Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849) was the only son of a French father and a Polish mother, and won early fame as a brilliant pianist within the relatively limited circles of his native country.



He left Poland late in 1830, at the time of the unsuccessful national rising against Russian domination, and settled in Paris where he soon gained a reputation as "the most sensitive genius in existence".



For some 10 years Chopin enjoyed a liaison with the (female) novelist George Sand.



By the time his relationhip with her ended in 1847 he was seriously ill with tuberculosis.



His compositions, mainly for the piano, make a remarkable use of the newly developed instrument. His reliance on the sustaining pedal was as much a part of his compositional technique as it was a part of his piano playing.