Poldowski was the professional pseudonym of a Belgian-born British composer and pianist born Régine Wieniawski (16 May 187928 January 1932), daughter of the Polish violinist and composer

Henryk Wieniawski Henryk Wieniawski (; 10 July 183531 March 1880) was a Polish virtuoso violinist, composer, and pedagogue, who is regarded amongst the most distinguished violinists in history. His younger brother Józef Wieniawski and nephew :pl:Adam Tadeusz Wien ...

. Some of her early works were published under the name Irène Wieniawska. She married Sir Aubrey Dean Paul, 5th Bt (1869–1961), becoming Lady Dean Paul. Her name appears in a number of forms: * Régine Wieniawski * Irène Wieniawska * Irene Regina Wieniawski or Wieniawska * Lady Dean Paul * Lady Irene Dean Paul * Lady Irene Poldowski Paul * (Madame) Poldowski, Poldowsky or Poldowska.

Biography

Régine Wieniawski was born on 16 May 1879 in

Ixelles (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Pentagon (Brussels), Brusse ...

, Brussels, where her father, the Polish virtuoso violinist and composer

, had earlier settled on his appointment as a professor of the Brussels Conservatory. Her mother was an Englishwoman, Isabelle Bessie Wieniawski (née Hampton), the niece of Irish pianist and composer George Alexander Osborne (who studied under Johann Peter Pixis,

François-Joseph Fétis François-Joseph Fétis (; 25 March 1784 – 26 March 1871) was a Belgian musicologist, critic, teacher and composer. He was among the most influential music intellectuals in continental Europe. His enormous compilation of biographical data in the ...

and

Friedrich Kalkbrenner Friedrich Wilhelm Michael Kalkbrenner (7 November 1785 – 10 June 1849), also known as ''Frédéric Kalkbrenner'', was a pianist, composer, piano teacher and piano manufacturer. German by birth, Kalkbrenner studied at the Conservatoire de Paris ...

and was a close friend of

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 Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

and

Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

) and a member of a London family that had had associations with

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...

, Meyerbeer,

Jenny Lind Johanna Maria Lind (Madame Goldschmidt) (6 October 18202 November 1887) was a Swedish opera singer, often called the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she performed in soprano roles in opera in ...

Michael William Balfe Michael William Balfe (15 May 1808 – 20 October 1870) was an Irish composer, best remembered for his operas, especially ''The Bohemian Girl''. After a short career as a violinist, Balfe pursued an operatic singing career, while he began to co ...

and

Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who founded the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He was the elder brother of Nikolai Rubinstein, who founded the Moscow Conservatory. As a pianist, Rubinstein ran ...

. She was named Régine after her paternal grandmother Regina Wolff. It is sometimes stated that Régine was born a few weeks after the death of her father. However, this seems to be an error caused by some earlier sources stating she was born in May 1880 rather than May 1879; her father died on 31 March 1880, in Moscow, while on a concert tour, when Irene was ten months old. Her musical studies are also disputed. She initially studied piano with a Miss Ellis. She told her official biographers that she entered the Brussels Conservatoire at age 12, studying piano with Pierre Storck and composition with

François-Auguste Gevaert François-Auguste Gevaert (31 July 1828 – 24 December 1908) was a Belgian musicologist and composer. Nicolas Slonimsky, ed., '' Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 8th ed., Schirmer Books, New York Life Gevaert was born in Huise ...

. Later she continued her studies in London with Michael Hambourg and

Percy Pitt Percy Pitt (4 January 1869 – 23 November 1932) was an England, English organist, Conductor (music), conductor, composer, and Director of Music of the BBC from 1924 to 1930. Biography A native of London, Pitt studied music in Europe at ...

. After her marriage she returned to Paris to study with

André Gedalge André Gedalge (27 December 1856 – 5 February 1926) was a French composer and teacher. Biography André Gedalge was born at 75 rue des Saints-Pères in Paris where he first worked as a bookseller and editor, specialising in ''livres de prix' ...

, and after her first child died she studied under

Vincent d'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the Pa ...

at the

Schola Cantorum de Paris The Schola Cantorum de Paris ( being ) is a private conservatory in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera. History The Schola ...

. However, some of the above is contradicted by the fact that her name does not appear in any records of the Brussels Conservatory. In 1887, aged eight, she was introduced to and befriended by

Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic lyric coloratura soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early twentieth century, and was the f ...

, then making her debut at

La Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (, ; , ; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National Opera of Belgium, a federal institution, takes the name of this theatre in which it is ho ...

. In 1893, aged 14, she publicly performed some of her own compositions. She was a neighbour of Octave Maus and her songs ''Cortège'' and ''Cythère'' were dedicated to Maus and his wife Madeleine. In 1896, Régine Wieniawski and her mother moved to London. There she published some early works under the name Irène Wieniawska. In 1901, she married a descendant of the

1st Duke of Marlborough General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 O.S.) was a British army officer and statesman. From a gentry family, he ...

