Chopin Playing a Grand Piano – Manchester, UK - Musical Instruments on Waymarking.com

Chopin was born 22nd February 1810 in Poland to French Parents and died on 17th October 1849 aged only 39.

He was a composer, virtuoso pianist and music teacher and was known as the poet of the piano. He came from a musical family and composed his first work aged only seven.

In 1830 an uprising was started in Poland to try to become independent of Russia. The rebellion failed and like many other Polish people, Chopin left his home country and settled in Paris.

He suffered with bad health from an early age and did not like giving performances in concert halls to large audiences and only ever did so 30 times in his life.

He did however give a few concerts in the UK in 1848. One of these performances was in the Gentlemen’s Concert Hall in Manchester on 28 August. He insisted on playing even though he was very ill at the time.

There were many events all over the world to celebrate Chopin’s bi-centenary and The Polish Heritage Society in Manchester conceived the idea of a monument. Manchester has had a large Polish community for a long time, which has increased significantly since Poland joined the European Union in 2004.

The bronze statue includes material dating from 1831, the year of the November Uprising by Poles against the Russian Empire. The 2.5 metre wide statue sits on a natural stone plinth two metres high.

It was sculpted by Polish sculptor Robert Sobocinski and shows Chopin playing at a Grand Piano whilst his lover Baroness Aurore Lucile Dupin looks on. The open lid of the piano is in the form of a battle scene from the uprising in 1830.

The statue was paid for by public subscription, the biggest benefactor being Bruntwood a firm of property developers well known for donating 10% of their profits to charity and the arts. It stands outside Centurion House on Deansgate, one of their properties.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   09/23/2023 Poole/Freeman visited it