Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times

894 Pages·2018·39.836 MB·English

by  Dr. Alan Walker

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Table of Contents
A Note About the Author
Copyright Page

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To the memory of my grandfather
Edward Ernest Whitby,
wise counselor and best friend
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Fryderyk Chopin; an oil painting by Teofil Kwiatkowski (1844).
Autograph page of the Prelude in G-sharp minor, op. 28, no. 12.
Chopin’s birthplace at Żelazowa Wola; a photograph (c. 1932).
Mikołaj and Justyna Chopin; a drawing by Ambroży Mieroszewski (c. 1829).
Ludwika Chopin; an oil painting by Ambroży Mieroszewski (1829).
Izabella Chopin; an oil painting by Ambroży Mieroszewski (1829).
Emilia Chopin; an anonymous watercolor on ivory.
“Dear Papa,” a name-day greeting to his father from the six-year-old Chopin,
December 6, 1816.
Wojciech Żywny; an oil painting by Ambroży Mieroszewski (1829).
The first page of the Polonaise in G minor (1817); a lithograph by I. J. Cybulski.
Grand Duke Constantine musters his troops on Saxon Square, 1825, to mark the
passing of Tsar Alexander I; a lithograph by Jan Feliks Piwarski (1829).
Dr. Samuel Linde; a chalk drawing by Chopin (c. 1825).
A map of Chopin’s Poland, 1815–1830.
The front façade of the Casimir Palace, 1824; a lithograph by Lassalle, after a
drawing by Jan Feliks Piwarski.
Chopin; a pencil drawing by Princess Eliza Radziwiłł (1826).
The Chopin family salon in the Krasiński Palace; a watercolor by Antoni
Kolberg (1832).
Chopin Playing in the Salon of Prince Antoni Radziwiłł, an oil painting by
Henryk Siemiradzki (1887).
Antonin, Prince Radziwiłł’s hunting lodge.
Konstancja Gładkowska; an anonymous pencil drawing made about ten years
after Chopin had left Warsaw.
The Abduction of Polish Children by Russian Soldiers, September 1831, a
lithograph by Nicolaus Maurin, after a painting by M. Twarowski (c. 1832).
A fragment from Chopin’s “Stuttgart Diary,” September 1831. “The enemy has
reached my home.”
The Salle Pleyel, at 9 rue Cadet, Paris; a contemporary engraving.
Chopin’s first concert in Paris, February 26, 1832 (postponed from January 15).
Fryderyk Chopin; a lithograph by Gottfried Engelmann, after a portrait by
Pierre-Roch Vigneron (1833).
Chopin’s left hand; a marble cast by Auguste Clésinger (1849).
Study in A minor, op. 10, no. 2. Chopin’s corrected proof sheet.
Chopin seated at the piano; a pencil drawing by Jakob Goetzenberger (October
1838).
Maria Wodzińska; a self-portrait, undated.
“My misfortune.” Chopin’s correspondence with Maria Wodzińska.
Chopin’s French passport, dated July 7, 1837.
George Sand; an oil painting by Delacroix (1838).
Chopin; an oil painting by Delacroix (1838).
El Mallorquin, the paddle steamer on which Chopin and George Sand sailed to
Majorca; a watercolor by Ramón Sampol Isern.
The monastery at Valldemosa; a watercolor by Maurice Sand (1839).
The Nohant château; a photograph taken from the garden side.
Solange and Maurice Sand; a drawing by Nancy Mérienne (1836).
Manuscript page of the Sonata in B-flat minor, op. 35, showing the opening
measures. A copy in the hand of Adolf Gutmann.
The lecture auditorium at the Collège de France (1844).
Carl Filtsch; a lithograph by Franz Eybl (1841).
Mikołaj Chopin’s funeral announcement, Warsaw, May 5, 1844.
Mikołaj Chopin’s last words: “As this cough will suffocate me…”
“That’s the Listz [sic] way of playing.” An ink drawing by Maurice Sand (June
1844).
Solange Sand; a drawing by Auguste Clésinger (spring 1847).
Auguste Clésinger; an undated engraving.
Fryderyk Chopin; a daguerreotype by Louis-Auguste Bisson (1847).
Chopin’s concert at Lord Falmouth’s house in St. James’s Square, July 7, 1848.
Jane Stirling; a portrait by Achille Devéria (c. 1842).
A map: “Chopin Visits Britain: April–November 1848.”
Calder House near Edinburgh, the home of Jane Stirling’s brother-in-law Lord
Torphichen; a photograph (c. 1930).
Chopin performs in the Gentlemen’s Concert Hall, Manchester, August 28,
1848; a concert bill.
“Mrs. Erskine left 15,000 francs.” Chopin’s diary entry for July 28, 1849.
Chopin’s last hours; an oil painting by Teofil Kwiatkowski (October 1849).
An invitation to Chopin’s funeral service.
The Madeleine Church, where Chopin’s funeral took place on October 30, 1849.
The letter authorizing Julian Fontana to be the sole editor of Chopin’s
posthumous works.
The Reverend Leopold Petrzyk carries Chopin’s heart past a guard of honor
toward the birth house at Żelazowa Wola, October 17, 1945.
A page of Jane Stirling’s copy of Liszt’s questionnaire.