Chopin and George Sand in Valdemossa

Valldemossa is a popular tourist destination in Mallorca. One of its main attractions is the 13th century monastery, where the musician Frederic Chopin spent a winter (1838–39) with his lover George Sand and her two teenage children. The monastery was originally built as a royal palace however, in 1399 it was converted into a monastery.

The monks adapted easily to the royal residence but when Chopin and Sand arrived in Mallorca, they didn’t adapt so easily. They were not prepared for the coldness of the winter days, high in the mountains on the island. Chopin suffered while he was there as he already had a lung disease (tuberculosis?). His health deteriorated over the three months of his stay in Mallorca.

We were very curious about what Chopin’s life must have been like while he lived in a cell so went into the monastery for a look.

The hallway leading to the cell in the old cloister was dark and not very pleasant. But I did spot two interesting giant puppets in a corner. They were Gigantes or mojigangas! Great big puppets. I think they are called cabagrossas here.

So down the hallway, we found Cell #4, Chopin and Sand’s accommodation for
The Carthusian cell was a suite of three spacious rooms, all with windows and doors looking out on to the terrace. They also had a beautiful garden terrace with a view of the valley.

There are facsimiles of Chopin's manuscript for the Preludes and some original letters concerning the procurement and delivery of his Pleyel piano from France. This piano is on display in the bedroom along with another small piano. It had taken 2 months for his piano to arrive so until then Chopin allegedly played and composed on a specially constructed Mallorcan pianino.

It was here that Georg Sand wrote the novel A Winter on Majorca while Chopin composed the well-known Raindrop Prelude in D Flat Major and several other pieces.

When they left, Sand paid to have most of the furniture (not the piano) burned as the townspeople were afraid to catch whatever it was that Chopin was sick with.

Once again, I found it very interesting to read more about poor sick Chopin who died at 39 and George Sand who was definitely an early feminist in the mid 1800s. What lives they lived...

When we get home, I will look for this book -
Chopin's Piano: In Search of the Instrument That Transformed Music," by Paul Kildea. W.W. Norton, 368 pages. $27.95.Read more