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Frederic Chopin Monument

Łazienki Królewskie, Ujazdowskie Avenue, Warszawa, 00-001

Frederic Chopin Monument
Frederic Chopin Monument
Frederic Chopin Monument
Frederic Chopin Monument
Frederic Chopin Monument
Frederic Chopin Monument

Information

The Frederic Chopin Monument stands in the Warsaw's Royal Baths Park, near the Belwederski Palace and Aleje Ujazdowskie. The bronze monument shows the Polish composer sitting under a weeping willow tree. Its branches bend as if under the influence of a strong wind. They are arranged in the shape of a hand above Chopin's head. The author of the monument is Wacław Szymanowski - painter, sculptor and musician at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Since 1959 Chopin music concerts featuring celebrated pianists have been held at the foot of the monument.

The Frederic Chopin Monument in Warsaw

Would you like to come to the Polish capital city to get to know the captivating history of the city? You cannot forget to visit Warsaw’s Łazienki Park (Royal Baths). Among trees, bushes and royal buildings, there is the Frederic Chopin Monument. It takes visitors to times of the artistic freedom, inspiration by nature as well as human emotions.

 

The history of the Frederic Chopin Monument from the beginning to its destruction .

The Frederic Chopin Monument in Warsaw was designed by 19th century artist Wacław Szymanowski and it was supposed to be erected on the centenary of Chopin’s birth in 1910. However, the statue’s exposition was delayed till the outbreak of World War II.

This large bronze piece of art shows the composer sitting under a stylized willow and listening to the sound of the tree. The sculpture of the composer is about 6 meters high and the willow is about 7 meters high. Szymanowski worked on it in his workshop in Krakow and he finished it in 1912. The monument has been selected in the competition from among 66 designs. Nevertheless, the work was criticized for unaesthetic impression as well as details like frogs sitting around Chopin. As a result, other artist was requested to redesign this sculpture by removing all disapproved elements, and Szymanowski changed a little the form of the willow. Finally, after a long discussion and Szymanowski’s visit to St. Petersburg on the royal court, the decision to place the monument was signed by tsar Nicholas II of Russia.

When the World War II broke out, Hans Frank commanded to blow the statue up what damaged it completely. The Frederic Chopin Monument in Warsaw was the first such work destroyed during the wartime. The Germans were averse to Chopin’s music, and they did not like the location of the monument in the newly erected German district (Royal Baths Park was incorporated to it). It is also said that one of reasons to destroy the monument was its supposed ugliness in the Nazis’ eyes. After the destruction, the monument became only a scrap and was sent to a scrapheap. The Nazis were also trying to damage all copies of the design displayed in Polish museums, and they succeeded to do it partially. Then, they collected the scrap for the needs of the arms industry.

 

Frederic Chopin Monument after World War II .

After World War II the members of artistic world decided to reconstruct the monument what turned out to be a considerable challenge, because all the copies of the project were destroyed by Germans. However, the cast of the Chopin statue’s head was found in Wrocław in 1946 and this was somewhat helpful. Finally, the statue were reconstructed with the use of some designs found in Szymanowski’s house after the rubble was removed. The group of artists brought the statue back to life and to his previous location, and the monument was exposed again in 1958.

Today the Frederic Chopin Monument in Warsaw is surrounded by colorful flowers, mostly roses, as well as trees like oaks and maples. All of these were geometrically planted to give the impression of a concert hall.

 

Who was Frederic Chopin?

Frederic Chopin was a Polish composer and pianist recognized as one of the greatest romantic musicians in the history of Polish music ever. Moreover, the artist was also one of the most talented pianists in the history of the world. His music is characterized as a strong expression of Polish folk music.

The musician came from Żelazowa Wola but lived in Warsaw. Attending lessons by Warsaw professors, he was taught the Baroque and Classical music created mostly by Johann Sebastian Bach and Amadeus Mozart. Chopin was such a smart student that he wrote his first music works as a child. Then, he began to give concerts to the crown heads. Many biographers see him as a genius talented in music, literature and art who was giving lessons to younger musicians, one of whom was Marcelina Czartoryska from the aristocratic Czartoryscy family. Chopin’s private life was turbulent, and his unrequited love to George Sand made him even more unhappy. He died of tuberculosis in France where he was buried. However, his heart stayed where he lived – in Warsaw, and more precisely in St. Cross Church.

Creating his music, Chopin was strongly inspired by the Polish court and country tradition. On the other hand, he used some sounds of the music from the most brilliant romantic composers in Europe expressing it during concerts.

The composer got the fame for piano concerts, polonaises, mazurkas, sentimental and lyric nocturnes, scherzas, ballads, études, sonatas. He also became a symbol of Polish identity and nationality in the hardest moments of Polish history, mostly when the country lost its independence. His oeuvre were an inspiration for such European composers as: Richard Wagner, Franciszek Liszt, Edward Grieg, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel or Aleksander Skriabin.

 

 

Visiting the Frederic Chopin Monument in Warsaw.

Visiting the Frederic Chopin Monument in Warsaw is one of the top activities during sightseeing of Polish capital. Whether you use the help of Polish Travel Agency or you visit it on your own, you should find some time to go to Royal Baths and see the monument. It honors Chopin’s life, work and his huge impact on the world music. If you like music and are involved in it, who knows, maybe he will inspire you as well. Let’s come and check out.