Frédéric Chopin

Born

1 March 1810, Żelazowa Wola, Duchy of WarsawThe date his family kept; his birth and baptism certificates give 22 February 1810

Died

17 October 1849, Paris, France

Life

Fryderyk Chopin was born at Żelazowa Wola, near Warsaw, where his father was a tutor. The family kept 1 March 1810 as his birthday, though his birth and baptism certificates say 22 February.

In July 1831, after the November Uprising had broken out in Poland, he left for Paris by way of Germany, heard in Stuttgart that the uprising had been crushed, and never went home again. Robert Schumann greeted one of his early works with the famous line "Hats off, gentlemen, a genius". From 1836 to 1847 he was close to the French writer George Sand. He died in Paris on 17 October 1849; at his funeral his Prelude in E minor was played on the organ, and his heart was taken back to Warsaw.

Why play Chopin

Chopin is the poet of the piano. His Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2, first published in 1832 to 1833, is perhaps the most popular of his nocturnes, and there is an easy version to start on. The Minute Waltz was published in 1847.

Some favourites only appeared after his death: the Waltz in B minor, Op. 69 No. 2, and the Fantaisie-Impromptu, which he chose not to publish and which his friend Julian Fontana brought out as Op. 66. The stormy Étude in C minor has been called the "Revolutionary" since Liszt's time.

When Chopin lived