Chopin's Heart To Stay Undisturbed

[chopin]

New York Times, Jul 29, 2008
DANIEL J. WAKIN

Frederic Chopin's heart will remain unmoved. The Polish government has refused to allow geneticists to perform DNA testing on the alcohol-preserved organ, which is nestled inside a column in the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw, The Associated Press reported. The Polish geneticists said testing might establish whether Chopin suffered from cystic fibrosis, which can cause some conditions that afflicted him, including fevers, respiratory infections and delayed puberty. The government said experts found that the chances of successful testing were low, and that in any case it would not shed any meaningful light on Chopin or his work, The Associated Press said. Tuberculosis has long been believed to be the cause of his death.

[aprimar]

I don't think that his heart should be removed. It wouldn't really shed any new light on his life. There is plenty of evidence showing that he did suffer throughout his life, and that is sufficient.

There is something that I've been debating as of late. Exactly what do scholars of Chopin mean when they say, "Chopin was never sentimental in his music"? I've been reading James Huneker's book "Chopin: The Man and his Music" and he seems to come to the same conclusion. How could a man with no sense of sentiment desire to have his heart removed and sent back to his homeland. It just seems too poetic, too sentimental.

When I try to set a character or mood to a Chopin piece that I am learning, sentiment certainly finds its way in, at least where I find it appropriate.

[Pianoman1992]

I think what is meant by that statement is that Chopin did not intend for his music to be played in an overly sentimental, sappy manner, as plenty of performers probably do today. He still put emotion and sentiment into his music and was quite an emotional man, but didn't want the true depth and meaning of his music destroyed by maudlin performances and performers.