Chopin remains one of the best-loved and most-played 19th-century composers. Friend of Liszt and Turgenev, lover of George Sand and lionized by Parisian society, he was seen by many as the archetypal romantic. Less well-known, however, was the inner turmoil of a man who felt largely out of sympathy with the age he came to personify. Drawing on much new material (including many previously unpublished letters), this text provides an account of Chopin's colourful life along with a discussion of the music. The appendices cover the subject of Chopin interpretation, for which Siepmann interviewed many leading pianists, including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Tamas Vasary, Emmanuel Ax and Mitsuko Uchida.