Ignacy Jan Paderewski | |
|---|---|
 Paderewski circa 1935 | |
| 3rdPrime Minister of Poland | |
| In office 18 January 1919 – 27 November 1919 | |
| President | Józef Piłsudski (Chief of State) |
| Preceded by | Jędrzej Moraczewski |
| Succeeded by | Leopold Skulski |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 16 January 1919 – 9 December 1919 | |
| Prime Minister |
|
| Preceded by | Leon Wasilewski |
| Succeeded by | Władysław Wróblewski |
| Chief of theNational Council of Poland | |
| In office 9 December 1939 – 29 June 1941 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-11-06)6 November 1860 Kurylivka,Podolia Governorate,Russian Empire |
| Died | 29 June 1941(1941-06-29) (aged 80) New York City, US |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Warsaw Conservatory |
| Profession | Pianist, composer, politician, intellectual, and diplomat |
| Signature |  |
Ignacy Jan Paderewski (Polish:[iɡˈnatsɨˈjanpadɛˈrɛfskʲi]ⓘ; 6 November [O.S. 25 October] 1860 [or 1859] – 29 June 1941)[1] was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation'sprime minister and foreign minister during which time he signed theTreaty of Versailles, which endedWorld War I.[2]
A favorite of concert audiences around the world, his musical fame gave him access to diplomacy and the media, as well as, possibly, his status as afreemason,[3] and the charitable work of his second wife,Helena Paderewska. During World War I, Paderewski advocated for an independent Poland, including by touring the United States, where he met PresidentWoodrow Wilson, who came to support the creation of an independent Poland. Wilson included that aim in hisFourteen Points and argued for it at the1919 Paris Peace Conference, which drew up the Treaty of Versailles.[4]
Shortly after his resignation from office, Paderewski resumed his concert career to recoup his finances, and rarely visited the politically chaotic Poland thereafter, the last time being in 1924.[5]
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Paderewski was born toPolish parents in the village of Kurilovka, in thePodolia Governorate of theRussian Empire. The village is now part of theKhmilnykraion ofVinnytsia Oblast in Ukraine. His father, Jan Paderewski, administered large estates. His mother, Poliksena,née Nowicka, died several months after Paderewski was born, and he was raised mostly by distant relatives.[6]
From his early childhood, Paderewski was interested in music. He initially lived at a private estate nearZhytomyr, where he had moved with his father. However, soon after his father's arrest in connection with theJanuary Uprising of 1863, he was adopted by his aunt. After being released, Paderewski's father married again and moved to the town ofSudylkov, nearShepetovka.[7]
Initially, Paderewski took piano lessons with a private tutor. At the age of 12, in 1872, he went to Warsaw and was admitted to theWarsaw Conservatory. Upon graduating in 1878, he became a piano tutor at hisalma mater. In 1880, Paderewski married a fellow student at the conservatory, Antonina Korsakówna. The next year, their son Alfred was born severely handicapped. Antonina never recovered from childbirth and died several weeks later. Paderewski decided to devote himself to music and left his son in the care of friends and, in 1881, he went toBerlin to study music composition withFriedrich Kiel[8] andHeinrich Urban.
