Frédéric Chopin, French in full Frédéric François Chopin, Polish Fryderyk Franciszek Szopen, (born March 1, 1810 [see Researcher’s Note: Chopin’s birth date], Żelazowa Wola, near Warsaw, Duchy of Warsaw [now in Poland]—died October 17, 1849, Paris, France), Polish French composer and pianist of the Romantic period, best known for his solo pieces for piano and his piano concerti. Although he wrote little but piano works, many of them brief, Chopin ranks as one of music’s greatest tone poets by reason of his superfine imagination and fastidious craftsmanship. Chopin’s father, Nicholas, a French émigré in Poland, was employed as a tutor