Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska facts for kids
Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska (born 1829 or 1834 – died 1861) was a talented composer from Poland. She is most famous for her piano piece called "A Maiden's Prayer."
Tekla was born in either Mława (in 1829) or Warsaw (in 1834). Her father, Andrzej Bądarzewski, was a police commissioner. In 1835, her family moved to Warsaw. Tekla later married Jan Baranowski and they had five children together. She passed away in Warsaw on September 29, 1861. Her grave in the Powązki Cemetery shows a young woman holding sheet music titled "A Maiden's Prayer." A crater on Venus is even named after her!
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Who Was Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska?
Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska was a Polish composer who became famous for one special piano piece. She wrote music in the 1800s.
Her Early Life and Music
Tekla started composing music when she was quite young. At just 14 years old, she wrote and published her first piece. It was a "Waltz for Piano" (Vals Pour le Pianoforte). She dedicated this piece to Anna Makiewicz, who helped support a local orphanage. A well-known bookseller named Franciszek Henryk Spiess published her music.
Four years after her first piece came out, Tekla married Jan Baranowski. He was an army captain. They had five children during their nine years of marriage. Later, her husband was moved to a city called Tashkent, which meant Tekla was left to care for their children by herself.
The Famous "Maiden's Prayer"
Tekla Bądarzewska wrote about 35 short pieces for the piano. But her most famous one is definitely "A Maiden's Prayer" (Modlitwa dziewicy), also known as Op. 4. This piece was first published in Warsaw in 1856. It became even more popular when it was included in a music magazine in Paris in 1859.
"A Maiden's Prayer" is a short piano piece that is good for pianists who are not beginners but not experts either. Some people really liked it because it has a charming and romantic tune. Others thought it was too simple or "sentimental." Even with mixed opinions, it was incredibly popular around the world. One music company in Australia reported selling 10,000 copies a year, even 60 years after Tekla passed away!
The American musician Bob Wills created his own version of "A Maiden's Prayer." He changed it to fit the Western swing music style and added words to it. He first recorded his version in 1935. Since then, many country artists have recorded it, making it a well-known song. Interestingly, this tune is also played on some garbage trucks in Taiwan!
In a 1930 opera called Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, the music from "A Maiden's Prayer" was used in a funny way.
See also
In Spanish: Tekla Bądarzewska para niños
