Polish Music Journal
translated by Wanda Wilk
Biographers of Paderewski have much to be grateful for to Helena
Paderewska and Helena Lubke, thanks to whom Paderewski's letters to
his father and a friend (future wife) have been preserved. Helena
Górska-Paderewska kept Paderewski's letters despite his many pleas to
destroy this correspondence. Before her death she entrusted them to
the care of her loyal secretary, Helena Lubke, who died in 1986 in a
hospice in California; Paderewski's letters remained in Ms. Strakacz-Appleton's
archives.[5] In this archive one can find, among others, the letter
written by Helena Lubke from Lausanne on 22 October, 1940 to Sylwin Strakacz
in the U.S. Helena Lubke, who after Paderewski's last voyage abroad
remained in Switzerland (she departed for the U.S. after World War
II) and took charge of liquidating the Villa Riond-Bosson, reports in
her letter the course of packing and taking inventory of all the
remaining items in the Paderewski abode; the artist and the
accompanying persons left with only personal things. After the
items were packed in crates they were transferred for storage to
Lavanch in Lausanne. [6] A fragment of Lubke's letter referred to
Paderewski's manuscripts, which were packed in a separate crate
(weighing about 20 kg., i.e. about 50 pounds), and the contents included, among others, the
symphony, concerto, sonata, songs, Manru in its first version and
many other works. Many other manuscripts of "Mr. President" were
found in the library of the study, which were packed separately.
Besides that, all the music scores, from which the composer played
with his notes and fingerings, were also packed. On 24 November,
1940 Helena Lubke wrote in a letter to the wife of Sylwin Strakacz, Aniela
Strakacz, that the crates had been shipped and stored temporarily at
Lavanch's.
I compared the text of Helena Lubke's letter with the
inventory catalog (in the possession of Annette Strakacz-Appleton), in which crate
No. 44 named "paquets de manuscripts musique" stood out among 63
crates (with porcelain, silver, etc...). After my return to Warsaw I
went to the National Museum, because there - in compliance with
Paderewski's will - his works of art, porcelain, silver, etc. were
found. From the text of the Museum's inventory catalogs it appeared
that the contents of crate No. 44 had been in storage in the Palace
at Wilanów since 1958, having been the first storage place of all of
Paderewski's collection upon its arrival to Poland. The collection
at Wilanów contains many interesting manuscripts, among them the
autograph of the score to the Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 17. On
the other hand, it concerns me that I did not find the autograph to
the Symphony in B minor which had been mentioned in Helena Lubke's
letter. Therefore, would the manuscript have been lost in Poland
already?
Moreover, I did not find the Polish Fantasie; in the Paderewski
Center in Kraków there are only sketches of this work, as well as an
autograph version for two pianos, whereas the American publisher G.
Schirmer has only a copy of the manuscript. It wasn't possible to
find the manuscript of the Toccata "Dans le desert," Op. 15 (even the
sketches are missing), songs to poems of C. Mendes, Op. 22, or
final manuscript versions of Miscellanea, Op. 16, Sonata, Op. 21, or Variations and
Fugue, Op. 23; their first drafts or sketches are to be found in the
collections at Wilanów. Let us hope, that these autographs will
someday see the light of day, such as the manuscript to the Violin
Sonata, Op. 13, which, from the hands of A. Cortot (perhaps
Paderewski offered him the autograph) found its way in the 1970s as a
gift from Robert O. Lehman to the collections of the Pierpont Morgan
Library in New York, where it is now found.
