Family
The composer's father is Nicolas Chopin (1771-1844).
He married Justyna Krzyzanowska (1782-1861) in 1806. According to surviving evidence, the composer's mother received a good education. She was very musical, played the piano, sang well, and spoke French. It was to his mother that Frederick owed the love of folk melodies instilled from a young age, which was then reflected in his work, as well as his first musical impressions. Some time after the boy was born, in the fall of 1810, the father moved to Warsaw.
Chopin's parents and childhood
Frederic Chopin was born on October 17, 1910 in the Polish village of Zelazowa Wola near Warsaw. The boy's father, Nicholas Chopin (1771-1844), was from a simple family of French workers. In 1802 he moved to Poland and remained to work as a teacher for the children of Count Skarbek. He was a captain during the uprising. Subsequently, despite the risk, he remained to live in Poland. He studied teaching in Warsaw and gained a reputation as one of the best teachers.
In 1806, he was matched with a distant relative of the count named Justyna Krzyzanowska (1782-1861). The woman was from a noble family. She received a good education in Warsaw, loved to play the piano and sang very beautifully. It was my mother who instilled in the great composer a love of music and influenced Chopin’s entire subsequent biography. In the autumn of 1810 the family moved to Warsaw.
The couple had three daughters and a son. Intelligent and sensitive parents had a beneficial influence on the development of children in childhood and on their entire subsequent biography.
First achievements in music
Frederic Chopin, whose biography was already marked by achievements in music in his early years, showed musical abilities even in childhood. The famous Catalani foresaw a great future in him, then still a ten-year-old boy. Frederic Chopin began playing the piano and composing music at the age of seven. From the age of nine, the boy began studying with Wojciech Zivny, a Czech and serious teacher. Chopin's performing talent developed so quickly that by the age of twelve the boy was on par with the best pianists in Poland.
The first public performance of this musician took place in Warsaw in 1818. By this time he was already the author of several pieces for piano - marches and polonaises. Chopin, whose biography and work are covered in our article, entered one of the Warsaw schools in 1823. Here his music studies continued.
Chopin's biography and interesting facts about him are supplemented by the following event. In 1825, the composer was invited to perform before Alexander the First, the Russian Emperor. He received a reward after the concert - a diamond ring.
Childhood
The biography of Frederic Chopin began in the village of Zhelyazova-Wola. It was here that the future composer was born on March 1, 1810. 7 months after this event, the parents decided to move. Until the end of 1830, Frederick and his family lived in Warsaw.
By studying the biography and work of Chopin, fans of his talent will learn many interesting facts. As a little boy, he had a keen sense of everything connected with music, played the instrument masterfully, listened to every melody with enthusiasm, and could masterfully repeat it. At the age of seven, Frederic composed a short polonaise in G minor.
This event did not go unnoticed. The newspaper wrote about a talented boy. Many admired the fact that the kid had such a gift, he could play complex piano pieces and compose new, ingenious variations. Frederick surpassed all the famous composers of that time. His first music teacher was his mother, then the young Chopin was taught by pianist Wojciech Zywny. The lessons were difficult, but he managed. At the same time, Frederick studied at one of the Warsaw schools. By the age of twelve, the future composer had all the skills of a virtuoso pianist.
Continuing training
Givny was Chopin's only piano teacher. Seven years after studying with him, in the early 1820s, Frederick began studying with J. Elsner. By this time his talent had developed greatly. Chopin's biography was replenished with new facts in 1826, when in July he graduated from the Warsaw school, and in the fall he entered the Warsaw Higher School of Music to continue his education. Here Frederick studied for about three more years.
Patrons Princes Chetverinsky and Anton Radzwill introduced him into high society. In appearance and manner, Chopin made a pleasant impression. This was noted by many of his contemporaries. Liszt, for example, said that Frederick made a “calm, harmonious” impression.
Childhood and education
Frederic Chopin was born on February 22, 1810 in the village of Zelazowa Wola near Warsaw (Poland). The future composer’s excellent musical taste was instilled in him by his mother, who played the piano and sang well. Frederick's extraordinary musical abilities, as well as most importantly, his love of playing the piano, manifested themselves in early childhood.
At the age of seven, the famous pianist Wojciech Zywny began studying with the boy. By the age of twelve, Frederic had reached the level of the best pianists in Poland. Since 1823, Chopin studied at the Warsaw Lyceum.
Works created while studying with Elsner
Under the guidance of the excellent teacher and musician Elsner, who immediately noticed Chopin's genius, Frederic made great progress. Elsner's photo is shown below.
