''Homage to Paderewski'' is an album of piano pieces by 17 composers, published in 1942 in honour of the Polish pianist, composer and statesman

Ignacy Jan Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (;

r 1859 R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ar'' (pronounced ), plural ''ars''. The lette ...

– 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation's Prime Minister of Poland, prime minister and foreign minister durin ...

Background

''Homage to Paderewski'' was commissioned by the music publisher

Boosey & Hawkes Boosey & Hawkes is a British Music publisher (sheet music), music publisher, purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass instrument, brass, string instru ...

in 1941 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Paderewski's American debut in 1891. It was Zygmunt Stojowski who initiated the venture. He encouraged some composer friends of Paderewski's to write miniatures for the anniversary. However, Paderewski died on 29 June 1941, before the project was completed, and so the album, on its publication in 1942, became a posthumous tribute to his life and work. Twenty-one composers submitted 22 works, and 17 were chosen for publication. Of these 17 composers, only three were native-born Americans. The remainder had either settled in North America or were working there temporarily (

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

and Eugene Goossens were in the United States;

Arthur Benjamin Arthur Leslie Benjamin (18 September 1893 in Sydney – 10 April 1960 in London) was an Australian composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. He is best known as the composer of ''Jamaican Rumba'' (1938) and of the '' Storm Clouds Cantata'', fea ...

was in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

). Britten misunderstood the commission and wrote a piece for two pianos. It was published separately but is still considered a part of the overall homage.

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

did not write a new piece but provided a short suite of three pieces written in 1914–18.

Jaromír Weinberger Jaromír Weinberger (8 January 1896 – August 8, 1967) was a Bohemian-born Jewish subject of the Austrian Empire, who became a naturalized American composer. Biography Weinberger was born in Prague, Austria-Hungary, into a family of Jewish ori ...

's contribution also seems to have been composed earlier, in 1924.

Ernest Schelling Ernest Henry Schelling (July 26, 1876 – December 8, 1939) was an American pianist, composer, and conducting, conductor, and music director. He was the conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra from 1935 to 1937. Biography He was born in ...

, a student of Paderewski, had died in 1939, but his widow submitted a late untitled composition, in the belief that he would have wanted to be involved. The pieces are all short, none taking more than four minutes to play and some just over one minute. The premiere recording of the complete work was made in 2011 by

Jonathan Plowright Jonathan Plowright (born 1959) is an English classical pianist. Life and career Plowright was born in Yorkshire, England. He was educated at Stonyhurst College, in Lancashire. He was a gold medallist at the Royal Academy of Music, London, where h ...

, with Aaron Shorr in the Britten piece.

The music

References

Sources

Hyperion Records

Homage to Paderewski
at

{{Ignacy Jan Paderewski Composer tributes (classical music) Compositions for solo piano Suites (music) 1941 compositions 1918 compositions Collaborations in classical music Solo piano compositions by Béla Bartók Compositions by Arthur Benjamin Compositions by Benjamin Britten Compositions by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Compositions by Bohuslav Martinů Compositions by Darius Milhaud Compositions by Vittorio Rieti Compositions by Zygmunt Stojowski Compositions by Jaromír Weinberger Ignacy Jan Paderewski