age of 7, Fryderyk had already written two polonaises. The prodigy was featured in the Warsaw newspapers and became the toast of the aristocratic salons. He also began giving public charity concerts.

From 1823 to 1826, Chopin attended the Warsaw Lyceum. In the autumn of 1826, Chopin began studying the theory of music, figured bass and composition at the Warsaw School of Music. During this time, he wrote the first extended works, such as the Sonata in C minor, Variations, op. 2 on a theme from Don Juan by Mozart, the Rondo à la Krakowiak, op. 14, the Fantaisie, op. 13 on Polish Airs (the three last ones written for piano and orchestra) and the Trio in G minor, op. 8 for piano, violin and cello.

After completing his studies, Chopin visited Vienna before returning to Warsaw, where he devoted himself to composition and wrote, among other pieces, two concertos for piano and orchestra: in F minor and E minor. This was also the period of the first nocturne, etudes, waltzes, mazurkas, and songs to words by Stefan Witwicki.

At the end of 1830 Chopin returned to Vienna. The outbreak of the Russo-Polish war kept him there despite his original plan to go on to Italy. His experiences at this time are thought to have brought a new force and passion to his work, such as the powerful Etudes from op. 10.

Having given up his plans to visit Italy, due to the hostilities there against Austria, Chopin resolved to go to Paris. On the way, he stopped at Munich and Stuttgart, where he learnt about the dramatic collapse of the November Uprising and the capture of Warsaw by the Russians. The news triggered a fever and nervous crisis. Traces of these experiences are encountered in the so-called Stuttgart diary: "The enemy is in the house (...) Oh God, do You exist? You do and yet You do not avenge. - Have You not had enough of Moscow's crimes - or - or are You Yourself a Muscovite [...] I here, useless! And I here empty-handed. At times I can only groan, suffer, and pour out my despair at my piano!".

In the autumn of 1831, Chopin arrived in Paris. He became the friend of Liszt, Mendelssohn, Ferdinand Hiller, Berlioz and Auguste Franchomme. Later on, in 1835, in Leipzig, he also met Schumann, who held his works in great esteem. Chopin chose the status of a political refugee in Paris, negating the possibility of legally revisiting his homeland.

He could meet his parents only outside Poland and when in August 1835 they went to Karlsbad for a cure, Chopin soon followed. Afterwards, while in nearby Dresden, he fell in love with Maria Wodzinski, the daughter of old family friends. But her parents, disturbed by Chopin's poor health and irregular lifestyle, deemed him an unsuitable partner. Chopin found this rejection extremely painful and labelled the letters from the Wodzinski family, tied into a small bundle, "My sorrow".

In July 1837, Chopin travelled to London, where he began a close liaison with the French writer George Sand. The lovers spent the winter of 1838/1839 on Majorca, living in a former monastery. Chopin became gravely ill and showed symptoms of tuberculosis, but composed a number of masterpieces during this time: the series of 24 preludes, the Polonaise in C minor, the Ballade in F major, and the Scherzo in C sharp minor.

In 1839, partially recovered, he moved to Sand's manor house in Nohant, in central France. Here, he was to spend long vacations up to 1846. The majority of his most outstanding and profound works were composed in Nohant.

For years, the couple enjoyed a deep love and friendship, but the increasing hostility of Sand's son caused them to part in July 1847. The loss had a devastating effect on Chopin's mental and physical state. He almost completely gave up composition, and from then to the end of his life wrote only a few miniatures. In April 1848 Chopin left for England and Scotland. The strain of travelling and performing, together with a climate deleterious to his lungs, further damaged his health. On 16 November 1848, Chopin gave his last concert, playing for Polish emigrés at the Guildhall in London. A few days later, he returned to Paris.

His disease porgessed rapidly and in the summer of 1849, his eldest sister came from Warsaw to take care of him. On 17 October 1849, Chopin died of pulmonary tuberculosis in his Parisian flat in the Place Vendôme. He was buried in the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris. In accordance with his will, however, his heart, taken from his body after death, was brought by his sister to Warsaw where it was placed in an urn installed in a pillar of the Holy Cross church in Krakowskie Przedmiescie.