During his studies, Chopin wrote many works for piano, from which one can highlight the Rondo, the first sonata, variations on a theme by Mozart, Nocturne in E minor, Krakowiak and others. This composer was already strongly influenced by the folk music of Poland, as well as the poetry and literature of this country (Witwicki, Slovacki, Mickiewicz, etc.). In 1829, upon completion of his studies, Frederick went to Vienna, where he performed his works. Chopin's biography was marked by the first independent concert, held in 1830 in Warsaw. A number of others followed.
First steps in music
The music in the Chopin house sounded incessantly. Frederick's musical talent manifested itself very early. In early childhood, his mother taught him to play the piano. From 1816 to 1822, Chopin's teacher was Wojciech Zywny, a violinist of Czech origin. Already at the age of seven, Frederick published “Polonaise in g-moll” and began performing in the houses of the gentry and aristocracy - in the Razdivil Palace [today the Presidential Palace - approx. transl.], in the Belvedere Palace with Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, with the Czartoryskis, Sapiehas, Chetvertinskis, Pruszaks, Zajonczeks, in the Blue Palace with the Zamoyskis, with the Potocki, Mokronovskis, Grabowskis, Konstantowa Wolicka, Teresa Kitskaya, as well as in the Merchant Club (Palace Morshtinov) with Clementina Goffmanova (nee Tanskaya). In 1818, Chopin presented two of his polonaises to Maria Feodorovna, the Tsar's mother, during her visit to Warsaw. In 1820, the Italian singer Angelica Catalani, admiring Chopin's playing, gave him a gold watch with a dedicatory inscription.
In the same year, Chopin's father became a professor of French at the Ecole Militaire (previously, since 1812, he had taught French language and literature at the School of Artillery and Engineering). From 1823, Józef Elsner gave advice on composition to Frederick, and from 1826 he taught him at the Main School of Music. In fact, Chopin taught himself to play the piano. He did not take his final exams because then he would have had to spend another year studying at the lyceum. At that time, they were allowed to start studying at a higher school immediately after graduating from the lyceum, without exams. Frederick demonstrated outstanding abilities; at the end of his studies in 1829 (then he was 19 years old), Elsner wrote in his graduation report for the ministry:
“Frederic Chopin is an incredible talent, a musical genius.”
Chopin's childhood and youth were the most joyful and carefree period of his life. He grew up, bathed in the love of his parents and sisters, primarily the caring Ludvika, developed his many abilities - he perfectly imitated teachers, staged a comedy with his sister Emilia under the telling title “Error, or the Imaginary Rogue,” and also created a children's Literary Entertainment Society for boarders . He also loved to write poetry. Frederick had many friends among his peers, they were proud of him and loved funny pranks, which he was a big fan of.
Chopin leaves his homeland
Chopin played in Warsaw for the last time in 1830, on October 11, after which he left his homeland forever. He lived in Vienna from the end of 1830 to 1831 (the first half). Visits to theaters, musical acquaintances, concerts, trips around the city had a beneficial effect on the development of the talent of such a musician as Chopin. The biography and work of this composer in those years were marked by the following events.
Chopin left Vienna in the summer of 1830. He spent the beginning of September in Stuttgart, where he learned of the fall of Warsaw and the failure of the Polish uprising. Then, having traveled through Munich, Vienna, Dresden, he arrived in Paris in 1831. The biography of Chopin and his work can be studied in more detail by referring to the diary that the writer kept on the road (“Stuttgart Diary”). It describes the composer's state of mind while in Stuttgart, where Frederick was overcome by despair over the defeat of the Polish uprising. This event was reflected in his work, which we will tell you about now.
Achievements of Frederic Chopin
From the beginning of 1830, in Frederick's biography, the heyday of his creativity began. The great composer, inspired by the poetry of another Pole from Warsaw, Adam Mickiewicz, writes four beautiful ballads, which he devotes to his native land and worries about the fate of Poland.
The melodies of the ballads are reminiscent of Polish folk songs and dances. The musician put into them motifs he liked from childhood, which can be traced in his work throughout his biography. Thus, Frederic Chopin was able, through the prism of his own experiences and with the help of the colors of music, to paint pictures from the lives of his compatriots. In parallel, the author writes 4 scherzos, mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes and polonaises.
The musician decided to express his biography, situations arising in his personal life, and experiences with the help of the piano, writing a special mazurka. It presented vivid national images. And these include folk dances and aristocratic social balls.
As can be seen from the biography of the great composer, he often resorted to romanticism, which was fashionable at that time. With his help, the musician’s contemporaries appealed to the national identity of the people. Bourdon Chopin imitates the sounds of folk instruments that were characteristic of Polish folk music, and the sharp syncopation is reminiscent of the dotted rhythm of the Polish sound.
