1. 53. Chopin in britain

Read the text about Chopin’s living in Britain. Find the names of the places where he stayed.

The revolution of 1848, which dethroned the Orleanist monarchy, also brought to an end the musical world which Fre­deric Chopin had known in Paris. For the time be­ing, the French capital no longer offered him a live­lihood, and Chopin decided to accept the invitation of his Scottish pupil and friend, Jane Stirling, to come to Britain. As a result of the months he spent In this country, Britain cherishes many relics and souvenirs of the great pianist and com­poser.

He arrived in London just before Easter, on Ap­ril 20th, and was soon moving in a fashionable and aristocratic society very different from the revolutionary turmoil he had left behind in Paris. He took an attractive and expensive apartment in Dover Street, he appeared at the opera and at im­portant dinners and receptions, and he met many of the leading figures of the day including the novelist Charles Dickens. On May 15th, less than а month after his arrival in London, he was invited to play before Queen Vic­toria. Afterwards he wrote: "I played at the Duchess of Sutherland's before the Queen, Prince Albert, the Princess of Prussia, Wel­lington and all the elite of the Garter — a select gathering of eighty per­sons... Her Majesty ad­dressed some very grac­ious remarks to me. Chopin's first public recital in London was at the soiree held for him by Mrs. Sartoris at 99 Eaton Place, where the occasion has been commemorated by a blue wall plaque.

One evening Chopin was invited to the home of Thomas Cerlyle, the great historian. The following day Mrs. Carlyle wrote to her friend Helen Walsh: "Chopin has been here! I never heard the piano played before — could not have believed the capabilities that are in it!" The autographed manu­scripts of Chopin's two most famous polonaises are in the British Mu­seum, as well as other Chopin autographs. His writing, as is revealed by these precious manu­scripts, is incredibly fine and elegant.

The end of the London season, when the fashion­able world moved north, provided Chopin with the opportunity to visit the homes of his Scottish friends. He arrived In Edinburgh in early Au­gust, and stayed for a time at Calder House, Mid­lothian, as the guest of Lord Torphichen, brother-in-law of Jane Stirling. Several private houses had the honour of receiv­ing the distinguished visitor -in particular, of course, the homes of various members of the Stirling family.

From Calder House Chopin travelled to Man­chester, where he took part in a public concert on August 28th. "They received me very well," he wrote. "1 had to sit down to the pianoforte three times. The hall is fine, seating 1,200 per­sons. I stayed in the coun­try, all the rich people live outside the city." In Manchester we may see the most treasured of all the Chopin relics in this country — the orig­inal death mask by Jean Baptiste Clesinger, taken a few hours after the com­poser's death in Paris on October 17th, 1849. In 1936 the mask was placed in the Henry Watson Music Library, Man­chester, on permanent loan, together with a cast of Chopin's right hand.

After his Manchester concert, Chopin stayed at Johnstone Castle near Glasgow, the home of Mrs.Houston, Jane Stir­ling's widowed sister. He saw something of the Highlands, and gave re­citals in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Chopin's fatal illness was now advancing apace. After his return to London at the end of October, he remained indoors for three whole weeks at his lodgings in St. Jame's Place — with the single exception of the evening of November I6th, when, 'exhausted by suffering but inspired by a desire to help his fellow-country­men, he went to the Guild­hall to play at a concert and ball given in aid of Polish refugees. It was, he wrote, a "very bril­liant" occasion — and it was the last time he ever played In public.

He left London, for Paris on November 23rd, prom­ising to return the follow­ing year. That was not to be; but in the metal box which Jane Stirling placed at the base of the monu­ment erected in 1850 in the Pere Lachaise Cemetery was one last sou­venir of Chopin's stay in Britain — a rose petal from her birthplace at Kippenress.

Exercise

Complete the sentences:

1. At the invitation of his Scottish pupil and friend, Jane Stirling, Chopin ... ... ...

2. He arrived in London ... ... ...

3. On May 15^th ... ... ...

4. Mrs. Carlyle wrote to her friend Helen Walsh: ... ... ...

5. In Man­chester he took part in ... ... ...

6. In Manchester we may see ... ... ...

7. After his return to London at the end of October, ... ... ....