In 1884, a chance meeting with a famous Polish actress,Helena Modjeska, began his career as a virtuoso pianist. Modrzejewska arranged for a public concert and joint appearance inKraków's Hotel Saski to raise funds for Paderewski's further piano study. The scheme was a tremendous success and Paderewski soon moved toVienna, where he studied withTheodor Leschetizky (Teodor Leszetycki).[9][10] On 31 May 1899, he married his second wife,Helena Paderewska (née von Rosen, 1856–1934), shortly after she received an annulment of a prior marriage. While she had previously cared for his son Alfred (1880–1901), they had no children together.[9]
Paderewski dedicated three more years to diligent study, and a teaching appointment at theconservatory inStrasbourg which Leschetizky arranged. In 1887, he made his concert debut inVienna, soon gaining great popularity, and had popular successes in Paris in 1889 and in London in 1890.[9] Audiences responded to his brilliant playing with almost extravagant displays of admiration, and Paderewski also gained access to the halls of power. In 1891, he repeated his triumphs on an American tour. He toured the country more than 30 times for the next five decades and it would become his second home.[9] His stage presence, striking looks, and immense charisma contributed to his stage success, which later proved important in his political and charitable activities. His name became synonymous with the highest level of piano virtuosity.[9] Not everyone was equally impressed, however. After hearing Paderewski for the first time, when Paderewski was exhausted from his American tour,Moriz Rosenthal quipped, "Yes, he plays well, I suppose, but he's no Paderewski."[11]
Paderewski kept up a furious pace of touring and composition, including many of his own piano works in his concerts. He also wrote an opera,Manru, which had its official premiere in Lviv in 1901. A "lyric drama",Manru is an ambitious work that was formally inspired by Wagner's music dramas. It lacks an overture and closed-form arias, but uses Wagner's device ofleitmotifs to represent characters and ideas. The story centres on a doomed love triangle, social inequality, and racial prejudice (Manru is aGypsy), and is set in theTatra Mountains. It is still the only opera by aPolish composer that theMetropolitan Opera has performed in its 135-year history. In addition to the Met, a private royal viewing ofManru was staged in Dresden,[9] and it was staged in Prague, Cologne, Zürich, Warsaw, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Baltimore, Moscow, and Kiev.
In 1904, Paderewski, accompanied by his second wife, entourage, parrot, andÉrard piano, gave concerts in Australia and New Zealand, in collaboration with Polish-French composerHenri Kowalski. Paderewski toured tirelessly around the world and was the first to give a solo performance at the new 3,000-seatCarnegie Hall. In 1909 came the premiere of hisSymphony in B minor "Polonia", a massive work lasting 75 minutes. Paderewski's compositions were quite popular in his lifetime and, for a time, entered the orchestral repertoire, particularly hisFantaisie polonaise sur des thèmes originaux (Polish Fantasy on Original Themes) for piano and orchestra,Piano Concerto in A minor, andPolonia symphony. His piano miniatures became especially popular, and theMinuet in G major, Op. 14 No. 1, written in the style of Mozart, became one of the most recognized piano tunes of all time. Despite his relentless touring schedule and his political and charitable engagements, Paderewski left a legacy of over 70 orchestral, instrumental, and vocal works.
All of his works evoke a romantic image of Poland. They incorporate references to Polish dances, such as thepolonaise,krakowiak, andmazurka, and highlander music (Tatra album [Album tatrzańskie], op. 12, Polish Dances [Tańce polskie], op. 5). Paderewski's love of his country is reflected in the titles of his compositions, including Polish Fantasy [Fantazja polska], op. 19 and Symphony in B minor "Polonia", which includes a quote from Dąbrowski's Mazurka [Mazurek Dąbrowskiego]), themes (Manru), and musical settings of quotes from Polish poets (e.g., Asnyk and Mickiewicz).[12]
In 1896, Paderewski donated US$10,000 to establish a trust fund to encourage American-born composers. The fund underwrote a triennial thePaderewski Prize competition that began in 1901. Paderewski also launched a similar contest inLeipzig in 1898. He was so popular internationally that the music hall duo "The Two Bobs" had a hit song in 1916 in music halls across Britain with the song "When Paderewski Plays". He was a favorite of concert audiences around the globe and women, especially, admired his performances.[13]
By the turn of the century, Paderewski was an extremely wealthy man, generously donating to numerous causes and charities, and sponsoring monuments, among them theWashington Arch in New York, in 1892. Paderewski shared his fortune generously with fellow countrymen, as well as with citizens and foundations from around the world. He established a foundation for young American musicians and the students ofStanford University (1896), another at the Parisian Conservatory (1909), yet another scholarship fund at the Ecole Normale (1924), funded students of the Moscow Conservatory and theSaint Petersburg Conservatory (1899), as well as spas in theAlps (1928), for theBritish Legion.
