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Composer Chopin's Heart Preserved In Jar Of Alcohol In Church Pillar

by positivenegative
11 replies
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I quite like listening to some classical music now and then and here's a fascinating story about famous composer Frederic Chopin - or rather his heart. He was rumoured to have died of tuberculosis and his heart has been kept preserved in a jar of alcohol, which has been encased in a church pillar for more than 160 years . . . that is until earlier this year.

The mystery of Chopin's death
  • Profile picture of the author whateverpedia
    We must form a pilgrimage immediately!










    (The article was interesting though )
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  • Profile picture of the author Kurt
    Is Chopin the guy that wrote "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"?
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    • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
      The evidence is clear, he drank far too much Brandy.
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      • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
        Pop that between two slices and a squirt of polonaise and you've got yourself a nice sandwich.
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    • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
      Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

      Is Chopin the guy that wrote "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"?
      He also co-wrote the Blondie hit, Heart of Glass, with his partner, Jean Michel Jarre
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  • Profile picture of the author Midnight Oil
    Originally Posted by positivenegative View Post

    I quite like listening to some classical music now and then and here's a fascinating story about famous composer Frederic Chopin - or rather his heart. He was rumoured to have died of tuberculosis and his heart has been kept preserved in a jar of alcohol, which has been encased in a church pillar for more than 160 years . . . that is until earlier this year.

    The mystery of Chopin's death
    Interesting article.

    But when I got to "that is until earlier this year" in your teaser, I thought it was going to be a lead-in to an Edgar Allan Poe-ish story or movie trailer with a twist on The Tell-Tale Heart. The still beating heart removed from the pillar, possessing an unwitting explorer doomed to spend an eternity performing Chopin's music . . .that kind of thing.

    Silly, I know, but it was very late/early when I first read it, and I was getting a little buggy.

    Interestingly enough, Chopin and Poe died ten days apart.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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      Very interesting article - thanks.

      Here's one from the New Yorker (with some of the same information, but not quite as up-to-date): Chopin's Heart - The New Yorker

      I've never quite understood this attitude one sometimes sees about tuberculosis being such a "classic, romantic cause of death". What's that all about?

      Everyone says the same about Dylan Thomas (among many others), too. I always think the reality of many of these people's tragic demises - I'm thinking specifically of Dylan Thomas, here - is that they died just a few years before the development of the antibiotics that started curing them all.


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      • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
        Maybe I missed something. Why was his heart in a jar?
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        • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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          Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

          Maybe I missed something. Why was his heart in a jar?
          It was apparently part of his dying wishes that it should be returned to his native Poland (presumably very much easier, especially in those days, than schlepping an entire corpse all that way?).

          (I'm not sure that really answers your question at all, actually?!).


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      • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        Very interesting article - thanks.

        Here's one from the New Yorker (with some of the same information, but not quite as up-to-date): Chopin's Heart - The New Yorker

        I've never quite understood this attitude one sometimes sees about tuberculosis being such a "classic, romantic cause of death". What's that all about?
        TB may have been found in his heart. But I'm pretty sure that cutting out your heart, and placing it in a jar....can be pretty lethal, all by itself. In fact, I think it should be against the law.
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        • Profile picture of the author lanfear63
          Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre View Post

          TB may have been found in his heart. But I'm pretty sure that cutting out your heart, and placing it in a jar....can be pretty lethal, all by itself. In fact, I think it should be against the law.
          It's a well known fact that Chopin was gay. His partner, Ivor, was the local preacher.

          This is where they got the expression "Tinkling the Ivories"

          They loved each other with all their hearts. Eventually though, this scandal got out and in those unenlightened days, it was a capital offence to engage in such activities, especially with the clergy. Chopin was unfairly singled out and put to death for corrupting a man of the cloth.

          His heart was cut out and sealed in one of Ivor's church pillars as a reminder.

          I now call upon minds greater than mine to think of the punch line. Professor! are you back yet?
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