The great composer's genre of nocturne manifests itself differently. The musician expanded the boundaries and introduced what had previously sounded exclusively like a “night song,” a dramatically playing lyrical sketch. But the musician himself changed the mood, the first opuses are similar to the music of nature, and the latter are aimed at describing tragic experiences.
It is believed that in the musician’s biography one of the main creative works was a cycle consisting of 24 preludes. He wrote them during the period of an unsuccessful first love. Then the relationship was broken off, and the musician was depressed.
Preludes written by a musician are small but very deep descriptions of the author’s inner experiences. It was popular to write a musical diary during this period, and the composer retained this concept.
In addition to achievements in music, there is another important chapter in Chopin’s biography. The musician was also an excellent teacher. He developed a new method of teaching beautiful piano playing. It was she who helped many beginners become professionals in their field.
Often, according to facts from his biography, aristocratic young ladies were sent to study with the great composer. But the most famous student of the musician is Adolf Gutmann, who was a music editor and pianist.
New works by the composer
Frederic Chopin, whose biography interests us, was impressed by this news and wrote an etude in C minor, which is often called revolutionary, as well as two deeply tragic preludes: D minor and A minor. Among the new works of this composer at that time were also a polonaise in E-flat major, concertos for piano and orchestra, nocturnes, Polish songs based on works by Mickiewicz and Witwicki, etc. Frederick subordinates the technical elements of the works entirely to musical and poetic images.
Chopin's early years
From an early age, Frederick was surrounded by live music. Her mother played the piano and sang, and her father accompanied her on the flute or violin. According to the recollections of the sisters, the boy showed a genuine interest in the sounds of music. At an early age, Chopin began to demonstrate artistic talent: he painted, wrote poetry, and performed pieces of music without any training. The gifted child began composing his own music, and at the age of seven, some of his early creations had already been published.
Six-year-old Chopin took regular piano lessons from the Czech pianist Wojciech Zivny, who was working as a private teacher at the time and was one of the teachers at his father’s school. Despite the feeling of some old-fashionedness and comedy created by the teacher, Wojciech taught the talented child to play the works of Bach and Mozart. Chopin never had another piano teacher. Lessons were given to him at the same time as his sister, with whom he played four hands.
In March 1817, Chopin's family, together with the Warsaw Lyceum, moved to the Kazimierz Palace, in the right wing. This year the audience heard his first compositions: Polonaise in B - flat major and military march. Over the years, the score of the first march was lost. A year later he was already performing publicly, playing works by Adalbert Girowiec.
In the same year, thanks to the efforts of the parish priest, the polonaise in E minor was published with a dedication to Victoria Skarbek. One of the first marches was performed by a military orchestra during military parades on Saxon Square. The Warsaw magazine publishes the first review of the work of the young talent, focusing on the fact that at the age of eight the author has all the components of a real musical genius. He not only easily performs the most complex pieces on the piano, but is also a composer with exceptional musical taste, who has already written several dances and variations that amaze even experts. On February 24, 2018, at a charity evening at the Radziwill Palace, Chopin plays. The public warmly welcomes the talented performer, calling him the second Mozart. He begins to actively perform in the best aristocratic houses.
Chopin in Paris
So, as we have already said, the biography of Chopin in 1831, in the fall, was marked by the move of this composer to Paris. His life since then has been connected with this city. Here the composer became close to Bellini, Berlioz, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Hiller, and also met such artists and writers as Georges de Sand, Lamartine, Hugo, Delacroix, Heine, Musset, and Balzac. In 1832, on February 26, Chopin gave his first concert in Paris, in which he performed variations on the theme of Mozart's Don Giovanni, as well as a piano concerto. Liszt, who was present at the performance, noted that Chopin’s talent, together with his innovations, opened a new phase in the development of art. Even then it was clear that Frederic Chopin would achieve great success as a composer. The biography briefly outlined in the article allows you to verify this.
Life in Paris
While in Paris, Chopin discovered that his subtle style did not always delight large concert audiences who were familiar with the works of Franz Schubert and Ludwig van Beethoven. A chance encounter with the Rothschild family, however, opened new doors, and Chopin soon found work in the great Parisian salons as a reciter and teacher. His increased income allowed him to live well and compose works such as Nocturnes of Opp. 9 and 15, Scherzo in B flat minor, Op. 31 and Sonata in B flat minor, Op. 35.
