pianist of the Romantic period. He grew up in Warsaw but left Poland,
never to return, aged 20. He settled in Paris, obtaining French
citizenship in 1835. From 1837 he maintained an often troubled
relationship with the French writer George Sand. A brief and unhappy
visit to Majorca with her was one of his most productive periods of
composition. 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. Many contain elements
of Polish folk music and of the classical tradition of J.S. Bach, Mozart
and Schubert. His innovations in style, musical form, and harmony, and
his association of music with nationalism, were influential throughout
and after the late Romantic period. His music, his status as one of
music's earliest "superstars", his association with political
insurrection, his love life and his early death have made him a leading
symbol of his era. His works remain popular, and he has been the subject
of numerous films and biographies of varying degrees of historical
accuracy.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Chopin>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1558:
Poczta Polska, the Polish postal service, was founded by order
of King Sigismund II Augustus.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_Poland>
1604:
German astronomer Johannes Kepler observed an exceptionally
bright star, now known as Kepler's Supernova, which had suddenly
appeared in the constellation Ophiuchus.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler%27s_Supernova>
1964:
Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies opened the
artificial Lake Burley Griffin in the middle of the capital Canberra.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Burley_Griffin>
1989:
The 6.9 Mw Loma Prieta earthquake struck California's San
Francisco Bay Area, killing 63 people, injuring 3,757, and leaving at
least 8,000 homeless.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loma_Prieta_earthquake>
1994:
Russian journalist Dmitry Kholodov was assassinated in the
offices of Moskovskij Komsomolets during his investigations into alleged
corruption among high ranks of the Russian military.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Kholodov>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
sine qua non:
An essential or indispensable element, condition, or ingredient.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sine_qua_non>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The philosopher places himself at the summit of thought; from
there he views what the world has been and what it must become. He is
not just an observer, he is an actor; he is an actor of the highest kind
in a moral world because it is his opinion of what the world must become
that regulates society.
--Henri de Saint-Simon
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henri_de_Saint-Simon>
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