Frédéric Chopin March 1, 1810 – October 17, 1849

Biographic Frederic Chopin was born on March 1st (some records say February 22nd ), 1810 in Zelazowa-Wola, near Warsaw. He was the son of Mikolaj Chopin and Tekla Justyna Kryzanowska. Chopin’s Father was a French man who moved to Warsaw and met his future wife, who employed as the Countess's companion and housekeeper and later taught French to the sons of nobility

As a Composer Chopin was widely seen as the greatest of the polish composers of the Romantic Period The instrument he wrote almost exclusively was piano, which was his favorite instrument He showed his gift of music talent as a young child. At the age of 7, he composed his first piece of music- Polonaise in G minor, which he dedicated to Countess Skarbek, and performed publicly when he was only 8. He was compared to childhood genius of Mozart (1756-1791) for his gifted music talent.

Childhood Growing up, Chopin had a good education. He was home schooled until he was in 4th grade. Given his living circumstances, Chopin met and associated with three different classes of people: professors of academia, middle gentry and the wealthy aristocrats.

Teenage Years Chopin received a several years of private lessons from Jozef Elsner before attending the High School of Music in 1826 and became a full-time student at Elsner's conservatory, where he received an excellent foundation in theory, harmony, and melody. He also took organs from Wilhelm Wurfel in1823. However, most of his compositions are composed in Piano.

Adult Years After he graduated from high school, he traveled and performed. Depressed by the uncertainty of his future set off to Vienna in November of 1830. There, Chopin managed to compose his first nine mazurkas. In 1831, Chopin departed Vienna, and headed toward Paris. While there, Chopin gave concerts and he became the "premiere" piano instructor. Back in Warsaw at the age of 20, he performed the F minor Concerto to a crowd of 900.

Adult Years continued In 1836, he was secretly engaged to polish girl, but the engagement was later called of. Chopin never was married, but he was often in love. In 1837, he met a novelist named George Sand. Although he once said she was an unattractive person, they eventually fell in love. But their relationship slowly deteriorated with some problems.

Later Years to Death In later years, he continued to give lessons and occasionally give private performances, his health was getting worse. After performing a few more concerts in London, he did so. It was clear that Chopin was in the final stages of tuberculosis. His many friends visited him often and Stirling offered financial assistance, but he was most pleased that his sister Ludwika and her family came to live with him, providing the family atmosphere that he craved. Chopin passed away in the Place Vendôme on October 17, 1849.

Chopin and His Music Chopin was a skilled pianist, and a large proportion of his works are for solo piano. Many of these works are fairly short in duration, such as the Preludes, Etudes, Waltzes, Impromptus, Nocturnes and Scherzos, as well as the previously mentioned Polish dance forms of the Mazurka and Polonaise. Chopin also developed a form called the Ballade which is a more extended work. He also wrote a number of multi-movement works including of course several Piano Sonatas. He was quite capable of writing for other instruments and did so at times, his two Piano Concertos (for solo Piano and Orchestra) being obvious examples.

Influences on Chopin’s Music Chopin preferred to give private, more intimate concerts to smaller crowds of high class "socialites". One great influence on terms of composition was probably Bach. For example: Chopin's 24 preludes in all keys clearly mirroring Bach's 48 preludes and fugues. The Romantic period was a time of great revolutions.  Passion, not reason, ruled the day.  Imagination was more important than logic.  This was the time of the American Civil War.  The Industrial Revolution replaced people with machines.  People fought back with their feelings and emotions.   As a Romantic Composer, it is to be said that his music was more expressive of his individual feelings and sufferings The Romantic period had more artistic freedom. So Emotion ruled the arts.

Selected Works Mazurka Nocturne Polonaise Op. 68/2 - a minor - 1827 Op. 68/3 - F Major - 1830 Op. 68/1 - C Major - 1830 Op. 67/1 - G Major - 1835 Op. 67/3 - C Major - 1835 Op. 41/1 - e minor - 1838 Op. 68/4 - f minor - 1846 Op. 67/4 - a minor - 1846 Op. 67/2 - g minor – 1848 Op. 72/1 - e minor - 1829 Op. 15/3 - g minor - 1832 Op. 27/1 - c sharp minor - 1835 Op. 27/2 - D Major - 1835 Op. 37/1 - g minor - 1838 Op. 37/2 - G Major - 1839 Polonaise Op. 71/1 - d minor - 1828 Op. 71/2 - B flat Major - 1828 Op. 71/3 - f minor - 1828 Op. 40/1 - A Major - 1838 Op. 40/2 - C Major - 1839 Op. 44 - f sharp minor - 1841 Op. 53 - A flat Major - 1843

References http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/classicalcomposers/p/chopinprofile.htm http://www.nndb.com/people/461/000022395/ http://www.empire.k12.ca.us/capistrano/Mike/capmusic/romantic/romantic.htm http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/spring03/aguilar/Chopin.htm Smialek, William “Frederic Chopin-a guide to research” Edgar Stillman Kelley “Chopin the composer: his structural art and its influence on contemporaneous”