Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin
Born: 1 March 1810, Żelazowa Wola, Duchy of Warsaw (Poland)
Lived as Polish exile in Paris, 1831-1849
Adopts French citizenship and French version of his name, 1835
Died: 17 October 1849, Paris
Considered the greatest of all Polish composers, Frédéric Chopin was a composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period. Revered through the centuries for both his poetic genius and unparalleled technique, he remains renowned as a leading musician of his time. His performances were prized for their expressive yet nuanced sensibility and the technical demands of his piano compositions redefined the limits of the instrument.
Born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin on March 1, 1810, in the Duchy of Warsaw (modern day Poland) in the small village of Żelazowa Wola, he was the son of a Polish mother and French émigré father who worked as a bookkeeper and later a tutor for aristocratic families. Through his father’s employment, young Chopin became acquainted with the high culture of Warsaw society; his mother, whose playing captivated the small boy, introduced him to the piano at an early age. By six years of age, Chopin was already displaying signs of genius, competent at piano and composing his own melodies. Observing their son’s gift, the family sought the instruction of professional musician Wojciech Zywny, whose lessons were soon outstripped by the able student in both technical execution and originality. By the age of seven Chopin was performing in salons of Warsaw’s high society and writing his own more advanced compositions. Amongst these included a Polonaise in G Minor, which was printed, and a march that so enchanted the Russian grand duke Constantine, that he had it scored for his military band to play on parade. Several different styles of piano pieces followed: mazurkas, polonaises, a rondo, variations, and ecossaises. By 1826 the sixteen-year-old Chopin was enrolled at the newly formed Warsaw Conservatory of Music where he studied for three years under Polish composer Jósef Elsner.
Chopin’s talents were destined to take him beyond the salons and conservatories of Warsaw. He left Poland at the age of 20, just ahead of the Uprising in November of 1830. In Vienna he made his debut performance and to spellbound audiences with his poetic eloquence and mastery of his instrument. In the years to follow, he performed throughout Poland, Germany, Austria, and France, settling in Paris in 1832, where he changed his name to Frédéric François Chopin. It was here that he formed friendships with other notable young composers, including Vincenzo Bellini, Felix Mendelssohn, and Franz Liszt. It was also around this time that he devoted himself to composing a number of piano and orchestral works that would showcase the originality and technical wizardry of his style. These included his two Piano Concertos as well as his first set of Études. Like many of his contemporaries, Chopin also supported himself through teaching and through the sale of some of his compositions. Over the last 18 years of his life, he performed in public only 30 times, eschewing the stage for the more intimate confines of the salon where his delicate way with the keyboard could be most fully savoured and appreciated.
Most of Chopin’s compositions were written for solo piano. The instrumental ballade (which he himself created as a genre), the mazurkas and polonaises inspired by Chopin’s strong nationalist sentiment, the waltzes, nocturnes, scherzos, impromptus, études, preludes and sonatas, counted amongst his major works, with some pieces only being published after his death.
While the ingenuity of his style and musical form were admired throughout the Romantic period, the association of his music with nationalism and thereby political insurrection brought him further notoriety. Chopin was also known for his high-profile romances, which included a failed engagement to Maria Wodzińska from 1836 to 1837 and his tempestuous affair with French writer Amantine Dupin (known by her nom de plume, George Sand). The romantic tumult he experienced with Sand would foment one of his most prolific periods of composition. For most of his life, Chopin was in poor health. But by the mid-1840s, both Chopin’s health and his relationship with Sand were crumbling. His behaviour became increasingly erratic, possibly stemming from an undiagnosed form of epilepsy. The affair ended in 1848. It was a Scottish admirer and amateur pianist by the name of Jane Stirling who financially support Chopin in his final years — a time during which he made an extended tour of the British Isles. Here he grappled with an intense schedule and failing health, appearing for the last time in public on November 16, 1848 at London’s Guildhall where he performed in support of Polish refugees. By this time gravely ill and weighing less than 100 lbs, he returned to Paris, where he died on October 17, 1849, at age 39. The cause of death was likely pericarditis — inflammation of the heart — aggravated by tuberculosis. His body’s final resting place was the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris, but, at Chopin’s request, his heart was interred at a church in Warsaw, near the place of his birth.
Online Performances
Musical selections curated by our founding director, Professor Franz Szabo.