, Sir Aubrey Edward Henry Dean Paul, 5th Bt (19 October 1869 – 16 January 1961) to whom she had been introduced by

. She thus became Lady Dean Paul, and adopted British nationality, but continued to publish works as "Irène Wieniawska" They had three children: * Aubrey Donald Fitzwarren Severin Dean Paul (1902–04) * Sir Brian Kenneth "Napper" Dean Paul, 6th Bt. (1904–72; an amateur muralist and opium taker, whose portrait was painted by

Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. His early career as a painter was inf ...

) * Brenda Irene Isabelle Dean Paul (1907–59; she became a well-known actress and "society drug addict" who was frequently arrested on charges of possession. She spent time in

Holloway Prison HM Prison Holloway was a British prison security categories, closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, ...

. She died of a drug overdose in her flat. The early death of Lady Dean Paul's first-born son devastated her and ultimately led to the break-up of her marriage. It inspired three works, the songs ''Soir'' and ''Berceuse d'Armorique'', and the violin-piano piece ''Berceuse pour l'enfant mourant''. She then adopted the pseudonym Poldowski. Gervase Elwes introduced her

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine ( ; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolism (movement), Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' ...

songs to the English concert stage in 1912 at the Queen's Hall. These songs then had a great vogue in Paris and this performance made a deep impression. He had been impressed with her music ever since he had first encountered it almost 20 years earlier, in 1893 in Brussels. He felt they showed "great originality and for her age, great finish". Elwes encountered her again in 1903, in Brussels, and she dedicated two of her songs to him. A concert of her songs she was to have given in the United States with Gervase Elwes in 1921 had to be cancelled when he was killed in a rail accident in Boston. She moved to Brussels in the spring of 1912 after Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians had expressed a desire to hear her. She accompanied Émile Chaumont in the premiere of her Violin Sonata in D minor, which was dedicated to Octave Maus, and was then performed in Paris by her close friend, the French pianist Lazare Lévy, whom she had met in Miss Ellis's class. Lévy premiered her piano solo piece ''Caledonian Market'', in 1923. In January 1912 her friend

Henry Wood Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hundr ...

conducted the premieres of her ''Suite miniature'' and ''Nocturnes'' at the Sunday Concerts. In 1913 she returned to Brussels for the last time to accompany Jane Bathori-Engel in four of her Verlaine settings. She and her family converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in 1916. In 1919, at the Queen's Hall, Henry Wood accompanied Poldowski at the premiere of her piano and orchestra piece, "Pat Malone's Wake". She fell seriously ill in the autumn of 1913. In August 1919 Poldowski moved to the United States, where her "symphonic opera" ''Silence'' was published despite serious financial issues. Her opera ''Silence'' was premiered in London on 29 March 1920 as part of the Komisarjevsky-Rosing Russian Matinee Season at the Duke of York's Theatre. Polodowski legally separated from her husband in 1921. She returned to London in 1922; her regular visitors included playwright

Alfred Sutro Alfred Sutro OBE (7 August 1863 – 11 September 1933) was an English dramatist, writer and translator. In addition to a succession of successful plays of his own in the first quarter of the 20th century, Sutro made the first English translation ...

, mezzo-soprano Marguerite d'Alvarez, conductor Eugène Goossens, fils, harpsichordist

Violet Gordon-Woodhouse Violet Gordon-Woodhouse (23 April 18729 January 1948) was a British keyboard player. She specialised in the harpsichord and clavichord, and was influential in bringing both instruments back into fashion. She was the first person to record the h ...

, violinist Paul Kochanski and the composers

Peter Warlock Philip Arnold Heseltine (30 October 189417 December 1930), known by the pseudonym Peter Warlock, was a British composer and music critic. The Warlock name, which reflects Heseltine's interest in occult practices, was used for all his published ...

and

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

. Her 1923 series of midday recitals at the Hyde Park Hotel, known as ''The International Concerts of

La Libre Esthétique ''La Libre Esthétique'' ( French; "The Free Aesthetics") was an artistic society founded in 1893 in Brussels, Belgium to continue the efforts of the artists' group '' Les XX'' dissolved the same year. To reduce conflicts between artists invited o ...

'', attracted

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein Order of the British Empire, KBE OMRI (; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

, Jacques Thibaud and the London String Quartet. She also opened a fashionable ''

haute couture (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design. The term ''haute couture'' generally refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the ...

'' boutique where she produced several creations for the British Royal Family. On a 1925 tour of Spain, she was given a gift of a diamond bracelet by the King and Queen of Spain.

Death

She later became seriously ill with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, her right lung was removed, and she died of a heart attack on 28 January 1932, in London, aged 52.

Music

Poldowski was a gifted composer of songs, and her style shows strong influences of

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

. She set 22 French texts of

, as well as English texts by

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...

Alfred, Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of ...

and others.

