Great Composers Codexery

Frederic Chopin

Polish composer and pianist of the early Romantic period.

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Frederic Chopin

via Wikipedia: Heart of Frédéric Chopin · see source

He was born in Żelazowa Wola, 46 kilometres west of Warsaw, in what was then the Duchy of Warsaw.[1] The early Romantic composer and virtuoso pianist Frédéric François Chopin, born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin on 1 March 1810, created works almost exclusively for solo piano.[2]

Life and work

Chopin was born on 1 March 1810, though his parish baptismal record dated 23 April 1810 gives his birthday as 22 February 1810.[1] Chopin was the second child and only son, with an elder sister Ludwika and two younger sisters Izabela and Emilia.[3] In October 1810 the family moved to Warsaw, where his father taught French at the Warsaw Lyceum.[4] From September 1823 to 1826 he attended the Warsaw Lyceum, receiving organ lessons from Wilhelm Würfel.[5]

In autumn 1826 he began a three-year course at the Warsaw Conservatory under Józef Elsner.[5] In Paris he became acquainted with Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt, and many other artists.[6] At age seven, Chopin started performing in public; two polonaises (in G minor and B major) were composed by him in 1817.[7] Chopin developed a strong attachment to the singer Konstancja Gładkowska after meeting her, probably early in 1829.[8]

Chopin departed Warsaw on 2 November 1830 with the aim of reaching Italy, but because of violent unrest there he instead reached Paris on 5 October 1831.[9] Chopin encountered George Sand in 1836 at a party hosted by Marie d'Agoult; by July 1838 the two had become lovers.[10][11]

What the cited sources add

The musicologist Arthur Hedley observed that Chopin was unique in acquiring a reputation of the highest order on the basis of few more than thirty public appearances in his lifetime.[12] The critic François-Joseph Fétis wrote in the Revue et gazette musicale that Chopin had found an abundance of original ideas.[13] Chopin's biographer Alan Walker considers that expressions in his letters that could be perceived as homosexual would not denote more than a passing phase.[14] In his first published music article, Robert Schumann reviewed Chopin's Op. 2 Variations for the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung and wrote "Hats off, gentlemen! A genius".[15]

Jeffrey Kallberg, a musicologist, points out that during Chopin's era, ideas about sexual practice and identity differed greatly from modern ones.[14]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Chopin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Temperley 1980, p. 298; Hedley Brown 1980, p. 292; Zamoyski 2010, p. 4–5; Cholmondeley 1998; Zamoyski 2010, p. 4–5; Cholmondeley 1998 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Chopin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rosen 1995, p. 284 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Chopin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Zamoyski 2010, p. 4–5; Walker 2018, p. 289; Mysłakowski, "Emilia Chopin", Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina; Zamoyski 2010, p. 4–5 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Chopin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Zamoyski 2010, p. 4–5; Szulc 1998, p. 41–42; Zamoyski 2010, p. 4–5 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Chopin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Samson 2001, p. §1 ¶1 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Chopin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Zamoyski 2010, p. 4–5; Weber, "Chopins Männer", Schwabe (publisher), 2026, p. 143; Walker 2018, p. 289; Eigeldinger 2001, p. passim; Zamoyski 2010, p. 4–5; Walker 2018, p. 289 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Chopin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Walker 2018, p. 289; Samson 2001, p. §1 ¶1 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Chopin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Walker 2018, p. 289; Niecks 1902, p. vol. 1, p. 125 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Chopin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Walker 2018, p. 289; Helman, "The Date of Chopin's Arrival in Paris", Musicology Today, 2007, p. 95–103; Samson 2001, p. §1 ¶1 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Chopin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Schonberg 1987, p. 151 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Chopin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Załuski Załuski 1992, p. 226; Samson 2001, p. §1 ¶1 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Chopin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hedley 2005, p. 263–264 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Chopin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Zamoyski 2010, p. 4–5 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  14. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Chopin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Walker 2018, p. 289; Kallberg 2006, p. 66; Pizà, "Overture: Love is a Pink Cake or Queering Chopin in Times of Homophobia", Itamar. Revista de investigación musical: Territorios para el arte, 13 January 2022; Weber, "AKT I / ACTO I / ACT I Männer / Hombres / Men Chopins Männer / Los hombres de Chopin / Chopin's Men", Itamar. Revista de investigación musical: Territorios para el arte, 13 January 2022 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  15. Wikipedia, "Frédéric Chopin" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Schumann 1988, p. 15–17 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Frédéric Chopin (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Frédéric Chopin · Historical Figures

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Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In which place was Frederic Chopin born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Żelazowa Wola, Duchy of Warsaw.

2. In what year did Frederic Chopin die?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1849.

From the source: “In poor health most of his life, Chopin died in Paris in 1849 at age 39.”

3. In what year was Frederic Chopin born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1810.

From the source: “The parish baptismal record, which is dated 23 April 1810, gives his birthday as 22 February 1810, and cites his given names in the Latin form (in Polish, he was ).”

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

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