CHOPIN

Adam Zamoyski (Harper Press, £12.99)

Fryderyk Chopin was born in March, 1810, to French parents in Poland. To coincide with this important anniversary, Zamoyski has republished his 1979 biography with a new title and a claim that despite keeping to the original approach and structure, it is in reality a different book.

Chopin was a child prodigy, a gifted pianist with a unique playing style, a brilliant composer and a talented improviser. He soon became well known in Warsaw and then developed his career in Vienna and Paris, where he was much admired by the salon set for his performances and much in demand for his successful piano teaching. It was through Liszt that he met George Sand, the cigar-smoking, cross-dressing novelist who was to have such an impact on his sentimental education. Their relationship dominates the central part of the book, as it did for Chopin’s life.

Apart from some early romantic crushes, Chopin was somewhat innocent, but at six years older than Chopin, Sand had packed a lot into her 33 years. He did not like her initially, possibly because of her reputation, but when they met again it appears to have been a case of love at second sight. They spent a disastrous holiday together on Majorca, during which Chopin’s health collapsed dramatically, so they returned to France, where he could recover and work.

The initial passion dimmed and they settled into a platonic relationship that seems to have benefited both for a time. Chopin’s health was never good, and it is assumed that he suffered from tuberculosis.

Eventually, Sand grew tired of the invalid, feeling stifled by him, so he left her and returned to Paris. His health steadily declined, as did his output, although he kept up his teaching and performing until his death in 1849. There is a comprehensive list of Chopin’s work in an appendix, but very little musicology. There are some appraisals, quoted from obituaries, but we are not given much sense generally of what makes Chopin’s music so good and why it has stood the test of time — in other words, just why we are remembering his anniversary.

Adam Zamoyski is talking at the Oxford Literary Festival on Saturday, March 20. See www.oxfordliteraryfestival.com, box office 0870 343 1001.