, native_name_lang = , alias = , origin = Polish , birth_date = , birth_place =

Mšeno Mšeno (; german: Wemschen) is a town in Mělník District the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,400 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrative part ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

, death_date = , death_place =

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 officia ...

, genre = , occupation =

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 ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist, teacher, composer , instrument = , years_active = , label = , associated_acts = , website = Krakowskie Przedmieście 19, Warsaw, Poland

Wojciech Żywny ( cs, Vojtěch Živný; May 13, 1756February 21, 1842) was a Czech-born Polish

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 ...

ist, teacher and composer. He was

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

's first professional piano teacher.

Life

Żywny was born in

, and became a pupil of Jan Kuchař. As a youth, during the reign of

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1764 to 1795, and the last monarch ...

, he moved to

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 populous ...

to become the music tutor to the children of Princess Sapieha.Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed, 1954, Vol. IX, p. 433 He later moved to

. He was the first professional

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 ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

, who received lessons from him between 1816 and 1821. Żywny instilled in Chopin a lasting love of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

. Chopin's piano skills soon surpassed those of his respected teacher. In 1821, eleven-year-old Chopin dedicated a Polonaise in A-flat major to Żywny as a

name-day In Christianity, a name day is a tradition in many countries of Europe and the Americas, among other parts of Christendom. It consists of celebrating a day of the year that is associated with one's baptismal name, which is normatively that of a ...

gift. Żywny died in 1842, aged 85, in Warsaw.

Works

Żywny wrote many pieces for piano, violin, as well as orchestral works, few of which are known or published today. They show refined mastery of the classical style, with definite romantic influences. Another influence on his music was

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

Notes

References

* Zdzisław Jachimecki, "Chopin, Fryderyk Franciszek," ''

Polski słownik biograficzny ''Polski Słownik Biograficzny'' (''PSB''; Polish Biographical Dictionary) is a Polish-language biographical dictionary, comprising an alphabetically arranged compilation of authoritative biographies of some 25,000 notable Poles and of foreigners ...

'', vol. III, Kraków,

Polska Akademia Umiejętności The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences or Polish Academy of Learning ( pl, Polska Akademia Umiejętności), headquartered in Kraków and founded in 1872, is one of two institutions in contemporary Poland having the nature of an academy of scien ...

, 1937, pp. 420–26.

External links

Portrait of Wojciech Żywny by Ambroży Mieroszewski, 1829

(in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

) 1756 births 1842 deaths 18th-century Bohemian musicians 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian musicians Czech music educators Czech classical pianists Czech classical violinists Czech classical composers Male classical violinists Polish music educators Piano pedagogues Polish classical pianists Polish classical composers Male classical pianists Polish people of Czech descent Polish violinists Frédéric Chopin People from Mělník District {{Poland-musician-stub