This outstanding pianist devoted his life and career to the fight for independence. It was Ignacy Jan Paderewski who ensured the American support for the Polish cause.
The great international career of Ignacy Jan Paderewski was determined by… coincidence. And the help of one of the most famous Polish actresses in the 19th century. After an unexpected meeting in Krakow, Helena Modrzejewska decided to support a talented friend . She organized a fundraiser to send him to Vienna for study. When Paderewski came under the wing of one of the leading piano teachers at the time, Teodor Leszetycki, he was already 24 years old. Nevertheless, he managed to make up for his technical shortcomings (he mastered the basics of the game in childhood; he attended, among others, the music conservatory in Warsaw, where Fryderyk Chopin studied).
"Mobile Mammoth" and "Piano Smith"
He made his debut on the Viennese stage three years later, in 1887. Handsome, with aristocratic manners and excellent playing technique, he immediately won a group of loyal fans. Women saw in him what Modrzejewska had noticed earlier. Paderewski's talent did not immediately appeal to critics. After initial successes in Vienna and Paris, it was met with a very cool reception in London. Iwona Kienzler in the book Ignacy Paderewski. Favorite of women describes:
"After only a few minutes that he spent at the keyboard, it was clear that we are dealing with a performer who, instead of magic, wants to amaze us above all," reported the Musical Times, and the Evening Standard concluded: "Much noise, little music" . On the other hand, a critic from the "Daily Telegraph" compared the Pole's game to "walking on the keyboard of an extremely lively mammoth" (…).
Handsome, with aristocratic manners and excellent playing technique, he immediately won a group of loyal fans.
Writing reviews for The Star, Bernard Shaw even compared the Polish pianist to "a young blacksmith who wins a piano concert as if on an anvil and knocks it out like a hammer with an extraordinary joy of panache and impact." He also stated that his game "hurts the ears." Soon, however, even the most hardened critics had to change their minds about Paderewski. The remainder of his tour of England turned out to be an undeniable success. And when the artist went on a tour in the United States, the world was engulfed in a real "Paddymania" (he was nicknamed "Paddy" in England).
Fashion for Paderewski
Paderewski played for the first time in Nowy Świat in 1891. He immediately won the hearts of the American audience. Helena Modrzejewska, his devoted friend, commented on his triumph overseas:
American ladies and ladies just go crazy for him and because here ce que la femme veut [what a woman wants] etc., so success is colossal. We all enjoy it, the more so as there is hope that as soon as our artist collects enough money, he will settle down in one place and start composing. His last concert is very beautiful.
The text was created, among others based on the book by Iwona Kienzler “Ignacy Paderewski. A favorite of women ”(Bellona, 2022).
One could even speak of a fashion for Paderewski. Fans, to get tickets for concerts, were lining up at the box office at 7 am . Newspapers publishing anything about the artist were selling like hotcakes. He wrote about his exorbitant earnings (yes, he did earn well, but the amounts reported in the press were definitely exaggerated). Crazy things were invented about his intimate life. According to American journalists, he was to secretly marry a Romanian princess, a German baroness or an unknown gypsy. Well, a hair shampoo appeared in stores to provide a lush hairstyle à la Paderewski and even… lollipops in the shape of a pianist.
Independence after acquaintance
Success in the United States opened the door to a global career for Paderewski. He has performed not only in Europe and North America. He also presented his virtuoso skills - and his own compositions - in Australia, Africa and South America. Its crazy popularity translated into financial stability. This, in turn, led him to become involved in politics. Piotr Grzelczak describes:
He was involved in the life of the Polish diaspora in America frequently, often supporting the activities of Polish organizations and associations abroad. On political grounds, he felt better and better, which was reflected, among others, in the famous foundation of the Grunwald Monument (...), and above all, its activity during the First World War. At that time, he became not only the mandate of a great charity campaign conducted for the benefit of his countrymen in the country (...), but also, mainly due to his extensive knowledge in the world of American and English politics, the ambassador of the Polish cause in the West . From 1917 he was already the official representative of the Polish National Committee in the USA.
Bearing in mind the fate of his homeland, during his concert tours, he always tried to establish contacts with people who could support the Polish cause. Among his close and distant acquaintances were, among others Jules Ferry (Prime Minister of France), Jules Cambon (French Ambassador to Germany), Lord Richard Haldane (British Secretary of War), Alfred Hamsworth (owner of The Times and The Daily Mail), and several US presidents.
Liberation of the Republic as a fight against slavery?
The Polish virtuoso has been giving regular concerts at the White House for several decades. Among American leaders, he best remembered Grover Cleveland, William H. Taft, Herbert Hoover, Alvin Coolidge, Woodrow Wilson, and Theodore Roosevelt. It was these contacts that most influenced the role played by the pianist in the struggle for Polish independence. Iwona Kienzler writes:
Paderewski, acting as the spokesman for the Polish cause, did not even hesitate to stick the proverbial stick in the anthill. He proved this, for example, in April 1893, giving a speech at a party at the New York Lotus Club, in it he compared relations in the United States with the despotic rule of the partitioning powers over the Polish nation, as well as the ideas of the fight against slavery in the south of the United States against the fight of Poles for independence .
Paderewski harassed all possible politicians and other influential figures, agitated among the Polish community.
When World War I broke out, he only intensified efforts to make the whole world hear about the Poles' struggle for independence. He solicited all possible politicians and other influential figures, he agitated among the Polish community. In the USA in the years 1915–1918 he gave over three hundred concerts and speeches . We didn't have to wait long for the effects. Financial support was flowing to the National Committee from all sides. "Almost all US citizens knew what Poland was and why this country should reappear on the maps of Europe," adds Kienzler.
The American dream of a free Poland
Perhaps the most important achievement of Paderewski in the Polish case was, however, the conviction of the American President Woodrow Wilson that it was worth restoring independence to Poland. Even before the USA entered the war with Germany in 1917, Wilson promised the artist:"My dear Paderewski, I can assure you that Poland will resurrect and will exist again." He kept his word.
In his address to Congress, announced on January 8, 1918, the president announced in the 13th point of the peace program that it was necessary to rebuild an independent Poland with access to the sea . Soon after - also thanks to Paderewski's efforts - a similar declaration was adopted by Great Britain, France and Italy. On November 11, 1918, the independence of Poland became a fact. Paderewski could finally rest on his laurels.
Ignacy Jan Paderewski, in a way, won Polish independence on the piano
However, he did not. In December, he arrived in Gdańsk on board the British cruiser Concord. Then he went to Poznań. His visit turned into a patriotic demonstration that led to the outbreak of the Greater Poland Uprising. In January 1919, Piłsudski appointed him prime minister and minister of foreign affairs. On behalf of Poland, Paderewski signed the Treaty of Versailles. At the end of 1919, he resigned as the Prime Minister, but until the end of his life (he died in 1941) he was involved in political activities and assistance for the Republic of Poland. After all, as he himself said:
I did not come for dignity, fame, honor, but to serve, but not to any party. I respect all parties, but I will not belong to any. The party should be one:Poland and to this one I will serve until death.