Also preserved in the U.S. is the autograph of the opera Manru,
donated to the University of Pittsburgh on the occasion of the
construction of a new building, where the score to Manru was to be
placed in a bronze case in the Polish Hall next to a copy of
Copernicus' globe.[7] The festive presentation was performed in the
name of Paderewski by Sylwin Strakacz on 5 May, 1939. The sketch of
his last composition, the hymn Hej, Orle Biały (Hey, White Eagle), is
exhibited among many personal mementoes in the collection of the
Polish Museum in Chicago. The Library of Congress in Washington,
D.C. houses (a gift from 1940) a holograph copy of the Minuet in G,
Op. 14, which had been prepared for a Red Cross auction and was sold
in London for ten thousand pounds designated to help victims of World
War I. Searches conducted on United States soil point to the fact
that, except for the above-mentioned manuscripts, no others have found
their way to public libraries nor most likely to private collections
in the USA, although various other, mainly mundane mementoes of the
artist are present. [8]
In our country [Poland] there are still several minor compositions by
Paderewski: the manuscript to "Old Suite" for piano, Op. 3 in the
Jagiellonian Library, as well as a Song for violin and piano in the
Poznań Library of the Society of Friends of Science. The actual
status of knowledge about sources of manuscripts can be found in the
Catalog of I. J. Paderewski Manuscripts co-edited by the author with W.
Pigła.[9]
Without going into details about the artistic or compositional worth of
these pieces, which demand a separate study, I will present some
brief information on the circumstances of their genesis. The
increase in the quantity of Paderewski's compositions, of course,
will not change the present value of its role in the history of
Polish music; but it does cast a different light on the biography of
the artist. Particularly interesting to biographers is the fact that
works have been discovered which have been mentioned in lists of
compositions or press releases from early performances, works
mentioned in lexicons or up until now completely unknown, some
mentioned nowhere, but preserved in manuscripts. To these belong
several new pieces for piano, two miniatures and sketches for a
violin concerto, variations for string quartet, an overture for
orchestra, an unfinished (?) suite for string orchestra, as well as
instrumental and contrapuntal exercises created during his
compositional studies in Berlin.
The only trace left of the above mentioned Piano Sonata from 1882 is
the Scherzo, which - as is seen in the correspondence - Paderewski
published as Intermezzo II in c-minor in 1885. [13] Unknown until now and omitted in all lexicon sources or in lists
of Paderewski's works was Op. 3; that is - as it appears to be - the
unpublished Old Suite for piano, made up of four parts: "Preludio,"
"Intermezzo," "Aria," "Fugue." In the correspondence from Berlin (January
1882) Paderewski wrote about his first meeting with Heinrich Urban, for
whom he played, among others, the Old Suite. This title does not
refer to its chronological birth, but to the polyphonic style which
the young composer used in this suite. The autograph of the Old
Suite (for three voices) is found in the Jagiellonian Library, while
drafts of the Preludium and Fugue, as well as a full copy by an
unknown copyist is in the collections of the F. Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw.
This last document is dated in the composer's hand (January, 1880),
and the title page is also an autograph and bears the dedication "to
Mr. Aleksander Zarzycki." The manuscript from the Jagiellonian
library does not have such a dedication; it had been donated to the
library in 1954 by Małgorzata Zarzycka from Warsaw.
Besides the Old Suite, Op. 3 Paderewski composed still other
piano suites, to which he devoted much space in his correspondence,
without any more details (e.g., without data about keys or opus numbers). Analyzing
the information contained in the letters, I ascertained
that between 1879 and 1885 three suites and the sonata, which served
as the seed for the piano concerto, were written.
Chronologically the earliest news in this correspondence, originating in 1879, refers to
the suite, with which Paderewski performed as a "serious composer"
[sic!] in one of his first public concerts in Warsaw in November
1879. The author of the favorable review in "Bluszcz" mentioned only
two sections of the suite as "worthy of special attention: Menuet and
Burlesque." [14] Known at that time were Paderewski's three Minuets
(Op. 1,14,16) and one "Burlesque" from Op. 14, so the question comes
to mind about the relationship of this Suite to the individual parts
that make up Opus 14. Finding the autograph of the so-called Suite
in E-flat major in the collections of the Chopin Academy of Music allowed me to
establish that it is the completely different, youthful,and
chronologically second (besides the unknown song Dola [Fate]) of the
publicly performed compositions of Paderewski and that it has nothing
to do with the parts from Opus 14. The make-up of the Suite from
1879 contains the following sections: "Preludium," "Menuetto,"[15]
"Romance," "Burlesque." According to the dates in the autograph the
earliest work was the Romance (performed several times as an
independent piece) written in his father's home in Sudylkow on 9
January 1879. The "Prelude" and "Minuet" were written in Nowe Miasto on
Pilica in July, 1879, whereas the "Burlesque" was written in Sudylków
in August 1879.
