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Fredric Chopin - Poland's Greatest Composer

    Frederic Francois Chopin, one of the greatest composers of all
time, was born in Zelazowa Wola, near Warsaw on February 22, 1810.  
His father was a Frenchman who had lived in Poland for many years and
his mother was Polish and of noble birth.   He loved to play music,
even as a small child.   Before he even knew how to write down his
ideas, he started to compose music.   He took piano lessons when he was
6 years old from a Czech teacher named Wojceich Zywny, who used to
base his teaching on Bach and Mozart.   When he was 7, his first
composition, the Pollonaise in B flat major, was written down by his
father, as well as some other dances, marches and variations now lost.
At the age of 8, he performed at a public charity concert.   During
his early years in Warsaw, he loved to hear the premier artists of the
time perform.   His first published work, a rondo, appeared when he was
only 15 years old.   He graduated from the lyceum at age 17, and he was
recognized as the leading pianist of Warsaw and a very talented
composer.  

    After Chopin gave two successful concerts in Vienna when he was
19, he began writing works designed for his original piano style.   In
1822, he finishes his studies with Zywny and begins private
composition lessons with Josef Elsner.   He enters classes at the
Warsaw Lyceum the next year to further study classical literature,
singing, drawing, music theory and harmony.   By the late 1820s, he had
already won the reputation as a piano virtuoso and composer.   He
toured throughout Europe to the acclaim of audiences and critics,
alike.   He made his first visit to Vienna in 1829, where he played
concerts and received critical acclaim.   The audience's response was
very favorable and Chopin was impressed with the warm acceptance of
his music and pianistic abilities.   The following year, he performed
the Concerto in F minor with a small orchestra for family and friends,
then has its premier in...