Speaker 1: Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
Speaker 1: is Womanica. This month we're talking about women of sound.
Speaker 1: These women dominated the airwaves, innovating, documenting, and creating the
Speaker 1: audio landscape we live in today. Today we're talking about
Speaker 1: a virtuosa who could coax emotion out from underneath piano
Speaker 1: keys and might have had an influence on composers like Chopin.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about Maria Schumanowska. Maria was born in seventeen
Speaker 1: eighty nine in Warsaw. Early on, it was clear that
Speaker 1: Maria loved playing the piano, but it was less clear
Speaker 1: how to foster her passion. In the late eighteenth century,
Speaker 1: there weren't many formal avenues for music training, especially not
Speaker 1: for women. Maria learned to play piano from teachers who
Speaker 1: came to her home. She got her first lesson at
Speaker 1: nine years old, and kept studying under various teachers throughout
Speaker 1: her childhood. Maria's parents would often invite renowned musicians to
Speaker 1: their house, which gave Maria plenty of chances for informal
Speaker 1: music lessons too. By eighteen ten, Maria had started performing.
Speaker 1: She gave public concerts in cities like Warsaw, and Paris.
Speaker 1: She also performed in many private homes for friends and
Speaker 1: their guests. Often those people would write her letters of recommendation,
Speaker 1: earning her a spot at another piano stool for another performance.
Speaker 1: When Maria played in front of an audience, she never
Speaker 1: brought up sheet music to look at. She performed for memory.
Speaker 1: This is common among performing pianists today, but at the
Speaker 1: time it was extremely rare. Maria played a lot of
Speaker 1: salon music, short elegant pieces perfect for a small audience
Speaker 1: in a parlor. She was known for her expressiveness. She
Speaker 1: had an uncanny ability to make the music feel full
Speaker 1: of emotion. In addition to performing, Maria was also a composer,
Speaker 1: and the music she wrote was infused with the same
Speaker 1: emotional richness. Her compositions were published by leading music publishing houses.
Speaker 1: A decade after Maria started performing, she went through a divorce.
Speaker 1: Soon after, she took her professional career to the next level.
Speaker 1: Maria began crisscrossing Europe, playing her pieces for audiences across
Speaker 1: the continent. She gave around one hundred concerts. At one point,
Speaker 1: she performed in Warsaw for an audience of nearly one
Speaker 1: thousand people. She was dubbed the charming Almighty of Sound
Speaker 1: and the Queen of Tones. One Russian newspaper even claimed
Speaker 1: that Maria was so well known in Paris that it
Speaker 1: was hard for her to go anywhere without being recognized.
Speaker 1: In eighteen twenty seven, a young up and coming musician
Speaker 1: went to see Maria on stage. His name Frederic Chopin.
Speaker 1: Chopin later became known for his own salon style music.
Speaker 1: It's likely that he drew inspiration in part from listening
Speaker 1: to Maria perform. She also had admirers outside of the
Speaker 1: music world. The poet Gerda was so enamored with her
Speaker 1: he dedicated one of his poems to her. In eighteen
Speaker 1: twenty eight, Maria stopped touring and settled down in Saint Petersburg.
Speaker 1: She became the court pianist of Russia Sarina and started
Speaker 1: teaching music to young pianists. Her home became an artistic hub. Pianists, poets, painters,
Speaker 1: and more would gather to exchange ideas and learn from
Speaker 1: each other. In eighteen thirty one, Maria passed away in
Speaker 1: Saint Petersburg after contracting cholera. She was forty one years old. Today,
Speaker 1: her music lives on you can still feel the emotions
Speaker 1: she conjured in the eighteen hundreds by playing the notes
Speaker 1: of her composition. All month, we're talking about women of Sound.
Speaker 1: For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Wamanica Podcast. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister
Speaker 1: and co creator. Talk to you tomorrow.