op Tadeusz Kosciuszko Frédéric François Chopin Adam Mickiewicz 
Mikolaj Kopernik Maria Sklodowska-Curie Jan Pawel II

Tadeusz Kosciuszko
Tadeusz Kosciuszko  poln. Armeeführer u. Nationalheld, * 4. 2. 1746 Mereczowszczyzna bei Nowogródek, † 15. 10. 1817 Solothurn; kämpfte im nordamerikan. Unabhängigkeitskrieg (Adjutant G. Washingtons ); 1794 Oberbefehlshaber der poln. Aufständischen gegen die Poln. Teilungen, am 10. 10. bei Maciejowice geschlagen u. von den Russen gefangengenommen, 1796 freigelassen.
(Mount Kosciusko [maunt kÇ'siãskÇu], höchster Berg Australiens, in den  Snowy Mountains, 2230 m; Wintersportgebiet.)

Adam Mickiewicz
Adam Mickiewicz is regarded as the most famous and the greatest Polish poet as well as a patriot and a lifelong apostle of Polish national freedom. This year we are celebrating 200th anniversary of his birth. If you can speak Polish read "Litwo! Ojczyzno moja!" from "Pan Tadeusz"!
Mickiewicz was the master of Polish literature, an outstanding representative of European romanticism.

Frédéric François CHOPIN

     Frédéric François CHOPIN  Summer concerts

A Short Biography

Zelazowa Wola (Poland), 3/01/1810 - Paris (France), 10/17/1849.

Perhaps the greatest of all composers for the piano was Chopin. Called a "musical genius" when he was a teenager, Chopin composed a remarkable variety of brilliant pieces warlike polonaises, elegant waltzes, romantic nocturnes, and poetic ballades and etudes. His father, Nicholas, was a Frenchman who had lived in Poland for many years. His Polish mother was of noble birth. Even as a small child, Chopin loved piano music. He began to take piano lessons when he was 6 years old. He started to compose music even before he knew how to write down his ideas. At the age of 8 he performed in a public charity concert. Chopin's first published musical work, a rondo, appeared when he was 15 years old. When Chopin graduated from the lyceum, at 17, he was recognized as the leading pianist of Warsaw and a talented composer.

After Chopin gave two successful concerts in Vienna when he was 19, he began writing works designed for his original piano style. At the same time as his return to Vienna in 1830, Poland revolted against its Russian rulers. The uprising failed, and as a result the Russian czar put Warsaw under harsh military rule. Chopin decided to go to Paris, which was the center of the romantic movement in the arts. Except for occasional trips, Chopin spent the rest of his life in Paris. He gave lessons and concerts, and publishers paid well for his compositions. The French loved him for his genius and his charm. Poets, musicians, wealthy Parisians, and Polish exiles were his friends. An important influence was a romantic friendship with Baroness Dudevant, better known as the novelist George Sand.

Chopin died of tuberculosis, at age 39.

He wrote few concertos and sonatas. Instead he perfected freer musical forms. Among his compositions are some 50 mazurkas, 25 preludes, 24 etudes, 21 nocturnes, 17 waltzes, 11 polonaises, 4 ballades and 3 sonatas. For his polonaises and mazurkas he used the rhythms and spirit of Polish folk dances. Maybe your nocturnes are their master pieces.

Summer concerts

Summer Chopin concerts have become a permanent element of the summer holidays in Warsaw. From May through the end of September, you can hear Chopin's music at the most beautiful park in Warsaw, Royal Łazienki Park, where a monument of Chopin, a work by sculptor Wacław Szymanowski, was unveiled in 1926. Every year since 1959, the square in front of the monument has hosted concerts by outstanding pianists, organized by the Stołeczna Estrada association and the TiFC. Every Sunday at 12 noon and 4 p.m., Varsovians and other visitors come to listen to Chopin's music in the enchanting atmosphere of the park.

A GREAT list of MIDIs from Chopin's works

mikolaj

Mikolaj KOPERNIK

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) - renowned astronomer. He studied in Torun, Cracow and then in Bologna, Padova and Ferrara, where he earned a doctorate in canonical law. As the first in modern times he developed a heliocentric theory of the Solar System. He published his discoveries in the year of his death in the work ‘On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres’ (De revolutionibus orbium coelestium).

maria

Maria SKLODOWSKA-CURIE

Maria Sklodowska-Curie (1867-1934), renowned Polish physicist and chemist, who lived and worked in France. She was the first female professor at the Sorbonne. Together with her husband Pierre Curie she discovered polonium and radium in 1898. She was twice awarded the Nobel Prize: in 1903 in physics (jointly with her husband) for research in the area of natural radiation, and in 1911 in chemistry for extracting pure radium.

jan

  Jan PAWEL II

John Paul II, Karol Wojtyla (born 1920) - Pope since 1978. He studied Polish philology, later preparing for work in the church and was ordained in 1946. In 1946-48 he studied at the Papal University in Rome. He was a lecturer at the Theological Department of the Jagiellonian University and from 1956 a professor and head of department of the Ethics Faculty at the Catholic University in Lublin. In 1958 he became a bishop, five years later the archbishop of Cracow and in 1967 a cardinal. The pontificate of John Paul II has been characterised by an openness to dialogue with the world and active spiritual work. He is the first in the history of the Church to hold prayer meetings with all religions. He opened up dialogue with the Jews. He has been on more than 200 foreign trips, several times to Poland. Reform of canonical law, developing a new ‘Catechism for the Roman Catholic Church’ (1992), reorganisation of the Roman Catholic curia, countless encyclicals, canonisations and beautifications - these are the important achievements of the Catholic Church under the leadership of the Polish Pope. The important message of the pontificate of John Paul II are: respect for human rights and the right to work, struggle for peace, opposition to totalitarianism, and also new evangelism.

Mars
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Stand: 06. Juli 2004