Frédéric François Chopin (March 1, 1810[1] – October 17, 1849) was a Polish pianist and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the most famous, influential and admired composers for the piano.
He was born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin in the village of Żelazowa Wola, Poland, to a Polish mother and French expatriate father. Hailed as a child prodigy in his homeland, Chopin left for Paris at the age of 20. In Paris, he made a career as a performer and teacher as well as a composer, and adopted the French variant of his name, "Frédéric-François". He had a turbulent 10-year relationship with the French writer George Sand from 1837 to 1847. Always in fragile health, he succumbed to pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of 39.
Chopin's compositions, which are mainly for the piano, include his Funeral March (part of his second piano sonata but composed long before the other parts) and the twenty-four études and are widely considered to be among the pinnacles of the piano repertoire. Although some of his music is among the most technically demanding for the instrument, Chopin's style emphasizes poetry, nuance, and expressive depth rather than mere technical display. His works are often cited as one of the mainstays of Romanticism in nineteenth-century classical music.
|
