Chopin’s Beautiful Music Hid A Twisted Man D
Frederick Chan’s controversial love affair with poet George sand was Europe’s juiciest gossip before it went up in Flames after nine wild years many assumed they simply grew apart but there was a far more disturbing reason for their split from his first moments Frederick chopan had to fight for his life born a frail sickly child in the duy of Warsaw now Poland shaan’s parents Fred over him constantly they must have prayed their boy’s Health would improve as a rule older yet it didn’t the years began to pass and little Frederick remained as feeble as ever yet the chopan family had even more pressing problems shaan’s parents didn’t have it easy neither his father Nicholas nor his mother Justina made nearly enough money to give Frederick and their three daughters much stability the Chans e out a difficult existence in the Polish Countryside but then Nicholas got the opportunity of a lifetime he landed a job teaching at the Warsaw Lum the
entire family moved into the lavish Saxon Palace in the capital at boursaw and it was there that Chan’s gifts first showed themselves both of Chan’s parents were musicians his father played the flute and the violin but young Frederick was far more interested in his mother’s instrument the piano Justina gave lessons to all of her children ensuring the chopan household always echoed with the sounds of Music however it didn’t take long for Justina to realize something was very different about her only son if only she’d known the path she was setting him on young Frederick chopan took to the piano like a fish to water it very quickly became clear that he would need proper instruction to reach his potential at just 6 years old the family scraped together enough money to hire a professional tutor for the boy and his older sister the teacher soon realized what Justina had already known Frederick chopan was a musical prodigy in typical child prodigy fashion chopan started giving his first public concerts when he was 7 years old that same year
he composed his first pieces of music words soon got out about this brilliant young boy who played the piano so beautifully that kind of thing gets you noticed and it was about to change Chan’s life forever though just a son of a teacher and a poor housewife the city’s rich and Powerful lined up to see the boy’s genius eventually Grand Duke Constantine pavlovich invited chopan to the Bell weter Palace to be his son’s Playmate and to play music for him it seemed as though the hard times were finally at an end for the chopan family of course that’s exactly when tragedy struck Frederick chopan wasn’t the only person in the family cursed with ill heal his father dealt with respiratory issues for his entire life and so too did his youngest sister Amelia in 1827 Amelia’s illness suddenly took a turn for the worse the family prayed this was just another flare up but it wasn’t Amelia chopan was just 14 years old when she died a grim precursor to her
brother’s early demise the family real but big changes were in the works and not even their grief could stop them one of the ways to chopan family made end meet was by running a boarding house for male students at the Academy four of these young men became extremely close to Frederick and remained in contact with them for his entire life in fact one of those relationships may have gotten even more intimate than anyone realized Frederick Chan’s controversial relationships always got him into trouble and he may have started even earlier than anyone realized his letters to one of his parents borders a man named Titus o chowski were shockingly explicit he wrote of racy dreams and offered kisses and close Embraces though the exact details of the relationship remain a mystery chopan and wowski remained in contact for the rest of his days either way chopan had other romantic entanglements to obsess over genius and Obsession go together
hand in hand and chopan was no different when he first met constancia kowa a young beautiful singer he fell head over heels yet a sickly awkward young man like Frederick chopan couldn’t just come out and tell her so he pined after her from afar never once making a move as chopan grew up he changed and not for the better he remained sickly yet he grew sensitive narcissistic obsessive and nervous still at least he had one thing going for him he had become one of the most brilliant musicians Europe had ever seen the though he adored his homeland Poland simply was not big enough for a man of his genius there was only one place for a musician like that to make a name for themselves Paris Paris was the Undisputed epicenter of European arts and culture at the time artists from all over the continent congregated there and that’s where chopan found himself by [Music] 1832 still awkward and impersonal he let
his music do the talking he made a sensational debut at the legendary s pel with artists such as Fran list Felix mandelson and Luigi cherubini in attendance by the time he stopped playing Frederick chopan had arrived Paris introduced Frederick chopan to A Whole New World suddenly he was rubbing elbows with Europe’s finest artists this environment only took his music to new heights and soon more than just artists were taking notice the richest of Rich wanted to have Geniuses like chopan around and that meant very big things for this young polish Prodigy once chopan was introduced to the unbelievably wealthy Rothchild banking family his financial problems were over he played at extravagant private salons he published his work and he was maybe the highest paid piano teacher in town but while it seemed like things couldn’t be going better for young Frederick chopan he also learned that Fame and Fortune have a dark side despite his
