Chopin was born at Zelazowa Wola near Warsaw on 1 st March 1809. His father was of French descent, his mother was a Pole. He began his musical education in his native town, under a Bohemian musician by the name of Zwyny. Later on, the Director of the Warsaw Conservatory of Music, Joseph Elsner, became his teacher. At the early age of 9, Chopin appeared before the public as a pianist. In Paris - the Parnassum of all virtuosi, to which City Chopin went in 1828, he found a permanent home. Step by step he had to win his way. His gentle, noble nature ever shrank from contact with the public, and from measures which all have to adopt who wish to shine in public. Even playing at concerts was distasteful to him. Gradually he met with appreciation among a select circle: men, such as Liszt, Berlioz, Heine, Balzac, Meyerbeer becamse his friends, and the first Salons were opened to him.

He was in great demand as a teacher of the piano, and devoted himself heart and soul to his pupils, his reputation increasing from year to year, when suddenly his path through life was o`ershadowed: An incurable lung-disease set it, which made the more rapid progress, as his delicate constitution was unable to withstand the double strain of an overtaxed artist`s life and the excitement of his social surroundings and duties, enhanced by his love towards the poetess George Sand, a passion which utterly consumed him. A sojourn in the Island of Majorca only alleviated the disease for the time. An apparent ameloriation in his state of health induced him to undertake a concert tour in England and Scotland, from which he returned to Paris in the autumn of 1849. broken down in health and spirit, and where he died on the 17 th October of that year. More than half a century has elapsed since then and Chopin`s name has lost none of its glory and lustre. He is the favourite of all piano-virtuosi  and still sways the mind and soul of those who listen to his divine music.

Kristina Zolota