Robert Andrzej Krauthammer naquit à Varsovie en 1935. Très jeune, il fit preuve de talents musicaux remarquables, et sa mère, pianiste amatrice, lui enseigna le piano dès ses 4 ans. À la suite de la déclaration de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, sa famille, étant juive, fut déportée dans le ghetto de Varsovie. Krauthammer y resta jusqu'en 1942, année où il en sortit secrètement. Muni de faux papiers d'identité au nom d’Andrzej Czajkowski, il entra alors dans la clandestinité avec sa grand-mère, Celina. Les deux restèrent cachés jusqu'en 1944, lorsqu'ils furent arrêtés lors de l'insurrection de Varsovie. Ils furent ensuite envoyés au camp de concentration de Pruszkow en tant que citoyens polonais. Ils furent libérés en 1945. Le père de Tchaikowsky, Karl Krauthammer, qui survécut à la guerre, se remaria et eut une fille, Katherine Krauthammer-Vogt. La mère de Tchaikowsky, Felicja Krauthammer (née Rappaport), fut raflée dans le ghetto de Varsovie en 1942 et périt à Treblinka.
Andrzej Czajkowski, comme il se faisait encore appeler à l'époque (il adopta l'orthographe André Tchaikowsky par la suite), reprit ses leçons à l'âge de 9 ans à l'école public de Lodz, sous la tutelle d'Emma Altberg (ancienne élève de Wanda Landowska). Puis, il se rendit à Paris, où Lazare Lévy prit soin de son éducation. Pendant son séjour en France, il aurait rompu les relations avec son père durant plusieurs années à la suite d'un différend.
Après son retour en Pologne en 1950, il étudia à l'Académie de musique d'État à Sopot sous l'aile du professeur Olga Iliwicka-Dąbrowska et, plus tard, à l'Académie de musique d'État de Varsovie sous la direction du professeur Stanisław Szpinalski. Dès ses études, il entama sa carrière de concertiste en interprétant notamment les Variations Goldberg de Bach et le Concerto pour piano nº 2 de Rachmaninov et ravit les auditeurs par ses brillantes improvisations. À partir de 1951, il suit des cours de composition avec le professeur Kazimierz Sikorski.
Après son succès lors de la cinquième édition du Concours international de piano Frédéric-Chopin, où il gagna le huitième prix en 1955, Tchaikowsky s'exila à Bruxelles pour étudier sous la férule de Stefan Askenase. Grâce à cette collaboration avec cet illustre pianiste polonais, Tchaikowsky put prendre part au concours de musique de la reine Elizabeth et gagner le troisième prix en 1956.
En 1957, il donna une série de récitals à Paris, et interpréta toutes les compositions pour piano de Ravel à l'occasion du vingtième anniversaire de la mort du compositeur français. À la même époque, il consulta Nadia Boulanger à Fontainebleau pour ses compositions, de même qu'il établit des contacts avec Arthur Rubinstein.
Malgré son succès en tant que concertiste, la plus grande passion d'André Tchaikowsky était la composition. Il écrivit un concerto pour piano, un quatuor à cordes pour voix et piano mettant en musique sept sonnets de Shakespeare, un trio pour piano et plusieurs compositions pour piano solo. Il a commencé à travailler à un opéra, mettant en musique Le Marchand de Venise de Shakespeare. Il a effectué plusieurs enregistrements de son travail pour le label EMI.
Pour RCA Red Seal et Columbia Masterworks, il a enregistré les Variations Goldberg de Bach, deux sonates et les Variations en fa mineur de Haydn, le Concerto en do majeur, deux sonates et des œuvres mineures de Mozart, des valses, ländlers et danses allemandes de Schubert, 15 mazurkas de Chopin et le Quatuor pour piano en do mineur de Fauré.
