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104-618: Named for the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin (whose birth name was Fryderyk Chopin and who studied there from 1826 to 1829), the University dates from the Music School for singers and theatre actors that was founded in 1810 by Wojciech Bogusławski . In 1820 it was transformed by Chopin's subsequent teacher, Józef Elsner , into a more general school of music, the Institute of Music and Declamation; it

208-805: A concerto by J. S. Bach for three keyboards ; and, on 3 March 1838, a concert in which Chopin, his pupil Adolphe Gutmann , Charles-Valentin Alkan , and Alkan's teacher Joseph Zimmermann performed Alkan's arrangement, for eight hands, of two movements from Beethoven 's 7th symphony . Chopin was also involved in the composition of Liszt's Hexameron ; he wrote the sixth (and final) variation on Bellini 's theme. Chopin's music soon found success with publishers, and in 1833 he contracted with Maurice Schlesinger , who arranged for it to be published not only in France but, through his family connections, also in Germany and England. In

312-460: A "tinge of jealousy and spite" towards Liszt's virtuosity on the piano, and others have also argued that he had become enchanted with Liszt's theatricality, showmanship, and success. Liszt was the dedicatee of Chopin's Op. 10 Études , and his performance of them prompted the composer to write to Hiller, "I should like to rob him of the way he plays my studies." However, Chopin expressed annoyance in 1843 when Liszt performed one of his nocturnes with

416-500: A French passport. Chopin remained close to his fellow Poles in exile as friends and confidants. He never felt fully comfortable speaking French or considered himself to be French, despite his father's French origins. He always saw himself as a Pole, Adam Zamoyski wrote. In Paris, Chopin encountered artists and other distinguished figures and found many opportunities to exercise his talents and achieve celebrity. During his years in Paris, he

520-453: A cigar smoker, she initially repelled Chopin, who remarked, "What an unattractive person la Sand is. Is she really a woman?" However, by early 1837 Maria Wodzińska's mother had made it clear to Chopin in correspondence that a marriage with her daughter was unlikely to proceed. It is thought that she was influenced by his poor health and possibly also by rumours about his associations with women such as d'Agoult and Sand. Chopin finally placed

624-417: A complete renewal of piano music, ... an abundance of original ideas of a kind to be found nowhere else ..." After this concert, Chopin realised that his essentially intimate keyboard technique was not optimal for large concert spaces. Later that year he was introduced to the wealthy Rothschild banking family, whose patronage also opened doors for him to other private salons (social gatherings of

728-581: A composer and performer opened the door to western Europe for him, and on 2 November 1830, he set out, in the words of Zdzisław Jachimecki , "into the wide world, with no very clearly defined aim, forever". With Woyciechowski, he headed for Austria again, intending to go on to Italy. Later that month, in Warsaw, the November 1830 Uprising broke out, and Woyciechowski returned to Poland to enlist. Chopin, now alone in Vienna,

832-479: A composer throughout this period declined in quantity year by year. Whereas in 1841 he had written a dozen works, only six were written in 1842 and six shorter pieces in 1843. In 1844 he wrote only the Op. 58 sonata . 1845 saw the completion of three mazurkas (Op. 59). Although these works were more refined than many of his earlier compositions, Zamoyski concludes that "his powers of concentration were failing and his inspiration

936-607: A concert hall (486 seats), the Szymanowski Lecture Theater (adapted for film projection; 155 seats), the Melcer Chamber Music Hall (196 seats and a Walcker organ sampled by Piotr Grabowski), the Moniuszko Opera Hall (53 seats), a rhythmics room, three music-recording and sound-track studios, a tuner's studio, a library and reading room, rector's offices, deans' offices, management offices, guest rooms,

1040-659: A concert in Manchester's Gentlemen's Concert Hall, sharing the stage with Marietta Alboni and Lorenzo Salvi . In late summer he was invited by Jane Stirling to visit Scotland, where he stayed at Calder House near Edinburgh and at Johnstone Castle in Renfrewshire, both owned by members of Stirling's family. She clearly had a notion of going beyond mere friendship, and Chopin was obliged to make it clear to her that this could not be so. He wrote at this time to Grzymała: "My Scottish ladies are kind, but such bores", and responding to

1144-725: A considerable correspondence with Ludwika Jędrzejewicz concerning the posthumous publication of some of his unpublished works, and 25 of these letters are now in the Muzeum Fryderyka Chopina in Warsaw. Chopin had told Jane Stirling that she was the only one who knew his true date of birth. She wrote it down and placed it in a box which is buried with him in Père Lachaise Cemetery . On the first anniversary of his death she scattered over Chopin's grave some Polish soil that she had obtained from Ludwika. Jane Stirling died on 6 February 1859, aged 54, of an ovarian cyst . She

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1248-403: A couch. Sometimes, through the window which opens on the garden, a gust of music wafts up from Chopin at work. All this mingles with the songs of nightingales and the fragrance of roses. From 1842 onwards, Chopin showed signs of serious illness. After a solo recital in Paris on 21 February 1842, he wrote to Grzymała: "I have to lie in bed all day long, my mouth and tonsils are aching so much." He

