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 Fryderyk Chopin 200th Anniversary of Birth Scott 1446 (2010) Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin was born on March 1, 1810, in a small Polish village in the Duchy of Warsaw, the son of a Polish mother and a French father. Chopin, a child prodigy by the age of 8, is widely recognized as one of the most significant composers of the Romantic era and composed exclusively for the piano: waltzes, nocturnes, preludes, mazurkas, and polonaises. Chopin spent two summers of his youth in the Polish countryside and portions of his compositions include folk music themes. Chopin was a fervent Polish nationalist. In the later eighteenth century, Prussia, Austria, and Russia had absorbed Poland (as a political entity, Poland was restored after World War I). Although he departed Poland for Paris at age twenty, Chopin is considered not only a national hero in Poland, but also the greatest of Polish composers. From 1837-1847 Chopin carried on a romantic relationship with novelist George Sand (Amandine Aurore Lucile Dupin) at times wintering in Majorca. Plagued with tuberculosis, "the poet of the piano" died in Paris in 1849. Visitors today find his tomb at the Parisian Prue Lachaise Cemetery frequently adorned with flowers.  Fryderyk Chopin and Robert Schumann Souvenir Leaflet Scott 1448 (2010) This article first appeared in Vatican Notes, Volume 59, Issue 347, 2010, pages 19-20. It has been slightly edited and reformatted. The original article may be read by clicking on the reference below. REFERENCES: |
