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[[image:Eug%C3%A8ne_Ferdinand_Victor_Delacroix_043.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The most famous portrait of Chopin, painted by [[Eugene Delacroix]] in 1838 (It is a fragment cut out of a larger painting portraying Chopin beside George Sand [http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/d/delacroi/3/313delac.html]).]]

[[image:Eug%C3%A8ne_Ferdinand_Victor_Delacroix_043.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The most famous portrait of Chopin, painted by [[Eugene Delacroix]] in 1838 (It is a fragment cut out of a larger painting portraying Chopin beside George Sand [http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/d/delacroi/3/313delac.html]).]]

'''Frédéric François Chopin''' (Polish '''Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin''', March 1, 1810 – October 17, 1849) was an important Franco-Polish composer and [[pianist]] of the early nineteenth century. In his voluminous compositions for the solo piano, practically all of which have remained in the standard repertoire, Chopin revolutionized the way the instrument was played, and moreover the relationship between the performer and the instrument. He was one of the first composers to apply the [[Romantic period (music)|Romantic]] ethos to piano technique - his works make physical demands of the performer that surpass the late works of [[Beethoven]], at least in terms of the expression of raw emotion.

'''Frédéric François Chopin''' (Polish '''Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin''', March 1, 1810 – October 17, 1849) was an important Franco-Polish [[composer]] and [[pianist]] of the early nineteenth century. In his voluminous compositions for the solo piano, practically all of which have remained in the standard repertoire, Chopin revolutionized the way the instrument was played, and moreover the relationship between the performer and the instrument. He was one of the first composers to apply the [[Romantic period (music)|Romantic]] ethos to piano technique - his works make physical demands of the performer that surpass the late works of [[Beethoven]], at least in terms of the expression of raw emotion.

Nevertheless, his [[romanticism]] concealed a craftsmanship thoroughly schooled in older [[Counterpoint|contrapuntal]] and [[harmony|harmonic]] methods - he was an avid admirer of [[J.S. Bach]], and his works reveal a masterly combination of textural and harmonic innovation combined with old school discipline.<ref>George Marek R. and Maria Gordon-Smith,'' Chopin. A biography''. Harper & Row, New York, San Francisco, London 1978.</ref>

Nevertheless, his [[romanticism]] concealed a craftsmanship thoroughly schooled in older [[Counterpoint|contrapuntal]] and [[harmony|harmonic]] methods - he was an avid admirer of [[J.S. Bach]], and his works reveal a masterly combination of textural and harmonic innovation combined with old school discipline.<ref>George Marek R. and Maria Gordon-Smith,'' Chopin. A biography''. Harper & Row, New York, San Francisco, London 1978.</ref>