Halina Krzyżanowska
Encyclopedia
Halina Krzyżanowska, by marriage (1910) Héléne Comtesse de Dyhrn (1860, Paris–1937, Rennes) was an internationally renowned Polish-French pianist and composer.
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 University professor on a musical Academy in Rennes
, a city in the east of Brittany.
In 1910 she married her lover a French aristocrat Clément de Dyhrn
, a politician, 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.
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.She studied at the Conservatoire de Paris
Conservatoire de Paris
The Conservatoire de Paris is a college of music and dance founded in 1795, now situated in the avenue Jean Jaurès in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, France...
with Antoine François Marmontel
Antoine François Marmontel
Antoine François Marmontel was a French pianist, teacher and musicographer.Marmontel entered the Paris Conservatory in 1827. His teachers were Pierre Zimmerman in pianoforte, Victor Dourlen in harmony, Jacques Fromental Halévy in fugue and Jean-François Le Sueur in composition...
and Ernest Guiraud
Ernest Guiraud
Ernest Guiraud was a French composer and music teacher born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is best known for writing the traditional orchestral recitatives used for Bizet's opera Carmen and for Offenbach's opera Les contes d'Hoffmann .- Biography :Guiraud began his schooling in Louisiana under the...
, 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 University professor on a musical Academy in Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
, a city in the east of Brittany.
In 1910 she married her lover a French aristocrat Clément de Dyhrn
House of Dyhrn
The House of Dyhrn is a prominent German noble family originally from Saxony. The family was first mentioned in the 12th century and was settled in early age in Prussia and Silesia...
, a politician, 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.
Works
Krzyżanowska composed orchestral and chamber music, piano sonatas and character pieces for piano. Selected works include:- Magdusia (1894) 1-act opera
- Fantasie piano concerto