SINcE the publication in 1888 of Frederick Niecks's excellent Life of Chopin, which has been the standard biography in English ever since and is the basis for most foreign biographies, much new material about the composer has come to light.The collection of Chopin's letters gathered together by Dr.Henry Opienski, and the more recent Collection Polonaiseedition of Lettres de Chopin (Paris 1933), which Dr. Opienskihas made even more complete, have provided many new psychological sidelights on the character and the mind of this pathetic Polish genius. New facts have also been discovered concerning his father, Nicolas Chopin, and-more important still-it has been proved that Chopin was entirely of French descent on his father's side.It is only natural that I should love the composer Chopin -can there be a pianist who can sincerely say he does not ?-but I have always been attracted also by the loneliness and unhappiness of his life. That a man of genius, his thoughts mainly occupied with either a fresh inspiration or the workingout of an older one, should prefer solitude is by no means enigmatical. That he should wish to be unhappy and should revel perversely in his misery is another matter, and it is the fathoming of this strange characteristic which for so long has fascinated me. With the opportunity of using the letters as baokground and the additional interest of the newly-discovered genealogical facts, I feel that a new life in English of the greatest composer for the pianoforte and one of the most melodically inspired of all the great musicians will not be superfluous. In a later volume I hope to deal more fully with Chopin as composer, pianist and teacher, and to include a comprehensive study of his works. A considerable amount of space has been given to George Sand; for the extraordinary part' she played in Chopin's life cannot be glossed over. Their liaison was by no means idyllic. She was both the worst and the best influence in his existence, for without her interest and encouragement and the cultural effect of her circle of celebrated friends he would never have developed to such a high artistic plane;yet there can be no doubt that her treatment hastened his end.? After their separation he composed nothing of any importance.? Life was empty: he even looked forward to his approaching death. There have been many biographies, studies and pamphlets written about Chopin, a chosen list of which is included in the bibliography at the end of this book.? I should like particularly to acknowledge my indebtedness to the twovolume biography of Professor Niecks, and to the Opienski collections of Chopin's letters. No modern biographer of Chopin could proceed successfully without reference to the valuable information these works contain. Since the publication of the letters in a more complete form a 'new vista has been opened up to us and many complexities have been unravelled. Chopin was not a distinguished letter-writer, but, at times, especially when writing to his family or to the more intimate of his Polish friends, he was extremely fluent and could be most entertaining and amusing. The art of spelling was never an accomplishment with him, nor was his grammar, even in his native tongue, secure. But the letters are human and very self-expressive. I have quoted Mrs. Voynich's translation throughout, except in those letters which do not appear in the English edition and which I have translated from the French; and I have allowed the irregularities to remain. These quotations are reprinted" fron Chopin's Letters by Henryk Opienski by permission of and special arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., authorised publishers in America, and I am deeply conscious also of my debt to Messrs. Desmond Harmsworth Ltd., publishers of the London edition, for their generous permission.??

I must also thank the Librairie Plon (Paris) for allowing me to quotefrom Karénine's 'George Sand, sa vie et ses auores'.To M. Alfred Cortot I am especially indebted for his invaluable advice and assistance on several questionable points and for placing at my disposal photographs and letters from his collection. M. Skirmunt, the Polish Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, has shown me many courtesies, for which I am most grateful. Miss Pughe-Jones of the London house of Messrs. Pleyel & Co. is another to whom I owe much gratitude; and lastly I must recognize the great help given to me by my wife in the translations and in the unenviable tasks of indexing and proof-correcting, work which she managed to appear to enjoy, but for which I thank her nevertheless.Don Bartomeu Ferrà, who now lives in the cell occupied by Chopin in the Chartreuse of Valldemosa, and who has there a most interesting museum of Chopin and George Sand relics, very kindly provided the photographs of the monastery.My friend Mr. R. J. Forbes, Principal of the Royal Manchester College of Music, has given me permission to reproduce the Death Mask of Chopin, the original of which belongs to the College. I wish also to express my appreciation to the Polish Embassy in London for allowing me to include an illustration of a recent head of Chopin by the Polish sculptor, Ostrowski, which has not, to my knowledge, been reproduced before.

WILLIAM MURDOCH

ST. JoHN's woOD, 1934