Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times

Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin (1810–49) has been called the patron saint of the piano. "Whatever the time zone, the sun never sets on Chopin's music," declares much-awarded Walker (professor emeritus, McMaster Univ., Canada; Franz Liszt, 3 vols.) in what is sure to become the definitive biography on the great composer. Born in Poland, Chopin evinced a talent at an early age and required only minimal instruction in piano. He journeyed to Paris as a young man at the time of the Warsaw uprising against Russia, never to return to his native land. In France, he famously had a long-term liaison with writer George Sand (née Aurore Dupin). Walker effectively weaves here the events of his subject's life with the development of his music, elucidating where appropriate how various life events affected Chopin's compositions, providing a copious historical backdrop for the unfolding of his all-too-brief existence. Examples of his music are judiciously cited.