Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)

Born to a French father and a Polish mother, Chopin grew up in Warsaw, where he studied at the Conservatory with Józef Elsner. A child prodigy, he published his first polonaise at seven. In 1830 he left Poland, a few weeks before the November Uprising; he never returned.

Settling in Paris in 1831, he became the pianist of the salons and a sought-after teacher to the aristocracy. He rarely gave public concerts, preferring intimate settings. His relationship with the novelist George Sand (1838–1847) coincides with his most productive years, divided between Paris and Nohant. Suffering from tuberculosis, he died in Paris in 1849, aged thirty-nine.

His output combines short forms (nocturnes, preludes, waltzes, mazurkas, études) with large works (ballades, scherzos, sonatas, the Barcarolle). It blends the bel canto of Italian opera, the contrapuntal rigour of Bach, whom he revered, and the rhythms of Polish dances. His chromatic harmony foreshadows Wagner and Debussy.

For pianists Chopin is a complete school: singing legato, refined pedalling, rubato, independence of the hands, and études that turn each technical difficulty into poetry.