PADEREWSKI, Ignace Jan
b Kurylo'wka, Poland, 18 November 1860
d New York, 29 July 1941, aged eighty

He composed his first piece at the age of six, and at twelve entered the Warsaw Musical Institute, studying piano and theory, and graduating as a pianist in 1878. In 1881 he went to Germany to study counterpoint and orchestration, and from 1884 to 1887 he stayed in Vienna, studying piano and earning a living by teaching. In Paris in 1888 and in London in 1890 he was acclaimed as a great master of the piano; he travelled widely, and visited America. In 1899 he settled in Switzerland. From 1910 he took an interest in politics, becoming in time the epitome of Polish patriotism, and prime minister of Poland in 1919. He resigned a year later. He was a great philanthropist and was decorated by Poland, Great Britain, Belgium, France and Italy, and received a great number of honorary degrees.

1880 (20)

Violin Sonata

1884 (24)

Polish Dances for piano, Books I and II

1888 (28)

Piano Concerto in A minor

1893 (33)

Polish Fantasy on Original Themes, for piano and orchestra

1901 (41)

Manru, opera

1903-7 (43-7)

Symphony in B minor