Henryk Sztompka

Henryk Sztompka
Portrait in 1938
Portrait in 1938
Background information
Born(1901-04-01)April 1, 1901
Bogusławka, Volhynia Governorate, Russian Empire
DiedJune 21, 1964(1964-06-21) (aged 63)
Kraków, Poland
EducationUniversity of Warsaw
Warsaw Conservatory
Years active1926–1964
AwardsOrder of Polonia Restituta
Order of the Banner of Labour
Cross of Merit

Henryk Sztompka (/ʃtɒmpkɑː/; SHTOMP-kah; April 1 [O.S. March 19] 1901 – June 21, 1964) was a Polish pianist. He studied at the Warsaw Conservatory under Józef Turczyński and later trained in Paris under Ignacy Jan Paderewski from 1928 to 1932. He competed in the first International Chopin Piano Competition in 1927, winning the Polish Radio award for the best performance of mazurkas.

He toured widely across Poland, Western Europe, and the Soviet Union, and also became known for bringing recitals to rural audiences. After World War II, he taught at the Academy of Music in Kraków and recorded the complete Nocturnes and Mazurkas of Chopin in 1957.

Sztompka helped establish the Chopin Festival in Duszniki in 1946 and repeatedly served on the juries of the International Chopin Piano Competition, the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition, and the International Tchaikovsky Competition. He served as vice president of the Frederic Chopin Society until his death.

Early life and education

Sztompka was born in 1901 in Bogusławka, a village in the Volhynia Governorate of northwestern Ukraine near the city of Lutsk, then part of the Russian Empire.[1] His parents were Józefa (née Wiązowski; d. 1918) and Stanisław Sztompka (d. 1930). He graduated from the St. Stanisław Kostka gymnasium in 1920[1] and served in the 36th Infantry Regiment of the Academic Legion. He attended the University of Warsaw in 1921 for a year to study philosophy.[2]

He studied piano under Antoni Sygietyński at the Warsaw Music Institute and later attended the Warsaw Conservatory. There, he studied under Józef Turczyński and graduated with honors in 1926.[1][2] He moved to Paris in 1928 to begin his international performing career, studying under Ignacy Jan Paderewski until 1932.[3]

Career

On October 24, 1926, Sztompka made his debut performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Warsaw Philharmonic.[2] He competed in the inaugural International Chopin Piano Competition in 1927,[4] and as a Polish contestant, was initially favored to win.[5] Although the 1st place prize went to Lev Oborin, Sztompka won the Polish Radio award for the best performance of mazurkas.[6]

After moving to France, he made his Paris debut as a soloist at the Salle Pleyel.[3] He also corresponded with the music critic Marc Pincherle.[7] After studying with Paderewski, Sztompka performed with an orchestra in Paris for the first time on January 24, 1932, playing Paderewski's Polish Fantasy with the Colonne Orchestra under the baton of Gabriel Pierné.[2] Later that year, he began performing concerts across Poland, Western Europe, and the Soviet Union. He made his first appearance in London on March 9, 1934, playing Chopin at Grotrian Hall.[8]

Sztompka with conductor Grzegorz Fitelberg at Wawel Castle (1937)

Sztompka performed in Poland with Karol Szymanowski and accompanied vocal artists including Ewa Bandrowska-Turska, Stanisława Korwin-Szymanowska, Jan Kiepura, and the violinist Eugenia Umińska.[9] He was part of a program that introduced people in rural Poland to classical music. Sztompka "claimed to prefer the audiences in the provinces to those of major cities",[10] remarking that in rural areas:

We feel needed by everyone, by the people of all of Poland, and not only by a small handful of snobs and by the even fewer who are truly devoted to music.

— Henryk Sztompka[10]

In 1936, he joined the Conservatory of the Pomeranian Music Society in Toruń, Poland, as a piano teacher.[3] There, he taught pianist Regina Smendzianka.[3]

His musical career was interrupted by Nazi Germany's Invasion of Poland in 1939. After the end of the war in Europe, Sztompka gave a recital on September 4 to raise money to rebuild the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw. He played Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 (Funeral March) on the composer's own piano, followed by Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53.[11] The audience included members of the "Blue Squadron", a group of French Red Cross nurses and ambulance drivers who worked in Poland after the war, including Madeleine Pauliac.[11] He took part in establishing the Chopin Festival in Duszniki in 1946[12] and performed at the 2nd festival the following year.[13]

Poster for recital at Grotrian Hall in London (1934)

Sztompka resumed his activity[14] and began teaching piano at the Academy of Music in Kraków. He became an associate professor in 1955 and attained tenure three years later. In 1957, he became head of the piano department and served as vice rector until 1963. He was a noted interpreter of Chopin[15] and recorded the complete set of Nocturnes and Mazurkas in 1957 for the Polskie Nagrania Muza label.[16] Sztompka's style was described as a "predominantly lyrical performer".[17]

Sztompka was a jurist for the International Chopin Piano Competition three times, including the fourth competition in 1949, the fifth competition 1955, and vice-chaired the sixth competition in 1960. He was on the jury of the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition four times between 1953 and 1961 and twice on the jury of the International Tchaikovsky Competition, including for its inaugural edition in 1958.[18] He later served as vice president of the Frederic Chopin Society.[19]

His most notable students include the pianist Regina Smendzianka,[20] composer Andrzej Kurylewicz, and Iranian pianist Tania Achot-Haroutounian, who won the 3rd prize in the VI International Chopin Piano Competition in 1960. Other students include Joachim Gudel and Maria Korecka-Soszkowska.

