The woman who blazed a trail for Chopin

And yet had it not been for a twist of fate, he would have found himself sharing the spotlight with another trailblazing Polish virtuoso, Maria Szymanowska.

This woman, 21 years Chopin's senior also had an enormous impact of the development of piano music.

Maria Wołowska was born in Warsaw in 1789. Her family were well enough off with a pub that had its own brewery.

There was plenty of encouragement at home. Her mother and father were cultured people. The Wołowskas would lay on musical evenings, with their daughter providing the entertainment. Her reputation was established among the distinguished guests.

Marriage to a wealthy landowner, Józef Szymanowski, interrupted her performing career. As she turned her attention to raising their three children - twins, a boy and a girl, and a younger daughter - her focus switched to composition.

The Irish composer John Field, who may indeed have been one of her teachers, was impressed enough to recommend her to his own publisher. This helped her to a degree of financial independence which was just as well, because her marriage was breaking down under the stress of her husband's demands that she concentrate less on her music and more on their home. They separated, and Szymanowska, with the three children in tow, struck out on her own. It can't have been easy for a woman in the 1820s, making her way as a professional musician. That she succeeded speaks volumes for her talent.

Franz Liszt may be regarded as the first showman of the keyboard, but while he was only in his teens Maria Szymanowski was lighting up concerts with her dazzling virtuosity and her astonishing ability to play from memory, something that was unheard of at the time.

She played all over Europe - France, Germany, Italy, England - performing in all the top venues. She was particularly well received in Russia, where Tsar Alexander appointed her court pianist. Small wonder. Her music is a delight.

Though conclusive documentary evidence is lacking, she must have been an influence on the young Chopin. Szymanowska developed the concert study, pieces that grew out of the exercises composed to help hone technique. Chopin was renowned for his Études.

Similarly, the first to use the folk dance forms - the mazurkas, the polonaises - that would become a Chopin trademark was none other than Maria Szymanowska.

In her late 30s, the possibility of a teaching post in St Petersburg, then the capital of Russia, offered the opportunity to escape growing political tension at home in Poland as well as a guarantee of financial security for her family. But tragedy was not far behind.

In 1830, a pandemic brought cholera to Russia. By the following summer, it had reached St Petersburg. The situation had become so grave, lockdowns were introduced. Szymanowska contracted the disease, and died on this date in 1831.

George Hamilton presents 'The Hamilton Scores' on RTÉ Lyric fm from 10am each Saturday and Sunday