Tuesday, November 01, 2011

ABC Wednesday

The letter P

P is for Paderewski



and here is Ignacy Jan Paderewski playing Frederic Chopin;  a Nocturne, A Waltz and his beautiful Etude in A Minor, Opus 25/11


Paderewski was a famous Polish pianist, who from his early childhood had a great interest in music.  He
made his musical debut im Vienna in 1887 and his brilliant playing inspired extravagant praise both in Europe and the United States.

During World War 1 Paderewski became an active member and spokesman of the Polish National Committee and in 1919 he became the Prime Minister of a newly independent Poland,and subsequently the Polish Ambassador to the League of Nations.

In 1922 he retired from politics and returned to his musical life, touring the United States 
in a private railway car with great success.  He was a wit, and a raconteur, and he once recalled "I established a certain standard of  behaviour, that, during my playing, there must be no talking.  When they began to talk I would stop.  I would say 'I am sorry to interrupt your conversation.  I deeply regret that I am obliged to disturb you, so I am going to stop for a while to allow you to continue talking'.  an effective ploy.

Paderewski died in 1941, still touring, still delighting his audience with his brilliant playing......

For more Perfect Ps visit here at ABC Wednesday.







13 comments:

Kay L. Davies said...

Even though he died before I was born, I have been familiar with his name all my life. The great ones live on, don't they?
A super choice for the letter P, my friend!

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie’s Guide to Adventurous Travel

Roger Owen Green said...

I have at least one recording of his music; I'll have to look it up now!

ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Tumblewords: said...

Excellent post - love the header!

Reader Wil said...

Thank you for this informative post. He plays well and I love Chopin's music . You always choose wonderful music!

jabblog said...

Like Kay, I have been familiar with Paderewksi all my life.

The 94-year-old recording demonstrates remarkably the crispness of his playing.

SoulDragon said...

Oh, this is great! I studied his piano minuet, and my grandfather had an old 78 rpm record of him playing. I wish we still had it.

Gigi Ann said...

I love his thinking about no talking while he played. I, too, have heard of him, and I loved your choice of music for us to listen to. I didn't say a word while I listened.

Carver said...

What a great person to feature for the P post.

Unknown said...

A perfect post for the ears! Thank you!
HelenMac
ABC Wednesday Team

nonizamboni said...

What a delightful post with Chopin in the background! Paderewski was a favorite of my dad so I heard him a lot growing up. . .he had an interesting life outside of his music.
Always a nice visit with you.

Chronicles of Illusions said...

great choice - wonderful

MERYL JAFFE, PhD - parent, psychologist, teacher, author... said...

This was a really interesting post and I LOVED the recording.

Chubskulit Rose said...

Perfect PICK for P! Late visiting from ABC Wednesday!

Hand and Foot Prints is my P, please come and see.