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The Romantic Period's Piano Composer

The Romantic Period's Piano Composer

Born in what was then the Duchy of Warsaw, Frederic Chopin was playing the piano and writing tunes by the age of 6. At age 8, he was performing in elegant salons and writing his own compositions including the Polonaise in G Minor.

In order to increase his exposure to the public, he wrote his piano concertos to show off his extraordinary talent. At age 20 as a new graduate of the Warsaw Conservatory, he wrote his Concerto in F Minor, Op. 21 and began working on the Concerto in E Minor, Op. 11 as soon as it was done. The F minor concerto was written first but published after the E Minor concerto that we’ll perform on March 5.

At 21, he moved to Paris, and only gave 30 or so public performance during the last 18 years of his life, preferring to perform in salons around the city. He continued to write and was a widely sought after piano teacher.

His success as a composer is notable because most of his compositions include the piano. Even Liszt, Chopin’s pianist-composer contemporary, eventually wrote significant orchestral and choral music.

Chopin died in Paris in 1849 at the age of 39, mostly likely of tuberculosis.

Frederic Chopin

Frederic Chopin