Life in Paris in the 1830s
From 1833 to 1835, Frederick often performed works together with Hiller, Liszt, and the Hertz brothers. He rarely performed in concerts, but in the salons of the French aristocracy and the Polish colony, the fame of this composer grew very quickly. He also had opponents (Field, Kalkbrenner), but this did not prevent Frederick from gaining many admirers in society, including among artists. The years 1836-1837 were decisive in the personal life of this composer. Then the engagement to Maria Wodzinskaya was broken off, and Chopin became close to Georges Sand. In 1837, Frederick felt his first attack of lung disease. This was the biography of Chopin at that time (summary).
short biography
Fryderyk Chopin
, full name - Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin (Polish: Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, also Polish: Szopen); full name in French transcriptions - Frédéric François Chopin (March 1 (according to other sources, February 22) 1810, village of Zhelazova Wola, near Warsaw, Duchy of Warsaw - October 17, 1849, Paris, France) - Polish composer and pianist. In his mature years (from 1831) he lived and worked in France. One of the leading representatives of Western European musical romanticism, the founder of the Polish national school of composition. He had a significant influence on world music.
Origin and family
The composer's father, Nicolas Chopin (1771-1844), from a simple family, moved from France to Poland in his youth. From 1802 he lived on the estate of Count Skarbek Zhelyazov-Vola, where he worked as a teacher for the Count’s children.
The house in Zelazowa Wola where Frederic Chopin was born
In 1806, Nicolas Chopin married a distant relative of the Skarbecks, Tekla Justyna Krzyzanowska (1782-1861). The Krzyzanowski (Krzyzanowski) family of the coat of arms Piggy traces its origins back to the 14th century and owned the village of Krzyzanowo near Koscian. The Krzyzanowski family included, among others, Wladimir Krzyzanowski, the nephew of Justyna Krzyzanowski. According to surviving evidence, the composer’s mother received a good education, spoke French, was extremely musical, played the piano well, and had a beautiful voice. Frederick owes his first musical impressions to his mother, who was instilled with a love of folk melodies from infancy.
Zelazowa Wola, where Chopin was born, and Warsaw, where he lived from 1810 to 1830, during the Napoleonic Wars until 1813 were on the territory of the Duchy of Warsaw, a vassal of the Napoleonic Empire, and after May 3, 1815, following the results of the Congress of Vienna - on the territory of the Kingdom Polish (Królestwo Polskie), vassal of the Russian Empire.
In the autumn of 1810, some time after the birth of his son, Nicolas Chopin moved to Warsaw. At the Warsaw Lyceum, thanks to the patronage of the Skarbeks, he received a place after the death of the teacher, Pan Maheu. Chopin was a teacher of French and German languages and French literature, and ran a boarding school for lyceum students.
The intelligence and sensitivity of the parents united all family members with love and had a beneficial effect on the development of gifted children. In addition to Fryderyk, there were three sisters in the Chopin family: the eldest, Ludwika, married to Jedrzejewicz, who was his especially close and devoted friend, and the younger ones, Isabella and Emilia. The sisters had versatile abilities, and Emilia, who died early, had outstanding literary talent.
Childhood
Already in his childhood, Chopin showed extraordinary musical abilities. He was surrounded by special attention and care. Like Mozart, he amazed those around him with his musical “obsession,” his inexhaustible imagination in improvisations, and his innate pianism. His sensitivity and musical impressionability manifested themselves vigorously and unusually. He could cry while listening to music, jump up at night to pick out a memorable melody or chord on the piano.
In its January issue for 1818, one of the Warsaw newspapers published a few lines about the first musical piece composed by a composer who was still in elementary school. “The author of this “Polonaise,” the newspaper wrote, “is a student who is not yet 8 years old. This is a true musical genius, performing the most difficult piano pieces with the greatest ease and exceptional taste and composing dances and variations that delight connoisseurs and connoisseurs. If this prodigy had been born in France or Germany, he would have attracted more attention."
Young Chopin was taught music with great expectations placed on him. Pianist Wojciech Zywny (1756-1842), a Czech by birth, began studying with a 7-year-old boy. The classes were serious, despite the fact that Chopin, in addition, studied at one of the Warsaw schools. The boy's performing talent developed so quickly that by the age of twelve, Chopin was on par with the best Polish pianists. Zhivny refused to study with the young virtuoso, declaring that he could teach him nothing more.
Youth
After graduating from college and completing his five-year studies with Zhivny, Chopin began his theoretical studies with the composer Jozef Elsner.
The Ostrogski Palace is the location of the Warsaw Chopin Museum.
The patronage of Prince Anton Radziwill and the Chetvertinsky princes brought Chopin into high society, which was impressed by Chopin's charming appearance and refined manners. Here is what Franz Liszt said about this: “The general impression of his personality was quite calm, harmonious and, it seemed, did not require additions in any comments. Chopin's blue eyes shone with more intelligence than they were clouded with thoughtfulness; his soft and subtle smile never turned bitter or sarcastic. The subtlety and transparency of his complexion captivated everyone; he had curly blond hair, a slightly rounded nose; he was small in stature, fragile, thin in build. His manners were refined and varied; the voice is a little tired, often muffled. His manners were full of such decency, they had such a stamp of blood aristocracy that he was involuntarily greeted and received like a prince... Chopin brought into society that evenness of spirit of people who are not bothered by worries, who do not know the word “boredom”, who are not attached to no interests. Chopin was usually cheerful; his caustic mind quickly found the funny even in such manifestations that not everyone notices.”
