health ... his sudden transitions from a state of depression to one of excitability are the
classic symptoms of tuberculosis from which he suffered more and more acutely during
the unhappy years of unequal struggle between an enfeebled will to live and the growing
threats of physical misery.’
Chopin probably suffered, not from tuberculosis, from from the incurable genetic disease
known as ‘alpha one antitrypsin deficiency syndrome’, to which he ultimately succumbed.
Playing
Chopin’s playing was beautiful, fluent, and had great evenness. His hands seemed to be
acting independently of each other and each of his fingers seemed to be controlled by an
individual will. Chopin required freedom and relaxation of the hands and fingers during
play. He tried to remove every sign of stiffness that his pupils exhibited during lessons.
One listener described Chopin’s playing in March 1830: ‘His music is full of expressive
feeling and song, and puts the listener into a state of subtle rapture, bringing back to his
memory all the happy moments he has known.’
Another said: ‘His gayest melodies are tinged with a certain melancholy by the power of
which he draws the listener along with him.’
Heine described Chopin’s playing: ‘Yes, one can admit that Chopin has a genius in the
full sense of the word; he is not only a virtuoso, he is also a poet; he can embody for us
the poesy which lives within his soul, he is a tone-poet, and nothing can be compared to
the pleasure which he gives us when he sits at the piano and improvises.’
A distinguished English amateur described seeing Chopin at a salon:
‘Imagine a delicate man of extreme refinement of mien and manner, sitting at the piano
and playing with no sway of the body and scarcely any movement of the arms, depending
entirely upon his narrow feminine hand and slender fingers. The wide arpeggios in the
left hand, maintained in a continuous stream of tone by the strict legato and fine and
constant use of the damper pedal, formed a harmonious substructure for a wonderfully
poetic cantabile. His delicate pianissimo, the ever-changing modifications of time and
tone (tempo rubato) were of indescribable effect. Even in energetic passages he scarcely
ever exceeded an ordinary mezzoforte.’
Friederike Müller, a Viennese pupil of Chopin, wrote in her diary:
‘His playing was always noble and beautiful; his tones sang, whether in full forte or
softest piano. He took infinite pains to teach his pupils this legato, cantabile style of
playing. His most severe criticism was “He – or she – does not know how to join two
notes together.” He also demanded the strictest adherence to rhythm. He hated all
lingering and dragging, misplaced rubatos, as well as exaggerated ritardandos ... and it is
precisely in this respect that people make such terrible errors in playing his works.’