During theGreat Depression, Paderewski supported unemployed musicians in the United States (1932) and the unemployed inSwitzerland in 1937. He publicly supported an insurance fund for musicians in London (1933) and aided Jewish intellectuals in Paris (1933). He also supported orphanages and the Maternity Centre in New York. The many Paderewski-sponsored concert halls and monuments includedDebussy (1931) andÉdouard Colonne (1923) monuments in Paris,Liszt Monument in Weimar,Beethoven Monument in Bonn, Chopin Monument inŻelazowa Wola (the composer's birthplace),Kosciuszko Monument in Chicago, and Washington Arch in New York.[14]
In 1913, Paderewski settled in the United States. On the eve ofWorld War I and at the height of his fame, Paderewski bought a 2,000-acre (810-ha) property, Rancho San Ignacio, nearPaso Robles, inSan Luis Obispo County, in California's Central Coast region. A decade later, he plantedPetite Sirah andZinfandel on his vineyard in theAdelaida area and the fruit was processed at the nearbyYork Mountain Winery, which was, as it still is, one of the best-known wineries between Los Angeles and San Francisco.[15]
In 1910, Paderewski funded theGrunwald Monument in Kraków to commemorate the 500th anniversary of theBattle of Grunwald.[16] The monument's unveiling led to great patriotic demonstrations. In speaking to the gathered throng, Paderewski proved as adept at capturing their hearts and minds for the political cause as he was with his music. His passionate delivery needed no recourse to notes. Paderewski's status as an artist and philanthropist and not as a member of any of the many Polish political factions became one of his greatest assets and so he rose above the quarrels, and he could legitimately appeal to higher ideals of unity, sacrifice, charity, and work for common goals.[17]
InWorld War I, Paderewski became an active member of thePolish National Committee in Paris, which was soon accepted by theTriple Entente as the representative of the forces trying to create the state of Poland. Paderewski became the committee's spokesman, and soon, he and his wife also formed other organizations, including the Polish Relief Fund in London, and the White Cross Society in the United States. Paderewski met the English composerEdward Elgar, who used a theme from Paderewski'sFantasie Polonaise[18] in his workPolonia, written for the Polish Relief Fund concert in London on 6 July 1916 (the title certainly recognises Paderewski's Symphony in B minor).
Paderewski urged fellow Polish immigrants to join thePolish armed forces in France, and pressed elbows with all the dignitaries and influential men whose salons he could enter. He spoke to Americans directly in public speeches and on the radio, appealing to them to remember the fate of his nation. He kept such a demanding schedule of public appearances, fundraisers and meetings that he stopped musical touring altogether for a few years, instead dedicating himself to diplomatic activity. In January 1917, on the eve of theAmerican entry into the war, US President Woodrow Wilson's main advisor,Colonel House, turned to Paderewski to prepare a memorandum on the Polish situation. Two weeks later, Wilson spoke before Congress and issued a challenge to the status quo: "I take it for granted that statesmen everywhere are agreed that there should be a united, independent, autonomous Poland." The establishment of "New Poland" became one of Wilson's famousFourteen Points,[4] the principles that Wilson followed during peace negotiations to end World War I. In April 1918, Paderewski met leaders of theAmerican Jewish Committee in New York City, in an unsuccessful attempt to broker a deal in which organised Jewish groups would support Polish territorial ambitions in exchange for support for equal rights. However, it soon became clear that no plan would satisfy both Jewish leaders andRoman Dmowski, the head of the Polish National Committee, who was strongly anti-Semitic.[19]
At the end of the war, with the fate of the city ofPoznań and the whole region ofGreater Poland (Wielkopolska) still undecided, Paderewski visited Poznań. Following his public speech there on 27 December 1918, the Polish inhabitants of the city began theGreater Poland uprising[20] against Germany.[21]