Trips to Berlin, Dresden, Prague, where he attended concerts of outstanding musicians, diligently visited opera houses and art galleries, contributed to his further development.
Mature years. Abroad
Chopin's artistic activity began in 1829. He performs in Vienna and Krakow, performing his works. Returning to Warsaw, he left it forever on November 5, 1830. This separation from his homeland became the cause of his constant hidden grief - longing for his homeland. In 1830, news arrived of an uprising for independence in Poland. Chopin dreamed of returning to his homeland and taking part in the battles. The preparations were completed, but on the way to Poland he was met with terrible news: the uprising was suppressed, the leader was captured. Having traveled through Dresden, Vienna, Munich, Stuttgart, he arrived in Paris in 1831. On the way, Chopin wrote a diary (the so-called “Stuttgart Diary”), reflecting his state of mind during his stay in Stuttgart, where he was overcome by despair due to the collapse of the Polish Uprising. Chopin deeply believed that his music would help his native people achieve victory. “Poland will be brilliant, powerful, independent!” - so he wrote in his diary. During this period, Chopin wrote his famous “Revolutionary Etude”.
Chopin on a Kazakhstan postage stamp, 2010
Chopin gave his first concert in Paris at the age of 22. It was a complete success. Chopin rarely performed in concerts, but in the salons of the Polish colony and the French aristocracy, Chopin's fame grew extremely quickly; Chopin acquired many loyal fans, both in artistic circles and in society. Kalkbrenner highly appreciated Chopin's pianism, but nevertheless offered him his lessons. However, these lessons quickly stopped, but the friendship between the two great pianists continued for many years. In Paris, Chopin surrounded himself with talented young people who shared with him a devoted love of art. His entourage included pianist Ferdinand Hiller, cellist Francomme, oboist Brodt, flautist Tulon, pianist Stamati, cellist Vidal, and violist Urban. He also maintained acquaintance with the largest European composers of his time, among whom were Mendelssohn, Bellini, Liszt, Berlioz, and Schumann.
Over time, Chopin himself began to teach; his love of teaching piano was a hallmark of Chopin, one of the few great artists who devoted much time to it.
In 1837, Chopin felt his first attack of lung disease (most likely it was tuberculosis). In the late thirties, his love for George Sand (Aurora Dupin) brought him a lot of grief, in addition to parting with his fiancée. Staying in Mallorca (Mallorca) with George Sand had a negative impact on Chopin's health; he suffered from bouts of illness there. However, many of the greatest works, including the 24 Preludes, were created on this Spanish island. But he spent a lot of time in the countryside in France, where George Sand had an estate in Nohant.
A ten-year cohabitation with George Sand, full of moral trials, greatly undermined Chopin’s health, and the break with her in 1847, in addition to causing him significant stress, deprived him of the opportunity to relax in Nohant. Wanting to leave Paris for a change of scenery and expand his circle of acquaintances, Chopin went to London in April 1848 to give concerts and teach. This turned out to be his last journey. Frederic Chopin's last public concert took place on November 16, 1848 in London. Success, a nervous, stressful life, the damp British climate, and most importantly, a periodically worsening chronic lung disease - all this completely undermined his strength. Returning to Paris, Chopin died on October 5 (17), 1849.
The entire musical world deeply mourned Chopin. Thousands of fans of his work gathered at his funeral. According to the wishes of the deceased, at his funeral, the most famous artists of that time performed Mozart’s “Requiem” - the composer whom Chopin valued above all others (and called his “Requiem” and the “Jupiter” symphony his favorite works), and his own prelude was also performed No. 4 (E minor). At the Père Lachaise cemetery, Chopin's ashes rest between the graves of Luigi Cherubini and Bellini. The composer bequeathed that his heart be transported to Poland after his death. Chopin's heart was, according to his will, sent to Warsaw, where it was walled up in a column of the Church of the Holy Cross.
Creativity flourishes
The greatest flowering of Frederick's work occurred in the period from 1838 to 1846. It was at this time that Chopin wrote the most significant and perfect works, including the second and third sonatas, polonaises in F sharp minor and A flat major, ballads, barcarolles, polonaise fantasias, nocturnes, scherzos, preludes, mazurkas, etc. He also continued to perform in concerts with Francom, Pauline Viardot, Ernst, but much less frequently than before. Frederick usually spent the winter in Paris, in Nohant, and the summer at the estate of Georges Sand. Due to poor health, he spent only one winter (1839-1840) in the south, on the island of Majorca in Spain. It was here that his 24 preludes were completed.
