It's Better to Travel than Arrive?

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive"

Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque, 1881.


"Robert Louis Stevenson speaks utter tosh and has

obviously never flown long haul economy class"

Kristy, first ever blog post, 2011.


Sunday, December 22, 2013

Museum Review : Chopin Museum, Warsaw, Poland



The Chopin Museum in Warsaw is fascinating, and incredibly well put together.  It charts the life of Fryderyk Chopin, a child prodigy, who was born in 1810 in Warsaw.  We are not huge classical music buffs, but this museum was really interesting and very technologically advanced.

Chopin grew up in Warsaw and completed his musical education there.  He composed many of his works there before leaving Poland at the age of 20 to settle in Paris.  During the remaining 18 years of his life he gave only around 30 public performances, preferring the more intimate atmosphere of the salon.  He supported himself by selling his compositions and as a sought-after piano teacher.



All of Chopin's compositions include piano, and his highly individual and technically demanding keyboard style were noted for their nuance and sensitivity.  His major piano works include sonatas, mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes, polonaises, etudes, impromptus, sherzos and preludes - many of which were only published after his death.

He had a decade long troubled relationship with the French writer, George Sand, and after suffering from poor health for most of his life, died in Paris in 1849.



As with most things in Warsaw, the Museum is very reasonably priced, with adult tickets at 22PLN and the audio guide is included in your ticket price.  Your ticket is a credit card type that you hold up to the exhibits and it changes the language into English - very impressive.


Chopin Museum
Okolnik 1
Warsaw, Poland


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