The plaque reads:
Fryderyk Chopin tvurce polske narodni hudby bydlil v roce 1829 a 1830 v dome ktery staval w techto mistech
[English translation: Fryderk Chopin, composer of Polish national music, stayed here in 1829 and 1839, in the house that used to be on this site.]
The following information about Chopin is from Wikipedia (
visit link) :
"Frédéric François Chopin (22 February or 1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849), born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era, who wrote primarily for the solo piano. He gained and has maintained renown worldwide as one of the leading musicians of his era, whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation." Chopin was born in what was then the Duchy of Warsaw, and grew up in Warsaw, which after 1815 became part of Congress Poland. A child prodigy, he completed his musical education and composed many of his works in Warsaw before leaving Poland, aged 20, less than a month before the outbreak of the November 1830 Uprising.
At the age of 21 he settled in Paris. Thereafter, during the last 18 years of his life, he gave only some 30 public performances, preferring the more intimate atmosphere of the salon. He supported himself by selling his compositions and teaching piano, for which he was in high demand. Chopin formed a friendship with Franz Liszt and was admired by many of his musical contemporaries, including Robert Schumann. In 1835 he obtained French citizenship. After a failed engagement to a Polish girl, from 1837 to 1847 he maintained an often troubled relationship with the French writer George Sand. A brief and unhappy visit to Majorca with Sand in 1838–39 was one of his most productive periods of composition. In his last years, he was financially supported by his admirer Jane Stirling, who also arranged for him to visit Scotland in 1848. Through most of his life, Chopin suffered from poor health. He died in Paris in 1849, probably of tuberculosis.
All of Chopin's compositions include the piano. Most are for solo piano, although he also wrote two piano concertos, a few chamber pieces, and some songs to Polish lyrics. His keyboard style is highly individual and often technically demanding; his own performances were noted for their nuance and sensitivity. Chopin invented the concept of instrumental ballade. His major piano works also include sonatas, mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes, polonaises, études, impromptus, scherzos, and preludes, some published only after his death. Many contain elements of both Polish folk music and of the classical tradition of J.S. Bach, Mozart and Schubert, all of whom he particularly admired. His innovations in style, musical form, and harmony, and his association of music with nationalism, were influential throughout and after the late Romantic period.
Both in his native Poland and beyond, Chopin's music, his status as one of music's earliest "superstars", his association (if only indirect) with political insurrection, his love life and his early death have made him, in the public consciousness, a leading symbol of the Romantic era. His works remain popular, and he has been the subject of numerous films and biographies of varying degrees of historical accuracy."
The following information about the 3784 Chopin Asteroid is from Wikipedia (
visit link) :
"3784 Chopin is a small main belt asteroid with a diameter of 28.53 +/- 4.4 km. It was discovered by Eric W. Elst in 1986. It is named after Frédéric Chopin, the nineteenth century Polish composer."
The following information about the Mercury Crater Chopin is from Wikipedia (
visit link) :
"Chopin is a crater on Mercury. It has a diameter of 129 kilometers. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1976. Chopin is named for the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin (lived 1810–49)."