1352-534: A diamond ring. At a subsequent aeolopantaleon concert on 10 June 1825, Chopin performed his Rondo Op. 1 . This was the first of his works to be commercially published and earned him his first mention in the foreign press, when the Leipzig Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung praised his "wealth of musical ideas". From 1824 until 1828, Chopin spent his vacations away from Warsaw, at a number of locations. In 1824 and 1825, at Szafarnia , he

1456-462: A failed engagement to Maria Wodzińska from 1836 to 1837, he maintained an often troubled relationship with the French writer Aurore Dupin (known by her pen name George Sand ). A brief and unhappy visit to Mallorca with Sand in 1838–39 would prove one of his most productive periods of composition. In his final years, he was supported financially by his admirer Jane Stirling . For most of his life, Chopin

1560-409: A passionate and glowing tone that Nourrit used, but with a plaintive sound as soft as an echo from another world. Two or three at most among those present felt its meaning and had tears in their eyes. In May 1839, they headed to Sand's estate at Nohant for the summer, where they spent most of the following summers until 1846. In autumn they returned to Paris, where Chopin's apartment at 5 rue Tronchet

1664-564: A prince in weak health – could be interpreted as Sand and Chopin. In Chopin's presence, Sand read the manuscript aloud to Delacroix, who was both shocked and mystified by its implications, writing that "Madame Sand was perfectly at ease and Chopin could hardly stop making admiring comments". That year their relationship ended following an angry correspondence which, in Sand's words, made "a strange conclusion to nine years of exclusive friendship". Grzymała, who had followed their romance from

1768-429: A rift between them; there are claims that Liszt had displayed jealousy of his mistress Marie d'Agoult 's obsession with Chopin, while others believe that Chopin had become concerned about Liszt's growing relationship with George Sand . In 1836, at a party hosted by Marie d'Agoult, Chopin met the French author George Sand (born [Amantine] Aurore [Lucile] Dupin). Short (under five feet, or 152 cm), dark, big-eyed and

1872-633: A rumour about his involvement, answered that he was "closer to the grave than the nuptial bed". He gave a public concert in Glasgow on 27 September, and another in Edinburgh at the Hopetoun Rooms on Queen Street (now Erskine House) on 4 October. In late October 1848, while staying at 10 Warriston Crescent in Edinburgh with the Polish physician Adam Łyszczyński, he wrote out his last will and testament – "a kind of disposition to be made of my stuff in

1976-464: A student, visited Berlin with a family friend, zoologist Feliks Jarocki , enjoying operas directed by Gaspare Spontini and attending concerts by Carl Friedrich Zelter , Felix Mendelssohn , and other celebrities. On an 1829 return trip to Berlin, he was a guest of Prince Antoni Radziwiłł , governor of the Grand Duchy of Posen  – himself an accomplished composer and aspiring cellist. For

2080-649: A symphony orchestra, and the Chopin University Orchestra, as well as a choir. a Since at that time the Warsaw Conservatory was affiliated with Warsaw University 's Art Department, Chopin is also counted among the University's alumni . Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin ; 1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849)

2184-561: A thematic index. These volumes were later used by the French musicologist and Chopin biographer Édouard Ganche to establish the Oxford original edition of Chopin. However, whether Chopin intended this collection to serve as a basis for a revised collected edition of his music is an open question. She also became his secretary, agent and business manager. She arranged his concert at the Salle Pleyel on 16 February 1848, and also attended to

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2288-732: A word to her about my feelings; whom I dream of, who inspired the Adagio of my Concerto". All of Chopin's biographers, following the lead of Frederick Niecks , agree that this "ideal" was Gładkowska. After what would be Chopin's farewell concert in Warsaw in October 1830, which included the concerto, played by the composer, and Gładkowska singing an aria by Gioachino Rossini , the two exchanged rings, and two weeks later she wrote in his album some affectionate lines bidding him farewell. After Chopin left Warsaw, he and Gładkowska did not meet and apparently did not correspond. In September 1828, Chopin, while still

2392-448: Is dated 23 April 1810, gives his birthday as 22 February 1810, and cites his given names in the Latin form Fridericus Franciscus (in Polish, he was Fryderyk Franciszek ). The composer and his family used the birthdate 1 March, which is now generally accepted as the correct date. His father, Nicolas Chopin , was a Frenchman from Lorraine who had emigrated to Poland in 1787 at

2496-470: Is problematic. Other scholars argue that these are clear, or potential, demonstrations of homosexual impulses on Chopin's part. Probably in early 1829, Chopin met the singer Konstancja Gładkowska and developed an intense affection for her, although it is not clear that he ever addressed her directly on the matter. In a letter to Woyciechowski of 3 October 1829 he refers to his "ideal, whom I have served faithfully for six months, though without ever saying

2600-690: Is the Fryderyk Chopin Institute , which was created by the Parliament of Poland to research and promote his life and works. It hosts the International Chopin Piano Competition , a prestigious competition devoted entirely to his works. Frédéric Chopin was born in Żelazowa Wola , 46 kilometres (29 miles) west of Warsaw, in what was then the Duchy of Warsaw , a Polish state established by Napoleon . The parish baptismal record, which

