BIOGRAPHICAL. FREDERIC CHOPIN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1933, 25 February 1892, Page 44

BIOGRAPHICAL. FREDERIC CHOPIN.

By A. T. S. 11.

Between the Lorraine duchy and Poland a political connection existed which lasted from the year 1735 until the death of King Stanislas, that monarch having in the interval reigned over both countries. Contrary to the common rule of crowned heads, Stanislas appears to have won the affection of his western subjects, and they not only cherished his memory, but took a lively interest in the fortunes and welfare of the Sarmatian kingdom, to which for a time they had been allied. Under such circumstancea it was but natural that young Lorrainers should seize every opportunity of visiting "the fair land of Poland," and Nicholas Chopin (a native of Nancy, and therefore a born subject of the King of France) promptly accepted the offer of a distinguished Polish lady to accompany her thither as tutor to her sons. The youDg Frenchman settled in Warsaw with his employer, and on leaving her service took part in ,the .struggle headed by Kosciuszko (an illustrious Polish general, and a friend of Qeorge Washington); finally attaining the rank of captain. At the close of the war he remained in his adopted country, resumed the profession of teacher, and in 1806 married Fraulein Ju6tine Krzyzanowski. Chopin's wife wa?, "so the legend tells," of "an exceedingly gentle disposition, an i excelled in all womanly virtue*." Let us hope her many virtues included resignation, for she saw her husband and all her offspring except one precede her to the grave. The issue of the union was four children — Louisa, Isabella, Emily, and the subject of this notice.

Frederic Francois Chopin, born at the village of Zelazowa Wola, near Warsaw, on the Ist of March 1809

The house in which Chopin first saw the light of this miserable world is still standing, and was recently visited by the great Russian composer Balakirew, an enthusiastic admirer of Chopin's music. The house, however, was in a dilapidated condition, and a suggestion was made that the Warsaw Musical Society should purchase and restore it, fitting up a tablet to commemorate the fact that their celebrated master passed the earliest years of his life there.

Like -Mozart, Chopin was naturally endowed with a peculiarly sensitive organisation, and took to the pianoforte as though it represented, hid earthly destiny. While quite a child his parents entrusted him to the care of a Warsaw professor, Albert Zywny, and. Frederic soon became that usually objectional being, an " infant phenomenon." He was made a "■ Bhow " at the great Polish mansions, and performed a pianoforte concerto in public at the age of nine. As I shall speak minutely of Chopin 'e last appearance on the stage of this world, I will give the Btory of his entry upon it vu a player (translated from Karasowski, vol. I, p. 18) :—

On the occasion of a public concert for the benefit of the poor, February 24, 1818, Julius V. Miemcewitz (late adjutant to Kosciuszko) . . . . and other high personages, invited the co-operation of the virtuoso, who had not quite completed his ninth year. Such a request could not be refused, and thus Chopin's first step in an artistic career was for a charitable object. A few hours before the performance (he was to play Gyrowitz's pianoforte concerto) Fritzchen (his name at home) was placed on a chair, to be suitably dressed for his first appearance before a large assembly. The child was delighted with his jacket, and especially with the handsome collar. After the concert his mother, who had not been present, asked, as she embraced him, "What did the public like best ? " He naively answered, " Oh, mamma, everybody looked only at my collar," thus showing that he was not vain of his play* ing.

At the ago of 10 years young Frederic waß presented with a gold watch by Calalani, in recognition of his artistic merit, but he might have been less proud of this Iban taming, pro tern, that typical Russian bear, the Grand Duke Cocstantine, then the immediate lord and master of Warsaw. This usually violent and brutal man could be as gentle as a woman with the little Pole, who had only to seat himself at the piano to make the bear sbeath bis claws at any moment. Chopin at this age composed several pieces, chiefly in dance torm, and his fuller had him taught counterpoint by Eisner, m intimate friend of the family and director of the conservatoire. Under Eisner an original genius soon manifested itself, both in idealism and form of delivery, but it does not appear that Nicholas Chopin contemplated the profession of music for his cod. He shaied the common reluctance of parents to trust the fortunes of their children to a career in which great honours are few. The boy therefore studied music more as a diversion than as a profession, but no doubt the pastime was to him a very serious affair — mu%h like love-making for fun.

At this age Chopin manifested great powers as a mimic, his command of facial expression being also remarkable, and he was no mean proficient in caricature. Bright and clear, overflowing with animal spirits, possessing a keen sense of humour, and susceptible on all points to the influence of art, he resembled his contemporary Mendelssohn (bom 26 days before him) more than any other composer of whoso early life the details are known.

I should like to dwell for a brief space in detail on the illustrious German, Felix Mendelssohn, bufc'space forbids ; and, besides, I might then be tempted to introduce into my sketch Vogler's immortal three (Gansbaoher, Giacomo Meyerbeer, and C. M. yon Weber), or perhaps I would fain pay a grateful tribute to the memory of that celebrated composer, Louis Spohr, whose violia school so troubled the dreams of my childhood. Notwithstanding, however, the similarity in the youthful dispositions and temperament of Mendelssohn and Chopin, there existed a remarkable difference between them. The oontmt may be attributed in part to the varied genius of the two men, and in part to the different oiroamsUnsei amid whioh thejr were each placed. In the latter connection the obanoes of either achieving a worldrienowned fame— or even any fame at all beyond the confines of. their natal land—

were enormously in favour of Mendelssohn ; but Chopin undoubtedly utilised to the utmost every possible opportunity. Here is a reflex of the nature and bent of the two composers: Mendelssohn wrote the "Wedding March," and Chopin composed the " Funeral March."

