Frederic (Fryderyk) Chopin – A Short Biography

Name: Frederic (Fryderyk) Chopin

Date of Birth: March 1, 1810

Date of Death: October 17, 1849

Place of Birth: Zelazowa Wola, Poland

Main Instrument: Piano

Mother: Justyna Krzyzanowska

Father: Nicolas Chopin

Early Musical Years

It is clear that Frederic's love for music developed from a very young age since his father was a musician of different instruments and his mother a piano player and teacher. However, his development as a musician was as a result of his sister Ludwika who taught him basic music and how to play the piano. Most scholars give credit to Ludwika as frederic’s first piano teacher.

After learning to play the piano at home, Frederic was enrolled in the Warsaw Lyceum where he continued to study music and piano playing. Like other great and famous piano players his aim was to become a virtuoso. It was in Paris that his true potential as a pianist and piano teacher was revealed.

Frederic's musical talent continued to develop and was noticed by a number of piano players and music teachers. Two piano teachers who played a major role in his life were Zywny and Jozef Elsner. Both teachers helped to mould Frederic into a great pianist and composer.

Frederic matured quit quickly and started to compose his own piano pieces, his pieces were mostly classified as romantic music.

Frederic Chopin’s Compositions

Like other famous piano players, Frederic dedicated a lot of his time to musical compositions. Here is a summary of compositions by genre that he did.

2 Piano Concertos

4 Ballades

24 Preludes

Etudes

Polonaises

Waltzes

Mazurkas

Nocturnes

Impromptus

For more information on each compositions listed above go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Chopin_by_genre .

Frederic’s Final Days

Frederic became a popular composer and piano player. He performed at several concerts across Europe and Asia. Even though he became a great virtuoso he suffered from poor health. His last public appearance on a concert platform was in Britain. He performed at London’s Guildhall on November 16, 1848. It was during the tour of Britain that he started to get weak.

He returned to Paris a very sick man and died there of tuberculosis at age thirty nine.

This great virtuoso died at an early age, but he has made great contributions towards the development of music and impacted the lives of many piano players of this modern era.

Read up on other piano players and composers.

Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)

Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886)

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