Frdric Chopin - Polish Romantic Composer (Biography)

Frederic Chopin - Polish Romantic Composer is the biography of Frederic Chopin, a Polish virtuoso pianist and composer of the Romantic period. Chopin is widely regarded as the greatest Polish composer, and one of the most influential composers for piano in the 19th century. Chopin was born in the village of Zelazowa Wola, in the Duchy of Warsaw, to a Polish mother and French-expatriate father and came to be regarded as a child-prodigy pianist. In November 1830, at the age of twenty, Chopin went abroad. After the subsequent outbreak, and in 1831 the suppression, of the Polish November 1830 Uprising, he never returned to Poland, instead becoming one of the many members of the Polish Great Emigration. In Paris he made a comfortable living as composer and piano teacher, while giving very few public performances, used the French version of his given name, Frederic, and became a French citizen like his father. Always in frail health, at thirty-nine in Paris he succumbed to pulmonary tuberculosis. Chopin’s extant compositions all include the piano, predominantly as solo instrument. Though his music is technically demanding, its style emphasizes nuance and expressive depth rather than technical virtuosity. Chopin invented new musical forms such as the ballade, and introduced major innovations into existing forms such as the piano sonata, waltz, nocturne, etude, impromptu and prelude. Chopin’s works are mainstays of Romanticism in 19th-century classical music. His mazurkas and polonaises remain the cornerstone of Polish national classical music. Frederic Chopin - Polish Romantic Composer is highly recommended for those interested in learning more about this talented pianist and composer.