2020

Undoubtedly the most famous Polish composer, also internationally regarded as one of the greatest composers in history. An outstanding pianist, enthusiastically received by audiences throughout Europe. He started composing at the age of 7. In 1831 Chopin settled permanently in Paris, becoming the star of many artistic salons. He was friends with the artistic elite of the time – Schumann, Liszt, Rossini, Mendelssohn, Delacroix, and Norwid. He was also a popular piano teacher, with whom many great virtuosos aspired to study. Thanks to his boldness and compositional innovation in terms of harmony, melody, texture and color, as well as his deepened expression and drawing on stylistic patterns of Polish folk music, he raised the piano to the rank of a master instrument. Chopin’s work paved new ways for music development and was a source of inspiration for many later artists.

Composer, decorated independence activist, politician, and internationally touring pianist. He gained particular recognition and popularity in the United States, where he toured 29 times, and each visit  took long months. He taught harmony and counterpoint at the Strasbourg Conservatory; for many years he also gave piano lessons, and among his pupils were future laureates of the Chopin Competition (H. Sztompka, W. Małcużyński). In 1937 he took over the editorship of the Dzieła wszyskie” (“Complete Works”) of Fryderyk Chopin. His compositional output includes many works for piano, songs, chamber and orchestral works, and even an opera.

Conductor and educator; one of the most outstanding composers of Polish Romanticism, also called “the father of Polish national opera”. He created nationally oriented music, weaving expressive elements of Polish folklore into his compositions and using the works of Polish poets. He wrote many operas, operettas, ballets and cantatas, as well as over 250 songs, collected in 12 volumes of the Śpiewnik domowy (Household Songbook). From 1864 he was a lecturer at the Music Institute in Warsaw.

Amateur pianist and composer, at one time an icon of the art of amateur piano playing, virtually forgotten until recently. She wrote the first salon music “hit”, Modlitwa dziewicy (The Virgin’s Prayer), published in 1851. Since then, released over 550 times around the world, the piece has seen many arrangements – for various solo instruments, voice with accompaniment, and even orchestra. A total of 39 of Bądarzewska’s compositions have survived, all of which are piano miniatures, including mazurkas, waltzes, romances, and ballades. She was an inspiration to many amateur composers, including women.

The first Polish female pianist and talented composer to achieve worldwide fame. A precursor of Romanticism in Polish music. Her work left lasting traces in the works of other composers, including the early works of Fryderyk Chopin. Szymanowska’s legacy is varied, and the reviews that have survived to the present day suggest that her contemporaries already highly valued the originality of her works and performances. In 1827 she settled permanently in St. Petersburg, where she divided her professional life between concerts and giving piano lessons.

Conductor and educator, composer at the turn of Classicism and Romanticism. He combined classical formal and expressive means with elements of Polish musical folklore – mazurka and polonaise rhythms, Polish language, dialect, and folk melodies. At the center of his composing activities are operas, of which 18 have survived, as well as songs (including the famous Warszawianka (The Varsovian)). Kurpiński’s piano works are varied; they include variations, fantasies, and various forms of dance salon music. He conducted the first performance of Chopin’s Piano Concerto in F minor in 1830, with the composer as soloist.