The Years of Education

Chopin's creative path would have probably been completely different had it not been for the knowledge of the works of Bach and Mozart or regular lessons in composition.

Initially, Fryderyk was home-schooled, but his early discovered talent needed a professional teacher. Thoughtful parents entrusted the care of their son's talent to a Czech immigrant.

Wojciech Żywny was Czech by origin, but he settled in Warsaw during the reign of King Stanisław August and assimilated with Polish society. In the years 1816-1819 he was a piano teacher to Fryderyk Chopin, making him familiar with works of classical composers. 

His talent, kindness, nobility and helpfulness gained him general popularity –this is how Żywny was remembered by nineteenth-century Warsaw residents, although Andrzej Koźmian, a famous diarist of the time, called him one of the worst music teachers.

After several years of cooperation, Żywny admitted openly that he was unable to teach his pupil anything more. The pupil surpassed the master. The Chopins and their son faced a dilemma: how to continue with the career that had begun so well? 

At that time, teenage Chopin's career ran in two directions. He was appreciated as a virtuoso, but his fame as a composer also began to increase. It was the compositional skills of adolescent Fryderyk that Józef Elsner would hone.

The then famous author of numerous operas, symphonies, numerous works for chamber ensembles and, not least, piano compositions, was also famous for his masses and oratories. Besides, Elsner went down in history as a reviewer and organizer of musical life.

Elsner appreciated his student's talent, which was evident in the opinion issued on the occasion of the end of Fryderyk's studies: the experienced composer assessed the young artist using the words: special aptitude, musical genius.

Shortly thereafter, Chopin set off on an artistic journey out of Poland, unaware that he would never be allowed to return to Poland because of the repressions imposed by the partitioning powers. It turned out, however, that his studies brought surprising results.

When asked, in1829, where he had learnt to play so well, Chopin did not conceal his attachment to his teachers. He expressed it with the opinion contained in the letter to the family who had stayed in Warsaw.

On August 18, 1829, Fryderyk Chopin related his answer to a surprised Viennese man: I answered that under Żywny and Eisner the greatest donkey could learn.