The Not-So-Feeble Frédéric Chopin

How would you describe the Minute Waltz, by 19th-Century composer Frédéric François Chopin?[audio http://www.lastwordonnothing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/1-06-Waltz-In-D-Flat-Op.-64-No.-1-Minute.mp3]Lighthearted and whimsical? Dainty, delicate, fragile?In some classical music circles, Chopin's work has a sissy reputation. As a Washington Post critic wrote last year, "Chopin's music has sometimes been branded effeminate, or 'salon music': not quite serious, not quite healthy." Chopin the man is also known for a certain lack of virility. The American composer Charles Ives once wrote, rather viciously, of Chopin: "One just naturally thinks of him with a skirt on, but one which he made himself."Part of Chopin's feeble image comes from the fact that he was always sick. As a teenager, he suffered long bouts of respiratory illness, with swollen glands and dramatic weight loss. For the rest of his life, he dealt with frequent episodes of bronchitis and laryngitis. He never developed facial hair. He was extremely weak: after long piano performances he had to be carried to bed.When Chopin died, at just 39 years old, his death certificate blamed tuberculosis, a common bacterial infection. But, as described in a review published last month, some medical experts are skeptical of that diagnosis.Read more at...The Last Word on Nothing, May 2011.