1st March 1810 was the day on which Fryderyk
Franciszek Szopen was born in the village of Zelezowa Wola, which is about 30
miles from Warsaw, Poland. He was to have a glittering, albeit short, career as
a virtuoso pianist and composer, but the world knows him by the French version
of his name, which is Frédéric Chopin.
There was French blood in him anyway, because his father was
an émigré from France who made sure that Frédéric was given as French an
education as possible at the local lycée.
Frédéric showed early promise as a pianist, being brought to
the attention of Prince Radziwill when only eight years old. It was Prince Radziwill
who introduced Chopin to Paris society when the latter was 20, and that was the
last he saw of Poland. He had, however, already made his mark as a composer of
works for the piano before his move to France.
Chopin became part of the artistic life of Paris, being
feted wherever he went, although the number of concerts he gave was relatively
small. He was much admired for his dashing good looks, not least by the
baroness and writer Aurore Dudevant, who wrote under the name George Sand. The
couple had a passionate relationship that lasted for eleven years.
Chopin’s health was far from robust, and he died from
tuberculosis in October 1849 at the age of 39. He left behind a wealth of
brilliant compositions that have always been popular. Although he could write
for instruments other than the piano, for example in his two highly popular
piano concertos, he never wrote anything that was not, wholly or in part, for the piano.
© John Welford
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