2. Musician
Composer
Virtuoso & Child Prodigy
Music Teacher
Famous Man
Whose “poetic genius was based on a professional
technique that was without equal of his generation”
Who Is He?
3. Born March 1, 1810 in Zelazowa Wola in Poland
Family of three sister and a Polish Mother, Justyna
and French Father, Nicloas
Noted for his piano playing, but was a fine violinist
too
His mother was his first teacher
His Life
4. His first composition was at 7 yrs. old
First public performance at 8 yrs. old
Studied with Jozef Elsner at the Warsaw
Conservatory in the Fall of 1826
Finished his formal education in 1830
Good friends with Franz Liszt and Robert Schumann
5. Moved to Paris in 1830 where he would live for 18
years and write some of his best works
Much of his life he would suffer from poor health
Financially supported by his admirer, Jane Stirling
Stirling was an amateur Scottish pianist, referred to as
his widow
He would die most likely of tuberculosis in October of
1849
Traveling & Playing
6. 58 mazurkas
27 etudes
20 waltzes
17 polonaises
4 ballades
And a whole lot of others!
Also noted as one of the first virtuosos to
invent/compose the instrumental ballade
Famous Works
7. Rondo in C minor (1825)
Ballade No. 1 in G minor (1835)
Nocturne in E-Flat Major (1831)
Listening Examples