Chopin, Fryderyk Franciszek (Frederic Francois) (1810-49), Polish composer and pianist, b. Zelazowa Wola, Warsaw. C. showed early genius and, at the age of six, began his musical training under Zywny. In 1823 he was sent to a Warsaw college and there received instruction in composition from Joseph Elsa. While at the Warsaw Conservatory he was introduced into Polish society, the impressions of which influenced him both as a man and as an artist. In 1831 he proposed to visit London, but, on reaching Paris, settled there, where began his friendship with Mme Dudevant, otherwise George Sand, who exercised an important influence on his life. The last 10 years of his life were a continual struggle against Illness and after a successful tour of Britain he died in Paris.

His compositions stand alone owing to the peculiar nature of his genius, they are extremely individualist and of a pronounced style and full of poetic imagery. He employed dance forms and rhythms-particularly the mazurka-round which to weave many of his melodies. The list of his compositions is so prolific in mazurkas, waltzes, polonaises and other forms of national dance music that it is sometimes difficult to believe that they are so often the expression of a deeply melancholy nature seeming paradox, yet explained by Chopin's nationality, a nationality which has been justly described as sadness personified. Among his compositions are 27 etudes, 24 preludes, 20 nocturnes, 59 mazurkas, 16 polonaises, 14 waltzes, 4 ballads, 4 scherzos, 3 impromptus, 3 sonatas and 2 concertos. Excepting a collection of Polish songs, the 2 concertos above mentioned, and a few concerted pieces of chamber music, almost all the works of Chopin are written for pianoforte solo. He was among the finest executants as a pianist, and in this art Liszt alone approached him. He was among the first to use the thumb freely on black keys. Many of his pieces, with eerie or echo effects or fairy-like accompaniments, depending for their adequate rendering on the use of a particularly subtle kind of finger technique and pedaling, and are indeed a good test of the varied resources of the skilled pianist.

The house in which Chopin was born was taken over by the Polish nation in 1934 and extensive gardens were laid out. In the Second World War the Germans ransacked it, but after the war the Poles gradually collected various pieces of furniture, pictures etc., which had been salvaged by the composer's admirers, with a view to furnishing the house at Zelazowa, Wola as a place of pilgrimage. The return of Chopin's heart to its former resting-place in the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw, from where it was removed and hidden from the Germans during the war, was the occasion of a great national demonstration. Efforts were made to have the remains brought back from France not later than 1949, in time for the centenary celebrations, which were marked also by the publication of a revised edition of his works, collected and edited by Paderewski, and the holding of an international Chopin congress in Warsaw.