Frederic Chopin is one of the most brilliant composers known today. He was born in 1810 in the city of Warsaw. His mother was Polish and his father was French. Chopin taught himself to play the piano at a very young age, and at the age of eight, made his first public appearance. Soon after, he graduated from the Warsaw Conservatory and began touring throughout Europe. At the age of 21, Chopin moved to Paris. There his compositions and his piano playing gained him popularity among the aristocrats. He was known to play at many social gatherings and actually preferred playing in these aristocratic salons over playing in large concert halls in front of a large crowd. Chopin differed from some of the other great composers of the time because his works were all, aside from the rare exception, written for the piano. He...