Chopin was sent to Vienna, the unquestioned center of music for that day. He gave piano

concerts and then arranged to have his pieces published by a Viennese publishing house

there. While Chopin was in Austria, Poland and Russia faced off in the apparent beginnings

of war. He returned to Warsaw to get his things in preparation of a more permanent move.

While there, his friends gave him a silver goblet filled with Polish soil. He kept it

always, as he was never able to return to his beloved Poland. French by heritage, and

desirous of finding musical acceptance from a less traditional audience than that of Vienna,

Chopin ventured to Paris. Interestingly, other young musicians had assembled in the city of

fashion with the very same hope. Chopin joined Franz Liszt, Hector Berlioz, Felix

Mendelssohn, Vincenzo Bellini, and Auguste Franchomme, all proponents of the “new” Romantic

style.