2704-572: Is unlikely that the two were ever lovers." Chopin's biographer Alan Walker considers that, insofar as such expressions could be perceived as homosexual in nature, they would not denote more than a passing phase in Chopin's life, or be the result – in Walker's words – of a "mental twist". The musicologist Jeffrey Kallberg notes that concepts of sexual practice and identity were very different in Chopin's time, so modern interpretation

2808-495: The February Revolution of 1848. As the composer's illness progressed, Sand had become less of a lover and more of a nurse to Chopin, whom she called her "third child". In letters to third parties she vented her impatience, referring to him as a "child", a "poor angel", a "sufferer", and a "beloved little corpse". In 1847 Sand published her novel Lucrezia Floriani , whose main characters – a rich actress and

2912-464: The GAMA cafeteria, and doctor's and dentist's clinics. There is also a music book shop and antiquarian book shop. The University also has its own dormitory , Dziekanka , at 58/60 Krakowskie Przedmieście . The latter has its own 150-seat concert hall. The University is divided into the following departments: The University organizes the following music competitions: The University has two orchestras:

3016-573: The Hôtel Baudard de Saint-James on the Place Vendôme , with rent possibly supported by Jane Stirling. 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". Jane Stirling Jean ("Jane") Wilhelmina Stirling (15 July 1804 – 6 February 1859)

3120-513: The Hôtel de France on the Rue Laffitte , a few blocks away. They performed together on seven occasions between 1833 and 1841. The first, on 2 April 1833, was at a benefit concert organised by Hector Berlioz for his bankrupt Shakespearean actress wife Harriet Smithson , during which they played George Onslow 's Sonata in F minor for piano duet. Later joint appearances included a benefit concert for

3224-609: The July Revolution . Chopin was reportedly unimpressed with the composition. During the summers at Nohant, particularly in the years 1839–1843 (except 1840), Chopin found quiet, productive days during which he composed many works, including his Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53 . Sand compellingly describes Chopin's creative process: an inspiration, its painstaking elaboration – sometimes amid tormented weeping and complaining, with hundreds of changes in concept – only to return finally to

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3328-833: The Kazimierz Palace (today the rectorate of Warsaw University ). Chopin and his family moved to a building, which still survives, adjacent to the Kazimierz Palace. During this period, he was sometimes invited to the Belweder Palace as playmate to the son of the ruler of Russian Poland , Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich of Russia ; he played the piano for Konstantin Pavlovich and composed a march for him. Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz , in his dramatic eclogue , " Nasze Przebiegi " ("Our Discourses", 1818), attested to "little Chopin's" popularity. From September 1823 to 1826, Chopin attended

3432-520: The instrumental ballade (which Chopin created as an instrumental genre), études , impromptus , scherzi , preludes , and sonatas , some published only posthumously. Among the influences on his style of composition were Polish folk music , the classical tradition of Mozart and Schubert , and the atmosphere of the Paris salons, of which he was a frequent guest. His innovations in style, harmony , and musical form , and his association of music with nationalism , were influential throughout and after

3536-778: The Academy of Art, and some of his eminent pupils such as Lessing , Bendemann , Hildebrandt and Sohn . In 1835 Chopin went to Carlsbad , where he spent time with his parents; it was the last time he would see them. On his way back to Paris, he met old friends from Warsaw, the Wodzińskis, their sons, and their daughters, amongst which Maria , whom he occasionally had given piano lessons in Poland. This meeting prompted him to stay for two weeks in Dresden, when he had previously intended to return to Paris via Leipzig . The sixteen-year-old girl's portrait of

3640-741: The Benevolent Association of Polish Ladies in Paris. Their last appearance together in public was for a charity concert conducted for the Beethoven Monument in Bonn, held at the Salle Pleyel and the Paris Conservatory on 25 and 26 April 1841. Although the two displayed great respect and admiration for each other, their friendship was uneasy and had some qualities of a love–hate relationship. Harold C. Schonberg believes that Chopin displayed

3744-575: The Op. 2 Variations in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (his first published article on music), declared: "Hats off, gentlemen! A genius." On 25 February 1832 Chopin gave a debut Paris concert in the "salons de MM Pleyel" at 9 rue Cadet, which drew universal admiration. The critic François-Joseph Fétis wrote in the Revue et gazette musicale : "Here is a young man who ... taking no model, has found, if not

3848-594: The Polish Literary Society, some of whose verses he set as songs. He also was more than once guest of Marquis Astolphe de Custine , one of his fervent admirers, playing his works in Custine's salon. Two Polish friends in Paris were also to play important roles in Chopin's life there. A fellow student at the Warsaw Conservatory, Julian Fontana, had originally tried unsuccessfully to establish himself in England; Fontana

3952-545: The Polish artist Teofil Kwiatkowski to produce an oil painting of Chopin, which also included Chopin's sister Ludwika (Louisa) Jędrzejewicz, Marcelina Czartoryska and Grzymała. In September 1849, Chopin took an apartment at Place Vendôme 12. The second-floor, seven-room apartment had previously housed the Russian Embassy; Chopin could not afford it, but Jane Stirling rented it for him. A few days before Chopin's death on 17 October, she purchased his grand piano. She paid

