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In 1826 Chopin became a full-time student at Elsner’s Conservatoire,
where he received an excellent foundation in theory, harmony, and
counterpoint.
After visiting Berlin, where he was exposed to the music of George
Frederick Handel and Felix Mendelssohn, Chopin heard Niccolo Paganini
in Warsaw on his return and recognized that he must leave the city for
exposure to other musicians.
When the 20-year-old Chopin arrived in Paris, his poor physical health
as well as an unsuitable temperament prevented him from giving public
performances. Nevertheless, he became a significant figure in Parisian
artistic circles, numbering among his friends musicians, writers, and
painters. There in 1836 he met Aurore Dudevant, known as George
Sand. For 9 years, from in 1838, after he had composed the
Funeral
March, she was his closest associate. Chopin’s health failed, and he lost
all interest in composition. The Revolution of 1848 brought Chopin to
England, where he accepted a longstanding invitation from Jane Stirling,
a Scottish pupil. He gave several private performances in London and on
May 15 played for Queen Victoria. After a rest in Scotland he returned
to London in the fall of 1848, where on November 16 he played a
benefit for Polish refugees at the Guildhall. He returned to Paris shortly
afterward, living virtually on the generosity of the Stirlings. He died of
tuberculosis on October 17, 1849 in Paris.
His creative imagination raised the etude from a practice piece to the
concert stage. Chopin’s harmonic innovations, often concealed beneath a
soaring lyricism, place him on an equal footing with Liszt and Richard
Wagner.
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