Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska
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Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska, also known as Tekla Bądarzewska (Polish pronunciation: ; 1829/1834 – 29 September 1861) was a Polish
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...
and
pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...
. She composed mainly for the piano and is internationally known for her composition '' A Maiden's Prayer''.


Life and death

Bądarzewska was born in 1829 in
Mława Mława (; ''Mlave'') is a town in north-eastern Poland with 30,403 inhabitants in 2020. It is the capital of Mława County. It is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship. During the invasion of Poland in 1939, the battle of Mława was fought to the ...
or 1834 in
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
to Andrzej Bądarzewski and Tekla Bądarzewska (Chrzanowska). Andrzej Bądarzewski was a successful police commissioner, and moved his family to Warsaw in 1835. Tekla married Jan Baranowski and they had five children in their nine years of marriage. Bądarzewska-Baranowska died on 29 September 1861 in Warsaw. One of her daughters, Bronisława, was enrolled at the Warsaw Institute of Music in 1875.


Early works and marriage

At age 14, Bądarzewska composed and published her first piece, ''Vals Pour le Pianoforte'', dedicated to Anna Makiewicz, the benefactress of a local orphanage. This piece was published by Franciszek Henryk Spiess, an important bookseller at the time. Four years after the publication of her ''Vals'', Bądarzewska married Jan Baranowski, an army captain. In 1857, the Czarist authorities gave Baranowski the Order of St. Stanislaus (Russian Empire) third class. Later, in 1863, Baranowski was transferred to
Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...
, leaving Bądarzewska alone with their 5 children.


''A Maiden's Prayer''

Bądarzewska wrote about 35 small compositions for piano; by far her most famous composition is the piece ', Op. 4 ("A Maiden's Prayer", ), which was published in 1856 in Warsaw, and then as a supplement to the ''
Revue et gazette musicale de Paris The ' () was a weekly musical review founded in 1827 by the Belgian musicologist, teacher and composer François-Joseph Fétis, then working as professor of counterpoint and fugue at the Conservatoire de Paris. It was the first French-languag ...
'' in 1859. Several musical scholars have spoken somewhat ill of Bądarzewska's musical career.
Percy Scholes Percy Alfred Scholes (pronounced ''skolz''; 24 July 1877 – 31 July 1958) was an English musician, journalist, vegetarianism activist and prolific writer, whose best-known achievement was his compilation of the first edition of the '' Oxford Co ...
writes of Bądarzewska in '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' (9th edition, reprinted 1967): "Born in Warsaw in and died there in 1861, aged . In this brief lifetime she accomplished, perhaps, more than any composer who ever lived, for she provided the piano of absolutely every tasteless sentimental person in the so-called civilised world with a piece of music which that person, however unaccomplished in a dull technical sense, could play. It is probable that if the market stalls and back-street music shops of Britain were to be searched The Maiden's Prayer would be found to be still selling, and as for the Empire at large, Messrs. Allen of Melbourne reported in 1924, sixty years after the death of the composer, that their house alone was still disposing of copies a year." The composition is a short piano piece for intermediate pianists. Some have liked it for its charming and romantic melody, and others have described it as "sentimental salon tosh." The pianist and academic
Arthur Loesser Arthur Adolph Loesser (August 26, 1894 – January 5, 1969) was an American classical pianist, musicologist, and writer. Early life Born into a musical family in New York City, Loesser received early piano training from his German-born father until ...
described it as a "dowdy product of ineptitude." The American musician
Bob Wills James Robert "Bob" Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although Spade C ...
arranged the piece in the
Western swing Western swing, country jazz or smooth country is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which att ...
style and wrote lyrics for it. He first recorded it in 1935 as "
Maiden's Prayer "A Maiden's Prayer" (original Polish title: "" Op. 4, French: "") is a composition of Polish composer Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska (1834–1861). It was published in 1856 in Warsaw, and then as a supplement to the '' Revue et gazette musicale ...
". Later, it became a
standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...
recorded by many
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
artists. It is also played on certain garbage trucks in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
. In the 1930 opera ''
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny ''Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'' () is a political-satirical opera composed by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht. It was first performed on 9 March 1930 at the in Leipzig. Some interpreters have viewed the play as a ...
'' by
Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...
and
Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
, scene 9 in act 1 is satirically based on a pianistic paraphrase of the piece, whose theme is quoted by the men's chorus later in the following ensemble.


