Frédéric Chopin (1810–49) was born in Warsaw to a Polish mother and French father. He lived his short adult life in Paris and won worldwide fame as a composer and pianist of the Romantic era, who wrote primarily for solo piano. Note Chopin playing for the Radziwiłłs.
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The 1848 February Revolution in France made Chopin anxious. Most of his colleagues and pupils fled Paris and Chopin’s own concerts stopped. Worse, the composer had TB. A devoted pupil, Scotswoman Jane Stirling, invited him to Britain where she and her sister would find him work. Chopin sailed to Britain for a 1848 tour, bringing his Pleyel piano for what was to be his last public appearance at London's Guildhall in Nov 1848. By then he was very ill, under-weight and terminal.
When he left London returning to Paris for the last time, Chopin sold the piano to British aristocrat Lady Margaret Trotter, whose daughter Margaret Lindsay was Chopin’s friend-pupil. His Pleyel stayed with the Lindsay relatives for decades, the piano ending up in a country mansion before being auctioned and sold to a dealer in antique pianos.
Another theory was that the piano was bought to Warsaw in 1850 by his Scottish student and friend, Jane Stirling. She then offered it to Chopin's sister, Ludwika who sold it on to the National Museum of Warsaw after WW1.
Chopin returned to Paris and spent the winter mainly in bed, but giving occasional lessons and social visits. Occasionally he played, or accompanied the singing of Delfina Potocka, for his friends. In mid 1849 his friends found him a flat in Chaillot for which the rent was secretly paid by Princess Obreskoff. He was visited here by Jenny Lind in Jun 1849. Tragically the young artist died in Oct 1849 and was buried in Pere Lachaise cemetery. His sister Ludwika brought his heart back to Warsaw where it was placed in one of the Holy Cross Church pillars.
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Chopin playing for the Radziwiłłs, 1829
by Henryk Siemiradzki, 1887
Course Hero
Piano manufacturer Camille Pleyel and Chopin had been close friends, with an agreement between them similar to a modern sponsorship deal. Pleyel agreed to supply Chopin with free pianos; Chopin promoted the Pleyel instruments to his pupils and fans, receiving 10% commission from any sales.
Chopin clearly stated that Pleyel's instruments were the only ones ideally suited to his music. The pianos of today produce lone, sustaining, liquid notes, whereas with the Pleyel the notes die away much more quickly and this gives a completely different texture to the music. Liszt wrote Chopin really cherished Pleyel pianos for their silvery veiled sonority, and their light touch. Chopin chose his final Pleyel piano soon after it had been completed in Jan 1848 which was in his Salon at the Square d’Orléans, Paris. The Pleyel ledgers recorded that the composer was billed 2200 francs for it; in letters Chopin referred to it as HIS instrument. Chopin almost certainly used it for his last concert in Paris in Feb 1848 and, as we’ll see, for his first London concert.
by Henryk Siemiradzki, 1887
Course Hero
Piano manufacturer Camille Pleyel and Chopin had been close friends, with an agreement between them similar to a modern sponsorship deal. Pleyel agreed to supply Chopin with free pianos; Chopin promoted the Pleyel instruments to his pupils and fans, receiving 10% commission from any sales.
Chopin clearly stated that Pleyel's instruments were the only ones ideally suited to his music. The pianos of today produce lone, sustaining, liquid notes, whereas with the Pleyel the notes die away much more quickly and this gives a completely different texture to the music. Liszt wrote Chopin really cherished Pleyel pianos for their silvery veiled sonority, and their light touch. Chopin chose his final Pleyel piano soon after it had been completed in Jan 1848 which was in his Salon at the Square d’Orléans, Paris. The Pleyel ledgers recorded that the composer was billed 2200 francs for it; in letters Chopin referred to it as HIS instrument. Chopin almost certainly used it for his last concert in Paris in Feb 1848 and, as we’ll see, for his first London concert.
Chopin flat, first floor in the corner behind the tree.
When he left London returning to Paris for the last time, Chopin sold the piano to British aristocrat Lady Margaret Trotter, whose daughter Margaret Lindsay was Chopin’s friend-pupil. His Pleyel stayed with the Lindsay relatives for decades, the piano ending up in a country mansion before being auctioned and sold to a dealer in antique pianos.
Another theory was that the piano was bought to Warsaw in 1850 by his Scottish student and friend, Jane Stirling. She then offered it to Chopin's sister, Ludwika who sold it on to the National Museum of Warsaw after WW1.