abilities Frederick chopan just wasn’t cut out for celebrity he loathed playing in public despite the demand for his music crowds made him terribly anxious and he much preferred playing in small intimate salons or even better playing privately for his friends in his own apartment chopan should have been living the dream but instead he stressed about every little thing and it made him miserable to be around even he knew it people were rarely impressed when they met the legendary Frederick chopan though his music delighted the man himself left a lot to be desired no one knew that better than chopan himself saying it is not my fault if I am like a mushroom which seems edible but which poisons you just how much did Frederick chopan hate performing since he couldn’t bear the eyes of the audience boring into the back of his head he allegedly often demanded all candles be extinguished when he played leaving everyone in utter Darkness but while plenty of people probably rolled their
eyes at chopan demands this wasn’t just some small Quirk if you’ve ever thought that genius makes a person happy think again Frederick chopan was anxious self-conscious and vain he fussed over his delicate outfits obsessively perhaps as a way to hide his even greater insecurities though his music was the Talk of the Town his self-esteem was in the gutter he wrote I know I have never been of any use to anyone and indeed not much use to myself the first real love of Frederick Chan’s life was a young woman named Maria vinsa chopan wasn’t the only young man who had his eye on her either poets musicians and even a young Napoleon III pined after her but chopan a fellow pole was closer to her than most though their first meeting was more disturbing than romantic Frederick Chan’s infatuation with Maria began when she was just 11 years old and he was 20
her parents were family friends and he visited them while traveling abroad their young daughter grabbed his attention so tightly that he ended end up staying with the family for two whole weeks eventually he did return to Paris but he couldn’t get Maria out of his head the years since their first meeting hadn’t int tempered his affection and in 1836 he visited the family once more to ask for her hand in marriage her mother approved he was one of the most popular musicians in Paris after all and chopan was overjoyed evidently no one asked Maria how she felt about the matter chopan went back to Paris Walking on Air dreaming of future with his new wife later in the year he sent her a book of Songs he’ written for her her reply was less than ideal she was cold and formal not exactly what you hope for when you write beautiful love songs for your bride to be in the end Maria probably would have been forced to marry chopan whether she liked him or not thankfully her father stepped in he changed his
mind and withdrew his consent for the marriage probably because chopan was a sickly anxious miserable man chopan was heartbroken and it’s not like his other personal relationships were going any better Frederick chopan and Fran’s list were probably the two most brilliant musicians in Europe so it’s fitting that they would become friends but this friendship was changed with Venom though chopan appreciated this genius he could be jealous and spiteful Chan’s music was unparalleled yet he couldn’t whip a crowd into a frenzy like list with Liss being the best piano player in the world and chopan the greatest piano composer of course of course they collaborated L performed one of Chan’s nocturns in concert when chopan heard the music he lost it l ever the showman added his own flare to the piece driving the crowd wild with showy complicated embellishments Shan was not amused maybe chopan was jealous maybe he was
particular or more likely he was both either way he hated list to altering his music spitting that he should play the music as ridden or he should play it at all he eventually forced list to apologize for his improvisation driving a wedge into the relationship but one concert wasn’t going to drive them apart woman definitely would though Talent can make up for a lot the chopan was by all accounts a dreadful guy to be around few women cared about that once they heard him play that included this mistress Maria deol she obsessed over chopan much to her partner’s Fury but jealousy wasn’t the only thing driving their estrangement chopan had started up the most scandalous relationship of his life and list did not approve her name was George and she changed Chan’s life forever the turbulent Affair between Frederick chopan and George sand did not begin with love at first sight when chopan first laid eyes on the diminutive
