Frédéric Chopin

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) was the supreme poet of the piano, a composer who, almost uniquely among the greats, devoted nearly his entire output to a single instrument. Born near Warsaw to a French father and Polish mother, he was a child prodigy who left Poland in 1830, shortly before the failed November Uprising against Russian rule, and settled in Paris, never to return; the loss of his homeland coloured his music with a deep, nostalgic melancholy and inspired the nationalist fire of his polonaises and mazurkas. In Paris he moved in the most brilliant artistic circles, formed a famous and turbulent relationship with the writer George Sand, and became a much sought-after piano teacher. His music (the nocturnes, ballades, scherzos, études, preludes, waltzes and dances) combines exquisite melodic beauty, harmonic daring and an unrivalled understanding of the piano’s expressive and colouristic possibilities. Frail and in poor health for much of his life, he died in Paris at just thirty-nine. His two early piano concertos, both written in Warsaw, are the best known of his handful of works for piano and orchestra.