Frédéric Chopin was born in 1810 in Żelazowa Wola (near Warsaw). A musical prodigy, he was already performing at the age of seven at aristocratic salons, and his first polonaise was published when he was eight years old. His most famous “Heroic” Polonaise in A Flat major (op. 53) is probably one of the most recognizable pieces of classical music and a touchstone of Romanticism.

After graduating from the University of Warsaw in 1829, Chopin left Poland forever, spending the rest of his sadly short life in exile in Paris. At the time, Poland was reeling after yet another uprising (this is a country that has been repeatedly invaded by someone—Mongols, Swedes, Germans, or Russians—over most of its 1100-year history), and Chopin joined thousands of other young men who were either escaping Russian reprisals or seeking career opportunities in the free world. Chopin soon became the darling of both the high society and the music world, performing concerts and tutoring aristocratic Parisian clients, but he never forgot his musical roots in Poland, creating polonaises and mazurkas inspired by the dances and tunes of his youth.

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