Chopin

Encounters with Chopin and Parisian Artistic Life in 1847-8 from Fanny Erskine’s diary.
Jeremy is her great-great grandson.

A family story that an ancestor knew Chopin led to the discovery of a diary kept by Jeremy Barlow‘s great great grandmother Fanny Erskine, in which she recounts a two month visit to Paris in 1847-8 for singing lessons with the renowned Manuel Garcia. She stays with friends of Chopin, and meets the composer on several occasions, along with other leading figures in Parisian artistic and musical society. The diary is one of the few sources of information on Chopin at this lonely period of his life, just after his final break with George Sand. Many slides of Parisian life and art are included, as well as music by Chopin and his contemporaries.

See Jeremy Barlow’s essay on Chopin and Fanny Erskine in Chopin Studies 2 (ed. Rink and Samson, Cambridge University Press).

With digital slides and high quality recorded music.