dark-haired cigar smoking poet he felt no affection his remarks that night were characteristically cruel what an unattractive person L sand is is she really really a woman he left that night with no further designs on the controversial poet but George sand hadn’t forgotten about him if you played the piano like Frederick chopan a woman would put up with a lot sand couldn’t get chopan out of her head she began asking around to see if he was available it was common knowledge that he’d been engaged to a woman back in Poland but no Wedding Bells were in sight to s’s Delight she learned that Chan’s engagement went kaput George sand was no dyed school girl 6 years older than chopan she had already boasted an impressive list of lovers now she was with a frail irritable and overall unpleasant young composer yet as we said Frederick chopan had an inexplicable effect on the ladies as s put it I must say I was confused and amazed at the effect this little creature had on me if
I were a proud person I should be feeling humiliated at having been carried away still she jumped into the relationship in Earnest she even abandoned her entire life for him that would only made her miserable Chan’s Health was always questionable but around this time it grew even worse he and sand decided it would be best to travel South in hopes a warmer climate would help the couple along with Sand’s two young children traveled to MCA hoping for a pleasant sojourn in the Sun at least that’s what they claimed there might have been a darker reason for their Journey remember how we said George sand had plenty of lovers well some of them were the jealous type one man Felicia and malfi heard about her affair with chopan and began threatening them their journey to Mala was likely inspired at least partly by fear for what malfi might do if they stayed chopan and sans’s winter in Mala got off to a good start until their secret got out they gave the impression that they were married but soon the deeply
Catholic locals realized the truth from then on they shunned the couple and the pair couldn’t find a place to stay the only place that would take them was a former carthusian monastery the whole journey to Mala was meant to improve Chan’s ill health while staying in a cold drafty Barren Monastery definitely wasn’t ideal for that even with the Mediterranean climate Chan’s condition kept deteriorating the local doctors could do little for him as he himself put it three doctors have visited me the first said I was dead the second said I was dying and the third said I was about to die not the best prognosis and even even worse news of Chan’s condition got out one of Chan’s doctors speculated that he had tuberculosis spoiler alert he almost certainly did doctors back in Paris hadn’t dared even entertain the idea because people with TV were generally shunned and that’s exactly what happened
in Mala chopan and sans’s landlord heard the diagnosis and promptly sent them an eviction letter he also demanded that all of the furniture in the rooms be burned and the entire apartment disinfected all at their expense of course Mala was supposed to be a romantic ghetto away where chopan could write and recover instead it was one long bad dream his relationship with sand was spiraling and it wasn’t getting better anytime soon whatever chopan and sand were looking for Mala clearly wasn’t it between hostile locals miserable weather and Chan’s deteriorating Health they needed a change of scenery they left to spend the summer at Sans estate in no hant then returned to Paris unfortunately chopan was even worse off than when he left chopan had been in ill health for his entire life but the winter and Mala brought on a new level of Agony by 1842 he often couldn’t get out of bed for days at a time between his weakness
fatigue and coughing fits chopan could barely function but his illness had even darker symptoms as well as if his health troubles couldn’t seem any more dire chopan began to experience Vivid hallucinations Phantoms chased him everywhere grasping at him as he tried to desperately fight them off clearly Frederick chopan was circling the drain and it took his relationship with sand to a new low George sand started as Frederick Chan’s lover but by the end of their Union she was more like a nurse as a reflection of this tenor of the relations she called him her third child chopan needed nearly Round the Clock care and not even his genius could make sand put up with it any longer and it’s not like chopan made it any easy on her was chopan grateful for the care he received Hardley who was still as touchy and demanding as ever and finally after a series of spiteful Ledges between them sand called it quits just like that a
9-year relationship went up in smoke sand couldn’t quite believe it calling their final angry letters a strange conclusion to 9 years of exclusive friendship sand had finally escaped from the black hole that was Frederick chopan but not every one saw it that way George sand was evidently not totally innocent in this Chan’s condition had certainly grown worse over time with her and his friends didn’t think that was a coincidence one even posited that he might have lived to 80 had he never met her but he did meet her and he definitely didn’t live to 80 in fact though he was only in his 30s his end was already drawing near Frederick chopan was still widely respected but his Glory Days had definitely begun to wne years of unpleasant behavior and rare performances had taken the bloom off The Rose That coupled with the political instability of the time put chopan in dire Financial Straits he was running out of options when he got an