4056-467: The Stirling clan chief, William Stirling at Keir House , Dunblane, an art collector and going from city to city; Chopin found himself meeting many people with whom he could not converse (he spoke only French and Polish) which only made his physical condition worse. In Manchester , on 28 August, he played three pieces, but was so weak he had to be carried on and off the stage. All his expenses throughout

4160-723: The Warsaw Conservatory, he made his debut in Vienna . He gave two piano concerts and received many favourable reviews – in addition to some commenting (in Chopin's own words) that he was "too delicate for those accustomed to the piano-bashing of local artists". In the first of these concerts, he premiered his Variations on "Là ci darem la mano" , Op. 2 (variations on a duet from Mozart 's opera Don Giovanni ) for piano and orchestra. He returned to Warsaw in September 1829, where he premiered his Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor , Op. 21 on 17 March 1830. Chopin's successes as

4264-624: The Warsaw Lyceum, where he received organ lessons from the Czech musician Wilhelm Würfel during his first year. In the autumn of 1826 he began a three-year course under the Silesian composer Józef Elsner at the Warsaw Conservatory , studying music theory , figured bass , and composition . Throughout this period he continued to compose and to give recitals in concerts and salons in Warsaw. He

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4368-423: The addition of numerous intricate embellishments, at which Chopin remarked that he should play the music as written or not play it at all, forcing an apology. Most biographers of Chopin state that after this the two had little to do with each other, although in his letters dated as late as 1848 he still referred to him as "my friend Liszt". Some commentators point to events in the two men's romantic lives which led to

4472-633: The age of 14 was probably from tuberculosis . Nicolas Chopin was devoted to his adopted homeland, and insisted on the use of the Polish language in the household. In October 1810, six months after Chopin's birth, the family moved to Warsaw, where his father acquired a post teaching French at the Warsaw Lyceum , then housed in the Saxon Palace . Chopin lived with his family on the Palace grounds. His father played

4576-464: The age of 20, less than a month before the outbreak of the November 1830 Uprising . At 21, he settled in Paris. Thereafter he gave only 30 public performances, preferring the more intimate atmosphere of the salon . He supported himself by selling his compositions and by giving piano lessons, 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 . After

4680-590: The age of sixteen. He married Justyna Krzyżanowska , a poor relative of the Skarbeks, one of the families for whom he worked. Chopin was baptised in the same church where his parents had married, in Brochów . His eighteen-year-old godfather , for whom he was named, was Fryderyk Skarbek , a pupil of Nicolas Chopin. Chopin was the second child of Nicolas and Justyna and their only son; he had an elder sister, Ludwika , and two younger sisters, Izabela and Emilia, whose death at

4784-482: The aristocracy and artistic and literary elite). By the end of 1832 Chopin had established himself among the Parisian musical elite and had earned the respect of his peers such as Hiller, Liszt, and Berlioz. He no longer depended financially upon his father, and in the winter of 1832, he began earning a handsome income from publishing his works and teaching piano to affluent students from all over Europe. This freed him from

4888-477: The arts, but also in subjects such as prison reform , homeopathy , and the Protestant movement. The pianist Lindsay Sloper claimed to have been the one to introduce her to Frédéric Chopin , perhaps in 1842 or 1843. She became his pupil immediately. Chopin does not mention her until 1844. That she was a talented pianist was evident from Chopin's remark to her, "One day you’ll play very, very well." Towards

4992-539: The author William Makepeace Thackeray and the singer Jenny Lind . Chopin was also sought after for piano lessons, for which he charged the high fee of one guinea per hour, and for private recitals for which the fee was 20 guineas. At a concert on 7 July he shared the platform with Viardot, who sang arrangements of some of his mazurkas to Spanish texts. A few days later, he performed for Thomas Carlyle and his wife Jane at their home in Chelsea . On 28 August he played at

5096-517: The bad weather had such a detrimental effect on Chopin's health that Sand determined to leave the island. To avoid further customs duties, Sand sold the piano to a local French couple, the Canuts. The group travelled first to Barcelona , then to Marseilles , where they stayed for a few months while Chopin convalesced. While in Marseilles, Chopin made a rare appearance at the organ during a requiem mass for

5200-409: The beginning, commented, "If [Chopin] had not had the misfortune of meeting G. S. [George Sand], who poisoned his whole being, he would have lived to be Cherubini's age." Chopin would die two years later at thirty-nine; the composer Luigi Cherubini had died in Paris in 1842 at the age of 81. Chopin's public popularity as a virtuoso began to wane, as did the number of his pupils, and this, together with

5304-419: The city, and Chopin was suddenly deprived of his livelihood. She studied the piano further under Thomas Tellefsen , himself a Chopin pupil. Jane and her sister suggested that Chopin perform a series of concerts in England. He was ill and did not want to travel, but as he was in need of the money that such a tour would provide for him, he agreed. They left for London on 20 April 1848. Through Jane Stirling he

