Fryderyk
Franciszek Chopin, the Polish composer
and pianist, was born on 1 March 1810, according to the statements of the
artist himself and his family, but according to his baptismal certificate,
which was written several weeks after his birth, the date was 22 February. His
birthplace was the village of Zelazowa Wola near Sochaczew, in the region of
Mazovia, which was part of the Duchy of Warsaw. The manor-house in Zelazowa
Wola belonged to Count Skarbek and Chopin's father, Mikolaj (Nicolas) Chopin,
a Polonized Frenchman, was employed there as a tutor. He had been born in 1771
in Marainville in the province of Lorraine in France, but already as a child
he had established contacts with the Polish families of Count Michal Pac and
the manager of his estate, Jan Adam Weydlich. At the age of 16, Mikolaj
accompanied them to Poland where he settled down permanently. He never
returned to France and did not retain contacts with his French family but
brought up his children as Poles. In 1806,
Mikolaj Chopin married Tekla Justyna Krzyzanowska, who was the housekeeper for
the Skarbek family at Zelazowa Wola. They had four children: three daughters
Ludwika, Izabela and Emilia, and a son Fryderyk, the second child. Several
months after his birth, the whole family moved to Warsaw, where Mikolaj Chopin
was offered the post of French language and literature lecturer in the Warsaw
Lyceum. He also ran a boarding school for sons of the gentry.
The musical
talent of Fryderyk became apparent extremely early on, and it was compared
with the childhood genius of Mozart. Already at the age of 7, Fryderyk was the
author of two polonaises (in G minor and B flat major), the first being
published in the engraving workshop of Father Cybulski. The prodigy was
featured in the Warsaw newspapers, and "little Chopin" became the attraction
and ornament of receptions given in the aristocratic salons of the capital. He
also began giving public charity concerts. His first professional piano
lessons, given to him by Wojciech Zywny (b. 1756 in Bohemia), lasted from 1816
to 1822, when the teacher was no longer able to give any more help to the
pupil whose skills surpassed his own. The further development of Fryderyk's
talent was supervised by Wilhelm W�rfel (b.1791 in Bohemia), the renowned
pianist and professor at the Warsaw Conservatory who was to offer valuable,
although irregular, advice as regards playing the piano and organ.
From 1823 to
1826, Fryderyk attended the Warsaw Lyceum where his father was one of the
professors. He spent his summer holidays in estates belonging to the parents
of his school friends in various parts of the country. For example, he twice
visited Szafarnia in the Kujawy region where he revealed a particular interest
in folk music and country traditions. The young composer listened to and noted
down the texts of folk songs, took part in peasant weddings and harvest
festivities, danced, and played a folk instrument resembling a double bass
with the village musicians; all of which he described in his letters. Chopin
became well acquainted with the folk music of the Polish plains in its
authentic form, with its distinct tonality, richness of rhythms and dance
vigour. When composing his first mazurkas in 1825, as well as the later ones,
he resorted to this source of inspiration which he kept in mind until the very
end of his life.
In the autumn
of 1826, Chopin began studying the theory of music, figured bass and
composition at the Warsaw High School of Music, which was both part of the
Conservatory and, at the same time, connected with Warsaw University. Its head
was the composer J�zef Elsner (b. 1769 in Silesia). Chopin, however, did not
attend the piano class. Aware of the exceptional nature of Chopin's talent,
Elsner allowed him, in accordance with his personality and temperament, to
concentrate on piano music but was unbending as regards theoretical subjects,
in particular counterpoint. Chopin, endowed by nature with magnificent melodic
invention, ease of free improvisation and an inclination towards brilliant
effects and perfect harmony, gained in Elsner's school a solid grounding,
discipline, and precision of construction, as well as an understanding of the
meaning and logic of each note. This was the period of the first extended
works such as the Sonata in C minor, Variations, op. 2 on a theme from Don
Juan by Mozart, the Rondo � la Krakowiak, op. 14, the Fantaisie, op. 13 on
Polish Airs (the three last ones written for piano and orchestra) and the Trio
in G minor, op. 8 for piano, violin and cello. Chopin ended his education at
the High School in 1829, and after the third year of his studies Elsner wrote
in a report: "Chopin, Fryderyk, third year student, amazing talent, musical
genius".