The work of Frederic Chopin
In Chopin's creative "history" of the late 1820s - 1840s, there are two concertos, three sonatas, a certain musical fantasy, four ballads, the same number of scherzos, as well as a whole heap of impromptu, nocturnes, etudes, various waltzes, mazurkas (more than fifty), polonaises, preludes and other works for piano; he even has songs.
First work
Chopin's first musical work was a certain polonaise or a short musical piece, in connection with which in January 1818 Chopin was mentioned in one of the Polish newspapers, as we have already discussed above.
The death of his father and the break with George Sand are two tragic events that Chopin experienced
The biography, briefly described, is supplemented by the following two important events in the composer’s life. First, Chopin’s father died in 1844, in May. The composer took his death extremely hard. His health began to cause concern. The second event that occurred in 1847 was the break with George Sand. It completely undermined the composer's strength. A portrait of this woman by the artist Delacroix, painted in 1838, is presented below.
Wanting to leave the city of Paris in order to get rid of everything that resembled what he had experienced here, Frederic went to London in 1848, in April.
Disease. Last years
The composer Chopin suffered his first attack of lung disease in 1837 (according to the musician’s biographers, it was tuberculosis). Since then he has suffered from asthmatic attacks. At this time, Chopin lived with the writer Georges Sand. From 1838 to 1839, the lovers stayed on the island of Mallorca. Their relationship was difficult, which also negatively affected the composer’s health. In 1847 they separated.
In 1848, Chopin settled in London, where he continued to give concerts and teach. On November 16, 1848, the last concert of the great composer took place in London. Every day he felt worse and worse and soon returned to Paris.
On October 5 (17), 1849, the short biography of Chopin was cut short. The great composer was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
The last two years of Chopin's life
The last two years of Frederic Chopin's life passed in excruciating suffering. He practically does not compose music and does not perform at concerts. In 1848, on November 16, his last performance took place in London at a Polish evening. The climate, nervous life, unexpected success - all this undermined the composer’s painful nature, and, returning to Paris, the great musician fell ill. Frederick stops teaching his students. In the winter of 1849, his health suffered a significant deterioration. Neither the arrival of Louis, his beloved sister, in Paris, nor the concerns of his friends bring relief, and he dies after severe agony.
Education of Frederic Chopin
Frederic Chopin began to show his interest in music at a fairly early age. At first the boy was even called the second Mozart. When Frederic was only about seven years old, he had already written two polonaises, one called G-moll, and the second B-major. The first g-moll polonaise was published immediately after it was written. Articles in Warsaw newspapers about the emerging new talent began to fly at the speed of light. “Mały Chopinek”, which translated means Little Shopinek, becomes the main highlight in the richest salons of Warsaw. Frederic Chopin at a young age often performs at various charity concerts. In 1816, Frederick received professional piano lessons for the first time for six years from Wojciech Zivny. Wojciech taught based on the music of the legendary Sebastian Bach, as well as other Viennese classics. Then, in 1822, Frederic Chopin took private lessons from the then very famous Polish composer Jozef Elsner. In 1823, the guy entered the Warsaw Lyceum. While studying at the Lyceum, he wrote his first creation, a sonata called C minor. Later, three years later, Frederic Chopin continued his studies at the capital's main music school. He chooses a faculty where music theory, harmony and composition are taught. Chopin studied at this school, also for three years. While still studying, the young composer wrote a Variation (for piano and orchestra) on the theme of a duet from Mozart’s own opera, called Don Giovanni. He also writes Fantasia op.13 on the theme of Poland, and the famous g-moll. Chopin graduated from the school of music with excellent marks; moreover, he was even officially awarded the characteristic of “musical genius.”
Death of Chopin
The death of Frederic Chopin was a blow to the world of music, and the funeral attracted his many fans. In Paris, at the Père Lachaise cemetery, Chopin was buried. The ashes rest between Bellini and Cherubini. Frederick placed Mozart above other composers. His adoration of the Jupiter symphony and the requiem reached the point of cult. At his funeral, in accordance with the wishes of the deceased, Mozart's requiem was performed by famous artists. The composer’s heart, by his will, was later transported to his homeland, to Warsaw, to the Church of the Holy Cross.
