Aleksander Michałowski facts for kids
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Aleksander Michałowski (born May 17, 1851 – died October 17, 1938) was a very important Polish pianist, teacher, and composer. He was known for his amazing piano skills and for deeply influencing how piano was taught, especially when it came to playing the music of Chopin and J.S. Bach. He shared his knowledge with many students, leaving a lasting impact on music.
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Early Life and Learning
Aleksander Michałowski was born in 1851 in a place called Kamianets-Podilskyi, which is in Ukraine today. Back then, it was part of the Russian Empire. When he was 16, in 1867, he started studying at the famous Leipzig Conservatory. There, he learned from great teachers like Ignaz Moscheles, Carl Reinecke, and Theodor Coccius. Coccius was a big influence on him. Aleksander worked very hard, sometimes practicing the piano for 10 hours a day!
In 1869, he moved to Berlin to study with Karl Tausig. After that, in 1870, he moved to Warsaw, Poland, where he decided to live permanently.
Around this time, he became friends with Karol Mikuli. Mikuli had actually taken lessons from Chopin himself! Through Mikuli, Michałowski learned many of Chopin's own ideas about how to play his music. He also met Princess Marcelina Czartoryska, another talented student of Chopin, who played some of Chopin's mazurkas for him. Since his first teacher, Moscheles, had also been friends with Chopin, Michałowski gained a really deep understanding of Chopin's piano playing style and ideas.
His Chopin Style
Aleksander Michałowski knew all of Chopin's musical pieces very well. He spent his whole life studying them. When he performed, he sometimes changed the music a little bit, but he always did it in a way that sounded true to Chopin's style.
In 1878, he visited the famous composer Franz Liszt in Weimar. At first, Liszt wasn't very welcoming, but Michałowski played so well that Liszt was very impressed. Liszt even agreed that Michałowski's way of playing Chopin was authentic and approved of the small changes he made.
Teaching Principles
In 1874, Michałowski settled in Warsaw and began teaching piano. At first, he taught privately. Then, in 1891, he became a professor at the Warsaw Institute of Music. He taught there until 1918. After that, he continued teaching at the Fryderyk Chopin Music School.
He strongly believed that playing contrapuntal music was very important. This means music where different melodies are played at the same time, like in a round. For the first two years, he made his students play a lot of music by J.S. Bach. Bach's music is full of counterpoint. One of his most famous students, Wanda Landowska, became very well-known for playing Bach and other old music.
Chopin himself loved Bach's music, and Michałowski understood that learning Bach's contrapuntal style was key to truly understanding Chopin's works. He also helped his students develop their imagination and their ability to play with great skill and energy. He often showed his students how to play during lessons and encouraged them to try to play like him.
Students and Successors
Aleksander Michałowski taught many, many students. Some of them might have become even more famous around the world if the two World Wars hadn't stopped or ended their careers.
One of his students was Jerzy Żurawlew, who later started the famous International Chopin Piano Competition in 1927. Other very famous students included Wanda Landowska, Vladimir Sofronitsky, and Mischa Levitzki.
Some of his other notable students were Bolesław Kon, Róża Etkin-Moszkowska, Henryk Pachulski, and Piotr Maszyński. Later students included Stanislaw Urstein, Edwarda Chojnacka, Wiktor Chapowicki, Józef Śmidowicz, and Bolesław Woytowicz.
Heinrich Neuhaus, who became a very famous teacher himself (and taught pianists like Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels), also took lessons from Michałowski. Other students included Władysław Szpilman (whose life story was told in the movie "The Pianist") and Ludomir Różycki.
After Michałowski, Józef Turczyński and then Zbigniew Drzewiecki continued his work as leading piano teachers in Poland, even though they weren't his direct students.
Later Career
Besides teaching and playing solo, Michałowski also played chamber music. This means he played in small groups, like duos with violinist Stanisław Barcewicz and trios with Barcewicz and cellist Aleksandr Verzhbilovich.
He wrote 35 piano pieces, which were usually short and brilliant. He also created a special teaching edition of Chopin's works. He made many gramophone records (early recordings) at different times in his life, from around 1906 to the 1930s. Music critics said his recordings showed a "heroic voice."
Even though he was a very successful concert performer, he started focusing more on teaching, especially after his eyesight began to fail quickly after 1912. However, a colleague convinced him to return to the stage, and he gave many concerts in the following years. In 1919, he celebrated 50 years since his first public performance. In 1929, he even performed both of Chopin's piano concertos in a single concert!
Aleksander Michałowski passed away in Warsaw on October 17, 1938, at the age of 87. This date was also the anniversary of Chopin's death.
See also
- List of Poles
