Ignacy Friedman - biography
Ignacy Friedman, a Polish composer and pianist, was born on 13 February 1882 in Krakow, and died on 26 January 1948 in Sydney. He began his music lessons as a child studying with his father, a violinist and a clarinetist in a theatre orchestra. He continued learning the piano under Flora Grzywińska, a distinguished Krakowian teacher. In 1896 he made his first public appearance at a concert of a regiment orchestra. In 1900 he moved to Leipzig to study composition with Hugo Riemann. Next year he was a pupil of Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna. He also studied musicology under Guido Adler at the Viennese University. On 22 November 1904, his co-operation with Leschetizky was crowned with his highly acclaimed Viennese debut, during which he played the Brahms Piano Concerto in D minor, Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto in B flat minor, and the Liszt Piano Concerto in E flat major. Prior to this concert, on 11 March 1904 he gave a sensational performance in Krakow playing the Tchaikovsky Concerto in B flat minor, Władysław Żeleński Concerto in E flat major, dedicated to Friedman by the composer, and the Liszt Concerto in E flat major. Before 1939 he performed in almost all European countries, both Americas, Asia, Africa, New Zeeland and Australia. In 1927, in Vienna, he took part in the festival celebrating the centenary of Beethoven's death, playing Beethoven's piano pieces and trios with Bronisław Huberman and Pablo Casals. The group was later called the "trio of all-time". As a chamber musician he performed with Leopold Auer, Mischa Elman, Erica Morini, Emanuel Feuermann and the quartet of Carl Flesch. His vast repertoire included dozens of pieces ranging from baroque to contemporary music. He promoted works by Polish composers such as: Henryk Melcer, Władysław Żeleński, Ludomir Różycki and others. As the composer, Friedman published eighty-five numbered opuses (songs, piano cycles, mazurkas, bagatelles, intermezzos, characteristic pieces, studies, waltzes, Polish Lyrics, preludes), as well as other piano pieces without relating opus numbers, inter alia: Maski, Zabawki, Utwory dziecięce, transcriptions and paraphrases of foreign works, and pieces for piano and voice, as well as pieces for chamber ensembles, inter alia: Piano Quintet in C minor. He was the editor of works by Chopin (12 volumes), by Liszt and by Schumann, which were released by the Publishing Houses of Breitkopf & Härtel and Universal Edition. Friedman was engaged in piano pedagogy in Berlin, Lvov (now L'viv) and Stockholm. His pupils included Antonina Białecka, Janina Illasiewicz-Stojałowska, Ryszard Byk, Karol Klein, Ignacy Tiegerman, Julius Chaloff and Bruce Hungerford.
See also
