Saturday, September 3, 2022

Polish Post Birth Bicentennial of Frederic Francois Chopin

 

POLISH POST issued a single-stamp souvenir sheet honouring Frederic Francois Chopin on 22 February 2010, marking his birth bicentennial. This first day cover of  a 4.15-zloty stamp shows detail from a Frederic Chopin statue in Warsaw.

The too-short life of Polish-born composer and pianist Frederic Chopin was born in the village of Zelazowa Tola, roughly 30 miles west of Warsaw, where the family moved shortly after Frederic’s birth in 1810. He was taught piano and organ as a youngster and entered the Warsaw Conservatory at age 16, where he studied music theory and composition. Though Chopin performed infrequently in public (and often to small groups), admiration for his work grew with the public and among other notable composers and musicians.

After moving to Paris, Chopin became friends with Franz Liszt, and a companion to the author Aurore Dupin, the woman who famously wrote using the nom de plume George Sand. Chopin’s already delicate health declined in his 30s; he was treated for tuberculosis, though there has been recent speculation that he might have been stricken with cystic fibrosis. He died at age 39 on Oct. 17, 1849, and his own funeral march from the B-flat minor Sonata was played at his graveside.

Chopin achieved great popular recognition during his lifetime. Among his most famous works are the Piano Concerto No. 1 (1830), the Nocturne in E-flat major (1830-31), and later works including the Sonata No. 3 in B minor (1844), Polonaise-Fantaisie (1846), and the Minute Waltz in D-flat major (1847).


Source: Linn's Stamp News

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