“Hats off gentlemen, a genius,”- Robert Schumann
Chopin was born outside Warsaw to a French tutor and a woman from a lesser noble Polish family. His mother and sister both played piano, and Chopin showed early talent, composing and playing by ear by age 6.
By age 8, he made his public debut in Warsaw, quickly being recognized as a child prodigy.
At age 16, his family sent him to the Warsaw Conservatory of Music, where he quickly outgrew what they could offer him.
Then it was off to Vienna, and he would never go back to Poland again.
Shortly after he left, tensions between Poland and Russia escalated, and Russia took over Warsaw.
He made his debut in Vienna at age 19 and started working on his etudes.
By age 22, he was in Paris and made his concert debut there, mingling among the likes of Liszt and Berlioz.
Chopin only performed 30 concerts his entire life, making most of his money off of teaching and composing. Critics said his playing style did not fit the large concert halls of France, but more the quiet recitals in drawing rooms.
After a failed engagement while in Poland, the only other romance of note is to author Amantine Lucile Aurore Dudevant, better known by her pen name George Sand. After two years of knowing each other, they started an affair. On a vacation, Chopin came down with what is believed to be tuberculosis, cutting the vacation short, and turning Dudevant into his caregiver.
While the two heavily influenced each other, Chopin’s ongoing health problems put a strain on their relationship. They ended things on bitterly just under a decade after the affair started
After their break up, Chopin went to England and Scotland where he was well received, but in very poor health.
He returned to Paris and died within 2 years at the age of 39.
Chopin is buried at Pere-Lachaise, but his heart is at the Church of Holy Cross in Warsaw.
During his life, he wrote more than 200 pieces, almost all for piano.
Pieces you probably know, even if you don’t listen to classical music:
24 Preludes, Op. 28: No. 4 in E minor
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