Jan Stanisław Ekier (29 August 1913 – 15 August 2014) was a Polish pianist and composer known for his authoritative edition of Chopin's music for the

Chopin National Edition The National Edition of the Works of Fryderyk Chopin (), also known as the Chopin National Edition and the Polish National Edition, is an urtext edition of the complete works by Frédéric Chopin, aiming to present his output in its authentic fo ...

Biography

Ekier was born in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, Poland. As a youth, he studied piano with Olga Stolfowa, and later composition with Bernardino Rizzi at the Władysław Żeleński School of Music. He continued formal music studies at the Warsaw Conservatory, where his teachers included Zbigniew Drzewiecki (piano) and

Kazimierz Sikorski Kazimierz Sikorski (June 28, 1895 – July 23, 1986) was a Polish composer. His arrangement of the "" is currently used as the Polish national anthem. Biography Sikorski was born in Zurich, but studied in Warsaw, first music at the Warsaw Cons ...

(composition). He was awarded the

III International Chopin Piano Competition The III International Chopin Piano Competition () was held from 21 February to 13 March 1937 in Warsaw. It was the last competition before the outbreak of World War II, and the competition would not be held again until IV International Chopin P ...

's 8th prize in 1937. He was later an organ student with Bronisław Rutkowski. In 1959, he started the project of a new critical edition of Chopin's works that later became the

. From 1967 to 2010, the entirety of Chopin's known works were published in 37 volumes, accompanied by source and performance commentaries. In 2004, he received a special award from the Minister of Culture of Poland, "in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the preservation and popularization of the legacy of Fryderyk Chopin, in particular for the monumental edition of the National Edition of the Works of Fryderyk Chopin, restoring to European culture the art of the great Polish composer in a form closest to its historical original." On 17 April 2000, Ekier was awarded the Commander's Cross with Star of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

. On 21 October 2010, he received the Order of the White Eagle. His first wife was the Polish actress

Danuta Szaflarska Danuta Szaflarska (; 6 February 1915 – 19 February 2017) was a Polish film and stage actress. In 2008 she was awarded the Złota Kaczka for the best Polish actress of the century. Szaflarska participated in the Warsaw Uprising as a liaison. Sz ...

. Ekier died 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 ...

, two weeks short of his 101st birthday. Among his students are Marta Karbownicka, Bronisława Kawalla, Piotr Paleczny, Alicja Paleta-Bugaj and Yuko Kawai.

References

External links

The Fryderyk Chopin Institute, profile of Jan Ekier

Biography

References

External links

See also