Wladyslaw Szpilman Biography
Wladyslaw Szpilman was born in Sosnowiec Poland and has always had a passions for piano playing. Mr.Szpilman began his piano study at Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw Poland. This is where Szpilman grew up his whole life. He was hired to play on Poland Radio where he made a decent amount of money to support his family. All of this changed when Germany invaded Warsaw and Szpilman was unable to play on the radio until after the war. After six years Szpilman was able to play on the radio again and started where he left off. He played Chopin's Nocturne in C sharp minor which was the same song he played the day the Germans invaded Warsaw. Soon after the war Szpilman wrote his book in 1945 called Death of a City where he told his survival story in Warsaw. Later in 1999 Szpilman's son re-published the book in English which was called The Pianist. Szpilman's book got bigger and bigger after that and became a Holocaust-related classic. Szpilman created a lot of songs after the war, many of which were popular in Poland. Some of his compositions include "Life of Machines" 1932, Violin Concerto 1933, and Doctor Murek 1939. From 1935-1972 he wrote about 500 popular songs. In the 1950's he wrote 40 children songs for which he received an award for. In 2002 the Polish film-maker Roman Polanski made a movie of the book and called it The Pianist. Unfortunately Szpilman died before the movie was completed. Szpilman died in Warsaw July 6th 2000 at the age of 88 and was buried at a polish military cemetery.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Szpilman
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0844262/bio
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Szpilman-Wladyslaw.htm
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Szpilman
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0844262/bio
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Szpilman-Wladyslaw.htm