In 1919, in the newly independent Poland,Józef Piłsudski, who was theChief of State, appointed Paderewski as thePrime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland (January 1919 – December 1919). Paderewski andRoman Dmowski represented Poland at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference and dealt with issues regarding territorial claims and minority rights.[22] Paderewski signed theTreaty of Versailles, which recognized Polish independence won after World War I.[23] There were some achievements during Paderewski's ten-month period in government: democratic elections to Parliament, the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles, legislation on protection of ethnic minorities in the new state, and the establishment of a public education system. But Paderewski "proved to be a poor administrator and worse politician" and resigned from the Government in December 1919, having received criticism for his perceived submissiveness to the Western powers.[24] At the request of his successor as Prime Minister,Władysław Grabski, Paderewski represented Poland at theSpa Conference, when Poland was threatened by thePolish–Soviet War, but Piłsudski's success at theBattle of Warsaw later that year rendered those negotiations redundant, and put to an end Paderewski's hopes of regaining office.[25]
In 1922, Paderewski retired from politics and returned to his musical life. His first concert after a long break, held atCarnegie Hall, was a significant success. He also filled the 20,000-seatMadison Square Garden, and toured the United States in a private railway car.[26][27]
In 1897, Paderewski had bought the manor house of the former Duchess of Otrante nearMorges,Switzerland, where he rested between concert tours.[28] After Piłsudski'scoup d'état in 1926, Paderewski became an active member of the opposition toSanacja rule. In 1936, two years after his second wife's death at their Swiss home, a coalition of members of the opposition met in the mansion and was nicknamed theFront Morges after the village.
By 1936, Paderewski agreed to appear in a film that showcased his talent and art. Although the proposal had come while the mourning Paderewski avoided public appearances, the film project went ahead. It became notable, primarily, for its rare footage of his piano performance. The exiled German-born director,Lothar Mendes, directed the feature, which was released in Britain in 1937 asMoonlight Sonata, and was re-titledThe Charmer when re-released in the US in 1943.[29][30]
In November 1937, Paderewski agreed to take on one last piano student. The musician wasWitold Małcużyński, who had won third place at theInternational Chopin Piano Competition.[32]
After theinvasion of Poland in 1939, Paderewski returned to public life. In 1940, he became the head of theNational Council of Poland, a Polishsejm (parliament) in exile in London. He again turned to America for help and his broadcast was carried by over 100 radio stations in the United States and Canada. He advocated in person for aid to Europe and the defeat of Nazism.
In 1941, Paderewski witnessed a touching tribute to his artistry and humanitarianism as US cities celebrated the 50th anniversary of his first American tour by putting on a Paderewski Week, with over 6000 concerts in his honour. The 80-year-old artist also restarted his Polish Relief Fund and gave several concerts to gather money for it. However, his mind was not what it had once been and, scheduled again to play Madison Square Garden, he refused to appear, insisting that he had already played the concert, presumably remembering his performance there in the 1920s.[26]
Paderewski fell ill on tour on 27 June 1941. Sylwin Strakacz bypassed his secretary and other tour personnel to summon physicians, who diagnosedpneumonia. Despite signs of improving health and recovery, Paderewski died in New York at 11:00 p.m., 29 June, aged 80. He was temporarily laid in repose in the crypt of theUSS Maine Mast Memorial atArlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia, near Washington, DC, despite anecdotal accounts that he wished to be buried in France, near his second wife and son.