After the above mentioned Old Suite, Op. 3 from 1880, the Piano
Sonata from 1882 appeared, followed by a third Piano Suite, which - as
the composer maintained - turned out "shamefully." The work was composed in the
fall of 1885 and in the spring of 1887, while the individual sections
of the Suite, according to the correspondence, were published
separately, as parts of various cycles:
In many lexicon sources and biographies of Paderewski the Valse
Mignonne from 1876, dedicated to G. Roguski, has been identified as
his first work. Among the collections bequeathed by the composer to the Chopin Academy of Music
in Warsaw, one can find a manuscript of a Waltz in F major for piano,
which could be this Valse Mignonne. The manuscript, however, does
not have a title page, is not dated and does not have the dedication
to Roguski. Undoubtedly, it is Paderewski's manuscript, even
though it is written in inexperienced, childish handwriting; most
certainly it originated from around 1876. The waltz was composed in
Warsaw, as can be seen from the music paper "from the A. Chodowiecki
Paper storehouse, previously Rakoczy, in Warsaw, Plac Teatralny No.
7."
Finally, five other miniature piano pieces were found: Powódz
[Flood], Mazurek in G major, Miniatura in E-flat major, sketches of
Variations and Fugue in G major and a Preamble. A fragment of the
autograph of "Powódź" for piano had been reproduced as an illustration
in a Paderewski biography published by Henryk Opieński.[17] In the collections of the Warsaw
Music Society one can find a mimeographed copy of a photocopy of an
autograph of unknown origin; a facsimile of another version of the
autograph had been published in 1884 in the Warsaw Daily under the
title "Na pomoc" [To help]. [18] The Mazurek in G
major was to have been published as No. 1 in the collection of Polish
Dances, Op. 9. Just before sending the Dances to print, Paderewski
wrote a Krakowiak in F major, which was published as Op. 1, no. 1.
The Mazurek remained as a manuscript and found its way to the
collections of the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw. The Miniature in Es
major (70 measures) probably came to being around 1884-1885 - judging
from the paper from the firm of B & H (which was used by Paderewski
at this time). There is no mention of this work in the
correspondence; but its finished final version of the manuscript is in the Wilanów
collection. The sketches of the Variations and Fugue in G major are
notated on paper from the French firm of Lard Esnault, Paris
(similar to the paper with the sketches to the Polish Fantasie) and
only on this basis can we date them to around 1895-1900. Seven
variations (three of which have original numeration), as well as the
Fugue have been preserved in the Wilanów Collection. The last minor
piano composition (not counting a few unidentified works), for which
there is no information, is the Preambulum in G major (original title
Preambule), whose finished draft is found in the Chopin Academy of Music in
Warsaw.
A second work, unknown until now and not mentioned in the literature
nor correspondence, is a small violin piece, that is a miniature
entitled Romance in A major. [The manuscript (listed in the Academy of Music
collection in Warsaw as Op. 7 (sic!), [19] as well as a dedication
to "Wł. Górski in friendly offering."] For unknown reasons this
completely finished work was never published. We can date its origin
to around 1882 (that is, after Opus 6 and before Opus 8), thus long
after the dramatic severance of friendship between Paderewski and
Górski.
The third small piece for violin and piano is the youthful
miniature titled Pieśń [Son], about which I had already reported in
an article in Muzyka. [20]) The Poznań Society of Friends of Science
purchased the album from an antique book store, which was then
presented to J. J. Kraszewski on the occasion of his 50th
anniversary of literary work by the faculty of the Music Institute in
Warsaw. Among the assembled works to the writer, the Song in F major
for violin and piano written by the 18-year old Paderewski can be
found.[21]
Three other short fragments of works for string quartet have
been preserved as evidence of his work on the string quartet in 1882,
1884 and 1887. In 1887 Paderewski attempted for the last time to
write a string quartet, with encouragement from Brahms who promised
to help him. But as he himself admitted in one of his letters, he
didn't work long enough with Ferdinand Kiel on counterpoint to be able to
easily manage this technique, and his pianistic habits clearly
hampered his work. He even planned in 1887, in association with the
projected quartet, to ["have hidden my ambitions in my pocket to find
some crassest ignoramus (sic) and write a lot of chorales and
fugues."][23]
Up to now we have not found any compositions by Paderewski for
solo brass instruments. A few miniatures for wind instruments, as
well as horn, were written in the spring of 1884 as a result of his
studies in orchestration under Heinrich Urban in
Berlin. The following works have been preserved in the collections
at the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw: manuscripts of exercises for 2
oboes and 2 bassoons, for 8 wind instruments (flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon),
for 2 flutes and 2 clarinets, as well as for 4 horns. In his
correspondence Paderewski only mentions one Humoresque for 2 oboes
and 2 bassoons of with which he was satisfied. The remaining exercises
probably come from that same period.