After
completing his studies, Chopin planned a longer stay abroad to become
acquainted with the musical life of Europe and to win fame. Up to then, he had
never left Poland, with the exception of two brief stays in Prussia. In 1826,
he had spent a holiday in Bad Reinertz (modern day Duszniki-Zdr�j) in Lower
Silesia, and two years later he had accompanied his father's friend, Professor
Feliks Jarocki, on his journey to Berlin to attend a congress of naturalists.
Here, quite unknown to the Prussian public, he concentrated on observing the
local musical scene. Now he pursued bolder plans. In July 1829 he made a short
excursion to Vienna in the company of his acquaintances. Wilhelm W�rfel, who
had been staying there for three years, introduced him to the musical milieu,
and enabled Chopin to give two performances in the K�rtnertortheater, where,
accompanied by an orchestra, he played Variations, op.2 on a Mozart theme and
the Rondo � la Krakowiak, op. 14 , as well as performing improvisations. He
enjoyed tremendous success with the public, and although the critics censured
his performance for its small volume of sound, they acclaimed him as a genius
of the piano and praised his compositions. Consequently, the Viennese
publisher Tobias Haslinger printed the Variations on a theme from Mozart
(1830). This was the first publication of a Chopin composition abroad, for up
to then, his works had only been published in Warsaw.
Upon his return
to Warsaw, Chopin, already free from student duties, devoted himself to
composition and wrote, among other pieces, two Concertos for piano and
orchestra: in F minor and E minor. The first concerto was inspired to a
considerable extent by the composer's feelings towards Konstancja Gladkowska,
who studied singing at the Conservatory. This was also the period of the first
nocturne, etudes, waltzes, mazurkas, and songs to words by Stefan Witwicki.
During the last months prior to his planned longer stay abroad, Chopin gave a
number of public performances, mainly in the National Theatre in Warsaw where
the premi�re of both concertos took place. Originally, his destination was to
be Berlin, where the artist had been invited by Prince Antoni Radziwill, the
governor of the Grand Duchy of Poznan, who had been appointed by the king of
Prussia, and who was a long-standing admirer of Chopin's talent and who, in
the autumn of 1829, was his host in Antonin. Chopin, however, ultimately chose
Vienna where he wished to consolidate his earlier success and establish his
reputation. On 11 October 1830, he gave a ceremonial farewell concert in the
National Theatre in Warsaw, during which he played the Concerto in E minor,
and K. Gladkowska sang. On 2 November, together with his friend Tytus
Woyciechowski, Chopin left for Austria, with the intention of going on to
Italy.
Several days
after their arrival in Vienna, the two friends learnt about the outbreak of
the uprising in Warsaw, against the subservience of the Kingdom of Poland to
Russia and the presence of the Russian Tsar on the Polish throne. This was the
beginning of a months-long Russo-Polish war. T. Woyciechowski returned to
Warsaw to join the insurgent army, while Chopin, succumbing to the persuasion
of his friend, stayed in Vienna. In low spirits and anxious about the fate of
his country and family, he ceased planning the further course of his career,
an attitude explained in a letter to J. Elsner: "In vain does Malfatti try to
convince me that every artist is a cosmopolitan. Even if so, as an artist, I
am still in my cradle, as a Pole, I am already twenty; I hope, therefore that,
knowing me well, you will not chide me that so far I have not thought about
the programme of the concert". The performance ultimately took place on 11
June 1831, in the K�rtnerthortheater, where Chopin played the Concerto in E
minor. The eight months spent in Vienna were not wasted. Strong and dramatic
emotional experiences inspired the creative imagination of the composer,
probably accelerating the emergence of a new, individual style, quite
different from his previous brilliant style. The new works, which revealed
force and passion, included the sketch of the Scherzo in B minor and, above
all, the powerful Etudes from op. 10.
Having given up
his plans for a journey to Italy, due to the hostilities there against
Austria, Chopin resolved to go to Paris. On the way, he first stopped in
Munich where he gave a concert on the 28th of August and then went on to
Stuttgart. Here he learnt about the dramatic collapse of the November Uprising
and the capture of Warsaw by the Russians. His reaction to this news assumed
the form of a fever and nervous crisis. Traces of these experiences are
encountered in the so-called Stuttgart diary: "The enemy is in the house (...)
Oh God, do You exist? You do and yet You do not avenge. - Have You not had
enough of Moscow's crimes - or - or are You Yourself a Muscovite [...] I here,
useless! And I here empty-handed. At times I can only groan, suffer, and pour
out my despair at my piano!".
