Chopin piano biography

The popular image of Fryderyk Chopin as a consumptive invalid does him a disservice. He was a man of paradoxes: a Polish nationalist who lived out his days in exile in France; a musician who hated giving public concerts; a composer whose piano works were replete with the influence of bel canto opera, and whose idols in the early Romantic era were Bach and Mozart.

Lavishly melodic yet classically restrained, visionary in imagination yet tautly constructed, his was one of the most individual musical voices of his era.

Born at Żelazowa Wola, in the Duchy of Warsaw, Chopin was son of a Polish mother. His father, Nicolas (or Mikolaj) Chopin was born in France, having moved to Poland in his youth. A strong patriot, Chopin sometimes said that he wished his name could have been Chopinski.

His first composition was a Polonaise – the classic Polish slow dance – while his last would be another Polish dance, a Mazurka. Chopin fell in love with a young soprano Konstantja Gladkowska w