Wojciech_Żywny

Wojciech Żywny

Wojciech Żywny

Musical artist

Wojciech Żywny (Czech: Vojtěch Živný; 13 May 1756 – 21 February 1842) was a Czech-born Polish pianist, violinist, teacher and composer. He was Frédéric Chopin's first professional piano teacher.

Quick Facts Wojciech Żywny Czech: Vojtěch Živný, Background information ...
Krakowskie Przedmieście 19, Warsaw, Poland: site of Żywny's 1837-42 home

Life

Żywny was born in Mšeno, Bohemia, and became a pupil of Jan Kuchař. As a youth, during the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski, he moved to Poland to become the music tutor to the children of Princess Sapieha.[1] He later moved to Warsaw.

He was the first professional piano teacher of Frédéric Chopin, who received lessons from him between 1816 and 1821. Żywny instilled in Chopin a lasting love of Bach, Haydn, and Mozart while avoiding contemporary composers like Beethoven and Weber. [1] Chopin's piano skills soon surpassed those of his respected teacher. In 1821, eleven-year-old Chopin dedicated a Polonaise in A-flat major to Żywny as a name-day gift.

Żywny died in February 1842, aged 85, in Warsaw, Poland.

Works

Żywny wrote many pieces for piano, and violin, as well as orchestral works, few of which are known or published today. They show refined mastery of the classical style, with definite romantic influences. Another influence on his music was Central European folk music.

Notes

  1. [1]
    Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed, 1954, Vol. IX, p. 433

References


Stub icon

This article on a classical pianist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Stub icon

This article about a Polish musician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Wojciech_Żywny, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.