The Life and Times of Frederic Chopin Quiz

Answer: Francois

Although Chopin is hailed today as the national composer of Poland, he was ethnically half-French, which explains why he had a French name. His father was a Frenchman who emigrated to Warsaw to teach the French language to children of the nobility.

Answer: 1810

He lived a very short life, dying at the age of thirty nine in 1849. Franz Schubert, one of the earliest Romantic composers, was born in 1797; 1809 was the year of Felix Mendelssohn's birth, while 1811 marked the birth of piano virtuoso Franz Liszt.

Answer: Warsaw

He was not born at Warsaw, though many believe he was. His hometown was Zelazowa Wola, a small, picturesque village on the Ultrata River roughly 50 kilometers west of Warsaw.

Answer: Paris

Paris was the center of a new movement known as Romanticism in the 1830's. It was a bustling mecca for famous novelists, composers, and painters of the period. Chopin went to Paris hoping to attain fame.

Answer: No

He never relinquished his Polish heritage, however, and remained a proud Pole until his death. At some points during his career in Paris he was deeply homesick. This urge to return home is apparent because many of his compositions included aspects of Polish folk music.

Answer: George Sand

It was Franz Liszt who introduced him to Aurore Dudevant, "the lady with the somber eye", better known by her pen name of George Sand. The two first met each other in 1838. Sand was greatly impressed by Chopin's creative ability. Their relationship lasted eight years, during which Chopin spent his summers at her estate in Nohant. Eventually, however, their friendship turned into bitter hostility, and they parted.

Answer: The brutal Russian suppression of a Polish uprising.

Interestingly enough, during Chopin's lifetime, Poland was not the independent state that it is today. Rather, it was under the jurisdiction of the Russian tsar, Nicholas I. In the 1830's, the Poles, seeking independence, revolted against their Russian overlords. Immediately, the Russians captured Warsaw and suppressed the rebellion.

The ensuing reprisals were ruthless; members of Chopin's family and some of his friends were slaughtered. To express his grief and defiance, Chopin wrote the Revolutionary Etude.

Answer: Scotland

The trip was made immediately after his breakup with George Sand. Therefore, it is understandable that Chopin was in a state of grief and depression. While in Scotland, Chopin wrote in order to express his emotions: "What has become of my art? And my heart, where have I wasted it?"

Answer: Tuberculosis

Actually, tuberculosis had been plaguing his poor health throughout his short life. When news of his decease spread, it was greeted by an outpour of mourning from Parisians. At his funeral, the funeral march from his "Sonata in B Flat Minor" was played.

Answer: Piano

Throughout the 19th century, the piano was undergoing radical developments. These included increases in its tonal range and sustaining power.