海角大神

It is well known that Chopin, the Polish Mozart, died at a relatively young age 鈥� 39. In fact Berlioz aptly remarked that 鈥淐hopin was dying all of his life.鈥� Even his famous lover, George Sand, wrote, 鈥滷or nine years, although I was so full of life, I was bound to a corpse.鈥� No doubt Chopin suffered terribly until his death in 1849, but what magic he created in those too-few years of life has filled quite a few volumes, not the least of which is Alan Walker鈥檚 latest 700-page-plus biography, Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times.

聽Spoiler Alert: If you are an adorer of Chopin鈥檚 music and won鈥檛 countenance any disparaging words about him for fear that they may knock him off that pedestal you鈥檝e placed him on, or, for that matter, if you鈥檙e the opposite kind who enjoys reading about a good hard fall from grace, sorry, neither applies here. And even though Alan Walker鈥檚 MRI-thorough biography leaves no letter unopened, no salacious love story un-debunked, no scathing musical criticism untranslated, Chopin鈥檚 legacy remains as pure and poetic as his 鈥淧olonaise, Op. 53 in A Flat Major.鈥�

Walker has a difficult assignment because he has to write for three audiences: for the Chopin lovers, like this reviewer; for the musicians and musicologists, curious about his style and technique and the various interpretations of his compositions; and for the art historians who relish the hard-cold facts and anecdotal curios that give insight into the great artists and political figures of the early-to-mid-19nth century. Of course, no book can be all things to all readers, so some may consider "Chopin: A Life and Times" dissatisfying in parts. That being said, there is more than enough for everyone at this literary feast, and come awards time, it鈥檚 likely you鈥檒l see this book short-listed for one of the top literary biographies of the year.

The story of Chopin actually begins in France, where Fryderyk鈥檚 father, Nicolas Chopin, grew up, the son of a winemaker. However, the young Nicolas left the Alsace region of France for Poland, where he had strong ties, and never looked back. Once on Polish turf, he changed his first name to Mikolaj, to sound more Polish, but inexplicably he did not change his last name. (Probably a good thing 鈥� imagine a young Polish piano prodigy trying to make his way into the art world during those times with, say, his mother鈥檚 maiden name 鈥淜rzyzanowska鈥�?) Interestingly, Mikolaj kept his French origins a secret from his sons and daughters most of his life.

From the outset, Walker鈥檚 narrative style reflects the very music of his subject: He has a light, delicate touch when making apt inferences, and a soft and rather ornate style when 聽providing descriptions of the artist. The most luscious part of the biography is about Chopin鈥檚 youth. We experience a rich childhood in Poland, full of loving family and friends surrounding a young boy, preternaturally gifted, with a knack for sarcasm and mimicry, who seemed to simply exfoliate music from the very moment he sat down at the piano. By age 7 he had composed a sonata, and within 10 short years, Chopin was, as one violin virtuoso of the times remarked, 鈥渁 finished artist.鈥澛�

How refreshing it is, in these emotionally uptight times, with the shelves at the local bookstore jam-packed with personal-achievement manuals like Amy Chua鈥檚 "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom," or virtually all of Malcolm Gladwell鈥檚 works, to read about a totally grounded genius with no obsessions, no emotional baggage, no 鈥淭iger Mom鈥� standing over his shoulder.聽 He was, as Mendelssohn described him at age 23: 鈥漵o profoundly original and at the same time so very masterly in his piano playing that he may be called an absolutely perfect virtuoso.鈥� 聽

But Chopin, the genius, his wonderful, love-filled childhood notwithstanding, had lady troubles throughout his life. His first love was a mezzo-soprano, a Pole, named Konstancja Gladkowska. (鈥淎nd Chopin loved singers and the female voice. He fell in love with many of them鈥� 鈥� Walker.) 聽As he put it, 鈥淚 have found my ideal, whom I have served faithfully, for six months, though without saying a word.鈥� This was actually true 鈥� he never talked to her. At 19, he was as shy with the opposite sex as he was musical. So nothing came of that. Next was the stunningly beautiful Maria Wodzinska. He proposed to her, but her meddling, 鈥渉arridan鈥� of a mother nixed on account of his sketchy health.

Then there was George Sand whom he met while playing in one of the grande salons of Paris. She pursued him, but theirs was a rocky relationship, platonic in the end; however, she did provide him with the necessary financial and domestic support he so sorely needed at that crucial period in his career. Walker even suggests that Sand helped Chopin 鈥渃reate some of his greatest works, and when the break came nine years later [1845] the music fountain of music started to die within him.鈥� At the tail end of his life there was his British student, Jane Stirling, whose romantic interest in Chopin went unrequited (actually, he found her quite tedious). But it was her munificence and dedication that allowed him to continue composing in his Paris apartment even as his health declined to the point where he could neither teach nor perform.

Savory little anecdotes are peppered throughout the biography, like this one: On his way back to Warsaw from Austria, his diligence stopped in the small town of Zullichau to change horses. Walker describes the scene: 鈥淔ryderyk noticed an unlikely old piano in an adjoining room. It turned out to be in better condition than it looked and was in tune. So he sat down and began to improvise. This attracted the attention of his fellow travelers, who entered the room one by one, and soon a full-scale concert was under way.鈥� His improvisations at this performance later turned into 鈥淭he Grand Fantasia on Polish Airs, for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 13.鈥�

There鈥檚 lots of interesting Chopin trivia, too. For example, after graduation from high school, Chopin applied to his government for a grant to travel and perform; after all, he鈥檇 been called a genius by many established artists. His application was turned down. Berlioz once complained: 鈥淐hopin always keeps himself aloof... Unless you are a prince, a minister, or an ambassador, you might as well give up hope of hearing him.鈥�

Tsar Nicholas wanted him to be 鈥淧ianist to the Imperial Russian Court,鈥� but Chopin declined the offer due to his intense love and loyalty to Poland. (It was Schumann who once described Chopin鈥檚 music as 鈥渃annons buried in flowers鈥� in referring to Chopin鈥檚 feelings toward Russia鈥檚 annexation of Poland.) As for Mendelssohn and Schumann who were always full of praise for his music....鈥淐hopin was almost completely indifferent to theirs,鈥� Walker writes.聽 But I don鈥檛 want to give away too many gems....

For the musicologists, there are Walker鈥檚 descriptions of Chopin鈥檚 composing process, which was most often 鈥渟low and painful. A glance through his manuscripts reveals signs of serious conflict, with heavy corrections on many pages.鈥� He was a perfectionist in every sense of the word, in his life as well as his music, and when he corrected something 鈥渉e made sure that the outside world would never know what his first thoughts had been.鈥� In fact, as he lay dying, he demanded that all of his unfinished works be burned. Fortunately his older sister, Ludwika, outlived him and made sure that that did not happen. As for his etudes and Mazurkas, Walker assures us that they 鈥渃ontain a gold mine of advanced harmonic procedures that have been prospected to the point of exhaustion by theorists鈥�.聽 Reaping a random harvest of harmony was ever Chopin鈥檚 good fortune鈥�.鈥� Of course his touch and finger positioning on the keyboard is the stuff of legend.

Walker remains faithful to his subject, which only 10 years of extensive research into vast archives of primary source material could manifest, as he exposes in understated detail not only the prodigious suffering of his subject, but also the daily grind, if you will, of Chopin鈥檚 working-musician life. Many readers will be surprised and perhaps heartened to know that Chopin was as much a teacher as he was a composer. He gave four or five lessons per day throughout much of his career. And it was the income from his teaching and the inspiration and devotion of his students, like Jane Stirling and Julian Fontana, that likely kept him alive and well-cared for throughout much of his career.

And in the end it was his student, ex-roommate, pianist, composer, and author, Julian Fontana, who has through the years provided the most accurate and dependable insights and verifiable facts about the artist鈥檚 life, which has remained as a sort of bulwark against the many Chopin hoaxes and anecdotal 鈥渟tretchers鈥� that have popped up through the ages, most notably Franz Liszt鈥檚 biography of him.聽

Today, Chopin鈥檚 heart rests in state within a stone pillar at the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw. (The rest of his body lies in the聽P猫re Lachaise Cemetery in Paris). As one cleric noted in his 1945 eulogy to Chopin, 鈥淸his] heart is not an object of liturgical devotion, but an object of national devotion, comparable with the remains of kings whom the musical maestro rivaled and even surpassed in greatness.鈥� And as Walker so aptly concludes: 鈥淭he composer鈥檚 posthumous Odyssey will meanwhile continue on its journey into the boundless realms of the future, while his music brings pleasure and solace to generations as yet unborn.鈥�

Richard Horan is an award-winning author of two novels: 鈥淟ife in the Rainbow鈥� and 鈥淕oose Music,鈥� and two non-fiction books: 鈥淪eeds鈥� and 鈥淗arvest.鈥� His latest work, 鈥淣otes from the Nuthouse,鈥� a play in three acts, is in the running for the Relentless Award.