A Mysterious Envelope Arrives. On 14 November 1849, Ludwika Jędrzejewicz opened an envelope. Ludwika Jędrzejewicz was having a bad month. Her marriage was in shambles because she had left Poland to be at her brother Frédéric Chopin’s deathbed. She had

Inspired by night, the Nocturne first came into our musical language in the 18th century, but the idea of a night-time work comes from the ancient church, where ‘nocturn’ was the last of the seven prayers of the day. Held

As we commemorate the passing of Frédéric Chopin on 17 October 1849, we are once again reminded that he was one of the greatest pianists the world has ever known. But what is more, Chopin also left the finest body

Frédéric Chopin was one of the most influential classical musicians of the nineteenth century. Many composers clamored to dedicate their own work to Chopin as a sign of their admiration and respect. Even after his death, composers still dedicated works

When we think about the great composers, it’s easy to imagine them as super-geniuses isolated in their own little rarefied world. But of course, the great composers were only human, living and working alongside other humans. Almost all of the

A very special documentary entitled Chopin: I am Not Afraid of Darkness illustrates the power of music to transform people of all cultures. The film received an award at the 59th Golden Prague International Festival and is being screened worldwide

It’s one of the most romanticized love affairs in music history: dashing cross-dressing woman novelist George Sand becomes obsessed with, and then seduces, the sickly consumptive pianist-composer Frédéric Chopin. But how much of this story is real, and how much

Throughout the history of classical music, it’s common to find examples of talented sibling pairs. (In fact, we wrote about some of the forgotten musical siblings) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart worshiped his older sister Maria Anna Mozart as a child, and