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Published on November 1, 2007

 Chopin (1810-1839) was by far the greatest composer of piano concertos.In front of the church stands Jesus Christ carrying the cross on his back, signifying that he is shouldering the burden of sin on behalf of humankind. It was in this church that Chopin, in his youth, frequently came to pray with his family.

So who would be the greatest Pole in 1,000 years? Naturally the names of Nicolaus Copernicus, Marie Sklodowska, Marie Curie, Pope John Paul II and Chopin prop up. Many Poles would love to name Pope John Paul II as their greatest countryman ever.

But the appropriate choice should go to Chopin, whose works were lyrical and poetic. He brought Western piano composition to its height.

It was a Sunday in early spring. At the Lazienki Park in Warsaw, there was an open-air evening concert. Szezepan Konezal, a local piano student, started to play Chopin's "Edude", followed by "Scherzo" and other memorable compositions.

The atmosphere was pleasant and the music rang through the cool air. Yes, if you want to listen to Chopin's music, you must listen to it in Poland, where you also feel the heavy weather and the baroque buildings around the old streets of Warsaw.

The music of Chopin is magical because it speaks directly to the senses. One can't find enough words to describe its beauty. It represents the Romantic ideal.

The Chopin monument dominates Lzienki Park. During World War II, the Nazis hauled down the old monument and took it away as iron scrap. They replaced it with a statue of Richard Wagner instead.

If you look at Chopin's monument closely, you'll see a handsome face, a man in his prime. He sits under a willow tree, mesmerised in his composition. The weeping willow is the symbolic tree of Poland.

How did he look like in reality? Eugeniusz Skrodzki wrote in one of his memoirs: "Seeing him thus, slight in height, poor in build, with his chest sunken, one feared that, like his sister Emilia, he might fall ill with tuberculosis. He has a high lofty forehead and gentle eyes full of expression, which were beautiful when you looked into them, but which were not in themselves of striking beauty, and which did not blaze with the light of genius.

"His hair was thick and luxuriant, very curly like his father's, and dark with slightly reddish lights. His large nose made his face an outstanding one, but taken altogether his features could not be said to be handsome; neverthelesss, Chopin's face made an extremely attractive impression.

"Chopin had a strikingly small foot and shapely leg, and beautiful white, carefully tended hands, with pinkish fingers, which he often laid in his lap with what might have seemed a certain ostentation."

In front of the monument is a pond in the shape of a heart. This symbolises that Chopin's heart, although he spent the last 19 years of his brief and tragic life abroad, always remained in Mother Poland.

The trunk of the willow tree looks like an ugly hand stretching above Chopin, as if it would like to squeeze him to death. There was an account that the hand represented the Russian ambassador in Paris, who wanted Chopin to sign an important document that recognised Russia's sovereignty over Poland. If he signed the paper, he would have been allowed to return home to Poland.

Of course, this was something Chopin would never do. He was fiercely patriotic.

Chopin spent the first 20 years of his life in Poland before leaving the country forever and settling down in Paris. His father Nicolas, a Frenchman who married a Polish woman, advised Chopin to leave Poland in the wake of a political uprising against the Tsar of Russia.

Living abroad would not only advance Chopin's musical career but would also help cure his fragile health, Nicolas thought. Chopin had suffered from poor health after he contracted tuberculosis when he was barely 16.

But he went on to conquer the musical heights of Europe with his unique compositions.

"It is easy to understand why technique varies so much in Bach, Beethoven and Chopin, for instance. The early classics were not written for the grand piano, but for a piano with a much lighter action," said the late Vladimir Horowitz, considered the greatest pianist of the 20th century.

"After the polyphonic period came the doubling of voices, the expansion of the whole style of writing for the piano. This took place in Beethoven's day. So the development continued up to the time of Chopin.

"Chopin was the first composer who wrote for the piano as a piano. His objective was to produce a variety of characteristics of sounds from the piano to make the tones of the piano express his ideas.

"With Beethoven the case was different. He wrote for the piano, but he thought orchestrally. His piano was the means to an end, and his objective was fullness of tone. He heard in the piano the string quartet, the orchestra."

Chopin died at the age of only 39. His sister Ludwika managed to pay a visit to Chopin with her family and witnessed his last moments on his deathbed. He died on October 17, 1849.

Ludwika carried Chopin's heart, in a bottle, back to Poland, where it was laid to rest in the Church of the Holy Cross.

Thanong Khanthong

The Nation

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