Sigma Alpha Iota

22 Spring 2022 • sai-national.org By Jayne I. Hanlin A er visiting the Wagnalls Memorial (See "Mabel Wagnalls, Pianist and Author" in PAN PIPES Summer 2021), I contacted several out-of-state libraries to locate some obscure compositions Mabel had used in her "Imagery and Music" recitals. In the process, I was introduced to Jaroslaw de Zielinski (1844- 1922), the Polish composer who wrote Gavotte in D Minor and Boúrrée, two of the pieces she had performed. Born to affluent gentry in Poland, Jaroslaw de Zielinski studied piano with Karol Mikuli, one of Chopin's most important pupils, before traveling to study voice in Milan. He was wounded in the unsuccessful January 1863 Polish uprising against Tsarist Russia. Aer immigrating to the United States the following year, he served as a bugler in the Union Army Cavalry until the end of the Civil War. He then resumed his musical career, composing both piano and vocal music in addition to performing as a pianist, teaching, conducting, and being both a music educator and music critic. During my research, I discovered this intriguing listing at the University of Minnesota's Immigration History Research Center Archives: "A handwritten and hand-illustrated book of 43 pages entitled A Practical Guide for the Study of Pianoforte-Playing by Jaroslaw de Zielinski. It was written in 1871 and dedicated to Miss Edith V. Rann on her 17th birthday, September 3, 1871." I was curious to see the work. Since it was old, there were no copyright issues, and I asked a librarian to send several pages as a PDF file. Upon learning I was allowed to have up to 150 scanned pages without charge, I decided to ask for the entire manuscript. Because of the pandemic, she estimated it would take two months to fulfill my request. I wasn't in a hurry. Actually, it took over six months for the document to arrive—but it was certainly worth the long wait. e content of the unique handwritten manuscript surpassed all of my pre-conceived, limited expectations. e gi copy is inscribed to Miss Edith Rann "as a testimony for her dilligent [sic] study and love of the art by her master and friend J. de Zielinski." Since he penned all of the fiy pages in beautiful, flowing manuscript, some even in boldface, reading it took longer than a printed typeset document. Nonetheless it was worth the extra time and effort, and I was able to decipher almost every word. On the first page, Zielinski begins with the qualifications he expects for a Pianoforte performer of "Parlor, Chamber or Concert music." ese consist of "a thorough knowledge of notation, and a perfect technical and mechanical skill to execute what is written" as well as "a delicacy of touch" and "a singing tone." If one wishes to develop dexterity and finger independence in order to become a "really good pianist," he also advocates A Wld of Music J aroslaw de Zielinski

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