Surname

A surname or family name is a name added to a given name. In many cases, a surname is a family name and many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name". In the western hemisphere, it is commonly synonymous with last name because it is usually placed at the end of a person's given name.

In most Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking countries, two or more last names (or surnames) may be used. In China, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Madagascar, Taiwan, Vietnam, and parts of India, the family name is placed before a person's given name.

The style of having both a family name (surname) and a given name (forename) is far from universal. In many countries, it is common for ordinary people to have only one name or mononym.

The concept of a "surname" is a relatively recent historical development, evolving from a medieval naming practice called a "byname". Based on an individual's occupation or area of residence, a byname would be used in situations where more than one person had the same name.

Ignacy Jan Paderewski

Ignacy Jan Paderewski, GBE (Polish: [iɡˈnat͡sɨ ˈjan padɛˈrɛfskʲi]; 18 November [O.S. 6 November] 1860 – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist and composer, politician, and spokesman for Polish independence. He was a favorite of concert audiences around the globe. His musical fame opened access to diplomacy and the media. He was the prime minister and foreign minister of Poland in 1919, and represented Poland at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.

Biography

Early years

Paderewski was born to Polish parents in the village of Kuryłówka (Kurilivka), Litin uyezd in the Podolia Governorate, the Russian Empire (the village today is part of the Khmilnyk raion of Vinnytsia Oblast in Ukraine). His father, Jan Paderewski, was an administrator of large estates. His mother, Poliksena (née Nowicka), died several months after Paderewski was born, and he was brought up by distant relatives.

Pianist

From his early childhood, Paderewski was interested in music while living at the private estate near Żytomir where he moved with his father. However, soon after his father's arrest in connection with the January Uprising (1863), he was adopted by his aunt. After being released, Paderewski's father married again and moved to the town of Sudylkov, near Shepetovka.

Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)

The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil, Countess Giulietta Guicciardi.

This piece is one of Beethoven's most popular compositions for the piano, and it was a popular favorite even in his own day. Beethoven wrote the Moonlight Sonata in his early thirties, and did so after he had finished with some commissioned work; there is no evidence that he was commissioned to write this sonata.

Names

The first edition of the score is headed Sonata quasi una fantasia, a title this work shares with its companion piece, Op. 27, No. 1.Grove Music Online translates the Italian title as "sonata in the manner of a fantasy". Translated more literally, this is "sonata almost a fantasy".

The name "Moonlight Sonata" comes from remarks made by the German music critic and poet Ludwig Rellstab. In 1832, five years after Beethoven's death, Rellstab likened the effect of the first movement to that of moonlight shining upon Lake Lucerne. Within ten years, the name "Moonlight Sonata" ("Mondscheinsonate" in German) was being used in German and English publications. Later in the nineteenth century, the sonata was universally known by that name.

Jan Lisiecki

Jan Miłosz Lisiecki (born March 23, 1995) is a classical pianist.

Life and career

Jan Miłosz Lisiecki was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada to Polish parents. He began studying piano at the age of five. Lisiecki had his orchestral debut at the age of 9, and has since performed with orchestras in Canada and internationally, including the New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, to name a few. Lisiecki has performed with conductors Claudio Abbado, David Zinman, Paavo Järvi, Antonio Pappano, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. On January 1, 2010 Lisiecki opened the Chopin 200th Birthday celebrations from the composers’ birthplace, Żelazowa Wola. The same month, he performed Chopin Concerto No. 1 in E minor at the MIDEM Classical Awards Gala in Cannes, France. Lisiecki performed for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and a hundred thousand people on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, as part of the Canada Day 2011 celebrations.