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| Frederick Chopin |
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| George Sand |
Biographers have a hard time with the
composer Chopin. His life is full of many contradictions. He did not
tend to share much of himself with anyone or keep any extensive
journals. Most of his letters have been lost. The best way to get to
know him is through his music. George Sand, the female novelist who was
perhaps the person who knew him best and possibly the only person who
ever understood him, said that she would listen to him play the piano
and from that, she could tell what he was thinking, what he was feeling.
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| Violets of Chopin's Time |
After a nasty split with George Sand, Chopin toured England with Jane
Sterling, his piano student. The damp weather and rigorous schedule
further weakened his health (he suffered from tuberculosis and never did
well after the split). When he returned to Paris, he was near death. His
friends tried to make his final days as comfortable as possible by
helping with expenses and making regular visits. When he died, Jane
Sterling bought all the violets she could find in the flower shops of
Paris to cover his grave.1 The feelings that he could only express in
music still touch the hearts and emotions of his listeners. So beloved
is Chopin that, even today visitors daily place flowers (frequently
violets) on this grave in Paris.
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