In the autumn
of 1831 Chopin arrived in Paris where he met many fellow countrymen. Following
the national defeat, thousands of exiles, including participants of the armed
struggle, politicians, representatives of Polish culture, such as the writer
Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Romantic poets A. Mickiewicz and Juliusz Slowacki,
and the Warsaw friends of Chopin, the poets Stefan Witwicki and Bohdan
Zaleski, sought refuge from the Russian occupation in a country and city which
they found most friendly. Chopin made close contacts with the so-called Great
Emigration, befriended its leader Prince Adam Czartoryski, and became a member
of the Polish Literary Society, which he supported financially. He also
attended emigr� meetings, played at charity concerts held for poor emigr�s,
and organised similar events.
In Paris, his
reputation as an artist grew rapidly. Letters of recommendation which the
composer brought from Vienna allowed him immediately to join the local musical
milieu, which welcomed him cordially. Chopin became the friend of Liszt,
Mendelssohn, Ferdinand Hiller, Berlioz and Auguste Franchomme. Later on, in
1835, in Leipzig, he also met Schumann who held his works in great esteem and
wrote enthusiastic articles about the Polish composer. Upon hearing the
performance of the unknown arrival from Warsaw, the great pianist Friedrich
Kalkbrenner, called the king of the piano, organised a concert for Chopin
which took place on the 26th of February 1832 in the Salle Pleyel. The ensuing
success was enormous, and he quickly became a famous musician, renowned
throughout Paris. This rise to fame aroused the interest of publishers and by
the summer of 1832, Chopin had signed a contract with the leading Parisian
publishing firm of Schlesinger. At the same time, his compositions were
published in Leipzig by Probst, and then Breitkopf, and in London by Wessel.
The most
important source of Chopin's income in Paris was, however, from giving
lessons. He became a popular teacher among the Polish and French aristocracy
and Parisian salons were his favourite place for performances. As a pianist,
Chopin was ranked among the greatest artists of his epoch, such as
Kalkbrenner, Liszt, Thalberg and Herz, but, in contrast to them, he disliked
public performances and appeared rarely and rather unwillingly. In a friendly,
intimate group of listeners he disclosed supreme artistry and the full scale
of his pianistic and expressive talents.
Having settled
down in Paris, Chopin deliberately chose the status of an emigr�. Despite the
requests of his father, he did not obey the Tsarist regulations, issued in
subjugated Poland, and never extended his passport in the Russian embassy.
Consequently, being regarded as a political refugee, Chopin deprived himself
of the possibility of legally revisiting his homeland. He longed to see his
family and friends and, seeking refuge against loneliness, decided to share
accommodation with the physician Aleksander Hoffman, another Polish exile, and
after the latter's departure from Paris, with his Warsaw friend, former
insurgent and physician, Jan Matuszynski. In this situation, the composer
could meet his parents only outside Poland and when in August 1835 they went
to Karlsbad for a cure, Chopin soon followed. Afterwards, while in nearby
Dresden, he renewed his acquaintance with the Wodzinski family. Years earlier,
the three young Wodzinski sons had stayed in the boarding house managed by
Mikolaj Chopin. Their younger sister, Maria, now an adolescent, showed
considerable musical and artistic talent and Chopin fell in love with her and
wanted to marry her and set up a family home of his own in exile. The
following year, during a holiday spent together with the seventeen year-old
Maria and her mother in Marienbad (modern day M�riansk� L�zne in the Czech
Republic), and then in Dresden, he proposed and was accepted on the condition
that he would take better care of his health. The engagement was unofficial,
and did not end in marriage, for after a year-long "trial" period, Maria's
parents, disturbed by the bad state of the health of her fianc� who was
seriously ill in the winter, and especially by his irregular lifestyle, viewed
him as an unsuitable partner for their daughter. Chopin found this rejection
an extremely painful experience, and labelled the letters from the Wodzinski
family, tied into a small bundle, "My sorrow".
In July 1837,
Chopin travelled to London in the company of Camille Pleyel in the hope of
forgetting all unpleasant memories. Soon afterwards, he entered into a close
liaison with the famous French writer George Sand. This author of daring
novels, older by six years, and a divorcee with two children, offered the
lonely artist what he missed most from the time when he left Warsaw:
extraordinary tenderness, warmth and maternal care. The lovers spent the
winter of 1838/1839 on the Spanish island of Majorca, living in a former
monastery in Valdemosa. There, due to unfavourable weather conditions, Chopin
became gravely ill and showed symptoms of tuberculosis. For many weeks, he
remained so weak as to be unable to leave the house but nonetheless, continued
to work intensively and composed a number of masterpieces: the series of 24
preludes, the Polonaise in C minor, the Ballade in F major, and the Scherzo in
C sharp minor.