The already mentioned Suite for string orchestra "in the form of
a march" as the composer described it, was also started under Heinrich
Urban in Berlin. The "Allegro" from the Suite was liked by Stanisław
Barcewicz who heard it in January 1884 (most likely in a piano
version) during a visit to Paderewski. The composer maintained that
he did not put much value in this work, which most likely did not
stand a chance of being published. He decided, however, to complete
the suite and soon other sections appeared: "Scherzo," "Adagio" and
"Finale." In Paderewski's correspondence we find quite a bit of
information about Urban, in reference to the
corrections in the Suite. Urban brought attention to the
"uncomfortable" fragments for violin or viola, with the parallel fifths
and octaves, with the voice parts and "other scholastic judgements," as
Paderewski described the situation, calling Urban a Berlin Roguski,
only somewhat "fatter." Despite his intervention Urban
most likely "was impressed" with some of the aspects of the "Scherzo"
from Paderewski's Suite. It was possible to put together the
"Allegro," "Scherzo" and a fragment of the incomplete "Adagio," as well as
a fragment being a variant of an "Allegro" (possibly the "Finale") at
the Academy of Music.
Another song unknown until now by Paderewski is Konwalijka
to words by A. Asnyk. [25] On the title page of the manuscript [26]
the opus number appears as Opus 14 (sic), [27] because the composer
finished the song specifically for a composer's concert in Warsaw in
April 1885, together with the Violin Sonata, Op. 13. Although the
first mention of composing a song to Asnyk's text comes from
correspondence of April 1882, and the next in November and December
of 1882, the publication of the cycle (without no. 5, Konwalijka) was
not done until 1888, and this mainly because of problems translating
the text to German; the publisher G. Bock was not satisfied with the
translation and Paderewski had to search for another translator.
Even the composer contributed to the delay of the publication, not
being satisfied with Konwalijka after its first performance. He
intended to correct it, but ultimately never did. In one of his
letters he makes excuses because of lack of time to make the
necessary improvements to Konwalijki and he did not want to give this
"miserable" (wretched) piece to print without making changes.
Without going into an artistic evaluation of the song, it is worth
mentioning that Paderewski was very critical of his works, e.g. about
his famous Minuet in G, op. 14, he expressed himself with "bête
noir," "świntustwo" [nasty stuff] which he must perform everywhere so
many times that his "ears burst."[28] Soon after its publication, in
one of his letters to Helena Górska, [29] he wrote ironically that the
publisher is so enamored with him because of the "detested" Minuet, he writes only "erotics" to him.
I found sketches of several other unfinished songs in the
collections in Wilanów, in the Academy of Music in Warsaw and in the
Paderewski Center at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. They are:
Several manuscripts of choral pieces a capella have been
preserved among these vocal compositions:
As seen from the above remarks, the picture of the creative
activities of this outstanding pianist and composer has undergone a
certain broadening. The musicological neglect of so many years of
Paderewski's creativity, however, demands much more
research, e.g., the study of his correspondence and concert reviews,
the publication of a thematic catalogue, but most of all the
preparation of a new edition of his complete works.
[1].
[2]. [3]. [4]. [5]. [6]. [7]. [8]. [9]. [10]. [11]. [12]. [13]. [14]. [15]. [16]. [17]. [18]. [19]. [20]. [21]. [22]. [23]. [24]. [25]. [26]. [27]. [28]. [29].
