Classical Music / Composer's Datebook: November 6
Polish pianist, composer, and statesman who became a spokesman for Polish independence.
Ignacy Jan Paderewski brief biography – his life and major works. In 1919, he was the new nation's Prime Minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I.
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Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Polish composer, pianist and statesman, was born in Kurylowka, Poland, 6 November 1860. He was an outstanding Polish musician during his time, internationally acclaimed pianist, and the only musician to head a government. As a pianist, Paderewski was renowned for his dazzling technique and luxuriant head of hair. He began composing at the age of six.
Paderewski studied at Warsaw Conservatory becoming a pianoforte teacher there (1879-83). Then he studied in Vienna for three years, from 1884 to 1887. He debuted in Vienna 1887, Paris 1888, London 1890, and NY in 1891. After his debut in Vienna, he became celebrated in Europe and the USA as an interpreter of Chopin’s music, as composer of the exciting Polish Fantasy for piano and orchestra, and the romantic ‘Polonia’ Symphony.
The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 17, is the only piano concerto written by Ignacy Jan Paderewski. It was written in the composer's twenties, with the first movement dating back to 1882, although the majority of the work was composed in 1888 and scored in 1889.
The video below is a classical concert celebrating Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Event: 2 January 2016, Melbourne Town Hall. Paderewski's Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.17, interpreted by Konrad Olszewski, pianist. Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra (ZMSO, Melbourne) conducted by Mark Shiell.
13th National Polish Arts Festival - PolArt2015
1. Allegro 2. Romanza: Andante17:25 3. Allegro molto vivace 27:15
Paderewski wrote mainly pianoforte solos including the Tatra Album (1885) based on songs and dances of the Polish Tatra mountain-dwellers. In the 1890s, he composed a violin sonata, the 6 Huoresques de Concert for pianoforte, and the Polish Fantasy for pianoforte and orchestra. His tragic opera Manru (1897-1900) considered his masterpiece, was presented in Dresden in 1901 and NY Met in 1902.
From 1903, he wrote more sonatas and songs. Patriotic, during World War I, he worked tirelessly for the Polish cause. In 1919 when Poland became independent, he became Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the first government, then retired a year later after some political disagreements, but became Poland’s delegate to the League of Nations.
In 1922, he resumed his recitals, raising large amounts of money for war victims. Paderewski sponsored several competitions and established scholarships such as $10,000 trust fund for US-born composers in 1900. In 1936 he appeared in the film Moonlight Sonata. In 1936-38, he supervised publication of Chopin’s complete music 'Chopin'.
He was made president of the Polish National Council in Paris in 1940. Paderewski married twice. He died in New York, 29th June 1941. Pending liberation, he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, but reburied in Warsaw with a state funeral in 1992. He was made an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 1925.
Trivia:Artists on Paderewski. Among the portrait painters and caricaturists who drew Paderewski were: Tavik Frantisek Simon (1901), Sir Leslie Ward, and Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1890). English sculptor Sir Alfred Gilbert also sculpted Paderewski's bust whilst the composer was playing the piano in Sir Gilbert's studio.
I.J. Paderewski by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadena (1890). Arts & Culture Google.com.
Image Credit:
I.J. Paderewski by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadena (1890). Arts & Culture Google.com.
I.J. Paderewski by Sir Leslie Ward, from Media.vam.ac.uk (Victori and Albert Museum). Link: Pinterest
Jan Ignacy Paderewski. circa 1900. en.wikipedia.org (Theodore C. Marceau - Project Gutenberg). Public Domain.
Video Credit:
Paderewski, Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.17 - PolArt2015. YouTube, uploaded by Grzegorz Macnacki. Accessed November 6, 2018.
Resources:
Ignacy Jan Paderewski - Biography. culture.pl
Ignacy Jan Paderewski. en.wikipedia.org
Kennedy, Michael & Joyce, and Tim Rutherford-Johnson, Ed. Oxford Dictionary of Music, Sixth Edition. London: Oxford University Press. 2012.
(c) November 2011. Updated April 30, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
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