Frederic Chopin
March 1, 1810 – Zelazowa Wola/near Warsaw – October 17,
1849 – Paris
- Polish composer, genius pianist, and music teacher, great masters of Romantic music,
- born in Żelazowa Wola/Warsaw where he grew up and completed his musical education,
- he emigrated to France in order to escape the Russian attack on Poland (November 1830 Uprising); he managed to support himself by giving piano lessons and playing public concerts,
- he was involved in a relationship with a French woman, George Sand, for 10 years,
- as he suffered from poor health his life ended when he was still young, at the age of 39,
- Chopin’s exceptional style and genre’s such as: etude, mazurka, nocturne, and waltz were established before his emigration from Warsaw/Poland; he invented the instrumental ballade and made significant revolutions to the piano sonata, polonaise, waltz, mazurka and etude.