Copyright 2001 by the Polish Music Journal.
Unknown Compositions by Paderewski
In Light of Source Research
by Małgorzata Perkowska [1]
![]()
I. The History of Paderewski's Manuscripts and Correspondence
![]()
II. Unknown Works and Their Autographs
1. Piano Compositions
These astounding
conclusions based on the texts of the composer's letters partly
explain the incomplete drafts and rough copies of the manuscripts found in the collections
at Wilanów. On the same, 12-system paper written in similar style are the following works:
Melodia in G-flat major, Op. 16, no. 2), Legendein A-flat major, Op. 16, no. 1
(49 measures are missing from the beginning), a beginning fragment (13
measures) of Intermezzo Polacco in C minor, Op. 14 (end missing), as
well as an unknown piece in E-flat major / C minor, in 2/4 meter, of which one
page bears the title "Scherzo to the Suite. Presto."[16] Unfortunately,
not even a rough draft of the Toccata in E-flat major, Op. 15 has been
preserved. The Theme and 3 Variations (Thème varié Op. 16) is written on
paper similar to the previous manuscripts albeit with 16-stave-systems not 12, and the ink and style of writing are somewhat
dissimilar from the remaining sections of this manuscript. However,
the Finale (from the Kraków collections) is probably a part of the
above-mentioned manuscript.
2. Violin Compositions
3. Chamber Compositions
4. Orchestral Compositions
5. Vocal Compositions
These final sketches were notated on paper from Bellamy-
Lard Esnault, Paris, similar to paper used in composing the Polish
Fantasy in an arrangement for two pianos (paper from Lard Esnault,
Paris), and only on this basis can we date the origin of these song
sketches to around 1895; there is no mention about composing songs to
words by Zygmunt Krasiński in Paderewski's correspondence. All the above-mentioned
sketches contain so little musical text that, most likely, it will
never be possible to reconstruct them.
They were most likely written as contrapuntal exercises during his
studies in Berlin in 1884, although one of Paderewski's letters of November
1886 mentions, among his "latest news", a "small choral work for men's
voices."
![]()
NOTES
Original publication data: Małgorzata Perkowska, "Nieznane kompozycje I.J.Paderewskiego w świetle badań zródłowych"
[Unknown compositions of I. J. P. in light of source research], Muzyka, no. 3 (1988): 21-32. Dr. Perkowska is the Director of the Paderewski Center
at Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. [Back]
Fryderyk Chopin, Complete Works based on manuscripts and first editions, with a critical commentary; ed. by Ignacy J. Paderewski,
Ludwik Bronarski and Józef Turczyński, 26 vols. (Kraków: Instytut Fryderyka Chopina, Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne, 1949).[Back]
Catalog of the Museum Collection of the F. Chopin
Society. Manuscripts, Prints, Graphics, Photos. H. Wróblewska, M. Gendaszek-Lewkowicz, eds. (Warszawa, 1971). [Back]
For information about Annette Strakacz-Appleton, Aniela and Sylvin Strakacz, and their relationship to Paderewski see:
Aniela Strakacz. Paderewski As I Knew Him: From the Diary of Aniela Strakacz. Translated from the Polish by H. Chybowska (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press,
1949); Małgorzata Perkowska-Waszek and Anne Strakacz-Appleton, eds, Za kulisami wielkiej kariery. Paderewski w dziennikach i listach Sylwina i Anieli Strakaczów.
1936-1937 [Behind the scenes of a great career: Paderewski in diaries and letters of Sylwin and Aniela Strakacz, 1936-1937] (Kraków: Musica Iagellonica, 1994).
[Back]
Thanks to her courtesy I had the opportunity to benefit
from this correspondence and the whole archive, as well
as personally receiving a copy of the Inventory Book from
Riond-Bosson.[Back]
The house, as part of the estate, was sold after the war,
and later destroyed. A super highway now runs over it, only
the cottages of the gardener, guard, chauffeur and pigeon
keeper have been left; see Annales Paderewski no. 7 (1984), 16-17.[Back]
Presently the Cathedral of Learning of Pittsburgh
University. Microfilm of the autograph of the opera (as well as the
Sonata) is in the possession of the author.[Back]
Compare with D. W. Krumel, J. Geil, D. J. Dyen, D. L. Root, eds.,
Resources of American Music History. A Directory of
Source Materials from Colonial Times to World War II.
