In his introduction to the 1855 edition of Chopin's works, Julian Fontana wrote that Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) has had only one piano teacher, a Czech pianist named Vojtěch Živný. This statement was motivated by an effort to portray Chopin as a piano player and composer so gifted that he did not need any education, an ideal image needed to boost the self-confidence of Polish immigrants in Paris at that time. In reality, Chopin had another mentor, a Czech composer and pianist Václav Vilém Würfel. He opened the world of music to Chopin, showing him a style, which Chopin expanded with his talent and imagination. Würfel's contribution as Chopin's teacher is supported by testimonies of Vojtěch Živný's pupils who do not speak highly of Živný's pedagogic qualities. In his memoirs Pamiętniki z XIX wieku, Andrzej Edward Koźmian recalls "the good elder Živný, who has been teaching but has not taught me to play fortepiano, was perhaps one of the worst music teachers in Warsaw." In his memoirs Kilka wspomnień o Chopinie, Wielisław Eugeniusz Skrodzki, Živný's pupil for six years, believed "it is impossible for Chopin to be grateful for his art and perfection, even in his beginnings, to Živný." The influence of Würfel on Chopin, his junior by twenty years, is also apparent from the forms in which they composed many of their works. Chopin, just like Würfel before him, composed waltzes, mazurkas, 24 preludes, variations, rondos, fantasies, and concertos, exploring Polish national themes like Würfel. Würfel's indulgence in rubato and gentle pianissimos combined with virtouso use of piano, probably influenced Chopin's piano performance. The effort by Würfel to organize Chopin's first performance abroad in Vienna in 1829 also demonstrates a close relationship between the two artists. Václav Vilém Würfel (1790-1832), later known by the German form of his name Wenzel Wilhelm Würfel, was born on May 6, 1790, in Plaňany, near Kolín (in today's Czech Republic) in a family of teachers. He began receiving general musical and piano instruction from his parents. At about 1807, he went to Prague for high schoool to later study philosophy. In 1811, Würfel left the study of philosophy to return to music. Between 1812-1815, he composed dances for Prague balls, simultaneously studying under Václav Jan Tomášek (1774-1850). After touring as a pianist, he settled in Warsaw, where he was appointed professor at the Warsaw conservatory. He was friends with the Chopin family, and Frédéric later became his student at the conservatory. Würfel stayed in Warsaw until 1824, when he went to tour as a pianist again. On October 7, 1824, his opera Rübezahl (Krakonoš, a mythical ruler of the Giant Mountains in Bohemia) had a successful première in Prague. Despite being written to a libretto in German, the opera was enthusiastically welcomed as a work of a Czech national. The performance of this opera in Vienna, along with other successful piano performances, helped him gain a conductor position there, where he stayed for the rest of his life. After a lung ailment, he died poor and alone, in 1832. Würfel's work is relatively extensive: two operas (Rübezahl and Der Rothmantel), singspiels, ballet music, masses, cantatas, overtures, and songs. His piano works contain a series of clearly utilitarian compositions -- various allemands, waltzes, and polonaises, and concert compositions published under opus numbers - piano concertos, fantasies, rondos, variations, and polonaises. Fantasies on opera themes, such as Würfel's Fantaisie élégante, Op. 45 (published by Ant. Diabelli, Vienna), were in the repertoire of every piano virtuoso of the 19th century. Würfel also composed Fantaisie lugubre, Op. 18 (Jean Fuss, Warsaw), and Fantaisie, Op. 14 (S.A.Steiner, Vienna), for piano duet. Würfel exploited the form of rondo as a presentation of his amazing piano technique. Both rondos in this CD, Grand Rondeau brillant, Op. 30 (Tobi Haslinger, Wien), and Rondeau brillant, Op. 24 (Peters, Leipzig), are among his best works. Another rondo, Rondeau brillant, Op. 20, was published by Breitkopf&H;ärtel in Leipzig. In Variations sur un air Polonais, Op. 15, and Variations sur un air Polonais, Op. 16 (S.A.Steiner, Wien), Würfel used Polish themes, as well as in two variations on mazurka, Polish national dance: Variations sur une Mazure favorite, Op. 19 (Jean Fuss, Warsaw), and Variations sur une Mazure favorite, Op. 17 (S.A.Steiner, Vienna). Sept Variations, Op. 29 (F. Hofmeister, Leipzig), are identical with Variations, Op. 19. The origin of the polonaise in Poland is obvious already from its name. Würfel's polonaises were intended for a broad range of piano players, yet in Deux Polonaises, Op. 21 (Breitkopf&H;ärtel, Leipzig), Deux Polonaises, Op. 26 (Peters, Leipzig), and Deux Polonaises pathétiques, Op. 27 (Peters, Leipzig), he created miniature jewels of extraordinary beauty. © Martin Vojtíšek 2013

• published: 08 Sep 2013
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