Aleksander Wielhorski

Aleksander Wielhorski (born November 26, 1890 in Złobycze , † October 19, 1952 in Białystok ) was a Polish pianist and composer .

Wielhorski had his first music lessons in Zytomierz . Later he studied in Kiev and finally at the Moscow Conservatory piano with Konstantin Nikolajewitsch Igumnow and composition with Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev . After completing his studies in 1913, he went on concert tours to Paris and London. In 1914 he traveled to the USA at the invitation of Józef Hofmann to perfect his piano playing under him.

In 1919 Wielhorski became professor of piano at the Fryderyk Chopin Higher Music School in Warsaw, and from 1929 he also taught at the Warsaw Conservatory (now the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music ). In addition to works by Chopin, he also played his own piano compositions at concerts. During the Second World War he taught at the State Music School controlled by the National Socialists, but he also gave underground concerts. He was arrested once by the Gestapo, but soon released.

In 1946 Wielhorsky undertook a concert tour through the USA, where he performed his own compositions in addition to works by Chopin and Karol Szymanowski . After his return he taught as a professor of piano at the Higher State Music School (today Fryderyk Chopin University of Music) in Warsaw. In addition to piano works, Wielhorski also composed solo and choral songs, chamber music and symphonic pieces. Some of his more than 60 compositions were lost during the Warsaw Uprising .

source

• Aleksander Wielhorski - biography. Polish National Library (Historical interpretations of Frederick Chopin works)