In popular culture

In 2016, she appeared as one half of a pop idol duo with
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...
in an
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
series, ''
Classicaloid is a 2016 Japanese musical comedy anime television series produced by Sunrise and NHK. The series premiered on October 8, 2016, on NHK E, and aired until April 1, 2017. A second season began airing on October 7, 2017, and aired until March 24, ...
''. She was portrayed by
Mao Ichimichi is a Japanese actress. She started her career as a Japanese idol member of Horipro's HOP Club under the stage name and is a gravure idol. She started an extensive voice acting career under the stage name . Biography Ichimichi worked with Ho ...
.


Remembrance

*In 1991, a crater on Venus was named ''Badarzewska'' by the
International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...
(IAU) in honour of the Polish composer. *In 2007, an album produced by Yukihisa Miyayama containing collected compositions by Bądarzewska was released for the first time in Japan. *In 2008, the composer was the main protagonist of a
Prix Italia The Prix Italia is an international television, radio-broadcasting and web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with th ...
-winning documentary by Dorota Halasa and Katarzyna Michalak. *In 2010, a square in the Warsaw district of
Muranów Muranów () is a neighbourhood in the districts of Śródmieście (Downtown) and Wola in central Warsaw, the capital of Poland. It was founded in the 17th century. The name is derived from the palace belonging to Simone Giuseppe Belotti, a Vene ...
was named in remembrance of Bądarzewska. It is located at 13 Anders Street. *In 2012, the Tekla Bądarzewska Society (Polish: ''Towarzystwo Miłośników Twórczości Tekli Bądarzewskiej'') was established in the composer's hometown of
Mława Mława (; ''Mlave'') is a town in north-eastern Poland with 30,403 inhabitants in 2020. It is the capital of Mława County. It is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship. During the invasion of Poland in 1939, the battle of Mława was fought to the ...
with the aim of preserving and promoting the music legacy of Bądarzewska. *In 2012, thanks to the efforts of the Warsaw's Friends Society (Polish: ''Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Warszawy'') the first Polish album with Bądarzewska's works titled ''Zapomniany dźwięk'' (The Forgotten Sound) was released. *In 2012, a book by Beata Michalec entitled ''Tekla z Bądarzewskich Baranowska, autorka nieśmiertelnej La prière d’une vierge – Miejsca, czas i ludzie'' (Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska, the Author of the Immortal La prière d’une vierge: Places, Time and People) was published. *Bądarzewska's grave at the
Powązki Cemetery Powązki Cemetery (; ), also known as Stare Powązki (), is a historic necropolis located in Wola district, in the western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of the oldest, having been established in 179 ...
has been decorated with a figure of a woman holding a roll of sheet music with an inscription in French ''La prière d’une vierge'' (A Maiden's Prayer).


See also

*
Music of Poland The music of Poland covers diverse aspects of music and musical traditions which have originated, and are practiced in Poland. Artists from Poland include world-famous classical composers like Frédéric Chopin, Karol Szymanowski, Witold Lutos ...
*
List of Polish composers This is a list of notable and representative Poland, Polish composers. Note: This list should contain notable composers, best with an existing article on Wikipedia. If a notable Polish composer is Talk:List of Polish composers#Article Requests, ...


References


External links

* * *
Polish website

Scores by Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska
in digital library
Polona Polona is a Polish digital library, which provides digitized books, magazines, graphics, maps, music, fliers and manuscripts from collections of the National Library of Poland and co-operating institutions. It began its operation in 2006. Colle ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Badarzewska, Tekla 19th-century births 1861 deaths 19th-century Polish classical composers Burials at Powązki Cemetery Polish women classical composers Musicians from Warsaw Polish Romantic composers 19th-century Polish women composers