Frederic Francois Chopin (1810 – 1849), was a Polish pianist and composer of the Romantic era. He is widely regarded as one of the most famous, influential and prolific composers for piano. Chopin was born in Zelazowa Wola, near Sochaczew in the Masovia region, which was part of the Duchy of Warsaw. He was born to Mikołaj (Nicolas) Chopin, a Frenchman of distant Polish ancestry who had adopted Poland as his homeland when he moved there in 1787, and had married a Polish woman, Tekla Justyna Krzyżanowska.
According to the composer's family, Chopin was born March 1, 1810, and always celebrated his birthday on that date. There is no known birth certificate. His baptismal certificate lists his birthdate as February 22, 1810, but this was most likely an error on the part of the priest.
The family moved to Warsaw in October 1810. The young Chopin's musical talent was apparent early on in his life, and in Warsaw he gained a reputation as a "second Mozart". At the age of 7 he was already the author of two polonaises (in G minor and B flat major), the first being published in the engraving workshop of Father Cybulski, director of the School of Organists and one of the few music publishers in Poland. The prodigy was featured in the Warsaw newspapers, and "little Chopin" became the attraction at receptions given in the aristocratic salons of the capital. He also began giving public charity concerts. At one concert, he is said to have been asked what he thought the audience liked best. 7-year-old Chopin replied, "My shirt collar." He performed his first piano concert at age 8.
His first professional piano lessons, given to him by Wojciech Żywny, lasted from 1816 to 1822. Chopin later spoke highly of Żywny, although his skills soon surpassed those of his teacher. The further development of Chopin's talent was supervised by Wilhelm Würfel. This renowned pianist, a professor at the Warsaw Conservatory, gave Chopin valuable although irregular lessons in playing the organ, and possibly the piano. From 1823 to 1826, Chopin attended the Warsaw Lyceum, where his father was a professor. In the autumn of 1826, Chopin began studying music theory, figured bass and composition with the composer Józef Elsner at the Warsaw Conservatory. Chopin's contact with Elsner may date to as early as 1822, and it is certain that Elsner was giving Chopin informal guidance by 1823.
In 1829 in Warsaw, Chopin heard Niccolò Paganini play, and he also met the German pianist and composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel. It was also in 1829 that Chopin met his first love, a singing student named Konstancja Gładkowska. This inspired Chopin to put the melody of the human voice into his works. In that year Chopin also paid his first visit to Vienna, where he gave two piano performances and received mixed notices, including many very favourable reviews and others that criticised the small tone he produced from the piano.
In Warsaw in December 1829 he performed the premiere of his Piano Concerto in F minor at the Merchants' Club. He gave the first performance of his other piano concerto, in E minor, at the National Theatre on March 17, 1830. He visited Vienna again in 1830, playing his two piano concertos.
In Vienna, he learned about the November Uprising and decided not to return to Poland, thus becoming one of the émigrés of the Great Polish Emigration. He stayed in Vienna for a few more months before visiting Munich and Stuttgart (where he learned of Poland's occupation by the Russian army; see Congress Poland), and arrived in Paris early in October. He had already composed a body of important compositions, including his two piano concertos and some of his Études Op. 10.
