Prelude in E

Today, I am playing a Prelude in E Major by Maria Szymanowska. It is the third in her set of 4 Preludes. Szymanowska was a Polish composer who doesn't get nearly as much attention as Chopin, but could be considered a forerunner of him. Who knows how many composers there were like her who have simply been forgotten despite their achievements?

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Frederic Chopin, the most famous of all the Polish composers, moved to Paris in 1831. He noted that the city was filled to the brim with pianists, from masters to absolute fools. By the 1820s and 30s, the piano, a relatively new instrument, had taken off in popularity. This was a peak time for keyboard players to study, perfect their technical skills, and start touring around Europe, hoping to make enough money that they would have free time to compose.

Inevitably, when I speak of early 19th-century concert tours, Franz Liszt's performance career comes to mind. A devoted Lisztian will tell you that "HE WAS THE FIRST!!" to play solo recitals or to memorize the music he performed. 

Meanwhile, those who resist making him a god of music will point out that Clara Schumann accomplished this earlier, as she began touring and playing from memory in 1831 as a young girl.

In fact, neither Chopin, Liszt, or Madame Schumann were the first touring pianists. Maria Szymanowska came before all of them.

Portrait by Józef Oleszkiewicz

Szymanowska gave her first performances in Paris in 1810, when those three pianists hadn't been born yet. In 1815, she began traveling around Europe and then the Russian Empire, while little Frycek and little Franzi were seeing their first teachers (and Clara still had yet to be born).

Like her compatriot Chopin, Szymanowska wrote her own mazurkas, polonaises, and etudes, mostly for the piano. Take it from me: listeners might think you are playing Chopin if you bring out one of her nocturnes!

Clara Wieck-Schumann and Ferenc Liszt are usually considered responsible for establishing [the tradition of memorizing music]. Yet it seems possible that Szymanowska was the first musician ever to perform from memory. In her June 1823 recital in the city of Poznan, Szymanowska performed by heart her own composition, Caprice sur la Romance de Joconde, which caused a sensation in the local press. Today, [recitals performed with the aid of sheet music are] extremely rare. Also, they often attract unflattering attention from the press.

[...]

As a composer, Szymanowska showed considerable skill and invention. Unfortunately, she lived at a time directly preceding the appearance of the greatest of romantic composers: Chopin, Liszt, Berlioz, and others. Their achievements quickly overshadowed [hers]. Yet, her compositions greatly influenced Chopin's musical language, which in turn ensured for Szymanowska a firm place in European music history.

Maria Szymanowska and the Evolution of Professional Pianism, by Slawomir Dobrzanski

Keep filling your teacup with music!
~Liya