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 Fryderyk Chopin: 200th Anniversary of Birth (Scott 1446, 2010) Chopin and Schumann Leaflet (Scott 1448, 2010) In 2010, Vatican City issued a three-item set to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the births of two great nineteenth-century composers: Fryderyk Chopin and Robert Schumann. The set consisted of individual stamps honoring the composers, as well as a leaflet picturing them both below a section of one of Chopin's "Nocturne" compositions. Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin was born on March 1, 1810, in the small Polish village of Żelazowa Wola, the son of a Polish mother and a French father. The family moved to Warsaw when he was six months old. Chopin was recognized as a child prodigy by the age of 8. During his youth, Chopin spent two summers in the Polish countryside, which would influence some of his compositions to include folk music themes. He would become widely recognized as one of the most significant composers of the Romantic era, with his compositions, written exclusively for the piano, including waltzes, preludes, mazurkas and polonaises. He took the genre of the nocturne (a piece which evokes images of the night) to new levels of sophistication. Chopin was a fervent Polish nationalist. In the later eighteenth century, Prussia, Austria, and Russia had absorbed Poland (as a political entity, Poland was not restored until after World War I). Although he departed Poland for Paris at age twenty, Chopin is considered not only the greatest of Polish composers, but also a national hero in his homeland. In addition to his excellence as a composer, he was also one of the foremost virtuoso pianists of the Romantic period, sharing that distinction with his friend and contemporary, Franz Liszt.  150th Anniversary of the Birth of Franz Liszt Stamp also pictures Fryderyk Chopin East Germany (DDR), Michel Catalog 860 (1961) From Wikimedia Commons, in the Public Domain Plagued by poor health for much of his life (most likely due to tuberculosis), "the poet of the piano" died in Paris in 1849. His tomb is located in the Parisian Prue Lachaise Cemetery. A monument in his honor is located in the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw, which includes a jar containing Chopin's heart. REFERENCES: |
