Chopin's Funeral

Chopin's Funeral

by Benita Eisler (Author)

Synopsis

Chopin's funeral, bisecting the 19th century, stands as a turning point. Both the life and music of this frail elegant man played out at the crossroads. His decline and death following a series of catastrophes, particularly the breach with his lover Georges Sand and the ebb of his creative energy on the brink of a new style, were both final chapters in his often tragic life and reflected larger historical forces. CHOPIN'S FUNERAL is about a death foretold as the sum of other tragedies: the end of a world that fostered his particular genius; the wounds of exile and most fatally, the loss of love. An intimate close-up of the composer's last years, it is also the story of the artist as hero. At the close of his life, with no home or money, his physical powers failing, Chopin grappled with nothing less than a new musical form. CHOPIN'S FUNERAL is also the larger story of a great nineteenth-century city, Paris, in the grip of revolution.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 256
Edition: New e.
Publisher: Abacus
Published: 05 Feb 2004

ISBN 10: 0349116873
ISBN 13: 9780349116877
Book Overview: * Review coverage across the national press. * Reading copies available.

Media Reviews
Crisply written, thoroughly researched & enthralling... Eisler shows herself completely in tune with Chopin's genius...the background to the creation of the music is painted so vividly that we feel we are there * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *
A small miracle * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY *
She reveals a poetic sensitivity that can slip through the closed doors of some scholarship ...it's probably as true a picture of what passed between Chopin & Sand as we'll get * DAILY TELEGRAPH *
As a cultural chronicle this book is riveting... a wonderfully evocative meding of music and life...a brilliant little book. * FINANCIAL TIMES *
Author Bio
Benita Eisler was educated at Smith & Harvard and has worked as an art editor, a reporter, & a correspondent for tv features on arts & culture. She has taught the 19th & 20th century novel at princeton for 5 years, is married to art historian Colin Eisler & they have 1 daughter.