Chopin was borne on 01 March, 1810, at Zelazowa Wola, Poland. His father, Nicholas, had left a modest vineyard in France to move to Poland at the age of sixteen. At first, he worked in a tobacco factory and fought in the National guard against the Russians in 1794. After these brief interludes, he earned a post as tutor for various aristocratic families. He married one of the poorer relatives of someone for whom he tutored, the Sharbeks, at Zelazowa Wola. When his son, Frédéric, was borne, Nicholas taught at the Warsaw lyceum as well as a few military schools.

Chopin was educated at home until he reached the age of thirteen. During which he enjoyed the companionship of his three sisters as well as that of several country boys at the lyceum. Then, in 1823, for three years, Chopin attended the Warsaw lyceum. He passed holidays at the family estates of those country boys. It was on these holiday trips that Chopin was first acquainted withe folk music sung by peasants, most notably the mazurkas. His happiness was abridged by the death of his tubercular youngest sister, Emilia, and by his own delicate constitution. In 1826, his mother was driven to take them bothe to a spa for treatment.

At the age of seven, Chopin began taking piano lessons under the instruction of sixty-one year old, Wojciech (Adalbert) Zwyny, a violinist more than pianist. Due to Chopin's natural facilities for the piano, his five years of lessons withe Zywny were free of technical drudgery. At the age of eight, he made his first public appearance at a public charity concert. Many appearances soon followed, one of which was withe the famous Italian soprano, Angelica Catalani. After the performance, she rewarded him withe a gold watch.

At the age of sixteen, Chopin was enrolled at the newly-formed Warsaw Conservatory of Music, directed by the Polish composer, Joseph Elsner, withe whom Chopin had been taking lessons in music theory for several years. No better instructor could be found for Chopin, for, while insisting upon traditional training, Elsner also understood that Chopin's genius should never be thwarted for strictly academic demands. Chopin completed his training at the conservatory in 1829, and his final report by Elsner contained in it the phrase "musical genius." From Poland he moved on to Vienna, for the ministerial rejected all of his request for financial aid. His trip to Vienna, on the other hand, was narrowly funded by his parents.

When in Vienna, an introduction from Elsner took Chopin to a publisher willing to publish his variations on Là ci darem (by Mozart). He only asked that Chopin give a concert without pay as advertisement. Other Viennese acquaintances were insistent upon platform appearances. One such acquaintance was the Count Gallenberg, who offered his Kärnthnerthor Theatre, while the rival piano makers Graff and Stein, bothe of whom were more than willing to lend their instruments. Although he was thoroughly unprepared, he agreed to give bothe concerts in August 1829. Some surprise was shown at his delicate touch, yet he was an indisputable success. He returned home fully resolved to return to Vienna as soon as possible.

In September of 1829, Chopin fell in love withe an attractive young singing student at the Warsaw Conservatory, Constantia Gladkowska. His shyness limited their encounters. Instead, he chose to worship her from afar. In March of 1830, he made his official Warsaw debut performing the Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, which he later confessed to having written in Constantia's memory. In November of 1830, Chopin left, once again, for Vienna only because a friend promised to accompany him. On his trip to Vienna, his coach was stopped, at the outskirts of Warsaw, by Elsner. He composed a song of farewell for his favourite student that was sung to him by a hand-picked choir. It was as though Elsner had prognosticated that Chopin would never return to Poland.

Once in Vienna, Chopin found himself in a varied social surrounding. At this time, hardly anyone was interested in committing him to perform. When they did, it was often for menial performances. Chopin, well aware of the financial strain that the trip placed upon his parents, decided to move on to Paris. For, it was at this time that Poland rose against Russia; and his parents refused to allow him to return and fight in the war.

By late September of 1831, he reached Paris. In 1832, he made his debut in the salon of the piano maker Camille Pleyel. He immediately realised that his extreme delicacy at the keyboard was not to everyone's taste in larger places. Nevertheless, he found his place in the world of the upper class. This world was opened to him from an introduction by the Prince Radziwill to the wealthy Rothschild family.

Chopin was briefly reunited, for the last time, withe his parents in Karlsbad, Bohemia, in 1835. After which, he moved on to Dresden, Germany, to meet his old Polish fiends the Wodzinskis. He had discovered that their young daughter, Maria, sixteen, knew how to play the piano and paint. It was not long before they had innocently fallen in love. All they had waited for was each's parent's consent for their marriage. Nevertheless, it never came. Her mother heard rumours of Chopin's ill health and would not give her consent. Deeply upset, Chopin went on a sight-seeing tour to England, in the company of his friend Pleyel.