In 1992, after the end of communist rule in Poland, his remains were transferred to Warsaw and placed inSt. John's Archcathedral. His heart is encased in a bronze sculpture in theNational Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa nearDoylestown, Pennsylvania.[33]
In early 1941, the music publisherBoosey & Hawkes commissioned 17 prominent composers to contribute a solo piano piece each for an album to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Paderewski's American debut in 1891. It became a posthumous tribute to Paderewski's entire life and work,Homage to Paderewski (1942). As well, Helena Paderewska had prepared a memoir of her husband's political activities between 1910 and 1920, the typescript of which was not published in either of their lifetimes but was discovered in 2015 by an archivist at theHoover Institution and published.[34]
Paderewski is credited as the chief editor of the edition of Chopin's complete works published by the Instytut Fryderyka Chopina, but he died before the work began.[35]
ThePolish Museum of America[36] in Chicago received a donation of his personal possessions after his death in June 1941. Both Ignacy Paderewski and his sister, Antonina Paderewska Wilkonska were enthusiastic supporters and generous sponsors of the Museum. Antonina, executor of Ignacy's will, decided to donate the personal possessions to the Museum, as well as artifacts from his apartment in New York. The space was officially opened on 3 November 1941. Another museum in his honour exists at Morges, Switzerland, although Paderewski's mansion was razed in 1965.[37]
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In 1948, the Ignacy Paderewski Foundation was established in New York City, on the initiative of the localPolish community, with the goal of promotingPolish culture in the United States.[38] Two otherPolish-American organizations are named in his honour and are dedicated to promoting the legacy of the maestro: the Paderewski Association in Chicago and thePaderewski Music Society inSouthern California.
In theIrving Berlin song, "I Love a Piano", recorded in 1916 byBilly Murray,[39] the narrator says: "And with the pedal, I love to meddle/When Paderewski comes this way./I'm so delighted, when I'm invited/To hear that long-haired genius play."[40]
Charlie Chaplin wrote:
Paderewski had great charm, but there was something bourgeois about him, an over-emphasis of dignity. He was impressive with his long hair, severe, slanting moustache and the small tuft of hair under his lower lip, which I thought revealed some form of mystic vanity. At his recitals, with house lights lowered and the atmosphere sombre and awesome when he was about to sit on the piano stool, I always felt someone should pull it from under him. During the war I met him at theRitz Hotel in New York and greeted him enthusiastically, asking if he were there to give a concert. With pontifical solemnity he replied: "I do not give concerts when I am in the service of my country."Paderewski became Prime Minister of Poland, but I felt likeClemenceau, who said to him during a conference of the ill-fated Versailles Treaty: "How is it that a gifted artist like you should stoop so low as to become a politician?"
There is an anecdote in circulation about Paderewski having been booked for a concert at Stanford by the future president Hoover and not receiving the full fee for his performance. Thomas F. Schwartz, Director of theHoover Presidential Library, concludes:
There seems to be enough doubt by both Hoover and Paderewski to lend credence to the story in their respective memoirs other than to acknowledge that their first meeting may have been in 1896.
— Hoover and Paderewski (February 27, 2019)[41]
His unusual combination of being a world-class pianist and successful politician led toSaul Kripke using Paderewski as a famous philosophical example in his article "A Puzzle about Belief."[42] Paderewski was so famous that in the 1953 motion pictureThe 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T., written by Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known asDr. Seuss, piano teacher Terwilliker tells his pupils that he will "make a Paderewski" out of them.
Two music festivals honouring Paderewski are held in the United States, both in November. The first has been organised each year since 1993, inPaso Robles, California.[43] The second has been held since 2014 inRaleigh, North Carolina.[44]
The facade ofWhite Eagle Hall, in Jersey City, New Jersey, is adorned with busts of Polish heroes Ignacy Jan Paderewski,Casimir Pulaski,Tadeusz Kościuszko andHenryk Sienkiewicz.[45]
A plaque honoring Paderewski can be found inChicago'sWicker Park, near the park's fieldhouse.[46] It was in theWicker Park neighborhood that Paderewski had his headquarters duringWorld War I. The memorial notes that he was declared an honorary citizen of Chicago in 1932.[46]
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The Academy of Music inPoznań is named after Paderewski, and many major cities in Poland have streets and schools named after him. Streets are also named after him inPerth Amboy, New Jersey, andBuffalo, New York. Since 1960, Paderewski has had a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.[47]
On 8 October 1960, the United States Post Office Department released two stamps commemorating Ignacy Jan Paderewski.[57] Poland also honored him with postage stamps on at least three occasions.
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