offer he couldn’t refuse though people in Paris knew what kind of man chopan was evidently his genius still held weight in the British Isles a wealthy Scottish aist named Jane Sterling invited him to come and visit her in Scotland she had fallen for the mysterious moody people from afar and she wanted to see the real deal Jane Sterling clearly wanted a relationship with chopan but he shut her down right out of the gate maybe if she’d seen the letters he was sending back home she’d have realized what kind of guy Frederick shopen was he wrote his friend my Scottish ladies are kind but such bores in response to rumors of an affair he said that he was closer to the Grave than the nle bed in that regard he was right on the money as his body slowly failed him chopan made fewer and fewer public appearances while staying in Scotland he was in high demand but it took a cause close to his heart to get him to put on a concert even though he
hadn’t seen his homand in years he was still deeply patriotic so he agreed to perform at a benefit for Polish refugees chopan must have regretted agreeing to the show Almost instantly he was no longer the star he was in his Youth and the attendees couldn’t care less about his piano playing they were far more interested in dancing and socializing than listening to the frail figure playing music in the corner in fact they might have actively ignored him because he was truly a grim sight by his final concert chopan had wasted away to under 99 lb his skeletal figure at the piano must have given the night a chilling atmosphere and by the time he finished he could barely stand the effort of playing for people who weren’t even interested had taken his last strength from him he barely held on through the Journey that to Paris but he didn’t have much time left the few people chopan had not yet alienated remained by his side as he lay on his deathbed slowly fading
at one point he tearfully asked for some music yet when his friends began to play Sonata and G minor his Jagged coughs interrupted them everyone knew the end was near and as the day stretched on in agony they could only wait helplessly until at last Frederick Chan’s misery came to an end finally after 4 days of Agony midnight on October 17th 1849 Frederick chopan grew still his doctor asked him if he was suffering and he breathed his heartbreaking final words no longer at 39 years old Frederick chopan was no more thousands showed up to pay their respects at his funeral despite his ups and downs he was still indisputably one of the most brilliant musicians the world had ever seen but the dirty details of his personal life continue to Mar his legacy jopan made most of his money by teaching since he absolutely despised performing that’s how we met a
young pianist named zophia rosengart zophia traveled to Paris specifically to study under chopan one of Europe’s greatest musicians she must have been so excited but she had no clue what she was in for she later wrote an account of her time with this weird and incomprehensible man and she does not paint a pretty picture zophia had to admit that chopan was brilliant witty and talented but the compliments ended there you cannot imagine a person who can be colder she detailed his wild rages his petulant Tantrums his cruel teaching methods and his unending arguments with George sand sure chopan was a genius but no genius was worth putting up with that but don’t take Sophia’s word for it there are lots of people who would tell you that Frederick chopan was bad news recall Chan’s almost marriage to Maria vinsa well her family claimed that they cut off the engagement because of his bad Health but there’s
also a much darker theory in case you hadn’t noticed chopan had a way with the ladies and news of his womanizing in Paris had gotten back to his teenage fiance’s parents they decided that Frederick chopan could never give their daughter a happy life and they were definitely right about that still chopan had wanted to marry Maria and his reaction to her ending their relationship was a touch dramatic did all of Chan’s troubles with love begin with that first failed engagement who can say but here’s what we do know chopan took the break up badly he allegedly put all the letters he’d received from the rinsky family into a single package which he labeled my sorrow but that’s not the only relationship of his that ended badly how did things really go down between Frederick chopan and George sand well in typical chopan style he does not come out looking good towards the end of their relationship s’s two children had grown up and chopan was growing perhaps
a little too close to sans’s 17-year-old daughter Solange he always took the girl side against her mothers in arguments and sand noticed finally the tensions between them exploded and sand accused chopan of being in love with the girl Chan’s Behavior certainly gives that accusation ground to stand on when reading back on Chan’s life his crippling sickness is the one through line it could also certainly explain his intolerable character but what was really wrong with him The Chronic tuberculosis was certainly a factor modern scientists believed that there was something more than that remember the Vivid hallucinations and wild mood swings a modern study on chop Pan’s life suggests that he might have suffered from undiagnosed temporal lobe epilepsy today he might have gone treatment and who knows what this Prodigy’s life might have looked like but he wasn’t so lucky if you enjoyed this video please like And subscribe for more
