Zbigniew Drzewiecki (; 8 April 189011 April 1971) was a

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

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

who was for most of his life a teacher of pianists. He was especially associated with the interpretation 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 ...

's works. His pupils include several famous pianists of the 20th century, and his influence was therefore very pervasive.

Biography

Drzewiecki was born 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 ...

. He commenced study under his father, and then, at Warsaw, under Oberfeldt and Pilecki. After he had matriculated he went (from 1909 to 1914) to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, to the atelier of

Theodor Leschetizky Theodor Leschetizky (sometimes spelled Leschetitzky; ; 22 June 1830 – 14 November 1915) was a Polish pianist, professor, and composer active in Austria-Hungary. He was born in Landshut in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, then a crown land ...

, where he studied with Marie Prentner, the master's assistant. He gave many recitals in Polish towns, and also in Vienna,

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. In 1916 he became professor of advanced pianoforte classes at the Warsaw Conservatory, and continued to teach there until his death in 1971. He assisted in establishing the

International Chopin Piano Competition The International Chopin Piano Competition (), often called the Chopin Competition, is a piano competition in Warsaw, Poland, held first in 1927 and every five years since 1955. The competition is one of the founding members of the World Federa ...

, and served upon their juries from the first occasion, 1927, until 1971. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and especially after the death of

Józef Turczyński Jozéf Turczyński (18841953) was a Polish pianist, pedagogue and musicologist who exercised a powerful influence over the development of piano teaching and performance, especially in the works of Frédéric Chopin, during the first half of the 20t ...

(1884–1953), he was considered the greatest Polish piano teacher.

Students

The following is an incomplete list of pianists who studied with Drzewiecki: *

Ryszard Bakst Ryszard Bakst (4 April 1926 – 25 March 1999) was a Polish pianist and distinguished piano teacher. Background Bakst was a descendant of the Russian artist Léon Bakst. His teachers were initially his mother and pianist Józef Turczyńsk ...

Enrique Bátiz Campbell Enrique () is the Spanish variant of the given name Heinrich of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Enric (Catalan), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian), Heinrich (German), Hendrik, Henk ( ...

* Felicja Blumental * Walter Buczynski * Paweł Chęciński *

Halina Czerny-Stefańska Halina Czerny-Stefańska ( �xaˈlina t͡ʂɛrnɨ stɛˈfaj᷉ska31 December 19221 July 2001) was a Polish pianist. Life She studied piano under her father, Stanisław Szwarcenberg-Czerny, as well as with Alfred Cortot at the École Normale de ...

Jan Ekier 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. Biography Ekier was born in Kraków, Poland. As a youth, he ...

* Róża Etkin-Moszkowska * Kazio (Kazimierz) Gelernter * Lidia Grychtołówna * Izio Hamerman *

Adam Harasiewicz Adam Harasiewicz (born 1 July 1932) is a Polish classical concert pianist. Harasiewicz was born in Chodziez. After studying violin for two months, at the age of 10 he began piano study, and at age 15 he obtained first prize in a contest at R ...

* Halina Kalmanowicz *

Władysław Kędra Władysław Kędra (16 September 191826 September 1968) was a Polish pianist. Kędra was born in Łódź. He made his debut in 1933, performing Joseph Haydn, Haydn's Keyboard Concerto No. 11 (Haydn), 11th Concerto and Camille Saint-Saëns's ''Ra ...

* Bolesław Kon * Li QiFang * Helena Landau * Hiroko Nakamura *

Edward Olearczyk Edward Olearczyk (born 4 March 1915, d. 1994) was a Polish composer. He was born in Rawa Ruska into a Jewish family, and studied with Zbigniew Drzewiecki at the conservatory in Warsaw. From 1939 to 1945 he worked in the USSR, and after returning t ...

* Eva Osińska * Regina Smendzianka * Marta Sosińska * Richard Spira (Ryszard Szpira) (1923-1942) *

John Tilbury John Tilbury (born 1 February 1936) is a British pianist. He is considered one of the foremost interpreters of Morton Feldman's music, and since 1980 has been a member of the free improvisation group AMM. Early life and education Tilbury s ...

* Fou Ts'ong *

Roger Woodward Roger Robert Woodward (born 20 December 1942) is an Australian classical pianist, composer, conductor, teacher and human rights activist. He is widely regarded as a leading advocate of contemporary music. Early life Roger Woodward was born ...

* Eva Maria Zuk * Tea Zusman

Sources

*A. Eaglefield-Hull, ''Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians'' (Dent, London 1924). *J. Methuen-Campbell, ''Chopin Playing from the Composer to the Present Day'' (Gollancz, London 1981). *Drzewiecki, Zbigniew. Wspomnienia muzyka. (Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne, Kraków 2010). 1890 births 1971 deaths Polish male classical pianists Piano educators Musicians from Warsaw People from Warsaw Governorate Academic staff of the Chopin University of Music Academic staff of the Academy of Music in Kraków 20th-century Polish classical pianists 20th-century Polish male musicians Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland) {{Poland-musician-stub