The Writings of Zygmunt Stojowski
by Joseph A. Herter
Introduction
The numerous articles that Stojowski penned show the composer-pianist-pedagogue in still another light: as a writer and musicologist. His biographical articles on composers include ones on Chopin and recollections of two others whom he knew personally - Brahms and Paderewski. As a pianist and pedagogue expressing himself in written word, we can find articles on piano performance and interpretation as well as many "Master Lessons" which appeared in The Etude magazine. As a composer, we find him authoring articles that reflect his philosophy of music and give his opinions on the contemporary music of his day. As a musicologist, though, Stojowski can be found at his best in writing about the music of his native Poland and in the unpublished commentary of Chopin's Mazurkas, which accompany his own fingered and pedaled edition of these pieces that were also never published, save for the exception of one.
The articles listed here are written in Polish and English. Native English speakers will not only admire Stojowski's flawless grasp of the English language, but they will also be amazed to know that English was not the musician's second language. It was his fifth. A polyglot, Stojowski first became fluent in Polish, Russian, French and German before he moved to America, where he also mastered Spanish with the help of his Peruvian-born wife Luisa Morales-Macedo and - to a lesser extent - Portuguese with the help of one of his students - Guiomar Novaes. The multilingual Pole also had a working knowledge of ancient Latin and Greek. He shared his knowledge of Latin with his youngest son Ignatius, becoming his son's first Latin teacher prior to his entry into a Jesuit seminary.
In its nearly 75-year history (1883-1957), The Etude magazine was the premiere American musical periodical intended for music educators, especially piano teachers. It was the medium for many of Stojowski's articles on music and at least seven of his editions and critical analyses of compositions by Chopin, Mendelssohn, A. Rubinstein, Schubert, Schubert/Liszt and Schumann that appeared in the magazine's "Master Lesson" section. The editors of the magazine contracted the top pianists of their day to produce these critical editions of piano works by famous composers. The work would first be introduced by a lengthy analytical lesson, presented in a thoroughly exhaustive manner, on some well-known piano composition which was then followed by the "master's" edition of the piece. The publishing house Theodore Presser, the owner of The Etude, reissued these works separately. The publisher would also host workshops throughout the United States where aspiring young pianists could attend and learn from other reputable teachers who were engaged to use these "master lesson" editions, enabling the pupil to say, for example, that they were "using Stojowski's interpretation." There were two other attractions of The Etude that made the monthly magazine popular in its day: its lovely and unforgettable front covers and the music supplement that provided over a half dozen pieces of music for the amateur musician to learn and play. The front cover of the February 1915 issue, which was dedicated to Polish music and the cause of Polish independence—as been reproduced here. The beauty of the reproduction of the handsome Paderewski may be the reason why it was missing from the copies of that issue found in the collections of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and at the main branch of the Detroit Public Library. Stojowski's compositions would also appear in the magazine's musical supplement sections. The first to be printed was his Mélodie from Deux pensées musicales, Op. 1, No. 1, which appeared in the December 1905 issue, only one month after Stojowski had first stepped foot on American soil. Stojowski's last contribution to The Etude would be his article "What the Pianist of Tomorrow Must Possess," published in 1940. Thus, Stojowski's association with The Etude lasted for 35 of his 40 years in the USA and for nearly half the lifespan of the magazine itself.
Some of the other publications, for which Stojowski wrote and which are no longer familiar to today's reader are the following:
- Poland America magazine, published between the two World Wars by the New York-based American Polish Chamber of Commerce & Industry, of which Stojowski was an associate member;
- The Polish Review (for which Stojowski served as president), a weekly magazine published during the Second World War with the assistance of the Polish Government Information Center (this publication was distinct from the scholarly quarterly of the same name issued by the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America since 1945);
- Bulletin of Stojowski Students' Association, a publication first started in 1931 and lasting until the composer's death in 1946, printed in New York and edited by the composer's former students; and
- Keyboard, a professional magazine for teachers of piano based in New Haven; Stojowski was one of its editorial advisors.