Tchaikowsky est mort d'un cancer du colon à l'âge de 46 ans à Oxford. Conformément aux dernières volontés du compositeur, son corps fut donné à la médecine, et son crâne à la Royal Shakespeare Company. Féru de théâtre et notamment de Shakespeare, Tchaikowsky avait demandé que cette partie de son squelette serve d'accessoire au théâtre. Il espérait que son crâne représenterait celui de Yorick lors du célèbre monologue de Hamlet. Toutefois, durant de nombreuses années, aucun acteur ni metteur en scène ne se sentit suffisamment à l'aise pour se servir de ce véritable crâne humain sur scène, même si ce dernier servit parfois à des répétitions. En 2008, le crâne a finalement été utilisé par David Tennant dans une série de représentations de Hamlet au théâtre Courtyard, à Stratford-upon-Avon. La presse ayant révélé la présence du crâne de Tchaikowsky sur scène, cette production de Hamlet fut déplacée dans le West End, et la RSC annonça qu'elle ne l'utiliserait plus (un porte-parole a déclaré d'ailleurs que le crâne serait « trop distrayant pour le public »). Quoi qu'il en soit, ce fut une déception ; son dernier vœu ne fut pas entièrement respecté. Certes son crâne a été utilisé tout au long de la production dans le West End et dans une adaptation sur BBC2, mais il est retourné dans les remises du théâtre. Gregory Doran, metteur en scène de la pièce interprétée au théâtre et à la télévision, a dit que « le crâne d'André Tchaikowsky était une partie très importante de notre production de Hamlet et, malgré tout le battage médiatique, André représentait beaucoup pour la compagnie.
Andrzej Czajkowski (also Andre Tchaikowsky), born Robert
Andrzej Krauthammer
(November 1, 1935 in Warsaw – June 26, 1982 in Oxford) was a Polish composer
and pianist.
Czajkowski's family were Jewish; when the Second World War broke out, they were moved into the Warsaw Ghetto. Czajkowski remained here until 1942, when he was smuggled out and provided with forged identity papers that renamed him "Andrzej Czajkowski"; he then went into hiding with his grandmother, Celina. The pair remained hidden until 1944, when they were caught up in the Warsaw Uprising, and they were then sent to Pruszkow Concentration Camp as ordinary Polish citizens, from which they were released in 1945. Czajkowski's father, Karl Krauthammer, also survived the war, and remarried, producing a daughter, Katherine Krauthammer-Vogt; Czajkowski's mother, Felicja Krauthammer (née Rappaport) was rounded up in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942, and perished in Treblinka.[1]
Czajkowski had shown musical talent from an early age, and his mother, an amateur pianist, was teaching him the piano when he was only four years old; the lessons ended when the family was sent to the ghetto. He later resumed his lessons at age 9 in Lodz State School, under the tuition of Emma Altberg (herself once a student of Wanda Landowska); from here, he proceeded to Paris, where Lazar Levy took over his education, and where he would also break off relations with his father for many years after an argument. [2]
After his return to Poland (1950), he studied at the State Music Academy in Sopot under Prof. Olga Iliwicka-Dąbrowska, and later at the State Music Academy in Warszawa under Prof. Stanisław Szpinalski. Already during his studies he began developing his concert career, displaying his showmanship through public performances of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto and astounding listeners with improvisations on any given theme. From 1951, he took composition classes with Prof. Kazimierz Sikorski.
After his success at the fifth Chopin Competition, where he won the 8th award (1955), Czajkowski left to study in Brussels under Stefan Askenase[3]. As a result of his co-operation with the famous Polish pianist, Czajkowski took part in the Queen Elizabeth of Belgium Competition, winning third prize (1956).
In 1957, he gave a series of recitals in Paris, performing all of Ravel’s compositions for piano in honor of the twentieth anniversary of the French composer’s death. During the same time, he consulted Nadia Boulanger at Fontainbleau in matter of composition, as well as establishing contacts with Arthur Rubinstein.
Despite his success as a pianist, Andrzej Czajkowski’s greatest passion was
composition. He wrote a Piano Concerto, String Quartet, a setting of
Shakespeare’s Seven Sonnets for voice with piano, a Piano Trio and several
compositions for piano solo. He began work on an opera, a setting of
Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.
He made several recordings of his work for the label EMI, including works by J.
