萧邦(1810～1849年)
Chopin, Frédéric (Fran?ois)
波兰语作Fryderyk Franciszek Szopen
波兰裔法国作曲家和钢琴家。出生於波兰，父母是法裔中产阶级人士。七岁就发表第一次写的曲子，八岁开始在贵族沙龙中演奏。1830年在华沙正式首演後，获邀到世界各地巡回演奏，获很大成功，使他成为波兰民族作曲家。1831年定居巴黎，翌年举办第一次在巴黎的演奏会，获得极高的评价。他也是个出名的钢琴老师，流连於上流社会。1830年代显然得了结核病。1837年和女作家乔治桑开始了十年的同居生活，1847年乔治桑离开了他。萧邦不仅是波兰最伟大的作曲家，也可能是钢琴史上最重要的作曲家。其卓越的想像力及精湛的技巧使他成为世界最伟大的音乐诗人之一。他的音乐灵感源於自己和波兰的悲剧性的经历，旋律独具个性，表达了内心深处不仅仅是伤感的感情。其作品虽有浪漫主义的本质，但具有古典的纯真和分寸，丝毫没有浪漫主义的表现癖好。除了两首钢琴协奏曲（皆作於1830年）和四首钢琴－管弦乐作品之外，几乎所有的作品都以钢琴独奏为主，作品计有：六十首马厝卡舞曲、二十七首练习曲、二十六首前奏曲、二十一首夜曲、二十多首华尔滋、十六首波洛内兹、四首叙事曲、四首诙谐曲和三首奏鸣曲。
English version：
1810～1849年
Chopin, Frédéric (Fran?ois)
Polish-French composer. He was born to middle-class French parents in Poland. He published his first composition at 7 and began performing in aristocratic salons at 8. A successful international concert tour was followed by a Warsaw performance in 1830 that virtually endowed him with the status of Poland's national composer. He moved to Paris in 1831, and his first Paris concert the next year thrust him into the highest realm of celebrity. Renowned as a piano teacher, he spent his time in the highest society. He contracted tuberculosis apparently in the 1830s. In 1837 he began a 10-year liaison with the writer George Sand; she left him in 1847, and a rapid decline led to his death two years later. Chopin stands not only as Poland's greatest composer but perhaps as the most significant composer in the history of the piano, whose capacities for charm, excitement, variety, and timbral beauty he exhaustively exploited. Apart from two piano concertos (both 1830) and four other works for piano and orchestra, virtually all his compositions are for solo piano; they include some 60 mazurkas, 27 études, 26 preludes, 21 nocturnes, some 20 waltzes, 16 polonaises, four ballades, four scherzos, and three sonatas.