Padlewski, Roman

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Padlewski, Roman

Padlewski, Roman, Polish violinist, choral conductor, music critic, and composer; b. Moscow, Oct. 7, 1915; d. in the Warsaw uprising, Aug. 16,1944. He went to Poznan and studied with Jahnke (violin) and Wiechowicz (composition) at the Cons. (1927–29) and with Kamienski (musicology) at the Univ. (1932–35). He was active as an orch. musician, choral conductor, and music critic until being taken prisoner by the Nazis at the outbreak of World War II in 1939. However, he managed to escape to Warsaw, where he resumed his studies in 1943 with Rutkowski (organ), Bierdiajew (conducting), and Sikorski (composition). Many of his MSS were destroyed during the Warsaw uprising, but a Suite for Violin and Orch., 2 string quartets, a Violin Sonata, and several vocal pieces are extant. These reveal Padlewski as a composer of marked talent.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire