Maria Szymanowska

A student of Lisowski and Gremm, Szymanowska made her concert debut as a pianist in Warsaw and Paris. Her work was greatly admired by Cherubini and Goethe. The former dedicated his "Fantasia in C-minor" to her and the latter his "Aussohnung" verses. She performed throughout Europe and was given the title of First Pianist to the Russian court. In 1828 she devoted herself to teaching and settled in St. Petersburg. The compositions which she scored for the piano hail the advent of the Romantic era and historically precede the works of Chopin. "Vingt exercises et preludes" were piano studies that gave all indications of what was to come. ~ Keith Johnson