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5408-633: The composer has been considered, along with Delacroix's, as among the best likenesses of Chopin. In October he finally reached Leipzig, where he met Schumann, Clara Wieck , and Mendelssohn, who organised for him a performance of his own oratorio St. Paul , and who considered him "a perfect musician". In July 1836 Chopin travelled to Marienbad and Dresden to be with the Wodziński family, and in September he proposed to Maria, whose mother Countess Wodzińska approved in principle. Chopin went on to Leipzig, where he presented Schumann with his G minor Ballade . At

5512-435: The composer's maturing "into an inspired national bard who intuited the past, present and future of his native Poland". When he left Warsaw on 2 November 1830, Chopin had intended to go to Italy, but violent unrest there made that a dangerous destination. His next choice was Paris; difficulties obtaining a visa from Russian authorities resulted in his obtaining transit permission from the French. In later years he would quote

5616-456: The composer. Letters from Chopin to Woyciechowski in the period 1829–30 (when Chopin was about twenty) contain apparent homoerotic references to dreams and to offered kisses. I am going to wash now; don't kiss me, I'm not washed yet. You? If I were smeared with the oils of Byzantium, you would not kiss me unless I forced you to it by magnetism. There's some kind of power in nature. Today you will dream of kissing me! I have got to pay you out for

5720-735: The death of Chopin's youngest sister Emilia, the family moved from the Warsaw University building, adjacent to the Kazimierz Palace, to lodgings just across the street from the university , in the south annex of the Krasiński Palace on Krakowskie Przedmieście , where Chopin lived until he left Warsaw in 1830. Here his parents continued running their boarding house for male students. Four boarders at his parents' apartments became Chopin's intimates: Tytus Woyciechowski , Jan Nepomucen Białobłocki , Jan Matuszyński , and Julian Fontana . The latter two would become part of his Paris milieu. Chopin

5824-459: The end of 1836, he sent Maria an album in which his sister Ludwika had inscribed seven of his songs, and his 1835 Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 1 . The anodyne thanks he received from Maria proved to be the last letter he was to have from her. Chopin placed the letters he had received from Maria and her mother into a large envelope, wrote on it the words "My sorrow" ( "Moja bieda" ), and to

5928-400: The end of his life he even entrusted one of his own pupils, Vera Rubio, to her tutoring. In 1844 he dedicated his two Nocturnes, Op. 55 to her. She also expressed a desire to learn the cello, and so Chopin referred her to his collaborator, Auguste Franchomme . Jane Stirling worked with Chopin in assembling seven bound volumes of the French editions of most of his works, and in compiling

6032-436: The end of his life retained in a desk drawer this keepsake of the second love of his life. Although it is not known exactly when Chopin first met Franz Liszt after arriving in Paris, on 12 December 1831 he mentioned in a letter to his friend Woyciechowski that "I have met Rossini , Cherubini , Baillot , etc. – also Kalkbrenner. You would not believe how curious I was about Herz , Liszt, Hiller, etc." Liszt

6136-601: The flute and violin; his mother played the piano and gave lessons to boys in the boarding house that the Chopins kept. Chopin was of slight build, and even in early childhood was prone to illnesses. Chopin may have had some piano instruction from his mother, but his first professional music tutor, from 1816 to 1821, was the Czech pianist Wojciech Żywny . His elder sister Ludwika also took lessons from Żywny, and occasionally played duets with her brother. It quickly became apparent that he

6240-445: The future, if I should drop dead somewhere", he wrote to Grzymała. Chopin made his last public appearance on a concert platform at London's Guildhall on 16 November 1848, when, in a final patriotic gesture, he played for the benefit of Polish refugees. This gesture proved to be a mistake, as most of the participants were more interested in the dancing and refreshments than in Chopin's piano artistry, which drained him. By this time he

6344-629: The grave than the nuptial bed". He referred to both Stirling and Mrs Erskine as "mes braves Écossaises" , and was frequently exasperated by their over-solicitude, saying 'They will suffocate me with their goodness' and her sister Ann's habit of bringing him religious pamphlets. His final concert in Britain was on 16 November at London's Guildhall , where he played despite being desperately ill. They returned to Paris on 24 November accompanied by mountainous debts, which Jane Stirling paid anonymously. During Chopin's last weeks in 1849, Stirling commissioned

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6448-643: The heating, the ventilation, and the flowers. The concluding item of the concert was the Barcarolle in F-sharp major , but Chopin was too exhausted to complete the final section. After managing to walk unaided to his dressing room, he collapsed in Jane Stirling's arms. This was to prove his final Paris concert. There had been plans for another concert there in March, but on 23 February a revolution broke out, many people fled

6552-469: The horrible dream you gave me last night. According to Adam Zamoyski , such expressions "were, and to some extent still are, common currency in Polish and carry no greater implication than the 'love ' " concluding letters today. "The spirit of the times, pervaded by the Romantic movement in art and literature, favoured extreme expression of feeling ... Whilst the possibility cannot be ruled out entirely, it

