£60. An amount that would nowadays warrant you half of what it takes to be a Category 2 supporter at Old Trafford for the game against Fulham is what Frédéric Chopin was paid in 1848, at the apex of his glory, for the concerts he gave in Glasgow and Manchester during his English tour. Britons were by then far aloof of having the musical powerhouses they sport nowadays, and little heed did they pay then to one of the most prolific and talented musicians ever to have graced this planet.
Frédéric Chopin was born 200 years ago, on March 1st, 1810 in a village of Eastern Poland, nigh the German border. His father, who had left his native Lorraine (East of France) aged 16 went on to marry a young Pole named Justyna Krzy?anowska another 16 years later. The only thing Frédéric inherited from him was a fragile health, as the family had no fortune. An only son in a family of 4 siblings, he was the darling of a young mother whom he called "the only love of his life". Early on he showed premices of his outstanding musical skills, and by the time his father had left him to the care of a musical teacher, Zywny (whose main influence was Bach) the youngster had already composed his first work, the Polonaise in sol minor, aged 7. Soon the word had spread to the highest spheres of the kingdom that a young prodigy was showing signs of the new Kakà.
Frédéric Chopin was born 200 years ago, on March 1st, 1810 in a village of Eastern Poland, nigh the German border. His father, who had left his native Lorraine (East of France) aged 16 went on to marry a young Pole named Justyna Krzy?anowska another 16 years later. The only thing Frédéric inherited from him was a fragile health, as the family had no fortune. An only son in a family of 4 siblings, he was the darling of a young mother whom he called "the only love of his life". Early on he showed premices of his outstanding musical skills, and by the time his father had left him to the care of a musical teacher, Zywny (whose main influence was Bach) the youngster had already composed his first work, the Polonaise in sol minor, aged 7. Soon the word had spread to the highest spheres of the kingdom that a young prodigy was showing signs of the new Kakà.
sorry, scratch that, the new Mozart. And indeed Frédéric was a regular fixture in the courtyard of the duke Constantin, brother of Emperor Nikolay Romanov, merely aged 10, which did not fail to draw comparisons with the Austrian benchmark. As the Vienna prodigy, he was a light-hearted teenager who enjoyed cracking jokes to entertain his mates at the Varsovia Music Academy. But his health already was a concern and his parents chose not to make him travel too far during holidays, as testified by their journeys in the outskirts of the Polish capital where Frédéric discovers traditional Mazurka music that will sway on his later work.
His successive teachers opted for a "laissez faire" motto that pandered to the outright superiority of their pupil. Reluctant to botch his natural abilities, they let him focus solely on the piano, although what they wanted was a massive, heroic conductor to eke a reputation out of. But Chopin had nothing of Beethoven's prescience and almost oppressive charisma. He was a quiet and dreamy soul, who perfectly imparted the roving of his period, at a time when the geography of Europe was reshaped every year. But this tenderness mantled an infatigable labourer who often woke up during the night to go and practice the object of his eventual myth. As he approached majority he finally undertook his first trip abroad, and got acquainted with German music in Berlin. However it was a concert of Niccolo Paganini that confirmed him in his opinion that he was solely made for the piano. The Italian's devotion to violin was, to Frédéric, a revelation that only the piano would ever benefit from his unparalleled skills throughout his life.
Soon after, devastated by an unrequited love that made his entourage fear for his health, and without any financial means, he decided to leave his fatherland for good and first settled in Vienna, aged 20. This is when his musical apprenticeship would be called a day, and where he composed his first major works. But it is a year later, when he opts for a trip to Paris, that his legend would start.
As he beckons to Paris in the early 1830s, he meets all the foremost musicians of his time who bid him their protégé. Bellini, Mendelssohn, Liszt (with whom is implemented a tempestual relationship of love/hate, as the Hungarian is more of a flamboyant personality) shape his musical personality as his reputation soon grows to enable him to become Paris' most sought-after teacher. As his financial situation is no more a concern, he devots himself entirely to composition, and comes up with some masterpieces such as the sterling Ballade no.1. Although he quickly came to the fore of Paris' musical scene, he chose to avoid the public eye, only giving 19 concerts in the 18 years he spent there. His best performances, as for the great Franz Schubert, were held among a small circle of friends.
Chopin giving a concert in Paris' Hotel Lambert in 1832
In 1837 he meets the foremost love of his life, famed French writer George Sand, who was present at a Liszt reception smoking cigars and wearing trousers. Nothing predestined both to form a couple, as manly Sand had a strong personality in stark contrast with Chopin. Initially madly in love with him, Sand would claim to nourish a "maternal love" for Chopin, whose health was as fickle as Nani. But eight years later, fed up with all this devotion, she faded as a dying Chopin, never understood by his peers for having grown besotted with this woman, already experienced his very last hours. Friends, then lovers, then like a son and his mother, only to finally get an ill-fated grip : at the very least George Sand can claim to have enjoyed a thoroughly intimate relationship with the composer, the only to have deciphered his mystery. And the description she makes of him is nothing short of tale-telling :
Gentle, sensitive, and very lovely, he united the charm of adolescence with the suavity of a more mature age; through the want of muscular development he retained a peculiar beauty, and exceptional physionomy, which, if we may venture so to speak, belonged to neither age nor sex. It was like the ideal creations with which the poetry of the Middle Ages adorned the Christian temples. The delicacy of his constitution rendered him interesting in the eyes of women. The full yet grateful cultivation of his mind, the sweet and captivating originality of his conversation, gained for him the attention of the most enlightened men, whilst those less highly cultivated liked him for the exquisite courtesy of his manners
His music was akin to his outward appearance. Fragile, gentle and in perfect symmetry, it always sought to underscore simplicity. At a time of musical profusion, he was peerless, and not even Liszt ever came close of what could be described as the perfect balance between the traditional counterpoint method of Mozart, Bach and Beethoven, and the romantic, evasive ways of his time as perhaps best depicted in the Tristesse sonata.
The 1840s are marred with personal tragedies. As his health declines, he learns successively of the deaths of his best friend Matuszinsky in 1842, his first teacher Zywny and finally his father Nicolas in May 1844. These events aggravate his tuberculosis and not even a voyage to the Balearic Islands in 1846 can do anything to improve his declining health. He surprisingly decides to undertake a trip to London in 1848, where he has the pleasure of meeting Charles Dickens, but the pollution of the town is the highpoint of his demise.
Chopin in 1848
He passed away on October 17th, 1849 at the mere age of 39, leaving behind a catalogue of works that enlighten the musical world to this day.
Mockney.