Halina Krzyżanowska (1860, Paris–1937, Rennes) was an internationally renowned Polish-French pianist and composer.

Life

She was born in Paris, in a large musical family, which originally came from Poland and was a part of the impoverished Polish nobility. Halina (also ''Helene'') held by birth the title of a countess (''Gräfin'' in Germany, ''hrabina'' in Poland). She was (by her fathers family) also a distant relative of Chopin, whom she never personally knew, as he died at such an early age. Herb Swinka

She studied at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

with

Antoine François Marmontel Antoine François Marmontel () (18 July 1816 – 16 January 1898) was a French pianist, composer, teacher and musicographer. He is mainly known today as an influential teacher at the Paris Conservatory, where he taught many musicians who became ...

and

Ernest Guiraud Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor *Ernest, M ...

, and in 1880 she won the first prize at this prominent Conservatory. She gave many concerts in various European countries and settled later in France as a professor at the conservatory in Rennes. She was known as a very talented pianist and has made a name for herself also as a composer.

Works

Krzyżanowska composed orchestral and chamber music, piano sonatas and character pieces for piano. Selected works include: *''Magdusia'' (1894) 1-act opera *''Fantasie'' piano concerto *''Sonata'' for cello and pianoPlayed by herself and cellist Louis Rosoor in Bordeaux on 7 December 1927
''La Petite Gironde'', 9 December 1927)
( fr).

References

1860 births 1937 deaths 19th-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers Polish composers Women classical composers 20th-century women composers 19th-century women composers Polish women composers {{Poland-composer-stub