Last years and death
By the mid-1840s, Chopin's health and his relationship with George Sand were deteriorating. His behavior also became erratic, possibly due to an undiagnosed form of epilepsy. Their affair ended in 1848 after, among other things, Sand made an unflattering portrayal of their relationship in her 1846 novel Lucrezia Floriani. In the end, both sides were too proud to reconcile, and Chopin's spirit and health were broken. He made an extended tour of the British Isles, where he struggled with a tiring schedule, making his last public appearance on November 16, 1848. He then returned to Paris, where he died on October 17, 1849, aged 39. His body was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery, but his heart was buried in a church in Warsaw, near his birthplace.
Dance genres in Chopin's works
Chopin's work was inspired by his boundless devotion to his people, his homeland, and the struggle for national liberation. He tapped into the riches of Poland's folk music. Various dance genres occupy a significant place in Chopin's heritage. It should be noted that danceability is one of the integral qualities inherent in the musical folk culture of Poland. Waltzes, polonaises, mazurkas (which featured the features of three folk dances - oberek, kujawiak and mazura) reveal the connections that exist between Frederick's work and the folk music of Poland in all its diversity. Frederic Chopin, whose biography we have described, showed innovation in their transformation and interpretation. For example, his polonaises significantly expand and democratize this once solemn and ceremonial genre. Mazurkas poeticize and deepen folk dance. Waltzes have the features of Slavic folk dance melody.
Creative activity
After graduating from college, Chopin began studying music theory in the class of composer Jozef Elsner. Thanks to the patronage of the princes Chetvertinsky and Anton Radziwill, Frederick managed to get into high society.
Since 1829, Frederic Chopin, whose biography even then showed that he would become a great musician, began to actively perform his works in Vienna. In 1830, the composer left Warsaw forever. In 1831 he settled in Paris, where he instantly became famous and gained many fans. After some time, the musician himself begins to teach.
Chopin's social circle included many young musicians and major European composers - F. Hiller, Tulon, Stamati, Francomme, Bellini, Berlioz, Schumann, Mendelssohn, the artist E. Delacroix, writers V. Hugo, G. Heine and others.
Vladimir Vdovichenkov short biography of the actor
Non-dance genres
Chopin also reinterprets various non-dance genres. His sketches are highly artistic creations, where ideological and emotional content is combined with original means of their implementation. Chopin's scherzos are also quite unique compositions. They differ from the scherzo, which is used in a classical symphony, as well as from the sonata. Ballads are dramatic plot narratives inspired by poetic images, full of romantic freedom, contrasts, and diversity of life.
Chopin's musical language
Chopin's genre innovation is organically combined with the novelty of his musical language. Frederick created a new type of melody - flexible, extremely expressive, unfolding continuously, combining various instrumental and vocal, dance and song features. Also, Frederic Chopin, whose biography is described above, revealed new possibilities of harmony. He fused together various elements of Polish folk music with romantic harmony. Chopin strengthened the role of colorful and dynamic elements. His discoveries in the field of polyphony (all voices are saturated with melodic expressiveness) and musical form (the use of the technique of variation development, characteristic of Polish folk music) are very interesting. The innovation of this composer fully affected his performing art. He, like Liszt, made a real revolution in the technique of playing the piano.
Frederick's childhood
Sometimes Chopin is compared to Mozart. The comparison is made in the sense that, like Amadeus, Frederick was literally obsessed with music from a very young age. This love of creativity, musical improvisation and playing the piano was regularly noted by acquaintances and family friends.
When the boy was still in elementary school, he wrote his first musical play. Most likely, we are not talking about the first essay, but about its first publication, since this event was even covered in a Warsaw newspaper.
This is what was written in the January issue of 1818:
“The author of this “Polonaise” is a student who is not yet 8 years old. This is a true genius of music, with the greatest ease and exceptional taste. Performing the most difficult piano pieces and composing dances and variations that delight connoisseurs and connoisseurs. If this prodigy had been born in France or Germany, he would have attracted more attention."
His love for music bordered on insanity. He could jump up in the middle of the night to urgently select and record an inspired melody. And that is precisely why such high hopes were placed on his musical education.
He was taught by the Czech pianist Wojciech Zivny, and the boy was then barely nine years old. Despite the fact that Frederick also studied at one of the schools in Warsaw, his music studies were very thorough and serious.
This could not but affect his success: by the age of twelve, Chopin was in no way inferior to even the best Polish pianists. And his teacher refused to teach his young student, saying that he could teach him nothing more.
The influence of Chopin's work on other composers
Chopin's work as a whole is characterized by clarity of thinking and harmony. His music is far from either isolation, academic coldness, or romantic exaggeration. She is alien to insincerity, fundamentally folk, spontaneous, freedom-loving.
Chopin's biography and his works have inspired many musicians. Frederick's work had a great influence on many generations of composers and performers. The influence of Frederic Chopin's melodic and harmonic language can be traced in the works of Wagner, Liszt, Debussy, Fauré, Albéniz, Grieg, Scriabin, Tchaikovsky, Szymanowski, and Rachmaninov.
