Jane Stirling

Jane Wilhelmina Stirling (15 July 1804 – 6 February 1859) was a Scottish amateur pianist who is best known as a student and later friend of Frédéric Chopin; two of his nocturnes are dedicated to her. She took him on a tour of England and Scotland in 1848, and took charge of the disposal of his effects and manuscripts after his death in 1849. While there is no evidence they were lovers, she was often referred to, after Chopin's death, as "Chopin's widow".

Stirling was born as the youngest of 13 children of John Stirling, Laird of Kippendavie, at Kippenross House, near Dunblane in Perthshire, and was descended from a noble Scottish family. Her mother died when she was 12, her father when she was 16. The inheritance made her a wealthy young woman. She was then placed under the charge of her widowed sister, Mrs Katherine Erskine, aged 29. She was popular and very pretty; she was said to have declined over 30 marriage proposals. From 1826, she and her sister divided their social life between Scotland and Paris. She involved herself not only in music and the arts, but also in subjects such as prison reform, homeopathy, and the Protestant movement.

The pianist Lindsay Sloper claimed to have been the one to introduce her to Chopin, perhaps in 1842 or 1843. She became his pupil immediately. Chopin does not mention her until 1844. That she was a talented pianist was evident from Chopin's remark to her, "One day you’ll play very, very well." Towards the end of his life he even entrusted one of his own pupils, Vera Rubio, to her tutoring. In 1844 he dedicated his two Nocturnes, Op. 55 to her. She also expressed a desire to learn the cello, and so Chopin referred her to his collaborator, Auguste Franchomme.

Jane Stirling worked with Chopin in assembling seven bound volumes of the French editions of most of his works, and in compiling a thematic index. These volumes were later used by the French musicologist and Chopin biographer to establish the Oxford original edition of Chopin. However, whether Chopin intended this collection to serve as a basis for a revised collected edition of his music is an open question. She also became his secretary, agent and business manager. She arranged his concert at the Salle Pleyel on 16 February 1848, and also attended to the heating, the ventilation, and the flowers. The concluding item of the concert was the Barcarole in F-sharp major, but Chopin was too exhausted to complete the final section. After managing to walk unaided to his dressing room, he collapsed in Jane Stirling's arms. This was to prove his final Paris concert. There had been plans for another concert there in March, but on 23 February a revolution broke out, many people fled the city, and Chopin was suddenly deprived of his livelihood.

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