Halina Krzyżanowska

Halina Krzyżanowska, by marriage (1910) Hélène Comtesse de Dyhrn (1860, Paris–1937, Rennes) was an internationally renowned Polish-French pianist and composer.

Life

She was born in Paris, in a large musical family, which originally came from Poland and was a part of the impoverished Polish nobility. Halina (also Helene) held by birth the title of a countess (Gräfin in Germany, hrabina in Poland). She was (by her fathers family) also a distant relative of Chopin, whom she never personally knew, as he died at such an early age.

Coat of arms of Halina de Krzyżanowska's family

She studied at the Conservatoire de Paris with Antoine François Marmontel and Ernest Guiraud, and in 1880 she won the first prize at this prominent Conservatory.

She gave many concerts in various European countries and settled later in France as a professor at the conservatory in Rennes.

In 1910 she married Clément de Dyhrn, whose family originated from Germany. Halina en-widowed the same year of her marriage.

She was known as a very talented pianist and has made a name for herself also as a composer.[1][2]

Works

Krzyżanowska composed orchestral and chamber music, piano sonatas and character pieces for piano. Selected works include:

References

  1. ↑ "The Poles in Music". Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  2. ↑ Sadie, Julie Anne; Samuel, Rhian (1994). The New Grove dictionary of women composers.