Frederic Chopin, Vol. 1 of 2: His Life, Letters, and Works

by Maurycy Karasowski

Excerpt from Frederic Chopin, Vol. 1 of 2: His Life, Letters, and Works

The autograph portrait has been reproduced, and some other portraits have been added which do not appear in either of the German versions.

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This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Genres: History

253 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1938

About the author

Maurycy Karasowski was a Polish composer, cellist, and music critic.
He worked in the Warsaw theater orchestra. From 1864, he lived in Dresden. He published several books on musical topics and also wrote for the press. His wife, Aleksandra Józefa née Lind, daughter of Samuel, assisted him in his work on books about Chopin.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that this biography is so old, it really puts things in a different perspective to anything written in 21st, or even 20th century.

I wish the letters were quoted in full, they paint such an amazing picture of Chopin's personal life! I can't say how well the translation into English holds up, but it really struck me how little the Polish language has changed since the early 1820s and 1830s. Some phrases used by Frycek in his letters to his family are things I would say to my sisters in jest, those made me laugh the hardest.

Also, the letters to Tytus Woyciechowski? Holy shit, if I read them at the impressionable age of 16 when I was prepping for the local contest of knowledge about Chopin on the occasion of his 200th birthday, well. My life might've been slightly different now (and I came 2nd in that contest, I'll have you know). I could TELL there was something queer going on based on his relationships with Liszt and George Sand, but with those letters to Tytus at my disposal? I would've realised some things about myself much sooner, I think, and probably found my footing in the queer history field much earlier. Better late than never, though!

Excited to see what other interesting tidbits I'll find out in Volume II!

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've just read some snippets so far, but I love reading the translated letters and accounts from contemporaries.