6656-467: The hospitality of the Stirling sisters, whom he said 'even bring me the Paris newspapers every day' near Edinburgh , at Calder House , the castle of Lord Torphichen , the ladies' brother-in-law. (Calder House was where in 1556 John Knox had first celebrated communion. ) He went on to give a "very select" concert in Glasgow, staying with Stirling's sister Ann at Johnstone Castle . Jane Stirling dragged him from one wealthy relative to another, including

6760-600: The incompetence of the doctors in Majorca, commenting: "The three most celebrated doctors on the island have seen me ... The first said I was dead, the second that I am dying, and the third that I'm going to die" He also had problems having his Pleyel piano sent to him, having to rely in the meantime on a piano made in Palma by Juan Bauza. The Pleyel piano finally arrived from Paris in December, just shortly before Chopin and Sand left

6864-439: The initial idea. Among the visitors to Nohant were Delacroix and the mezzo-soprano Pauline Viardot , whom Chopin had advised on piano technique and composition. Delacroix gives an account of staying at Nohant in a letter of 7 June 1842: The hosts could not be more pleasant in entertaining me. When we are not all together at dinner, lunch, playing billiards, or walking, each of us stays in his room, reading or lounging around on

6968-434: The island. Chopin wrote to Pleyel in January 1839: "I am sending you my Preludes [Op. 28]. I finished them on your little piano, which arrived in the best possible condition in spite of the sea, the bad weather and the Palma customs." Chopin was also able to undertake work while in Majorca on his Ballade No. 2 , Op. 38; on two Polonaises, Op. 40; and on the Scherzo No. 3 , Op. 39. Although this period had been productive,

7072-398: The late Romantic period. Chopin's music, his status as one of music's earliest celebrities, his indirect association with political insurrection, his high-profile love life, and his early death have made him a leading symbol of the Romantic era. His works remain popular, and he has been the subject of numerous films and biographies of varying historical fidelity. Among his many memorials

7176-401: The letters from Maria and her mother in a package on which he wrote, in Polish, "My Sorrow". Sand, in a letter to Grzymała of June 1838, admitted strong feelings for the composer and debated whether to abandon a current affair to begin a relationship with Chopin; she asked Grzymała to assess Chopin's relationship with Maria Wodzińska, without realising that the affair, at least from Maria's side,

7280-478: The logistical arrangements and provided much of the necessary funding. In London, Chopin took lodgings at Dover Street , where the firm of Broadwood provided him with a grand piano. At his first engagement, on 15 May at Stafford House , the audience included Queen Victoria and Prince Albert . The Prince, who was himself a talented musician, moved close to the keyboard to view Chopin's technique. Broadwood also arranged concerts for him; among those attending were

7384-433: The passport's endorsement "Passeport en passant par Paris à Londres" ("In transit to London via Paris"), joking that he was in the city "only in passing". Chopin arrived in Paris on 5 October 1831; he would never return to Poland, thus becoming one of many expatriates of the Polish Great Emigration . In France, he used the French versions of his given names, and after receiving French citizenship in 1835, he travelled on

7488-558: The political strife and instability of the time, caused him to struggle financially. In February 1848, with the cellist Auguste Franchomme , he gave his last Paris concert, which included three movements of the Cello Sonata Op. 65 . In April, during the 1848 Revolution in Paris, he left for London, where he performed at several concerts and numerous receptions in great houses. This tour was suggested to him by his Scottish pupil Jane Stirling and her elder sister. Stirling also made all

7592-466: The prince and his pianist daughter Wanda, he composed his Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C major for cello and piano , Op. 3. Back in Warsaw that year, Chopin heard Niccolò Paganini play the violin, and composed a set of variations, Souvenir de Paganini . It may have been this experience that encouraged him to commence writing his first Études (1829–1832), exploring the capacities of his own instrument. After completing his studies at

7696-546: The spring of 1834, Chopin attended the Lower Rhenish Music Festival in Aix-la-Chapelle with Hiller, and it was there that Chopin met Felix Mendelssohn. After the festival, the three visited Düsseldorf , where Mendelssohn had been appointed musical director. They spent what Mendelssohn described as "a very agreeable day", playing and discussing music at his piano, and met Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow , director of

7800-401: The strains of public concert-giving, which he disliked. Chopin seldom performed publicly in Paris. In later years he generally gave a single annual concert at the Salle Pleyel, a venue that seated three hundred. He played more frequently at salons but preferred playing at his own Paris apartment for small groups of friends. The musicologist Arthur Hedley has observed that "As a pianist Chopin

7904-563: The summer of 1849, his friends found him an apartment in Chaillot , out of the centre of the city, for which the rent was secretly subsidised by an admirer, Princess Yekaterina Dmitrievna Soutzos-Obreskova. He was visited here by Jenny Lind in June 1849. 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, he took an apartment at

8008-469: The tenor Adolphe Nourrit on 24 April 1839, playing a transcription of Franz Schubert 's Lied Die Sterne (D. 939). George Sand gives a description of Chopin's playing in a letter of 28 April 1839: Chopin sacrificed himself by playing the organ at the Elevation – and what an organ! Anyhow our boy made the best of it by using the less discordant stops, and he played Schubert's Die Sterne , not with