Polonaise in A major, Op. 40, No. 1, “Military”
Paweł Wakarecy, piano
Live from the winners recital, 2005 International Chopin Competition, Warsaw
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrTlpMiiHfE
Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53, “Heroic”
Rafal Blechacz, piano
Live from the 2010 International Chopin Competition, Warsaw
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=azxKyUDpmXg
Polonaise-fantasy in A-flat major, Op. 61
Daniil Trifonov, piano
Live from the 2010 International Chopin Competition, Warsaw
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYg29LMhzsI
Fantasy in F minor, Op. 49
Szymon Nehring, piano
Live from the 2014 International Chopin Competition, Warsaw
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve_vzzVa2gU
Fantasy-impromptu in C sharp minor, Op. 66
Anastasia Huppmann, piano
Live from the Barock Saal, Altes Rathaus, Vienna, 2016
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6cbCWzHXkg
Scherzo in B-flat minor, Op. 31
Arthur Rubenstein, piano
Filmed by Unitel in HD video
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETH8NA-_zXw
24 Preludes, Op. 28
András Schiff, piano
Recorded in the Concert Hall of the Ancien Conservatoire, Paris, 2013
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXJ9y3pKaKA
Grande Valse Brillante in E-flat major, Op. 18
Valentina Lisitsa, piano
Studio recording, Hannover, Germany, August 2011
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG-E4PVGQSI
Ballade in G minor, Op. 23
Krystian Zimerman, piano
Recorded for Deutsche Grammophone in Vienna, 1987
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce8p0VcTbuA
Waltzes, Op. 64, Nos. 1 to 3
Jan Lisiecki, piano
Live from the Verbier Festival, Verbier, Switzerland, July 2014
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MMyxa2ivOM
Nocturne E-flat major, Op. 9, No.2
Valentina Lisitsa, piano
recorded for Deutsche Grammophone in Hannover, August 2010
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV5U8kVYS88
Nocturne in D-flat major, Op. 27, No. 2
Stanislav Bunin, piano
Live from the the Munich Philharmonie, 1987
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G4-y3W_EnA
Nocturne in F Minor, Op. 55, No. 1
Virna Kljaković, piano
Recorded in the Music academy, Zagreb, 21 December 2013
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3qHO9aOQYM
Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No.1
Łukasz Piotr Byrdy, piano
The Fryderyk Chopin Institute competition , 2015
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df6HL3Sibjs
Études, Op. 10 & Op. 25
Sviatoslav Richter, piano
Recorded live at the Barbican Centre, London, 29 March 1989
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=4etQPsY-2YM
Mazurkas Op. 7, Nos. 1-4
Yulianna Avdeeva, piano
Live from the Gustav Mahler Saal, Toblach, South Tyrol, 16 July 2017
Gustav Mahler Festwochen
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsFDT24JElU
Mazurkas Op. 33, Nos. 1-4
Christine Kim, piano
Recorded at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 23 October 2014
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdkmtsfIBo4
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 35
Yulianna Avdeeva, piano
First Prize Winner
The XVI International Chopin Piano Competition
Fryderyk Chopin Institute, Warsaw, 2010
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8JkCUVsxcU
Piano Sonata No 3 in B minor, Op. 58
Ingolf Wunder, piano
Second Prize Winner
The XVI International Chopin Piano Competition
Fryderyk Chopin Institute, Warsaw, 2010
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlLrOA4fkHo
Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 65
Sol Gabetta, cello
Nelson Goerner, piano
Live from the Church in Saanen, Gstaad, Switzerland, 17 July 2016
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3thZnim4jY
Variations on Mozart’s “La ci darem la mano” in B-flat major, Op. 2
Yuya Tonouchi, piano
Orchestra del Conservatorio “G. Nicolini” di Piacenza
Domenico Tondo, conductor
Concerto per l’inaugurazione dell’Anno academia 2015/2016
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQnVt4gYr-E
Fantasia on Polish Airs in A major, Op. 13
Justyna Gabzdyl, piano
National Philharmonic Orchestra of the Republic Of Moldova
Silvia Tabor, conductor
Live from Philharmonic Hall, Chisinau, Moldova, 4 May 2014
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlM31RICw7g
Rondo à la krakowiak in F major, Op. 14
Nelson Goerner, piano
Orquesta del Siglo XVIII
Director: Frans Brüggen
Live from the Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall, 26 Februrary 2010
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhQRBt7YTiU
Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante in E-flat major, Op. 22
Dominika Grzybacz, piano
Symphony Orchestra of the Wladyslaw Zelenski State Secondary Music School, Krakow
Joanna Natalia Ślusarczyk , conductor
Polish Nationwide Music Schools’ Symphonic Orchestras Competition 2014
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMSjXvtQreI
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21
Arthur Rubinstein, piano
London Symphony Orchestra
André Previn, conductor
Live from Fairfield Hall, Croyden, 1975
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_GecdMywPw
Watch the full collection of performances on YouTube Channel