Chronicle of life and works

1810 - 1816. PROLOGUE
1826 - 1835. METAMORPHOSIS
1835 - 1846. APOGEE
1846 - 1849. EPILOGUE

Maturity , 1835 - 40

1835
15 VIII - a meeting with parents in Karlsbad (Karlovy Vary)
2 IX - an arrangement for the piano of the refrain from Jeszcze Polska nie zginela (Poland is not yet lost) is dedicated to an anonymous recipient
6 IX - departure with parents to Decin
15 IX - in Decin, Chopin dedicates the Valse in A flat major, op. 34 to Countess J. Thun-Hohenstein
19 IX - a meeting with the Wodzinski family in Dresden; at the Wodzinski residence, Chopin "played among others Jeszcze Polska nie zginela or the Mazurek Dabrowskiego (Dabrowski Mazurka) and based on it beautiful variations of his own composition"; the Russian embassy protests
22 IX - adds "soyez heureuse" in the album of Maria Wodzinska under three bars from the Nocturne in E flat major, op. 9; on 24 September, dedicates a manuscript of the Valse in A flat major (op. 69, no. 1) to her
27 IX - leaves Dresden
from 28 IX - in Leipzig; a meeting with F. Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann at Clara Wieck's father; Chopin plays nocturnes and etudes, and admires the performance of Clara
6 X - R. Schumann writes in "Neue Zeitschrift für Musik": "Chopin was here [...] he plays just as he composes, in a unique manner"; F. Mendelssohn in a letter to his family: "Chopin was here [...] we played without parting".
about 20 X - arrives in Paris, after a longer stay in Heidelberg caused by illness and a short stay in Strasbourg
24 XII - information in "Journal des Débats" about improvisations by Chopin at a charity event for the benefit of Polish emigrés

1835/36
XII/I - grievously ill

1836
I - helps Karol Lipinski to organise a concert
3 V - improvisation on ten insurgent poems by Wincenty Pol, published in Paris as a series entitled Piesni Janusza (Songs of Janusz)
25 VI - a meeting with Adam Mickiewicz at J. U. Niemcewicz's quarters
28 VII - comes to Marienbad (Marianske Lazni) to meet the Wodzinski family
8 IX - stays in Dresden, writes the song Pierscien (The Ring) in the album of M. Wodzinska
9 IX - asks for the hand of the 17 year-old Maria Wodzinska and is accepted on condition that he takes care of his health; the engagement is kept secret; writes down the two first Etudes, op. 25 in his fiancée's album
11 - 13 IX - meets R. Schumann and his circle in Leipzig
- R. Schumann: "If that autocratic, mighty monarch of the North knew what a dangerous enemy he has in the works of Chopin, in the simple melodies of the mazurkas, he would prohibit this music. The compositions of Chopin are canons concealed among flowers".
14 IX - Teresa Wodzinska to Chopin: "I bless you from the depths of my soul, as a loving m[other]... note that this is a trial period"
X - on his way to Paris meets Louis Spohr in Kassel and K. Lipinski in Frankfurt am Main
- change of apartament, new address: rue Chaussée d'Antin 38
about 24 X - meets George Sand (aged 32) in the salon of Countess Marie d'Agoult; writes to F. Hiller: "What an unpleasant woman!"
5 XI - G. Sand (together with Liszt and Countess d'Agoult) attends a musical soirée held by Chopin
10 XI - A. Mickiewicz attends a musical soirée held by Chopin

1837
25 I - a cool letter by T. Wodzinska with a conventional post-script by Maria
III - IV (?) - at a concert in honour of V. Bellini Chopin performs, together with Liszt, Sigismund Thalberg, J. P. Pixis, H. Herz and C. Czerny, the Hexameron variations on a theme of a march from the opera I Puritani
10 VII - leaves with Camille Pleyel for two weeks in London, ready to travel from there via the Netherlands and Germany for a meeting with Maria
about 20 VII - performs for a group of acquaintances in the salon of James Broadwood
about 23 VII - returns to Paris; end of dreams about a home of his own as his unofficial engagement is broken off; a packet of letters from the Wodzinskis is labelled: "My sorrow"
X - publication of Etudes, op. 25, with a dedication to M. d'Agoult
28 XI - on the eve of the anniversary of the outbreak of the November Uprising, Chopin writes down in an album of an unidentified person the trio from the March funèbre of the future Sonata in B flat minor