Chopin returned to Paris and spent the winter mainly in bed, but giving occasional lessons and social visits. Occasionally he played, or accompanied the singing of Delfina Potocka, for his friends. In mid 1849 his friends found him a flat in Chaillot for which the rent was secretly paid by Princess Obreskoff. He was visited here by Jenny Lind in Jun 1849. Tragically the young artist died in Oct 1849 and was buried in Pere Lachaise cemetery. His sister Ludwika brought his heart back to Warsaw where it was placed in one of the Holy Cross Church pillars.
Photo of Chopin
by Bisson, 1849
Course Hero
An outstanding Norwegian pianist and composer from Trondheim, Thomas Tellefsen, had studied with Chopin for 4 years. Chopin had immediately recognised the Norwegian's talent and became as close a friend with him as Chopin could be with anyone. After Chopin’s death, Tellefsen adopted most of his students and prepared the first full edition of his hero’s works.
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For 160 years, the whereabouts of Chopin’s instruments were unknown, until Dr Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger Prof Musicology at Geneva University researched the ledgers of French piano-maker Camille Pleyel. By its serial number in Pleyel's ledger, Dr Eigeldinger identified Cobbe's piano as the one Chopin brought to Britain in 1848. At a Chopin conference, Eigeldinger was armed with details of all Pleyel pianos manufactured and sold in Paris. He’d correlated the scattered Pleyel instruments with the firm's archives and finally, after 2 decades, Cobbe could announce he owned a Chopin grand piano.
Once Dr Eigeldinger had tracked the grand piano down, it went on display in 2007 at Hatchlands National Trust house, Surrey, with the rest of the Cobbe collection of musical instruments. This very fine music collection boasted 20 instruments loved by Purcell, J.C Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mahler, Elgar etc. The Cobbe Collection Trust in Hatchlands offers musicians and fans the chance to hear music played as the composers would have heard it.
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An outstanding Norwegian pianist and composer from Trondheim, Thomas Tellefsen, had studied with Chopin for 4 years. Chopin had immediately recognised the Norwegian's talent and became as close a friend with him as Chopin could be with anyone. After Chopin’s death, Tellefsen adopted most of his students and prepared the first full edition of his hero’s works.
***
Alec Cobbe, British collector of antique keyboard instruments, bought a piano from a dealer in antique pianos who’d purchased a French-made instrument at an earlier auction for £2000. Neither of them were aware of its significance but Cobbe did know that there were only 3 other pianos owned by Chopin: in Paris, Majorca and Warsaw.
For 160 years, the whereabouts of Chopin’s instruments were unknown, until Dr Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger Prof Musicology at Geneva University researched the ledgers of French piano-maker Camille Pleyel. By its serial number in Pleyel's ledger, Dr Eigeldinger identified Cobbe's piano as the one Chopin brought to Britain in 1848. At a Chopin conference, Eigeldinger was armed with details of all Pleyel pianos manufactured and sold in Paris. He’d correlated the scattered Pleyel instruments with the firm's archives and finally, after 2 decades, Cobbe could announce he owned a Chopin grand piano.
Once Dr Eigeldinger had tracked the grand piano down, it went on display in 2007 at Hatchlands National Trust house, Surrey, with the rest of the Cobbe collection of musical instruments. This very fine music collection boasted 20 instruments loved by Purcell, J.C Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mahler, Elgar etc. The Cobbe Collection Trust in Hatchlands offers musicians and fans the chance to hear music played as the composers would have heard it.
Chopin's Pleyel piano, 1847
rediscovered and renovated
Michael Moran
A piano ages poorly if the wood loses its flexibility and needs to be restored. However this piano was restored in the 1950s with a wrong type of strings i.e modern strings that destroyed the tone. So the last piano played by Frédéric Chopin had to undergo restoration works to bring it back to its best. Restoration expert American Paul McNulty was asked by the Frédéric Chopin Institute in Warsaw to restore Chopin’s last ever piano . McNulty filled the soundboard and fitted the correct wire strings, similar to its originals. Once he’d finished, the Chopin Institute displayed the piano, celebrating Chopin’s 200th anniversary (2010). And recorded a CD of piano music on the composer’s own Pleyel piano.
Spring with Fryderyk is a musical festival lasting four evenings each March-April, during which piano virtuosos play Chopin’s works. The Hall of Mirrors in Pszczyna Castle, Poland is the perfect location.
Read Classical Music and Musicians and Michael Moran.
Spring with Fryderyk is a musical festival lasting four evenings each March-April, during which piano virtuosos play Chopin’s works. The Hall of Mirrors in Pszczyna Castle, Poland is the perfect location.
Read Classical Music and Musicians and Michael Moran.
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