Moissaye Boguslawski (born Moses Boguslawski; November 1, 1887 – August 30, 1944) was an American pianist, composer, editor and teacher. Sometimes known as Bogie.

Biography

Boguslawski was born in Chicago in 1887 to a

Ukrainian Jewish The history of the Jews in Ukraine dates back over a thousand years; Jewish communities have existed in the modern territory of Ukraine from the time of the Kievan Rus' (late 9th to mid-13th century). Important Jewish religious and cultural move ...

family with significant musical background. His parents, Afram "Frank" Boguslawski and Anna Nemkovsky, emigrated in the 1880s. His father was a music teacher, flutist and orchestra leader from

Poltava Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla, Vorskla River in Central Ukraine, Central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Po ...

who served in the Tsar's army during the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

(1877–78). His cousin Sol Nemkovsky was a noted violinist. Despite the family's poverty, Boguslawski began piano lessons at age 4 and began playing in public at weddings at the age of 10. By age 15, he was performing at a dance hall in Chicago. He also studied briefly with

Rudolph Ganz Rudolph Ganz (24 February 1877 – 2 August 1972) was a Swiss-born American pianist, conducting, conductor, composer, and music educator. Career Early career as a pianist and conductor Born in Zurich, Ganz studied cello with Friedrich Hegar an ...

. Boguslawski was named head of the piano department at the Kansas City Conservatory of Music when he was 20 years old. Recitals given during this time established him as a well-known pianist, and in 1916 a trip to the East Coast earned him good reviews in New York and Boston. Soon he was a sought-after performer both in concert and as a recorded radio performer. He performed with various orchestras and performers, including

Emma Calvé Emma Calvé, born Rosa Emma Calvet (15 August 1858 – 6 January 1942) was a French operatic dramatic soprano. Calvé was probably the most famous French female opera singer of the Belle Époque. Hers was an international career, and she sang ...

and

Antonio Scotti Antonio Scotti (25 January 1866 – 26 February 1936) was an Italian baritone. He was a principal artist of the New York Metropolitan Opera for more than 33 seasons, but also sang with great success at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, a ...

. For Chicago's WJJD radio station (now

WYLL WYLL (1160 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. It originated as WJJD and broadcast some pioneering shows. It is owned by Salem Media Group and airs a Christian talk and teaching ra ...

), Boguslawski played all of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

's piano music and all of the sonatas of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

, taking a total of 21 weeks to accomplish. He was a professor of piano at

Chicago Musical College Chicago Musical College is a division of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois, United States. History Founding Dr. Florenz Ziegfeld Sr (1841–1923), founded the college in 1867 as the Chicag ...

and at the Bush Conservatory of Music; later he was head of the Boguslawski College of Music., where students included Cecilia Clare Bocard. Later in his career, Boguslawski composed pieces of his own, including a comprehensive set of children's teaching pieces with publisher M. M. Cole. Compositions include ''Hungarian Rhapsodie No. 1'', ''Valse Russe'', ''Frog's Frolic'', and ''Overture to a Carnival''. Boguslawski was known for skillfully attracting media attention. A 1936 piece in ''TIME'' magazine said of him, "When straight news about himself is scarce, 'Bogie' is likely to come forth with such a project as his proposal to promote world peace through voice culture, since animosity arises when unpleasant tones are heard." Whatever his motivation, Boguslawski did influence the fields of music psychology and music therapy, contributing his theories about curing antisocial behavior and memory loss.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boguslawski, Moissaye 1887 births 1944 deaths American male classical composers American male pianists 20th-century American classical composers Composers for piano American music educators American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Jewish American musicians Musicians from Chicago Roosevelt University faculty University of Missouri–Kansas City faculty Classical musicians from Illinois 20th-century American classical pianists 20th-century American male musicians