1838
4 II - Heinrich Heine in "Revue et Gazette Musicale" about Chopin: "He is a poet of sound"
- R. Schumann publishes the Kreisleriana series dedicated to Chopin
prior to 25 II - Chopin gives concert in the Tuilleries at the court of Louis Philippe I
3 III - together with Adolphe Gutmann, Pierre J. Zimmerman and Charles V. Alkan, Chopin performs fragments of an eight-hand arrangement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony
12 III - at a benefit concert by A. Orlowski in Rouen Chopin plays the Concerto in E minor - enthusiastic audience response
25 III - "the question, who is the best pianist in the world, may be answered in one way only: Chopin" - from Ernest Legouré's review in "Gazette Musicale"
25 (27?) IV - a soirée at Charlotte Marliani, with G. Sand (her famous words:"On vous adore") and M. Dorval
V - the famous letter by G. Sand to Wojciech Grzymala concerning Chopin; beginning of a liaison with the author of Lélia
VII - Delacroix makes sketches for a joint portrait of Chopin and G. Sand
7(?) IX - G. Sand to Delacroix: "If God were to ordain my death in an hour, I would not complain, because three months of undisturbed enchantment have passed"
27 X - departure for Majorca
31 X - a meeting with G. Sand and her children, Maurice and Solange, in Perpignan
2 - 7 XI - a stay in Barcelona
7 XI - a journey to the island on the "El Mallorquin"
8 XI - arrival in Palma
15 XI - "I am in Palma [...] I am close to that which is most beautiful" - from a letter to J. Fontana
28 XI - writes sketches to the Mazurka in E Minor, op. 41 ( the "Palma")
3 XII - "I have been ill for the last two days like a dog" - from a letter to J. Fontana; Chopin is forced to leave Palma
28 XII - stays in Valldemossa: "Built between the rocks and the sea, an enormous deserted Carthusian monastery"

1839
22 I - "I send you the Preludes ... In a few weeks you shall receive the Ballade [in F major], Polonaises [op. 40] and the Scherzo [in C sharp minor]" - from a letter to J. Fontana
11 II - departure from Valldemossa; seriously ill
13 II - leaves Majorca; on the next day lands in Barcelona
24 II - 22 V - stays in Marseilles
26 II - G. Sand to C. Marliani: "He no longer expectorates blood, sleeps well, coughs little ... He can sleep in a bed which shall not be burnt just because he used it".
24 IV - Chopin plays the organ in the Notre Dame du Mont in Marseilles at a memorial service for Adolphe Nourrit
3 - 18 V - takes a sea trip and then stays in Genoa
23 V - 1 VI - travels from Marseilles to Nohant via Arles
1 VI - 10 X - stays in G. Sand's manor house in Nohant, near La Châtre, 300 kms from Paris; a slow convalescence; writes the Nocturne in G major, op. 37 , three remaining Mazurkas, op. 41; works on the completion of the Ballade in F major, the Scherzo in C sharp major and the Sonata in B flat minor
8 VIII - "I am writing the Sonata si b mineur" - from a letter to J. Fontana
VIII - studies and corrects the Parisian edition of Das wohltemperierte Klavier by J. S. Bach
VIII/IX - the publication of Preludes, op. 28; "the boldest, proudest poetic spirit of our era" - from a review by Schumann
X - returns to Paris to new rooms in rue Tronchet 5; G. Sand moves to nearby rue Pigalle 16; their liaison is kept secret
- Chopin's pupils include Georges Mathias and Friederike Müller-Streicher
29 X - gives a concert at the royal court in Saint Cloud together with I. Moscheles

1840
- spends the whole year in Paris with G. Sand and her friends; with G. Sand attends lectures given by A. Mickiewicz in College de France
27 VI - performs in St. Gratien at the country residence of A. de Custine, during one of numerous stays in the Parisian suburbs
2 VII - gives another performance at the de Custine residence
26 VII - accompanies G. Sand to a rehearsal of Symphonie funèbre et triomphale by Berlioz
12 XII - with G. Sand at a rehearsal of the Mozart Requiem

