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with Classical musie but allowed his students to investigate the morę original imaginations of the Romantic style as well.

As often happened with the young musicians of both the Classical and Romantic Periods, Chopin was sent to Vienna, the unquestioned center of musie for that day. As a fresh 19-year-old graduate of musie studies he gave piano concerts and then arranged to have his pieces published by a Viennese publishing house there. While Chopin was in Austria, Poland and Russia faced off in the apparent beginnings of war. He returned to Warsaw to get his things in preparation of a morę permanent move that took place in 1830. While there, his friends gave him a silver goblet filled with Polish soil. He kept it always, as he was never able to return to his beloved Poland. His family forbade him to come home, fearful for his safety.

French by heritage, and desirous of finding musical acceptance from a less traditional audience than that of Vienna, Chopin ventured to Paris. Interestingly, other young musicians had assembled in the city of fashion with the very same hope. Chopin joined Franz Liszt, Hector Berlioz, Felix Mendelssohn, Vincenzo Bellini, and Augustę Franchomme, all proponents of the “new” Romantic style.

Although Chopin did play in the large concert halls on occasion, he felt most at home in private settings, enjoying the social milieu that accompanied concerts for the wealthy. He also enjoyed teaching, as this caused him less stress than performing. Chopin did not feel that his delicate techniąue and intricate melodies were as suited to the grandiose hall as they were to smaller environments and audiences.

News of the war in Poland inspired Chopin to write many sad musical pieces expressing his grief for “his” Poland. Among these was the famous “Revolutionary Etude.” Plagued by poor health as well as his homesickness, Chopin found solące in summer visits to the country. Here, his most complex yet harmonie creations found their way to the brilliant composer’s hand. The “Fantaisie in F minor”, the “Barcarolle”, the “Polonaise Fantaisie”, “Balladę in A fiat major”, “Balladę in F minor”, and “Sonata in B minor” were all products of the relaxed time Chopin enjoyed in the country. Prolific as this might seem, Chopin's earlier teacher, Elsner, voiced his disappointment in Chopin's inability to create an opera for the sake of Poland.

As the war continued in Warsaw and then reached Paris, Chopin retired to Scotland with friends. Although he was far beyond the reach of the revolution, his melancholy attitude did not improve and he sank deeper into a depression. Likewise, his health did not rejuvenate either. A window in the fighting madę it possible for Chopin to return to Paris as his health deteriorated further. Surrounded by those that he loved, Frederic Francois Chopin died at the