8112-492: The threats of Sand's former lover Félicien Mallefille . After discovering that the couple were not married, the deeply traditional Catholic people of Majorca became inhospitable, making accommodation difficult to find. This compelled the group to take lodgings in a former Carthusian monastery in Valldemossa , which gave little shelter from the cold winter weather. On 3 December 1838, Chopin complained about his bad health and

8216-615: The total cost of his funeral; all the travelling expenses from Warsaw of Chopin's sister Ludwika; and for his piano to be shipped to her in Warsaw. She purchased all of Chopin's remaining furniture and effects, including his death mask by Auguste Clésinger . She had some of the furniture shipped to Calder House near Edinburgh. It was displayed in a special room which became known as the Chopin Museum. She also collected various manuscripts, sketches, letters and other papers of his, containing handwritten comments, variants and dedications. She had

8320-433: The tour were paid by Jane. It was during this tour, in late October 1848 in Edinburgh, at the home of Dr Adam Łyszczyński, a Polish physician with whom he stayed for a number of days, that Chopin wrote his last will and testament – "a kind of disposition to be made of my stuff in the future, if I should drop dead somewhere," he wrote to his friend Wojciech Grzymała . Although she was almost six years older than Chopin (she

8424-464: Was a child prodigy . By the age of seven he had begun giving public concerts, and in 1817 he composed two polonaises , in G minor and B-flat major . His next work, a polonaise in A-flat major of 1821, dedicated to Żywny, is his earliest surviving musical manuscript. In 1817 the Saxon Palace was requisitioned by Warsaw's Russian governor for military use, and the Warsaw Lyceum was reestablished in

8528-612: Was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period , who wrote primarily for solo piano . He has maintained worldwide renown as a leading musician of his era, one whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation". Chopin was born in Żelazowa Wola 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

8632-516: Was a Scottish amateur pianist who is best known as a student and later friend of Frédéric Chopin , who dedicated Nocturnes, Op. 55 to her. She took him on a tour of England and Scotland in 1848, and took charge of the disposal of his effects and manuscripts after his death in 1849. Stirling was born Jean Wilhelmina Stirling as the youngest of 13 children of John Stirling of Kippendavie , at Kippenross House, near Dunblane in Perthshire , and

8736-401: Was a guest of Dominik Dziewanowski , the father of a schoolmate. Here, for the first time, he encountered Polish rural folk music . His letters home from Szafarnia (to which he gave the title "The Szafarnia Courier"), written in a very modern and lively Polish, amused his family with their spoofing of the Warsaw newspapers and demonstrated the youngster's literary gift. In 1827, soon after

8840-451: Was beset by anguish, both emotional and intellectual". Chopin's relations with Sand were soured in 1846 by problems involving her daughter Solange and Solange's fiancé, the young fortune-hunting sculptor Auguste Clésinger . The composer frequently took Solange's side in quarrels with her mother; he also faced jealousy from Sand's son Maurice. Moreover, Chopin was indifferent to Sand's radical political pursuits, including her enthusiasm for

8944-490: Was born in July 1804, the same month as George Sand ), it was generally rumoured at this time that Chopin and Stirling were shortly to be engaged. This never happened; indeed, there is no indication in any of Chopin's letters that he ever felt any amorous feelings for her. On the contrary, she often bored him. He said to a friend, "They have married me to Miss Stirling; she might as well marry death." To another he wrote "I'm nearer

9048-533: Was buried on 11 February in the grounds of Dunblane Cathedral . Her will bequeathed the Chopin Museum to Chopin's mother Justyna Chopin. In 1863 much of it was destroyed when the Russian soldiers ransacked Zamoyski palace in Warsaw as a retort for an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate the Russian Namiestnik of Poland (viceroy) Friedrich Wilhelm Rembert von Berg by Polish resistance. One item which still exists

9152-456: Was close to Sand's rented accommodation on the rue Pigalle. He frequently visited Sand in the evenings, but both retained some independence. (In 1842 he and Sand moved to the Square d'Orléans , living in adjacent buildings.) On 26 July 1840, Chopin and Sand were present at the dress rehearsal of Berlioz's Grande symphonie funèbre et triomphale , composed to commemorate the tenth anniversary of

9256-477: Was confused and amazed at the effect this little creature had on me ... I have still not recovered from my astonishment, and if I were a proud person I should be feeling humiliated at having been carried away ..." The two spent a miserable winter on Majorca (8 November 1838 to 13 February 1839), where, together with Sand's two children, they had journeyed in the hope of improving Chopin's health and that of Sand's 15-year-old son Maurice , and also to escape

9360-480: Was descended from a noble Scottish family. Her father died when Jane was 12, and her mother died when she was 16. Her inheritance made her a wealthy young woman. She was then placed under the charge of her widowed sister, Mrs Katherine Erskine, aged 29. She was popular and very pretty; she was said to have declined over 30 marriage proposals. From 1826, she and her sister divided their social life between Scotland and Paris. She involved herself not only in music and

9464-730: Was destroyed during World War II , in the Warsaw Uprising . After the war, in 1946, the school was recreated as the Higher State School of Music. In 1979 the school assumed the name: Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy. In 2008 the school once again changed its name to the Chopin University of Music. The main building, at ulica Okólnik 2 in Central Warsaw , was constructed between 1960 and 1966. It contains 62 sound-proof classrooms;

