Fryderyk Chopin Trivia Quiz

Answer: Polish

Frederyk Chopin's mother, Justyna Krzy¿anowska, was of Polish descent. She married Mikolaj(Nicholas) Chopin, a Frenchman who immigrated to Poland. Mikolaj Chopin served as a tutor to the children of the aristocrat Count Skarbek, who also had a son named Fryderyk.

Answer: Zelazowa Wola

Fryderyk Chopin was born on March 1, 1810, in the small village of Zelazowa Wola, some 50 miles away from Warsaw. A church document discovered in 1892 said that he was born on February 22, 1810, but Chopin as well as his mother claimed that he was born on March 1.

Answer: B-flat Major

The first few measures of this piece include broken octaves in the left hand synchronizing with the right hand. Chopin also wrote the Polonaise in g minor, a little bit of time after the B-flat Major polonaise was published.

Answer: Romantic

The Romantic Era took place roughly from 1815 to 1910, and was categorized by more expressive and passionate music, often more exciting than its Classical counterparts. Instead of the strict rules governing music such as those of the Classical Era, composers such as Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, and Richard Wagner fused the structural harmonic planning with chromatic inventions, achieving greater fluidity and contrast. Ludwig van Beethoven was the bridge between the Classical Era and the Romantic Era.

Answer: fugues

Fugues were written by composers such as Johannes Sebastian Bach and Frederic Handel in the 17th century. Chopin wrote over 75 mazurkas, and was especially famous for his nocturnes and waltzes. Chopin also wrote impromptus, polonaises, preludes, scherzos, ballades, etudes, and a sonata.

Many of these popular songs were published after his death. Without Chopin, the world would never have known such profound pieces such as his Funeral March, the Minute Waltz, the Military Polonaise, the Winter Wind Etude, and the Fantaisie-Impromptu.

Answer: True

Times in Europe were very unstable; uprisings broke out every month or so against other foreign powers. Chopin was in Vienna, Austria traveling when the November Uprising broke out, and his traveling companion Tytus Woyciechowski returned to Poland to enlist. Chopin was very lonely during that time, and when he discovered the Polish uprising had been crushed, he expressed his distressed emotions in the famous Revolutionary Etude (Op. 10 No. 12) and the Scherzo in b minor (Op. 20).

After much persuasion from his friends and family, Fryderyk Chopin left Vienna for Paris, never realizing that he would not see his beloved Poland again for the rest of his life.

Answer: all of the above

Chopin seldom performed in front of large audiences; he was very shy and perferred to give small concerts to small groups of friends. Chopin was also close friends with the Schumanns, Heinrich Heine, and Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski.

Answer: George Sand

Chopin did have a love interest in Delfina and Maria, but complications such as Chopin's health prevented him marrying either of the two. When Chopin was first introduced to George Sand by Franz Liszt, he was struck with shock and repulsion. Like many of her counterparts, George Sand was a pseudonym for Amandine Aurore Lucille Dupin, whose status as a female prevented her from becoming a famous and prolific author. Sand dressed like a man, and even smoked cigars.

After Chopin's initial shock died down, the two struck up a close friendship, which then became a loving relationship.

It was in that 10-year relationship with Sand that many of Chopin's pieces were written, including his 24 Preludes. When Chopin's health began to decline, the 2 gradually drifted apart.

When the two finally ended their relationship in 1847, Chopin was left heartbroken, penniless, and extremely sick.

Answer: tuberculosis

Several of Chopin's sisters had previously died from tuberculosis. Around his death bed, Auguste Clésinger made a cast of his face and his hands. Very few people were present at the time of his death, but they included former pupil Adolf Gutmann, Thomas Albrecht, and Chopin's sister Ludwika.

His funeral was held on October 30, 1849 at the Church of the Madeleine in Paris. It wasn't until 2008 that scientists hypothesized that the cause of Chopin's death may have been cystic fibrosis, but the Polish government denied them the right to analyze Chopin's DNA samples.

Answer: a pillar in a church

Chopin's heart was sealed in a pillar of the Holy Cross Church on Krakowskie Przedmieoecie. Above lies the inscription of Matthew 6:21, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." It remains there to this day.

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