He went home to explain that he had seen an archangel and started sketching from memory. Finley addressed the following lines to him:. Your touch has been transmuted into sound As perfect as an orchid or a rose, True as a mathematic formula Yet full of color as an evening sky. Composers dedicated their music to Paderewski. Although Paderewski aspired to be a great composer and considered it his most enjoyable pursuit, he devoted only a relatively small portion of his energies to it.
He composed several dozen works, which include an opera, a symphony, two large scale compositions for piano and orchestra, a violin and piano sonata, several beautiful songs and many shorter works for solo piano. His two most powerful and inventive creations—the Sonata, Op. He also made use of Polish dance rhythms in many of his compositions. Two of the most popular piano miniatures that he often included in his own programs were the Cracovienne fantastique from Op.
For many decades, every doting parent anxiously awaited the day when their child could, at last, perform this Minuet in a local recital. This was the goal of every child taking piano lessons and considered a mark of achievement. Beginning in he emerged as one of the best informed and best connected figures to represent Poland, a country that was at that time partitioned among her German, Austrian and Russian neighbors.
During World War I the U. Congress passed a resolution of sympathy and President Wilson, by proclamation, set January 1, as a day for giving to the suffering of the Polish people. Polish American organizations united to choose him as their leader, conferring upon him the power of attorney to act for them and decide all political matters in their name.
This unique document bore the seals and signatures of all the Polish societies in the U. Paderewski also authored a memorandum on Poland which took over 36 hours of uninterrupted work and delivered it to Colonel House on January 12, , who in turn gave it to President Wilson. At Geneva he was looked upon by everybody as a great patriot and distinguished statesman.
When Paderewski left Paris, his colleagues thought of him as a great statesman, an incomparable orator, a linguist and one who had the history of Europe better in hand than any of his more illustrious associates.
Had he been representing a power of the first class he easily would have become one of the foremost of those whose decisions were finally to be written into the peace. As it was, he played a great part nobly, and gave the world an example of patriotism and courage. When he addressed the League of Nations in Geneva in , he received a standing ovation before and after his speech. He spoke for more than an hour without notes in French and then repeated it in English. He was the only speaker who did not use an interpreter.
What Mr. Paderewski has done for Poland will cause eternal gratitude. His career is one which deserves to be remembered not only by his countrymen, but by every man whom love of country and loyalty to a great cause stand forth as the noblest attributes of human character. He finished his speech to a crowd of thousands of people at a time and place when they were under Russian rule with the following:.
Let us brace our hearts to fresh endurance, Let us adjust our minds to action, energetic, righteous; Let us uplift our consciousness by faith invincible for the nation cannot perish that has a soul so great, so immortal!
On the tenth anniversary of Polish independence in Paderewski received messages from four U. He was respected by leaders throughout the world. When he arrived in Brussels on one of his concert tours, the King and Queen personally went to the station to greet him; an action unheard of on the part of Royalty. Paderewski had to resume his piano career in for financial reasons, for even though he had earned more money than any artist ever did he spent most of it for his country and for mankind.
As early as he created the Paderewski Fund in New York to establish triennial prizes to American composers, regardless of race or religion.
He established a similar fund for Composition in Leipzig in In London he gave to the Transvaal War Fund for the wounded, widows and orphans. Kiel and H.
He held his first concert as a composer in January in Berlin, and in - in Warsaw. Leszetycki; he also taught harmony and counterpoint at the conservatory in Strasbourg.
The first recital in a series of several performances by Paderewski in France was on 3 March in the Salle Erard in Paris. He started his European, and eventually global, career as a pianist, which spanned over 50 years.
This progressed with important moments such as in London and New York ; from this time on the artist appeared in the United States 29 times on many-month tours up until , travelling with over a dozen assisting artists and a fully equipped saloon equipped with a silent keyboard.
He achieved successes everywhere and made a fortune; he often donated large sums for artistic, educational, social and national purposes, including establishing a foundation for young composers in the United States in , and in - a competition for Polish composers and writers.
Piano playing, composing and then political activity are intertwined with each other in his life. His technique was limited, and his interpretations were more "poetical" and sentimental than stylistically valid, but this did not matter to his fervent followers.
Early in his career Paderewski wrote a minuet in pseudo-Mozart style. This composition became unbelievably popular. People who did not usually go to concerts went to hear him play it.
A spontaneous sigh of recognition and pleasure always swept over the crowd when he started to play. He proved his competence as a composer in several large-scale works.
Among these was an opera, Manru, successfully produced at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and also in Europe, as well as a symphony and a piano concerto. In these works his use of themes based on Polish folk music classifies him with the other nationalistic composers of the time. Concerned with the plight of Polish victims of the war, he raised large sums of money for them through benefit concerts. He also skillfully united various Polish-American groups to work for the same end.
Seeing the possibility of rejoining the parts of Poland divided between Germany, Austria, and Russia and making it a modern democracy, he gave up concertizing to implement this project.
He became a friend of President Woodrow Wilson and convinced him of the importance of a strong Poland for the future peace of Europe. Your current browser may not support copying via this button.
Subscriber sign in You could not be signed in, please check and try again. Username Please enter your Username. Password Please enter your Password. Forgot password? Don't have an account? Sign in via your Institution. You could not be signed in, please check and try again.
0コメント