S. Bach (Goldberg Variations), Joseph
Haydn (two Sonatas, Variations in F minor),
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Concerto in C major, two Sonatas and minor works),
Franz Schubert (waltzes, ländlers, German dances),
Frédéric Chopin (15 mazurkas) as
well as
Gabriel Fauré (Piano Quartet in C minor).
In accordance with Tchaikowsky's wishes, his skull has been used as a theatrical prop by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Here, actor David Tennant uses Tchaikowsky's skull in a 2008 production of Hamlet
He died of colon cancer at the age of 46[4] in Oxford.[5] In his will he left his body to medical research, and donated his skull to the Royal Shakespeare Company, asking that it be used as a prop on stage.[6] Czajkowski hoped that his skull would be used for the skull of Yorick in productions of Hamlet.[7] For many years, no actor or director felt comfortable using a real skull in performances, although it was occasionally used in rehearsals. In 2008, the skull was finally held by David Tennant in a series of performances of Hamlet at the Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.[8]Shortly after David Tennant used the skull in this play the Royal Shakespeare Company decided to stop using a real skull in Hamlet as it is "too distracting for the audience". The use of Polish pianist Andre Tchaikovsky's skull had been kept a carefully guarded secret during the play's four month run in Stratford.
But then leading man David Tennant disclosed that the skull was real and had belonged to a Shakespeare fan. The Royal Shakespeare Company said that they are no longer planning to use the skull of Mr Tchaikovsky when the show transfers to the West End despite Mr Tchaikovsky's dying wishes after audiences begun to over-react when they saw the skull
Mr Tchaikovsky's former agent and friend Terry Harrison said that he was "disappointed" by the decision.
André Tchaikowsky as Composer
All known compositions that have an existing manuscript or are published appear in the
table below. Chose any link to display a dedicated webpage for the selected
composition. The *"**" symbol indicates there is at least one recording
of the work available. (For purchasing information of Opus 1 to 6, see the end
of this webpage.)
The
Polish Music Information Center has provided the following list of compositions
that are pre-1956 and usually associated with André's membership in the Polish
Composers' Union.
In the left panel are images of two fragments that survived: a
Nocturne (1948) that Andrzej marked, Opus 1, Number 1, and dedicated to his
grandmother Celina: and then one of his (12) Etudes that he wrote to develop
certain aspects of his piano technique.
The location of the manuscripts of the
other compositions are unknown.
| Ten Etudes for piano (1949) |
| Sonata in G-major for Piano (1949) |
| Prelude, Cavatina, Waltz, and Lullaby for piano (1950) |
| Violin Concerto (1950) |
| Concerto for Flute and Orchestra (1950) |
| Variations on a Theme of Cohen for piano (1950) |
| Prelude and Fugue for piano (1953) [won a prize] |
| Two Preludes for piano (1954) |
| Two Etudes for piano (1955) |
| Song for soprano and piano (1955) |
The
exception to the list above is a Symphony (1958), but there is no known
manuscript and if this did exist, it may have been destroyed after André moved
from Paris to London in the early 1960s.
This is because André told his Aunt
Mala in Paris to destroy the large box he left behind and Mala's son, Charles
Fortier, reported that Aunt Mala did, indeed, throw the box into the trash.
According to friends, André felt that his compositions from 1957 and 1958 were
overly influenced by his studies with Nadia Boulanger at the American
Conservatory in Fontainebleau and did not express his true compositional voice.
Catalog of Published Music by Josef Weinberger
Josef Weinberger,
publisher of music by André Tchaikowsky, has prepared a catalog that lists
available music and provides useful background information about André.
Click Here to view the catalog in PDF format.
For information about Josef Weinberger in German, Click Here.
Music for Purchase or Hire - Opus 1 to 7
Opus 1 to 7 are published and each has an assigned International Standard Music Number (ISMN) and International Standard Book Number (ISBN) reference.
As a summary, the following will guide you to online publishing sources. Note that Josef Weinberger has unpublished scores for works by André Tchaikowsky that do not have an opus number.
Refer to their catalog (pdf) or online (Click Here).