Jerzy Petersburski (1895–1979) was a Jewish Polish pianist and composer of popular music, renowned mostly for his Tangos, some of which (such as '' To ostatnia niedziela'', ''Już nigdy'' and ''Tango Milonga'') were milestones in popularization of the musical genre in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and are still widely known today, more than half a century after their creation.

Early life

Jerzy Petersburski was born on 20 April 1895 into the well-known Warsaw family of Jewish musicians, Melodysta (on his mother's side). He graduated from the Warsaw Conservatory, where his professor was Antoni Sygietyński. Afterwards he moved to

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, where he continued his studies of conducting and at the faculty of

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

of the local Music Academy. A talented

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, he was persuaded by his friend Imré Kálmán to devote himself to popular rather than

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

. In

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he also debuted as a composer for

Alexander Vertinsky Alexander Nikolayevich Vertinsky (russian: Александр Николаевич Вертинский, — May 21, 1957) was a Russian and Soviet artist, poet, singer, composer, cabaret artist and actor who exerted seminal influence on the Ru ...

, a renowned Russian poet and songwriter, famous for his romances.

Return to Poland

Upon his return to

, with his cousin Artur Gold, he co-founded the Petersburski & Gold Orchestra, which performed at the fashionable nightspot ''Adria''.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1k-7MGb_jQ biographical notes attached to Petersburski's song ''Ty albo zadna'' He became well known for music for

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

and theaters in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

. Among them was

Julian Tuwim Julian Tuwim (13 September 1894 – 27 December 1953), known also under the pseudonym "Oldlen" as a lyricist, was a Polish poet, born in Łódź, then part of the Russian Partition. He was educated in Łódź and in Warsaw where he studied law ...

's and Marian Hemar's ''Qui Pro Quo'', one of the most famous Polish cabarets of the interbellum. In late 1920s and 1930s, Petersburski became one of the most popular Polish composers as several of his songs became hits on Polish Radio and in music theatres throughout the country. Apart from Marian Hemar, the list of lyricists for his songs included some of the most renowned of their times: Andrzej Włast, Emanuel Szlechter, Ludwik Szmaragd and Artur Tur. Also the performers of Petersburski's songs added to his popularity: Wera Bobrowska (''Już nigdy''), Hanka Ordonówna (''Sam mi mówiłeś''), Tola Mankiewiczówna (''Ty, miłość i wiosna''), Ludwik Sempoliński (''Cała przyjemność''), Chór Dana and

Mieczysław Fogg Mieczysław Fogg (born Mieczysław Fogiel; 30 May 1901, Warsaw3 September 1990, Warsaw) was a Polish singer and artist. His popularity started well before World War II and continued well into the 1980s. He had a characteristic way of staying ...

(''Bez śladu'') and

Adolf Dymsza Adolf Dymsza (born Adolf Bagiński; 7 April 1900 – 20 August 1975) was a Polish comedy actor of both the pre- World War II and post-war eras. He starred in both theatre and film productions, mainly before World War II. He and Kazimierz Krukowsk ...

(''Ja i żonka ma''). Despite being the writer of numerous

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...

es and

foxtrot The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a tim ...

s, as well as two

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its ...

s (''Kochanka z ekranu'' and ''Robert i Bertram''), Petersburski is best known for his

tangos Tangos may refer to: * "Tangos" (song), a song popularized in Spain * Tangos (district), a district or barangay in Navotas, Philippines * ''Tangos'' (album), a 1973 album by Buenos Aires 8 * ''Tangos'' (Rubén Blades album), a 2014 album by Ru ...

. In 1928 he composed a song for Stanisława Nowicka titled ''Tango Milonga'' in Polish. The song became a major hit and was almost instantly translated to several languages, gaining much popularity abroad, both in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and in

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

(the English and German title being ''Oh, Donna Clara''. The song was sung by many foreign artists, including Al Jolson, Henry Varny and

Édith Piaf Édith Piaf (, , ; born Édith Giovanna Gassion, ; December 19, 1915– October 10, 1963) was a French singer, lyricist and actress. Noted as France's national chanteuse, she was one of the country's most widely known international stars. Pi ...

"Another of his tango compositions that attained international recognition was ''To Ostatnia Niedziela (The Last Sunday)'' (1933) with lyric by Zenon Friedwald describing the final meeting of former lovers who are parting. In Poland, ''To ostatnia niedziela'' is commonly and erroneously called the ''Suicide Tango'' - although the true Suicide Tango was the Hungarian art song ''Smutna niedziela (Gloomy Sunday)''. During the 1930s eterburski's tangobecame an enormous evergreen in the Soviet Union, where it was played on virtually every street corner. It was so popular, that it was considered their own Russian tune."

