Chopin, Fr�d�ric Fran�ois 1810-49
Polish composer and pianist

Born in Zelazowa Wola, near Warsaw, where his father, a Frenchman, had settled, he first played in public at the age of eight, and published his first work, Rondo in C minor, at 15. From 1826 to 1829 he studied at the Warsaw Conservatory under Elsner, then visited Vienna and Paris (1831), where he became the idol of the salons. On a groundwork of Slavonic airs and rhythms, notably that of the mazurka, Chopin wrote clearly identifiable music, mainly for the piano. His compositions include 50 mazurkas, 27 studies, 25 preludes, 19 nocturnes, 13 waltzes, 12 polonaises, 4 ballades, 3 impromptus, 3 sonatas, 2 piano concertos, and a funeral march. In 1836 he was introduced to George Sand by Franz Liszt, and lived with her from 1838 to 1847, when they became estranged. He died from tuberculosis.