On his return from Majorca in the spring of 1839, and following
a convalescence in Marseilles, Chopin, still greatly weakened, moved to George
Sand's manor house in Nohant, in central France. Here, he was to spend long
vacations up to 1846, with the exception of 1840, returning to Paris only for
the winters. This was the happiest, and the most productive, period in his
life after he left his family home. The majority of his most outstanding and
profound works were composed in Nohant. In Paris, the composer and writer were
treated as a married couple, although they were never married. Both had common
friends among the artistic circles of the capital, such as the painter
Delacroix and the singer Pauline Viardot, as well as the Polish emigr�s, such
as A. Mickiewicz and W. Grzymala. For years, the couple enjoyed a deep love
and friendship, but with time the increasingly hostile attitude of George
Sand's son, who exerted a strong influence on the writer, caused ever more
serious conflicts. A final parting of ways took place in July 1847.
Grievous
personal experiences as well as the loss of Nohant, so important for the
health and creativity of the composer, had a devastating effect on Chopin's
mental and physical state. He almost completely gave up composition, and from
then to the end of his life wrote only a few miniatures. In April 1848,
persuaded by his Scottish pupil, Jane Stirling, Chopin left for England and
Scotland. Together with her sister, Miss Stirling organised concerts and
visits in various localities, including the castles of the Scottish
aristocracy. This exceptionally hectic life style and excessive strain on his
strength from constant travelling and numerous performances, together with a
climate deleterious to his lungs, further damaged his health. On 16 November
1848, despite frailty and a fever, Chopin gave his last concert, playing for
Polish emigr�s in the Guildhall in London. A few days later, he returned to
Paris
His rapidly
progressing disease made it impossible to continue giving lessons. In the
summer of 1849, Ludwika Jedrzejewiczowa, the eldest sister of the composer,
came from Warsaw to take care of her ill brother. On 17 October 1849, Chopin
died of pulmonary tuberculosis in his Parisian flat in the Place Vend�me. He
was buried in the P�re-Lachaise cemetery in Paris. In accordance with his
will, however, his heart, taken from his body after death, was brought by his
sister to Warsaw where it was placed in an urn installed in a pillar of the
Holy Cross church in Krakowskie Przedmiscie.
(by Barbara
Smolenska-Zielinska, from the Official Chopin
Homepage)
Recommended
books on Chopin's biography:
-
William G. Atwood,
The Parisian worlds of Frédéric Chopin, Yale
University Press, 1999
-
Frederic Chopin,
Chopin's letters, edited by E.L. Voynich, Dover, 1988
-
Alfred Cortot,
In search of Chopin, translated from French by Cyril
and Rena Clarke, Greenwood Press, 1952
-
Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger,
Chopin: Pianist and Teacher: As Seen by
his Pupils, Cambridge University Press, 1999, originally published
in French 1970
-
Arthur Hedley,
Selected correspondence of Fryderyk Chopin,
Heinemann, 1962
-
James Huneker,
Chopin: The man and his music, New York, Dover, 1966,
originally published by Scribner 1900
-
Jeffrey Kallberg,
Chopin at the Boundaries: Sex, History, and Musical Genre,
1996
-
Krystyna Kobylańska,
Chopin in his own land: documents and souvenirs, Poland, 1977
-
Franz Liszt,
Life of Chopin, translated from French by Martha Walker
Cook and John Broadhouse, London, W. Reeves, 1913
-
Frederick Niecks,
Chopin as a man and musician, London, New York, Novello, Ewer & Co.1888
-
Jeremy Siepmann,
Chopin: Complete Edition, Deutsche Grammophon, 1999
-
Jeremy Siepmann,
Chopin, the reluctant romantic, Boston Northeastern
University Press, 1995
-
Barbara Smoleńska-Zielińska,
Fryderyk Chopin i jego muzyka,
Warszawa, 1995
-
Tad Szulc,
Chopin in Paris: The Life and Times of the Romantic
Composer, New York, Da Capo Press, 2000
- Adam Zamoyski,
Chopin: Prince of the Romantics, HarperCollins, 2011
References: Click here for a full list of books and
articles used to build this website
_________________________________________________________________
CHOPIN : THE POET OF THE PIANO - � by Anh Tran. All rights reserved
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