Petersburski also wrote music for four Polish films in the 1930s, including Eugeniusz Bodo's successful ''Królowa przedmieścia'' of 1938.

Air Force Service

During the September campaign (Polish Defensive War) of 1939, Petersburski served with the

Polish Air Force The Polish Air Force ( pl, Siły Powietrzne, , Air Forces) is the aerial warfare branch of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as ''Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej'' (). In 2014 it consisted of roughly 16,425 mi ...

. After the country was overrun, he moved to the Soviet-occupied part of Poland. In 1940, he was allowed to continue his career and became the leader of the ''Belarusian Jazz Orchestra'' band. He performed many of his pre-war hits with new, Russian language lyrics. Among the original compositions of that time was the very popular

''Sinii Platochek'' (''The Blue Handkerchief'', Polish title ''Blekitna chusteczka'') performed by Klavdiya Shulzhenko, which became a popular folk song under the name ''The 22 June''. Another of his popular Russian songs (performed by, among others, the

Isaak Dunayevsky Isaak Osipovich Dunayevsky (russian: Исаак Осипович Дунаевский ; also transliterated as Dunaevski or Dunaevskiy; 25 July 1955) was a Soviet film composer and conductor of the 1930s and 1940s, who composed music for operet ...

's Orchestra) was ''Utomliennoye solntse'' (Weary sun), in fact a Russian version of his pre-war '' To ostatnia niedziela''. See also Burnt by the Sun. He also reorganized the Petersburski & Gold orchestra, this time together with Artur's brother Henryk Gold. After the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement of 1941 he joined the

Polish II Corps The Polish II Corps ( pl, Drugi Korpus Wojska Polskiego), 1943–1947, was a major tactical and operational unit of the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II. It was commanded by Lieutenant General Władysław Anders and fought wit ...

under

Władysław Anders ) , birth_name = Władysław Albert Anders , birth_date = , birth_place = Krośniewice-Błonie, Warsaw Governorate, Congress Poland, Russian Empire , death_date = , death_place = London, England, United Kingdom , serviceyears ...

. Evacuated with the rest of the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, he moved to

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

where he started working for the Polish Radio. In 1947 he traveled, via Palestine, to Brasil, where he had a piano duo with his friend from pre-war Poland, also a Jewish composer, Alfred Schuetz. From 1948 to 1968 he lived in Argentina, working with 'Radio El Mundo' in Buenos Aires. During this time, he composed the hit song ''All Roads Lead to Buenos Aires'', part of which became a famous radio jingle. He also co-led ''the El Nacional theatre orchestra'' with the famous Polish-Jewish cabaret actor Lopek ( Kazimierz Krukowski). After the death of his wife Maria Minkowska during the earthquake in 1967, Petersburski moved to Caracas, Venezuela and in 1968 returned to Poland. In 1968, after resettling in his beloved Warsaw, he married Sylwia Klejdysz, an opera singer. He died in 1979 in Warsaw. His son, Jerzy Petersburski Jr., was born in 1969.

Death

Jerzy Petersburski died on 7 October 1979 in Warsaw and is buried in Powązki Cemetery.

References

External links

Tango in Poland - Culture.pl
* Artur Gold orchestra * music Jerzy Petersburski, lyrics Andrzej Włast * From movie ''Co mój mąż robi w nocy? (What Does My Husband Do at Night?)'' music by Jerzy Petersburski lyrics Emanuel Schlechter * lyrics by Andrzej Włast, sung by Tadeusz Olsza * sung by

Stefan Witas Stefan Witas (born 21 June 1908 in Warsaw, died 18 August 2006 in Warsaw), also known as Stefan Nowita, was a Polish actor and singer. In 1933, he began performing at places of entertainment in Warsaw, then in theatrical stages in many Polish cit ...

Tango in Poland

List of some of the Polish tangos

Argentine Tango in Poland - BlauTango portal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petersburski, Jerzy 1895 births 1979 deaths 20th-century Polish Jews Jewish cabaret performers Jewish songwriters Polish composers 20th-century Polish pianists Tango musicians Polish cabaret performers Musicians from Warsaw Burials at Powązki Cemetery 20th-century comedians