Asylum, (Paris - Nohant) 1841 - 46

1841
15 I - the publication of Un hiver au midi de l'Europe, an account by G. Sand of the stay in Majorca
20 IV - H. Heine in Lutece : "In comparison with Liszt, all pianists fail with the exception of one: Chopin, the Raphael of the piano"
26 IV - a greatly successful Chopin recital in Salle Pleyel (the "Majorca concert"): etudes, preludes, nocturnes, mazurkas and the Ballade in F major
2 V - an admiring but reserved review by F. Liszt in "Gazette Musicale"
18 VI - 4 XI - a summer in Nohant; another guest of G. Sand is Pauline Viardot-Garcia
24 VII - M. Wodzinska marries Jozef Skarbek
11 VIII - "Several years ago I had a different dream, but it never came true" - from a letter to J. Fontana
14 VIII - Chopin notes down folk dances (bourrées) at a village festival in Nohant
VIX - writes op. 43 - 49 in Nohant
20 X - "Today I completed the Fantaisie - the sky is beautiful and my heart is heavy - but this does not matter. If it were otherwise, then my existence would have been of no use to anyone. Let us wait until after death"- from a letter to J. Fontana
X - XI - the publication of all works written in the summer (op. 43-49) and Polonaises, op. 40, dedicated to J. Fontana
5 XI - returns to Paris to rue Pigalle 16 (two separate quarters for Chopin and G. Sand); pupils include Vera Kologrivoff-Rubio and the most talented, eleven year-old Károly Filtsch

1842
21 II - gives an annual concert in Salle Pleyel together with P. Viardot-Garcia (contralto) and A. Franchomme: the Ballade in A flat major, the Impromptu in F sharp major, the Prelude in D flat major, the Andante spianato, mazurkas, nocturnes and etudes
27 II - Léon Escudier in "La France Musicale": "Look: the audience has succumbed to ecstasy and admiration; Chopin has reached his zenith"; many similar reviews
20 IV - the death of J. Matuszynski, which Chopin "experienced almost as his own" (G. Sand)
6 V - 27 IX - a summer in Nohant; the guests include Delacroix and Stefan Witwicki; Chopin organises an amateur theatre in the manor house, with his lively participation; writes op. 51-54
28 IX - returns to Paris: new rooms in Square d'Orléans 9; G. Sand resides in house number 5

1843
17 III - attends a concert by J. Fontana
24 IV - the 13 year-old K. Filtsch, Chopin's pupil, gives a concert in Paris and subsequently enjoys great success in European capitals
22 V - 28 X - a summer in Nohant; writes the Nocturne in E flat major, op. 55, and Mazurkas, op. 56
28 V - Honoré de Balzac: "You will not judge Liszt not having heard Chopin; the Hungarian is a demon, the Pole - an angel"
29 X - returns to Paris; pupils include Camille O'Méara-Dubois, Jane W. Stirling and Zofia Rosengardt

1844
2 II - plays the newly written Berceuse, op. 57 to Bohdan Zaleski (on his name day); improvises on national themes, including Jeszcze Polska, for S. Witwicki and other friends
3 III - "La France Musicale" informs about the grave illness of Chopin; the bad state of health lasts all spring
3 V - death of Mikolaj Chopin (his father); Fryderyk experiences profound depression
28 V - 28 XI - a summer in Nohant; writes the Sonata in B minor and begins teaching the fifteen year-old Solange
13 VII - 3 IX - Ludwika Chopin-Jedrzejewiczowa stays (with her husband) with Chopin in Paris and Nohant
29 XI - returns to Paris; pupils include T. Telleffsen; Marie de Rozieres acts as a teaching assistant
21 III - hears the Mozart Requiem together with G. Sand
23 III - hears The Creation by Joseph Haydn together with G. Sand and E. Delacroix
13 VI - 28 XI - a summer in Nohant; guests include P. Viardot-Garcia whose singing (Spanish songs) Chopin hears "with great rapture"; teaches Solange and plays with her for four hands; first serious misunderstandings between Chopin, G. Sand and Maurice
18 - 20 VII - "I am not created for the countryside" - from a letter written by Chopin to his family
- composes Mazurkas, op. 59 and two songs to words by B. Zaleski : Dwojaki koniec (Double ending) and Nie ma czego trzeba (Melancholy); "I cannot do anything worthwhile"
29 XI - returns to Paris
24 XII - "Today is Christmas Eve, our mistress Gwiazdka. They do not celebrate it here" - from a letter written by Chopin to his family

1845/46
- a harsh winter in Paris ("I would give a few years of my life for several hours of sunshine")

1846
V - XI - a summer in Nohant; the last turbulent and conflict-ridden stay; writes Nocturnes, op. 62 and Mazurkas, op. 63; works on the Sonata in G minor
25 V - "Courier Français" begins the publication of Lucretia Floriani, a novel by G. Sand; the negative hero is commonly identified with Chopin
21 VII - G. Sand to M. de Rozieres: "One day I had the courage to tell the whole truth and threaten that ultimately I could tire of all this"