Burial place at Rakowicki Cemetery

He died in Kraków on June 21, 1964, aged 63.[3] He was buried in the Avenue of the Meritorious at the Rakowicki Cemetery.[21]

Personal life

He married Helena (née Zakrzewski) in 1938.[22] Their son, Piotr Sztompka, became a Polish sociologist.

After the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, he and his wife and infant son received shelter from Władysław Strakacz, the owner of a brewery in Skierniewice.[21] The brewer brought Sztompka a piano so that he could continue practicing during the occupation.[21]

Awards

Publications

  • Artur Rubinstein. Polish Musical Publishing House (PWM Edition). Kraków (1966)[26]
  • Konkursowe refleksje (English: Reflections on the competition). Dziennik Polski; issue 13 (1955)[27]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Czy wiesz kto to jest? : uzupełnienia i sprostowania (1939), scan 315 of 384 (page 305)". Polona (in Polish). Biblioteka Narodowa. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Henryk Sztompka". chopin.nifc.pl. Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Legendary Polish Pianists in East Germany (1949-1959)". Melo Classic. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  4. ↑ Czekaj, Kazimierz (1954). Frederic Chopin International Competitions in Poland. Secretariat of the Fifth Frederic Chopin International Competition. pp. 14, 28–29. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  5. ↑ Szraiber, Maria (2005). Nestors of Polish Pianistics. Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw. p. 15. ISBN 978-83-89444-38-7. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  6. ↑ Pierre Key's Music Year Book: The Standard Music Annual. Pierre Key, Incorporated. 1928. p. 113. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  7. ↑ Sztompka, Henryk (1929). Lettre de Henryk Sztompka à Pincherle, Paris, 25 octobre 1929. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Polona". polona.pl (in Polish). Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  9. ↑ Pierce, J. Mackenzie (April 22, 2025). Sounds of Survival: Polish Music and the Holocaust. Univ of California Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-520-40593-6. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  10. 1 2 Pierce, J. Mackenzie (April 22, 2025). Sounds of Survival: Polish Music and the Holocaust. Univ of California Press. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-520-40593-6. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  11. 1 2 Maynial, Philippe (February 4, 2025). Band of Sisters: Madeleine Pauliac, the Women of the Blue Squadron, and Their Daring Rescue Missions in the Last Days of World War II. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 104. ISBN 979-8-8818-6274-9. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  12. ↑ Jeżewska, Zofia (1985). Chopin. Interpress. p. 95. ISBN 978-83-223-2145-4. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  13. ↑ Chopina, Towarzystwo im Fryderyka (1984). Fifty Years of Frederic Chopin, 1934-1984. Frederic Chopin Society. p. 12. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  14. ↑ Poland of Today: Monthly Bulletin. Polish Research and Information Service. 1946. p. 8. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  15. ↑ Smialek, William; Trochimczyk, Maja (June 5, 2015). Frédéric Chopin: A Research and Information Guide. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-83903-1.
  16. ↑ Philharmonic, New York (1968). Programs. Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  17. ↑ Polish Perspectives. Wydawnictwo Współczesne RSW Prasa-Książka-Ruch. 1965. p. 20. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  18. ↑ Isacoff, Stuart (April 18, 2017). When the World Stopped to Listen: Van Cliburn's Cold War Triumph, and Its Aftermath. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. pp. 117, 255. ISBN 978-0-385-35219-2. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  19. ↑ Prosnak, Jan (1970). The Frederic Chopin International Piano Competitions, Warsaw, 1927-1970. Frederic Chopin Society. p. 25. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  20. ↑ The Piano in Concert. Scarecrow Press. 1982. p. 1246. ISBN 978-0-8108-1469-1. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  21. 1 2 3 Lipska-Szpunar, Małgorzata. "Henryk Sztompka w Skierniewicach. | AT" (in Polish). Akademia Twórczości. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  22. ↑ Chylińska, Teresa (1981). Szymanowski. Polskie Wydawn. Muzyczne. pp. 184–185. ISBN 978-83-224-0004-3. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  23. 1 2 "Uchwała Rady Państwa z dnia 28 kwietnia 1955 r. o nadaniu odznaczeń państwowych". isap.sejm.gov.pl (in Polish). Internetowy System Aktow Prawnych (ISAP). Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  24. ↑ Union of Polish Writers (August 6, 1950). "Przyznanie Państwowych Nagród Naukowych i Artystycznych" (PDF). Nowa Kultura (in Polish). I (19): 1. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  25. ↑ "Zarządzenie o nadaniu Złotego Krzyża Zasługi" (PDF). isap.sejm.gov.pl (in Polish). Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  26. ↑ Sztompka, Henryk. "Artur Rubinstein". chopin.nifc.pl. Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  27. ↑ Sztompka, Henryk. "Konkursowe refleksje (1955)". chopin.nifc.pl. Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
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