During the year 1823 Chopin played before the Emperor Alexander on the occasion of that potentate's visit to Warsaw ; and also published his Rondo (op. 1;, dedicated to Madame yon Linde. In this year, too, he passed from the rank of dilettante to that of professor, and an event occuired early in the following year (1826) which had & decided and benign influence on the young professor's future. By the removal of his family (Chopin senior excepted) to Bad Reinerz, the embryo artist was enabled to break the bonds that had so locg confined him to local celebrity, and to pass from a chrysalis state to one of full development and freedom.

[I must suspend the narrative here, and I beg my readers to pardon me for the digression. At this identical juncture Chopin's biographers are somewhat obsonre, and Mr Bennett has undoubtedly fallen into anachronism. The Chopin family removed from Warsaw to Bad Reinerz for the sole benefit cf Fraulein Emily, which proves that she was then living." Now, the year was 1826 ; Frederic was the youogef-t of the family, his sister Emily being his senior by nearly two years. Frederic was 17 when they they removed, yet Mr Bennett says that Emily died in her 14th jear, nevertheless be includes her as a member of the family when they left Warsaw'in 1826, which was her 19th birthday ] After a short stay in Bad Reinerz the Chopin family repaired to Strzyzewo, a little village not far from the summer residencejof Prince Anton Radziwill. The Prince being an enthusiastic musician, and an amateur composer of some merit-, it was quite natural (jhat he and Chopin should meet. Meet they did, and the Prince was so struck with the schoolmaster's son that bo had not forgotten him three years later when he represented Prussia at the coronation of Nicholas I as King of Poland. On that occasion the " high and mighty " condescended to visit the lowly artist at the house of his father, and invited him to Posen, of which duchy the Prince was Governor.

Chopin's biographers here part company, and go wide asunder. Quoting from Liszt's 11 Life of Chopin " (p. 145) the author says :—

In consequence of the generous and discriminating protection always granted by Prince Anton Radziwill to the arts and to genius, which he had the power of recognising both as a man of intellect and as a distinguished artist, Chopin was early placed in one of the first colleges of Warsaw. . . . Assisting the limited means of the Chopin family, the Prince made him the inestimable gift of a finished education, of which no part had been neglected. . . . The Prince always paid his pension from his (Chopin's) first entrance into college until the completion of his studies.

Unfortunately there is no more truth in this'statement than in the report (not adopted by Liszt) that Prince Radziwill paid Chopin's expenses to Vienna. Speaking with undoubted authority, Karasowski exposes the whole story. We have seen that the Prince did not meet Cbopin till 1826, whioh fact alone precludes the possibility of the Prince having paid for Chopin's education. However, in justice to Chopin's family, I will quote Karaaowski (p. 38) :—: —

We are fully aware that in the portions of the work relating to Chopin's youth, manners, compositions, and to the Polish national music, Liszt received much help from a Polish emigrant, Franz Grzymala. . . . Julius Fontana, who had known Chopin from childhood, entered a protest against Liszt's assertion ; so also did the parents of the great artist. . . , Professor at three large academies in Warsaw and proprietor of a flourishing pension, surely Nicholas Chopin would have found means for the education of his dearly-loved and only son.

In 1827 Chopin left the Warsaw Lyceum, and resolved to follow the bent of his own musical inclinations. He was then 18 years of age, and appears to have been a young man of considerable attractions both in person and manner. This is one of the very few points upon which all his biographers agree, but it would indeed be a hard matter to say whether the novelist (Sand) or the musician (Liszt) gushes the more copiourly over their common friend, for the one makes him an angel and the other translates him to paradise. Picture Chopin (with a Pleyel grand) seated on the end of a damp cloud improvising " The gates of the west " heavenward bouni I

Chopin wa? naturally a favourite in the aristocratic salons of Warsaw, and upon this foundation Liszt builds an elaborate dream structure, and in this poetfeal and romantic effusion the ultra-picturesque pianist outherods Herod. Judgo for yourselves (p. 152) :— . . . To learn of what a strange mixture of leaven and cream of roses, of gunpowder and \ears of angels the poetic ideal of his (Chopin's) nation is formed. When his wandering fingers rnn over the keys t suddenly touching some moving chords, he could see how the furtive tears coursed down the cheeks of the loving girl or the neglected young wife, . . . Can we not fancy some young beauty asking him to play a simple prelude, then, softened by the tones, leaning her rounded armß upon the instrument to support her dreaming head, while she suffered the young artist to divine in the dewy glitter of her lustrous eyes the song sung by her youthful heart.

Possibly many may fancy that this extract is without parallel, but there are instances in which Liszt's enchanting extravaganza suffers a total eclipse. In a letter received last year the writer (a lady), having exhausted her powers in prose (24 pages), her pent up feelings found vent in the effusion of 36 verses of poetry— original poetry, which for piquancy and flavour is a far more potent elixir than Liszt's patent decoction of "gunpowder and the tears of angels." Fain would I quote, but dare not, for the young lady still lives to wield a mighty pen and play " Sans souci."

— The heart of Qambetta was deposited recently beneath a statue of him which has been erected in Paris.

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