Upon his return to Paris, George Sand, whom he had met in 1836 in the company of his friends, fell in love withe him. She offered to become his mistress. At first, out of loyalty to Maria and his parents, he refused.. Later, after much of Sand's arguments, he accepted. They moved, withe her son, Maurice, and her daughter, Solange, to pass winter in Majorca. Their fortunes came to an end withe the end of sunny weather. Chopin's health began to fail, and rumours of tuberculosis reached the villa owner. They were ordered out and moved into a remote mountain village of Valldemosa. In the village, none other than apothecary, sacristan, and a work woman remain. Cold and dampness coupled withe malnutrition fed his failing health. He was forced to move or risk death by illness. Thus, he decided to move on to Marseilles, France, in March of 1839. Under the care of a skilled physician, he was sufficiently revived. For his final three months in Marseilles, he plotted his comeback in Paris.

In 1841, Chopin announced his return to Paris withe three concerts. He performed at the Pleyel's residence; followed by a performance withe a cellist friend, Franchomme, and the mezzo-soprano, Pauline Viardot; and the final performance was at the Tuileries Palace for the King Louis-Phillippe. Although the monetary rewards were great for these three concerts, the strain was also far too great to bear for his delicate constitution. Thus, he turned to teaching as his main income. His teaching coupled withe his shrewd dealings withe his publishers allowed him to live elegantly.

During the summer of 1847, Sand and Chopin's relationship drifted apart. Their pride prevented them from the much-desired reconciliation. This event as well as the revolution that broke out in Paris deeply upset him. One of his pupils, Jane Stirling, asked him to visit England and Scotland in August of 1848. While in England and in Scotland, he refused all offers of "establishment" performances such as that made to him by the Philharmonic Society of London. During his stay in England and Scotland, he could not compose. First off, he had become increasingly ill and weak. Secondly, he was embarrassed that he could not reciprocate the devotion that Jane Stirling had shown him.

He returned to Paris, on 24 September, 1848, a much-deteriorated person. The doctors advised him that the fresher air of the suburb Chaillot would do him well. This move was made possible by the discreet financial support of his friends. Even his widowed mother managed to send two thousand francs. His sister, Louise, arrived by September of 1849. He was surrounded by those people he wanted to see before dying of tuberculosis in the early hours of 17 October, 1849. Although Chopin was not a frequent churchgoer, he accepted the last sacraments from a Polish priest and at the end was calm. His only requests were that his unfinished manuscripts be destroyed and that Mozart's Requiem be sung at his funeral. This took place at the Church of the Madeleine on 30 October, 1849. The many mourners followed the coffin to the cemetery of Pére-Lachaise. A monument in his memory in the form of a weeping muse withe a broken lyre was unveiled a year later during which a box of Polish earth was sprinkled upon his grave.
 

Piano Music
 

ETUDES: Twelve Grand Études, op. 10 (composed 1829-1832); Twelve Études, op. 25 (1832-1836).
 

SONATAS: C Minor, op. 4 (1827); B Flat Minor, op. 35 (1839); B Minor, op. 58 (1844).
 

BALLADES: G Minor, op. 23 (1831-1835); F Major, op. 38 (1836-1839); A Flat Major, op. 47 (1840-1841); F Minor, op. 52 (1842).
 

SCHERZOS: B Minor, op. 20 (1831-1832); B Flat Minor, op. 31 (1837); C Sharp Minor, op. 39 (1839); E Major, op. 54 (1842).
 

OTHER

WORKS: Twenty-four Preludes, op. 28 (1836-1839); Fantaisie in F Minor, op. 49 (1840-1841); polonaises, including Polonaise--Fantaisie, op. 61 (1845-1846); nocturnes; impromptus; waltzes; mazurkas.
 

Orchestral Works
 

Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, op. 21 (1829); Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, op. 11 (1830).
 

Chamber Music
 

Piano Trio in G Minor, op. 8 (1828-1829); Sonata for Piano and Cello, op. 65 (1845-1846).
 

Songs
 

Seventeen Polish Songs, op. 74 (published 1855).