The Meaning of Creativity
Chopin's biography and music are of great interest today, and this is no coincidence. This great composer interpreted many genres in a new way. He revived the prelude on a romantic basis, also created a piano ballad, dramatized and poeticized the dances: waltz, polonaise, mazurka, and turned the scherzo into an independent work. Chopin enriched the piano texture and harmony, combining classical form with fantasy and melodic richness.
He was one of the few authors who created works only for piano. Chopin wrote neither a symphony nor an opera, nor was he attracted to the choir. We will not find a string quartet in Frederic's legacy.
He composed about fifty mazurkas, the prototype of which is a waltz-like Polish folk dance with a three-beat rhythm. These are small plays. In them, harmonic and melodic turns sound Slavic.
Frederic Chopin gave only about thirty public concerts during his life. He performed mostly at his friends' houses. His performing style was very unique. He was distinguished, according to contemporaries, by rhythmic freedom - the prolongation of some sounds due to the fact that others were shortened.
[edit] The meaning of creativity and memory
Chopin is considered the largest Polish composer, while for Polish composers of many generations his role goes beyond the music itself, and this was recognized not only by the Poles. His works, especially polonaises and mazurkas, were considered synonymous with Polishness and were mentioned in the most patriotic speeches.
[edit] Chopin Society
Chopin Center in Warsaw
In 1894, in Zelazowa Wola, on the initiative of the Russian composer M. Balakirev, a monument to the composer was erected. In 1899, a section named after Chopin was organized within the Warsaw Musical Society, which in one thousand nine hundred and thirty-four became an independent organization - the Frederic Chopin Institute (since 1950 - the Frederic Chopin Society). In 1927, this organization established the Chopin Piano Competition, in 1931 - the Chopin Museum in Zelazowa Wola, and in 1954 - the Frederic Chopin Museum in Warsaw. Together with the Polish Music Publishing House, in 1949-1961 they published the complete works of Chopin. In 2001, on the basis of the Chopin Museum, the National Fryderyk Chopin Institute (Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina) was founded, which in 2010 received new premises in the center of Warsaw
[edit] International Chopin Competition
Since 1927, on the initiative of the Polish pianist and music teacher Jerzy Zhurawlev, the Chopin Piano Competition has been held in Warsaw every five years. Its first winners were Soviet pianists Lev Oborin (1927), Alexander Yuninsky (1932), Yakov Zak (1937), and later Polish pianists Galina Czerny-Stefanska (1949) and Christian Zimerman (1975) also won.
[edit] Frederick Award
In 1995, the Frederick Prize was introduced in Poland, which is awarded annually to Polish musicians in more than 20 nominations, distributed in three sections - academic music, popular music, jazz.
Memory of Frederic Chopin
Every five years in Warsaw, since 1927, international Chopin competitions have been held, in which the most famous pianists participate. In 1934, the Chopin Institute was also organized, called the Society. F. Chopin since 1950. Similar societies also exist in Austria, Germany, and Czechoslovakia. They also existed in France before World War II. In the town of Zhelyaznova Wola, where the composer was born, the Chopin House Museum was opened in 1932.
The International Federation of Societies named after this composer was founded in 1985. In Warsaw in 2010, on March 1, the Frederic Chopin Museum was opened after modernization and reconstruction. This event is dedicated to the bicentenary of his birth. 2010 was also declared the year of Chopin in Poland. This composer, as you can see, is still known, remembered and loved not only in his homeland, but throughout the world.
Chopin's biography and all the dates of events that happened to this great composer were described in our article as fully as possible. In music schools today, the work of this author is included in the compulsory curriculum. However, young musicians study Chopin's biography briefly. This is enough for children. But in adulthood I want to get to know such an interesting composer better. Then the biography of Chopin, briefly written for children, no longer satisfies us. That is why we decided to create a more detailed description of the life and work of this great man. Chopin's biography, a summary of which you can find in various reference books, has been supplemented by us based on various sources. We hope you found the information presented interesting. Now you know what events Chopin’s biography consisted of and what works he wrote. All the best!
Biography of Frederic Chopin
The famous musician was born on March 1, 1810. In a small village called Zelazowa Wola near Sochaczew. The boy's family had Polish and French roots. The father of the family, whose name was Mikolay Chopin, was French by nationality, but being sixteen years old, he decided to move and completely connect his life with Poland. But Mikolai never returned to his homeland; moreover, he did not even keep in touch with his French family. And he raised all his children as Poles. The man worked in the Manor owned by Count Skarbek. His job was to teach and raise children.
