In March 1839, Sand realized that Chopin needed medical attention and took him to Marseille, where he was diagnosed with consumption (tuberculosis).Īfter a period of recuperation in Marseille, in May 1839 Chopin and Sand settled south of Paris in Nohant, Sand's country home. The couple spent a harsh winter on the Spanish island of Majorca, where Chopin became ill. In 1838 he began a love affair with French novelist Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, a.k.a., George Sand. Though Chopin had had youthful love affairs and was at one time engaged, none of his relationships lasted more than a year. 9 and 15, the Scherzo in B-flat minor, Op. His increased income allowed him to live well and compose such pieces as Nocturnes of Opp. A fortuitous introduction to the Rothschild family opened new doors, however, and Chopin soon found employment in the great parlors of Paris as both recitalist and teacher. While in Paris, Chopin found his delicate style didn't always enthrall the larger concert audiences, who had been exposed to the works of Franz Schubert and Ludwig van Beethoven. There he quickly established relationships with other young composers, among them Franz Liszt, Vincenzo Bellini and Felix Mendelssohn. Over the next few years, Chopin performed in Poland, Germany, Austria and Paris, France, where he settled in 1832. Audiences were enthralled with his highly technical yet poetically expressive performances. However, sensing he needed a broader musical experience, Chopin's parents eventually sent him to Vienna, where he made his performance debut in 1829. By 1826, he had composed several piano pieces in different styles, and his parents enrolled him in the Warsaw Conservatory of Music, where he studied for three years under Polish composer Josef Elsner. Child Prodigyīy 1818, Chopin was performing in elegant salons and writing his own compositions, including the Polonaise in G Minor. Recognizing his talent, his family engaged professional musician Wojciech Zywny for lessons, and soon the pupil surpassed the teacher in both technique and imagination. By age 6, Chopin was ably playing the piano and composing tunes. His father's employment exposed young Chopin to cultured Warsaw society, and his mother introduced him to music at an early age. Soon after Chopin was born, Nicholas found employment as a tutor for aristocratic families in Warsaw. His father, Nicholas, was a French émigré who was working as a bookkeeper when he met and married Justyna Krzyzanowska. Early YearsĬhopin was born Fryderyk Franciszek Szopen on March 1, 1810, in the small village of Zelazowa Wola, Duchy of Warsaw (now Poland). His piano compositions were highly influential. In 1832, he moved to Paris, socialized with high society and was known as an excellent piano teacher. The museum will reopen on Saturday 29 April and promises to offer visitors a unique and inspiring experience that reflects the legacy of Poland's greatest 19th-century musician.Ĭheck out the video above for a sneak peek inside the newly-refurbished museum.Frédéric Chopin was a renowned Polish and French composer who published his first composition at age 7 and began performing one year later. They are romantically very inspiring because when you read them, you get very close to Chopin who was quite a literary man, I have to say," explains Laskowski. "The letters that are on display here are the absolute originals certified, verified by our experts, and these are the letters he wrote himself, and they are at the heart of our collection. And we are," says Aleksander Laskowski, spokesman for the National Frédéric Chopin Institute. And that was the reason for change: be original. They have enough of it and they wanted more originals, they wanted to touch the real thing. "Especially, after the pandemic, we realised that people are overwhelmed, oversaturated with things that are not original. Original letter by Frederic Chopin to a friend, which is among new items on display at the refurbished museum of the Polish 19th century pianist and composer Czarek Sokolowski/AP Photo
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