The studies collected in this book fall into four chief thematic areas of research on Fryderyk Chopin's life, stylistic changes, creative output, and musical reception. The first one is devoted to the origins of the composer's artistic formation in the context of his connections with the Main School of Music at the Royal University of Warsaw. The second thematic area is tied to the problem of Chopin's musical language and transformation of his individual style. The third group of studies concentrates on issues in Chopin's musical aesthetics, while the fourth and final one is devoted to the questions of composer's reception in the 19^th-century musical culture in light of the practice of musical transcriptions at the time.