9568-495: Was engaged by the inventors of the "aeolomelodicon" (a combination of piano and mechanical organ), and on this instrument in May 1825 he performed his own improvisation and part of a concerto by Moscheles . The success of this concert led to an invitation to give a recital on a similar instrument (the "aeolopantaleon") before Tsar Alexander I , who was visiting Warsaw; the Tsar presented him with

9672-674: Was forced by illness to decline a written invitation from Alkan to participate in a repeat performance of the Beethoven 7th Symphony arrangement at Érard 's on 1 March 1843. Late in 1844, Charles Hallé visited Chopin and found him "hardly able to move, bent like a half-opened penknife and evidently in great pain", although his spirits returned when he started to play the piano for his visitor. Chopin's health continued to deteriorate, particularly from this time onwards. Modern research suggests that apart from any other illnesses, he may also have suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy . Chopin's output as

9776-400: Was friendly with members of Warsaw's young artistic and intellectual world, including Fontana, Józef Bohdan Zaleski , and Stefan Witwicki . Chopin's final Conservatory report (July 1829) read: "Chopin F., third-year student, exceptional talent, musical genius." In 1829 the artist Ambroży Mieroszewski executed a set of portraits of Chopin family members, including the first known portrait of

9880-470: Was in attendance at Chopin's Parisian debut on 26 February 1832 at the Salle Pleyel , which led him to remark: "The most vigorous applause seemed not to suffice to our enthusiasm in the presence of this talented musician, who revealed a new phase of poetic sentiment combined with such happy innovation in the form of his art." The two became friends, and for many years lived close to each other in Paris, Chopin at 38 Rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin , and Liszt at

9984-479: Was in poor health. He died in Paris in 1849 at the age of 39. All of Chopin's compositions feature the piano. Most are for solo piano, though he also wrote two piano concertos , some chamber music , and 19 songs set to Polish lyrics . His piano pieces are technically demanding and expanded the limits of the instrument; his own performances were noted for their nuance and sensitivity. Chopin's major piano works include mazurkas , waltzes , nocturnes , polonaises ,

10088-481: Was introduced to the crème of British society. He played at a private function on 15 May which Queen Victoria and Prince Albert attended (but he was never invited to play for them at Buckingham Palace, as is sometimes claimed). By August, the London season being at an end, he accepted an invitation from Jane Stirling to visit her homeland of Scotland . It was an exhausting 12 hour train journey, but Chopin appreciated

10192-486: Was nostalgic for his homeland, and wrote to a friend, "I curse the moment of my departure." When in September 1831 he learned, while travelling from Vienna to Paris, that the uprising had been crushed, he expressed his anguish in the pages of his private journal: "Oh God! ... You are there, and yet you do not take vengeance!". The journal is now in the National Library of Poland . Jachimecki ascribes to these events

10296-430: Was over. In June 1837, Chopin visited London incognito in the company of the piano manufacturer Camille Pleyel, where he played at a musical soirée at the house of English piano maker James Broadwood . On his return to Paris his association with Sand began in earnest, and by July 1838 they had become lovers. Sand, who was six years older than the composer and had had a series of lovers, wrote at this time: "I must say I

10400-496: Was then affiliated with the University of Warsaw and, together with the University, was dissolved by Russian imperial authorities during the repressions that followed the November 1830 Uprising . In 1861 it was revived as Warsaw's Institute of Music. After Poland regained independence in 1918, the Institute was taken over by the Polish state and became known as the Warsaw Conservatory . The institution's old main building

10504-429: Was to become acquainted with, among many others, Hector Berlioz , Franz Liszt , Ferdinand Hiller , Heinrich Heine , Eugène Delacroix , Alfred de Vigny , and Friedrich Kalkbrenner , who introduced him to the piano manufacturer Camille Pleyel . This was the beginning of a long and close association between the composer and Pleyel's instruments. Chopin was also acquainted with the poet Adam Mickiewicz , principal of

10608-495: Was to become, in the words of the music historian Jim Samson, Chopin's "general factotum and copyist". Albert Grzymała , who in Paris became a wealthy financier and society figure, often acted as Chopin's adviser and, in Zamoyski's words, "gradually began to fill the role of elder brother in [his] life". On 7 December 1831, Chopin received the first major endorsement from an outstanding contemporary when Robert Schumann , reviewing

10712-407: Was unique in acquiring a reputation of the highest order on the basis of a minimum of public appearances – few more than thirty in the course of his lifetime." The list of musicians who took part in some of his concerts indicates the richness of Parisian artistic life during this period. Examples include a concert on 23 March 1833, in which Chopin, Liszt, and Hiller performed (on pianos)

10816-414: Was very seriously ill, weighing under 45 kg (99 lb), and his doctors were aware that his sickness was at a terminal stage. At the end of November Chopin returned to Paris. He passed the winter in unremitting illness, but gave occasional lessons and was visited by friends, including Delacroix and Franchomme. Occasionally he played, or accompanied the singing of Delfina Potocka , for his friends. During

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