Frédéric Chopin
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- Frédéric François Chopin, in Polish Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin (the surname is pronounced [ˈɕo:pɛn] in Polish; [ʃɔpɛ̃] in French, and usually /ˈʃoʊpæn/ in English; 1 March 1810[1] – 17 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of French-Polish parentage. He was one of the great masters of Romantic music.
Chopin was born in the Napoleonic Duchy of Warsaw to a French-expatriate father and Polish mother, and was a child-prodigy pianist and composer. Following the Russian suppression of the Polish November 1830 Uprising, Chopin settled in France as part of the Polish Great Emigration. In Paris
he supported himself as a composer and piano teacher, giving few public
performances. After romantic involvements with several Polish women,
from 1837 to 1847 he carried on a relationship with the French novelist
Amantine Aurore Lucie Dupin, baronne Dudevant, better known by her
pseudonym, George Sand. For the greater part of his life Chopin suffered from poor health; he died in Paris, aged 39, of pulmonary tuberculosis.
The great majority of Chopin's compositions were written for the piano as solo instrument; all his extant works
feature the piano in one way or another. They are technically demanding
but emphasize nuance and expressive depth. Chopin invented musical forms such as the instrumental ballade and made major innovations to the piano sonata, mazurka, waltz, nocturne, polonaise, étude, impromptu and prélude.
