Born February 28 or March 3, 1854 – Died September 13, 1885

Polish pianist, composer, and professor. A unique figure who pursued his musical career abroad for almost his entire life from the age of 16, and died prematurely at the young age of 31. He was born in Zhytomyr, present-day Ukraine, as the second child of Karol and Anastazja, who belonged to a noble family. His birth date is uncertain, as documents show both February 28 and March 3.

In 1860, he began playing the piano under his mother's guidance, and later received lessons from a female teacher named Lucinska and a Czech violinist named Nesvatba. By 1865, at the age of 10, he was already demonstrating enough talent to perform his own compositions in salons around Zhytomyr.

From 1870 to 1872, he studied piano with Josef Dachs and composition with Franz Krenn at the Vienna Conservatory. He graduated with top honors in piano and a gold medal for his graduation composition, the 'Piano Trio in A-flat Major'.

In 1873, he transferred to the St. Petersburg Conservatory, completing his studies in May with diplomas in piano and composition. He returned to his hometown of Zhytomyr and began his concert career as a virtuoso pianist. In 1874, he gave recitals in Odessa and Kyiv. At the age of 20, Zarębski traveled to Rome to study with Franz Liszt. Liszt highly valued his talent in piano and composition, accompanying him and performing together on numerous concert tours, including the Bayreuth Wagner Festival in August 1876. Zarębski, too, revered Liszt as his lifelong mentor and maintained deep respect for him.

From 1875, he began giving piano lessons, primarily to the aristocracy. Around this time, he met Janina Wenzel, a German pianist who was also studying with Liszt and later became his wife.

In 1876, he continued his highly successful concert tours in Rome, Naples, Constantinople, and Warsaw, culminating in his Paris debut on March 17, 1877. His repertoire during this period primarily included works by Chopin, Beethoven, Liszt, and his own 'Grand Fantasia, Agitato with Intermezzo of Love in B-flat minor'.

In November 1877, he successfully performed Henry Litolff's (1818-1891, British composer/pianist) Piano Concerto No. 4 in Paris, Berlin, and Vienna. On December 4, he gave a recital with Janina Wenzel in Berlin.

Zarębski's performances gained renown in Paris, and in March 1878, the piano-making brothers Eduard & Alfred Mangeot requested him to be the promotional pianist for their newly invented double-keyboard piano (commonly known as the Mangeot piano). Zarębski mastered this new instrument in just two months, and on May 10, 1878, a Mangeot piano demonstration concert by Zarębski was held at the Paris Conservatory. He also performed on the same piano at the Paris World's Fair in June, greatly exciting the audience. He extensively explained the structure, playing technique, and notation for the double grand staff of the Mangeot piano in the pamphlet 'Le piano à clavier renversés', and performed concerts on the Mangeot piano throughout his life, but he did not leave any compositions specifically for it.

The Mangeot piano played by Zarębski remained at the Warsaw Conservatory until 1939 but was destroyed during the war.

In 1879, he married Wenzel in his hometown of Zhytomyr, and their only daughter, Wanda, was born the following year. On November 29, he gave a recital at the Brussels Conservatory. He achieved success performing on both a regular piano and the Mangeot piano, which led to his appointment as a professor of piano at the same conservatory on January 30, 1880, and he settled there permanently. Around this time, he began to suffer from lung disease, and symptoms of tuberculosis started to appear.

From 1879, Zarębski's works began to be published by renowned publishers such as Schott (Mainz), Simon (Berlin), Breitkopf & Härtel (Leipzig), Forberg (Leipzig), Cranz (Brussels, later Leipzig), and Hainauer (Breslau). This was largely due to Liszt's assistance, who used his authority to introduce the value of his beloved pupil's works to publishers.

From 1880 to 1882, he gave several recitals at the 'Cercle Artistique et Littéraire' in Brussels. On May 4, 1882, in Brussels, two pieces from his 'Polish Dances, Book 1: Three Galician Dances, Op. 2' (piano four-hands), which Liszt had arranged for orchestra, were performed. Liszt later also orchestrated the second piece from 'Polish Dances, Book 2: Four Mazurkas, Op. 4' (piano four-hands).

From 1882 to 1883, he began performing chamber music as a member of a piano trio, but due to the worsening of his lung disease mid-activity, he had to undergo recuperation, first in Soden near Frankfurt in August 1883, and then in Davos from December 1883 to the spring of 1884. During his two periods of recuperation, he gave a private concert at the F. Gebethner publishing house in Warsaw, which became his last concert in Warsaw. Letters from Davos revealed his plans to compose a Polish opera in the style of Wagnerian music drama.

In early 1885, he composed the Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 34. It premiered at the Brussels Conservatory on April 30, 1885.

In the summer of 1885, he gave concerts in Halle (near Brussels) and Antwerp, which, coincidentally, became his last public performances. Liszt also appeared at the concert in Halle.

In early August 1885, he returned to his hometown of Zhytomyr for the summer holidays and died there on September 13 without recovering. He was buried in his hometown on the 16th. Two years later, a monument was erected by Zarębski's family in Zhytomyr Cathedral to commemorate his death.

Borodin, who visited Liszt in 1877, also met Zarębski and wrote about it in a letter: "Zarębski came over and began to say this and that about my symphony by way of greeting. It was in Russian with a strong Polish accent. His fiancée, a pianist from Berlin, was with him; she is very beautiful but quite a coquette. The eccentricity of their fashion was unparalleled; though they wore wide-brimmed hats, their long hair was spread out freely, a truly bizarre sight. (omission) Zarębski is endowed with magical talent as a pianist and composer, and a brilliant future awaits him."

Genre of Works

The genres of his works, such as polonaises, mazurkas, ballads, lullabies, barcarolles, and tarantellas, clearly show an inheritance from Chopin and a linkage of expression. The expression of heroism and fighting spirit in his Grand Polonaise, Op. 6, is a prominent example. His virtuosity in freely utilizing the keyboard and his ornamental figures owe much to Liszt. Furthermore, within a sense of color that anticipates the music of the next century, clearly brilliant and sharp musical ideas emerge, deeply resonating within the heart. This is precisely what Liszt praised as 'the flash of genius possessed only by a genius'.

Reference Links

• Photos of the 'Mangeot Piano' are available.
• On Polish Music (English)