Chopin

Adam Zamoyski

• Publisher: HarperPress
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN:
  9780007341856
• eBook ISBN:
  9780007351824
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music Biographies

A completely new edition of the definitive biography of Chopin, unavailable for many years, by one of the finest of contemporary European historians.

Two centuries have passed since Chopin's birth, yet his legacy is all around us today. The quiet revolution he wrought influenced the development of Western music profoundly, and he is still probably the most widely studied and revered composer. For many, he is the object of a cult. Yet most people know little of his life, of the man, his thoughts and his feelings; his public image is a sugary blur of sentimentality and melodrama.

Adam Zamoyski cuts through the myths and legends to tell the story of Chopin's life, and to reveal all that can be discovered about him as a person. He pays particular attention to recent revelations about the composer's health, and places him within the intellectual and spiritual environment of his day.

NOTES

Abbreviations

CFC – Chopin, Fryderyk, Correspondance, ed. B.E. Sydow, S. Chainaye & D. Chainaye

CJ – Czartkowski, Adam & Jeżewska, Zofia, Fryderyk Chopin

CLA – Liszt, Franz, Correspondance de Liszt avec la comtesse d’Agoult

Hoesick – Hoesick, Ferdynand, Chopin

KFC – Chopin, Fryderyk, Korespondencja, ed. B.E. Sydow

Lubin – Sand, George, Correspondance, ed. Georges Lubin

MH – Mirska, Maria & Hordyński, Władysław, Chopin na Obczyźnie

MS – Marix-Spire, Thérèse, Les Romantiques et la Musique

Niecks – Niecks, Frederick, Chopin as Man and Musician

SCFC – Chopin, Fryderyk, Selected Correspondence, ed. A. Hedley

Chapter 1: A Prodigy Restrained

1. La Presse, 5 November 1849.

2. On the funeral, see: The Musical World, 10 November 1849; Niecks, Vol. II, p.324; Théophile Gautier in La Presse, 5 November 1849; Revue et Gazette Musicale de Paris, 4 November 1849; Berlioz, Selected Letters, p.265, where he includes, probably erroneously, Paul de la Roche.

3. For documents relating to Nicolas Chopin’s origins and move to Poland, see Introdution in Vol. I of CFC; also Gabriel Ladaique, Les Ancêtres Paternels de Frédéric Chopin; also Adam Massalski, Niezbyt Ścisła Ankieta Personalna.

4. Letter to Polish Literary Association, 16/I/1833, and to Fétis, 27/III/1836, in KFC, Vol. I, pp.224 & 227 respectively; also letter from Ludwika Jędrzejewicz to her brother, 21/III/1842, ibid., Vol. II, p.57; Article in Gazeta Korespondenta Warszawskiego i Zagranicznego, p.1733; see also Julian Fontana’s introduction to Chopin’s Complete Works, Paris 1853.

5. Eugeniusz Skrodzki (pseud. G. Wielisław) quoted in CJ, p.7.

6. Ibid., p.12; also K.W. Wójcicki, Cmentarz Powązkowski, Vol. I, p.202; and Eustachy Marylski on pp.55 & 56 of Ms. 7125 in Biblioteka Narodowa, Warsaw.

7. Eugeniusz Skrodzki, quoted CJ, p.12.

8. Nicolas Chopin to his son, 20/XI/1831, KFC Vol. I, p.188.

9. Pamiętnik Warszawski, 4th year, Vol. X, January 1818.

10. Aleksandra z Tańskich Tarezewska, Historia Mego Zycia, p.243.

11. A.E. Koźmian, Wspomnienia, Vol. I, pp.73 & 170.

12. J.U. Niemcewicz, Nasze Przebiegi, in Przegląd Polski, zeszyt 10, 1873, pp.72–81.

13. Wójcicki, op. cit., Vol. II, p.18; see also Hoesick, Vol. I, p.61.

14. KFC Vol. I, p.36.

Chapter 2: School Days

1. Kurier dla Płci Pieęknej, Rok 1, Vol. 1, Warsaw 1823.

2. Letter to Wilhelm Kolberg, 19/VIII/1824, KFC Vol. I, p.40.

3. Kurier Szafarski, ibid., p.43.

4. Ibid., p.42.

5. Ibid., p.45.

6. Krystyna Kobylańska, Nieznane Utwory Chopina w Zapomnianym Albumie, pp.7–8.

7. Eugeniusz Szulc, Nieznana Karta Warszawskiego Okresu Życia Chopina.

8. Franciszek German, Chopin i Literaci Warszawszcy, p.228.

9. Quoted in Niecks, Vol. I, p.59.

10. Letter to Jan Białobłocki, 8/VII/1825, KFC Vol. I, p.48.

11. Letter to Jan Matuszyński, August 1825, ibid., p.52.

12. Letter to parents, 26/VIII/1825, ibid., p.53.

13. See Eugeniusz Szulc, op. cit.; A.E. Odyniec, Wspomnienia, pp.325–6 (although Odyniec places this evening in late 1826 or early 1827, he notes that Chopin was wearing the Lyceum uniform, which would seem to indicate a date prior to July 1826).

14. K.W. Wojcicki, op. cit., Vol. I, p.18. The evening probably took place in the house of Colonel Gutkowski, who died at the beginning of May 1826.

15. Letter to Elsner, 29/VIII/1826, KFC Vol. I, p.72.

16. Wanda Tomaszewska, Chopin w Dusznikach, p.88.

Chapter 3: Musical Genius

1. Letter to Elsner, 29/VIII/1826, KFC Vol. I, p.72.

2. Elsner to Chopin, 27/XI/1831, ibid., p.197.

3. Franciszek German, Chopin i Literaci Warszawszcy, pp.56ff.

4. elated to Friederike Müller, in Niecks, Vol. II, p.340.

5. Eugène Delacroix, Journal, Vol. I, p.270.

6. Gazette Musicale de Paris, 21 September 1834.

7. Letter to family, 12/VIII/1829, KFC Vol. I, p.93.

8. Letter to family, 20/IX/1828, ibid., p.83.

9. Mendelssohn to Fanny Hensel, ibid., p.263.

10. Letter to Tytus, 27/XII/1828, ibid., p.87.

11. Gazette Musicale de Paris, 15 May 1834.

12. Quoted KFC Vol. I, p.88.

13. See note ibid., p.487.

14. J. Reiss, Ślązak Józef...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Illustrations
• Preface
• One A Prodigy Restrained
• Two School Days
• Three Musical Genius
• Four Adolescent Passions
• Five Vienna
• Six Romantic Paris
• Seven Pianist à la Mode
• Eight Second Love
• Nine Art and Politics
• Ten Love Above All
• Eleven Conjugal Life
• Twelve The Church of Chopin
• Thirteen The End of the Affair
• Fourteen An Ugly Fracas
• Fifteen London and Scotland
• Sixteen The Jealousy of Heaven
• Keep Reading
• Appendix A
• Appendix B
• Notes
• Sources
• Index
• Other Books By
• About the Publisher