Ignacy and Me

Blog

I recently was given a tour of the Polish American Museum in Chicago and I was stunned at the beauty and rich diversity of the art on display. The paintings exhibit an enormous range of style, from Impressionism to Modernism, Pointillism to Expressionism, nearly every “ism” I could think of.

But for me personally the biggest thrill was by far the Paderewski room. In the photo above you can see an exact replica of his hotel room in New York when he lived there right down to a cigarette in the ashtray that looks he just put it out.

When I was taking piano lessons as an undergraduate, my teacher would only let me buy editions of Chopin that had been edited by Paderewski. Only he understood Chopin’s music and was fit to be its editor. Because of this I always had a vague impression that he was probably a brilliant pianist but best known as an editor.

What a revelation then to discover the real Ignacy Paderewski some twenty years later in a museum on Milwaukee Avenue!

What an incredible guy! A brilliant pianist and statesman with larger than life charisma who was literally a living legend. He was Prime Minister of Poland and signed the Treaty of Versailles on behalf of Poland after World War I, he was an outspoken proponent of Polish independence and represented Poland at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and the list just goes on from there.

I’m really enthralled by the idea of the artist statesman like Paderewski or Vaclav Havel. Paderewski, unlike the vast majority of politicians it seems to me, absolutely had the best interests of Poland at heart. And he was a brilliant pianist. I’m so glad that I finally got to know him.

Written by: Seth Boustead
On: March 15, 2015

News

‘Reciprocity Failure’ Redux in NYC

ACM brings the Sound of Silent Film Festival to New York City on May 31st and June 1st and my Read More
‘Reciprocity Failure’ Score at the Sound of Silent Film Festival in Chicago

My score for the short film Reciprocity Failure by Ben Westlake will be performed by Access Contemporary Music at the Read More
‘Hardly Working’ Premiere by Black Oak Ensemble on March 29

A work I wrote inspired by Studs Terkel’s magnum opus Working will be premiered on March 29th at Symphony Space Read More
‘Dream Ritual’ to be Premiered at St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery on March 17

My brand spanking new piece Dream Ritual for string trio will be premiered on March 17 as part of Composers Read More
‘Bricks, Beds and Sheepheads’ Performance at Westbeth on March 2nd

I wrote a new score for the fascinating film by Imelda O’Reilly Bricks, Beds and Sheepheads and it will be Read More
Concept Lab at Chamber Music America

I’m hosting a special version of ACM’s Concept Lab program at Chamber Music America’s national conference this year. Three lucky Read More
‘Three Kings’ Performances on 1/13 and 1/14

My first performances of the year will be on January 13 and 14 when my new work Three Kings gets Read More
‘The Sorcerer’ Premiere on December 2nd and 3rd

Last month I finished a new piece commissioned from Random Access Music for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, electric guitar and Read More
‘The Silence’ Performance on 11/28

A song I wrote as part of a cycle called Songs of Love and Transience will be performed as part Read More
‘On the Verge’ Performance on November 18

My new piece for saxophone, electric guitar and piano On the Verge will be premiered by Todd Rewoldt, Gene Pritsker Read More

Blog

Ignacy and Me

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

News

Blog Archives