Urbana (Chicago, London: University of Chicago Press, 1981;) the National Union Catalog
of Manuscripts Collections, J. W. Edwards
([Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan, 1962.)[Back]
Małgorzata Perkowska and Włodzimierz Pigła, "Katalog rękopisów I.J. Paderewskiego" [A catalogue of I.J. Paderewski's manuscripts]
Muzyka 33 no. 3 (1988): 53-70. [Back]
Quoted in Andrzej Piber's biography of Paderewski's early years, Droga do sławy [Road to
Fame] (Warsaw: PIW, 1982.)[Back]
I. J. Paderewski and Mary Lawton, Paderewski: Pamiętniki [Memoirs], Polish translation by W. Listowska and T.
Mogilnicka (3rd ed. Kraków: PWM, 1972).[Back]
"Z miasta. Z muzyki" [From the city. From music]. Gazeta
Polska [Polish Gazette] no. 244 (1882): 6.[Back]
In Music Supplement to Echo Muzyczne. Teatralne i Artystyczne no. 89 (1885). [Back]
Jan Kleczyński, "Baritone concert of P.
Sachocki," Bluszcz no. 49 (1879): 391.[Back]
Published with small changes as Op. 1 no. 2, in Zwei Klavierstucke of 1886.[Back]
See Perkowska and Pigła, op. cit., "Catalog of Manuscripts" no. 70-71.
[Back]
Henryk Opieński, Ignacy Jan Paderewski (Warszawa, 1928).
[Back]
Opieński and other authors after him have mistakenly
listed the title as "Na powodzian" [For flood victims].
The "Na pomoc" [To help] was published in July 1884; copies are
found in the archives of the National Library in
Warsaw and the library of the Adam Mickiewicz University
in Poznań. [Back]
Four songs to words of Adam Asnyk have actually been
published as Op. 7. [Back]
M. Perkowska, "Early Works of I. J. Paderewski in Light
of Press Sources," Muzyka no. 3-4 (1981): 177-120.[Back]
This miniature was recorded by Barbara Koska-Stuhr in
1983 for the documentary film on Paderewski directed by
A. Chiczewski. [Back]
Compare with A. Piber, op. cit., 90-91.[Back]
Letter to W. Górski, Vienna, 27 February 1887. See
Piber, op. cit., 148-149.[Back]
That second song is probably Rappelle-toi, see
item 103 in Perkowska and Pigła, "Catalog of Manuscripts," op. cit. [Back]
"Nie będę cię rwała, konwalijko biała" [I will not
pluck you, white lily-of-the-valley]. Adam Asnyk, Poezje
[Poems], 2nd ed. (Lwów, 1876.)[Back]
The title page is in the Wilanów Collection and the score in the Chopin Academy of Music
in Warsaw. [Back]
In the end, the songs received the "Op. 7" number in place
of the unpublished Romance in A major for violin and
piano (compare items 104 and 105 in Perkowska and Pigła's "Catalog of Manuscripts," op. cit.)[Back]
Letters to Helena Górska, Strasburg, 7 November 1885, and Vienna, 21 January
1887.[Back]
Letters to Helena Górska, Vienna, 21 January, 30 December 1887 and
others in the Annette Strakacz-Appleton archives in California (since 1996 in the Paderewski Center, Jagiellonian University, Kraków). [Back]
Abstract of the Article
Author's Biography
Paderewski's List of Works
Paderewski's Writings
Paderewski: Bibliography
PMJ - Writings by Paderewski
PMJ - Articles about Paderewski
PMJ - Current Issue
PMJ - vol. 4 no. 1 (Summer 2001)

Editor: Maja Trochimczyk. Assistant Editor: Linda Schubert.
Publisher: Polish Music Center, Winter 2001.
Design: Maja Trochimczyk & Marcin Depinski.
Comments and inquiries by e-mail: polmusic@email.usc.edu