Chopin

(shé-pin) (Frangois) Frédéric, Zelazowa Wola (Jeliasovaya Volia), near Warsaw, Feb. 22, 1810—Paris, Oct. 17, 1849; eminent composer for the piano; son of Nicholas C. (a native of Nancy, France, who was at first bookkeeper in a cigar factory, then teacher in the Warsaw Gymnasium), and a Polish woman (née Justine Kryzanowska). C. studied at his father’s private school, among noblemen; Zwyny taught him pf. and Joseph Elsner, harm., etc. At 9 he played in public a pf.-concerto and improvisations; c. polonaises, mazurkas, and waltzes; in 1825, pub. as op. I a rondo; op. 2 a.fantasie with orch. He played in German cities and had at 19 an individual style of comp., having written his 2 pf.concertos, mazurkas, nocturnes, rondos, etc. He started for London, and played in Vienna, 1829, with such succe that a critic called him ‘one of the most remarkable meteors blazing on the musical horizon”: and at Paris he had such succ. in his first concert, 1831, that he settled there for life as a teacher of the pf. and occasional giver of concerts. pupils were of the most aristocratic. and his friends included Liszt, Berlioz, Meyer beer, Bellini, Balzac, and Heine. Schumann with typical spontaneity (cf. BRAHMS) was moved in 183: by Chopin’s op. 2 to say, ‘‘Hats off, gentlemen:—a genius’; 1839, in reviewing certain of his preludes, mazurkas, and valses, to say ‘‘He is and remains the keenest and staunchest poet-soul of the time.” C.’s liaison with Mme. Dudevant (‘‘George Sand”), begun in 1836 and ended in 1844, has caused endle controversy. In 1838 an attack of bronchitis drove him to Majorca, where she seems tc have been a devoted nurse, but the peevishne and weakne due to his developing consumption caused bitter quarrels, and she is believed to have caricatured him as Prince Karol in her novel ‘‘Lucrezia Floriant.” Concert tours and social life in England and Scotland in 1841-49 destroyed his strength. His comps. include beside those mentioned (74, with opus-number r2 lacking): ‘“‘Don Giovanni,” fantasia, op. 2; ‘‘ Krakoviak,’’ rondo, op. 14; Eb Polonaise, op. 22; and a fantasia on Polish airs for pf. with orch; duo concert ant on themes from ‘‘Robert le Diable’’; an introd. et Polonaise, op. 3, and a sonata, op. 65 for pf. and ’cello; pf. trio, op. 8; and a rondo for apfs. op. 73. FOR PF. so to: Allegro de concert; 4 ballades; barcarolle, op. 60; berceuse, op. 57; bolero, op. 19; 3 écos- = saises, op. 72; 12 grandes études, op. Io; 12 études, op. 25; 3 études; 4 fantasies; impromptus; funébre, op. 72; 52 mazurkas. ‘““Morceau de concert sur la Marche des Puritains de Bellini”; 19 nocturnes, Ir polonaises; 24 préludes, op. 28; prélude, op. 45; 3 rondes; 4 scherzos; 3 sonatas; tarantelle, op. 43; 13 valses; variations on ‘‘Je vends des scapula ires,’ op. 12; ‘Variation dans l Hexaméron’’; 16 Polish songs Op. 74. A collection of his letters was pub. (Dresden, 1877). A collection by Opienski was tr. into English by Voynich and pub. 1931. His many biographers include Liszt, M. Karasowski (Dresden, 1877), M. A. Audley, Fr. Niecks (Leipzig, 1880). Other studies by Huneker, Finck, Bidou, Dry, J. P. Dunn, Hadden, Jachimecki, Kelley, Kleczynski, Maine, Murdoch, Pourtalés, Tarnowski, Niggli, Schucht, Willeby, (3 vols.), Leichtentritt, Opienski, Poirée, Red enb a cher, Wei mann, Ganche, Scharlitt, etc. (See article, page 490.) Chor’ley, H. Fother gill, Hurst, Lancashire, 1808—London, 1872; critic and widely travelled writer.