Description
This album presents archival recordings of works by Fryderyk Chopin and Karol Szymanowski, recorded by Polskie Radio from 1954 to 1978, documenting the extraordinary artistry of Jan Ekier (1913–2014), a Polish composer, pianist, teacher and music promoter.
Jan Ekier was one of the most outstanding Polish pianists. Associated with the Warsaw Academy of Music (today the Chopin University of Music) as a teacher and professor in the piano class, he educated many excellent pianists. He also greatly contributed to the development of Chopinology by creating a publishing concept for a source edition of all Chopin's works. That project, in which Ekier was the editor-in-chief, was finished in 2011, resulting in a complete edition of the pieces by the great composer. Jan Ekier, in addition to his performing, editorial, pedagogical and organisational career, was also a composer. He left behind mainly piano pieces, including one concerto and the Highlander Suite for orchestra, in which he expressed his great passion for the Polish mountains.