Chopin- Man and Music

Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin (Frédéric François Chopin) was born on March 10th, 1810 in Żelazowa Wola, Poland. His mother, Tekla Justyna Krzyżanowska, was of Polish descent and his father, Mikolaj Nicolas Chopin, was a French expatriate. Both Mikolaj Nicolas and Tekla Justyna Chopin played a major role in Fryderyk's academic and musical tutelage by ensuring that he was well taught by means of home schooling. Being that both his parents were musicians, his mother a pianist and his father a violinist, Chopin was encouraged to develop and expand his already apparent musical gift. He was called a "child prodigy" and "little Mozart" and at the age of seven he had already composed two Polonaise, the first in G and the second in B flat.   As a result of his inventive and somewhat complicated pieces, Chopin was considered one of the most prolific and imaginative composers in the Romantic Era who had a tremendous impact on piano music. His influences included Haydn, Mozart, Clementi and Beethoven. He transformed instrumental genres into solo piano pieces and wrote specifically for the solo piano. No other composer has enhanced and augmented the perception of Western piano music during the Romantic Era than Chopin.
Chopin officially began piano lessons at the age of seven with Wojciech Żywny and this lasted for five years but ended thereafter with the realization that Chopin surpassed his teacher's own abilities. At the age of thirteen, he enrolled in the Warsaw Lyceum where his composition teacher, Josez Elsner, called him a piano genius. It was at this time that Chopin had an opportunity to socialize and interact with the country folk and examine their customs and traditions with his friends Dominik Dziewanowski and Julian Fontana.   He was later accepted to the Warsaw Conservatory of Music, where his father taught as a professor and was instructed by Wilhelm Würfel, who was a renowned pianist and scholar. During this crucial time in his life, Chopin published... [continues]

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