Discography

Texts by Paul Verlaine

* ''Trois mélodies sur des poésies de Paul Verlaine'' ** 1. ''Dimanches d'avril'' ** 2. ''Bruxelles'' ** 3. ''En sourdine'' * ''À Clymène'' * ''A poor young shepherd'' * ''Brume'' * ''Circonspection'' * ''Colombine'' * ''Cortège'' * ''Crépuscule du soir mystique'' * ''Cythère'' * ''Dansons la gigue!'' * ''Effet de neige'' * ''Fantoches'' * ''Impression fausse'' * ''L'attente'' * ''Le faune'' (dedicated to Vladimir Rosing) * ''L'heure exquise'' * ''Mandoline'' * ''Spleen'' * ''Sur l'herbe'' * ''Nous deux (Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d'été)'' Recently, the complete cycle of 22 songs has been transcribed for chamber ensemble by David Jackson. A recording of the complete cycle by Ensemble 1904, featuring the unpublished 22nd song ''Nous deux (Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d'été)'', was to be released by Resonus Classics in 2017.

Other texts

* ''Berceuse d'Armorique'' (Anatole le Braz) * ''Dans une musette'' (Marie Closset) * ''Down by the Salley Gardens'' (

) * ''La passante'' (her own text) * ''Nocturne (des cantilènes)'' (Jean Moréas) * ''Pannyre aux talons d'or'' (Albert Victor Samain) * ''Sérénade'' (Adolphe Ratté) * ''Soir'' (Albert Victor Samain)

Other works

Her other works include: * ''Silence'', symphonic opera. Premiered on 29 March 1920 at the Duke of York's Theatre as part of the Komisarjevsky-Rosing Russian Matinee Season. * ''Laughter'', operetta * ''Nocturnes'', orchestra * ''Tenements'', orchestra * ''Pat Malone's Wake'', piano and orchestra * ''Suite miniature de chansons à danser'', wind quintet * ''Caledonian Market'', suite for piano * ''The Hall of Machinery – Wembley'', piano * Sonatine, piano * Study, piano * Violin Sonata in D minor * pieces for violin and piano such as ''Berceuse de l'Enfant mourant'', ''Largo'', ''Phryne'', and ''Tango''. (The ''Tango'' was recorded by

Jascha Heifetz Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-American violinist, widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. Born in Vilnius, he was soon recognized as a child prodigy and was trained in the Russian classical violin styl ...

.) Many of her larger works are lost. Her complete catalogue of music, including unpublished works, compiled by David Mooney, is available at SMI Music Theses Register.

Discography

* ''Tango'' - Jascha Heifetz, violin ; Emanuel Bay, piano (17 octobre 1946, RCA)35 * ''Poldowski, mélodies 7 mélodies' - Élise Gäbele, soprano ; Philippe Riga, piano ; Sylvain Cremers, hautbois d'amour (2-4 novembre 2006, Musique en Wallonie MEW 0741)36 (OCLC 547232426) * ''A Verlaine songbook melodies' - Carolyn Sampson, soprano ; Joseph Middleton, piano (janvier 2016, SACD BIS Records) ivret en ligne [archive (OCLC 966294235) * ''Poldowski Art'songs [23 mélodies">rchive.html" ;"title="ivret en ligne [archive">ivret en ligne [archive (OCLC 966294235) * ''Poldowski Art'songs [23 mélodies' - Angelique Zuluaga, soprano ; Gwendolyn Mok, piano ; Quatuor à cordes Alexandre ; Ryan Zwahlen, hautbois d'amour (12 ,13, 14 février et 26 août 2016 Delos DE 3538) * ''Poldowski re/imagined, 22 mélodies sur les poèmes de Paul Verlaine'' - Ensemble 1904 : Jazmin Black-Grollemund, soprano; Angélique Charlopain, violin; Jérémie Decottignies, double bass; David Jackson, piano & arrangements (28-30 novembre 2016, Resonus Classics RES10196
[CD booklet
/nowiki>] * ''Violin Sonata in D Minor'', British Women Composers - Clare Howick, violin; Sophia Rahman, piano (October 2010
Naxos 8.572291
* Irena Regina Wieniawska vel Poldowski - Works for violin and piano" - Art Chamber Duo - Jarosław Pietrzak (violin), Julita Przybylska-Nowak (piano) - June 2020
GRANTOR GCD003

References

External links

Sources

Eric Blom Eric Walter Blom (20 August 188811 April 1959) was a Swiss-born British-naturalised music lexicographer, music critic and writer. He is best known as the editor of the 5th edition of ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1954). Earl ...

, Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., 1954 {{DEFAULTSORT:Poldowski 1879 births 1932 deaths Belgian composers British composers Belgian women composers Wives of baronets British women composers Belgian emigrants to the United Kingdom

Biography

Death

Music

Discography

Texts by Paul Verlaine

Other texts

Other works

Discography

References

Further reading

External links

Sources