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The Friends of Felix Yaniewicz raised £6,000 from 92 supporters

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Closed 23/06/2021

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£6,000
raised of £6,000 target by 92 supporters

    Weʼve raised £6,000 to rescue a unique & historic instrument associated with the composer Felix Yaniewicz and bring it to Edinburgh to celebrate his musical legacy

    Funded on Wednesday, 23rd June 2021

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    Story

    HEARTFELT THANKS to all who contributed to our successful crowdfunding campaign to save this historic piano in celebration of Yaniewicz's musical legacy in Scotland. Plans are well underway for next year's exhibition, and we look forward to celebrating the piano's arrival in Edinburgh. If you would like to keep in touch with the project, please use the contact form on our website www.yaniewicz.org to join The Friends of Felix Yaniewicz.

    Square pianos have become a rarity despite their central place in domestic music-making in the 18th and 19th centuries. This gem of an instrument is wonderful and interesting for two reasons: musically beautiful and in incredible condition following an expert and loving restoration, and also historically fascinating due to the connection with this important composer” Steven Devine, principal keyboard player, Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment

    This beautiful square piano dating from around 1810 was found twenty years ago in a shabby condition in a house in North Wales, by Douglas Hollick, a restorer of early keyboard instruments. The legs had been broken, and the decorative fretwork badly damaged, but the action was intact, and its potential for restoration was clear. Above the keyboard, the gilded label decorated with flowers and musical instruments, bears the names Yaniewicz & Green, with premises in fashionable addresses in London and Liverpool. Inside, it is signed in Indian ink, and the handwriting has been matched with the marriage certificate of Felix Yaniewicz (1762-1848), a Polish violin virtuoso and composer, who founded the first Edinburgh festival in 1815. Alongside the restoration project, new research into this fascinating but forgotten figure has revealed the remarkable story of a musical migrant who escaped political upheavals on the continent to make his home in Britain, leaving a lasting legacy for our musical culture.

    Yaniewicz’s early career took him from Vilnius and the Polish Chapel Royal to Vienna, Italy and Paris, before he fled the French Revolution and came to Britain. Here he rose to fame as a performer, composer and impresario, thanks to his musical charisma and entrepreneurial flair. His performances were hailed as as ‘a perfect masterpiece of the art. In fire, spirit, elegance and finish, Mr Yaniewicz’s violin concerto cannot be excelled by any performance in Europe’. In 1815 he moved to Scotland, where he would spend the rest of his life, and co-founded the first Edinburgh music festival.

    While Yaniewicz’s violins (a Stradivarius and an Amati) have disappeared without trace, we have an opportunity to save this unique and beautiful piano bearing his name. The Friends of Felix Yaniewicz are crowdfunding to purchase this historic instrument, and to bring it to Edinburgh as the centrepiece of an exhibition about his life and music at the Georgian House museum in 2022. The exhibition will celebrate his legacy as a musical migrant who triumphed over political adversity and flourished in Britain as a shaping force in the musical culture of his day.

    Beyond the exhibition, the piano will be kept at the Polish House on Drummond Place in Edinburgh, where its connection to Yaniewicz will continue to be celebrated with an annual recital in his name.

    Donors are invited to join The Friends of Felix Yaniewicz to receive updates on the project. Membership is free.

    Yaniewicz was my great-great-great-great-grandfather. It was a thrilling moment when this beautiful piano bearing his name came to light, setting off a journey of discovery about his remarkable career and how he came to settle in Britain. It has become a mission to save this unique instrument, to bring it to Edinburgh where he made his home, and to tell his story as an inspirational example of migration enriching our culture and the power of music as a force for inclusion." Josie Dixon, The Friends of Felix Yaniewicz

    Updates

    2

    • The Friends of Felix Yaniewicz2 years ago
      The Friends of Felix Yaniewicz

      The Friends of Felix Yaniewicz

      2 years ago

      Thanks to the collective generosity of our donors, the Yaniewicz & Green square piano will be arriving in Edinburgh next month, and we will be celebrating with two inaugural concerts at the Polish House on Drummond Place. We have done our best to invite all donors, but did not have contact details for everyone, particularly those whose donations were anonymous. If you have not heard from us and would like to attend one of the concerts on 12th or 14th November, please get in touch here: https://www.yaniewicz.org/contact.html Thank you!

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    • The Friends of Felix Yaniewicz3 years ago
      The Friends of Felix Yaniewicz

      The Friends of Felix Yaniewicz

      3 years ago
      Update from the Page owner

      Heartfelt thanks to all of you for a magnificent collective effort to save the Yaniewicz & Green square piano, with special appreciation for our partners in the Scottish Polish community. We reached our target today in the most wonderful way, with a donation collected at the 100th birthday of the late Stanley Young (Stanislaw Zawerbny) and afterwards at his funeral. I am touched and delighted in equal measure by this beautiful gesture on the part of Stanley, his family and friends. Warmest wishes Josie Dixon The Friends of Felix Yaniewicz

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    3 years ago

    The Friends of Felix Yaniewicz started crowdfunding

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    Page last updated on: 10/28/2021 06.54

    Supporters

    92

    • Dr Patricia Young

      Dr Patricia Young

      Jun 14, 2021

      This money was raised at my father Stanley Young's (aka Stanislaw Zawerbny) 100th birthday party in lieu of presents and later at his funeral in lieu of flowers. RIP Dad!

      £465.00

    • Krystyna Wiczkowski ( nee Janiewicz  from Wilno - no relation)

      Krystyna Wiczkowski ( nee Janiewicz from Wilno - no relation)

      Jun 6, 2021

      £50.00

    • Jemima

      Jemima

      Jun 5, 2021

      What an amazing effort :)

      £50.00

    • Anonymous

      Anonymous

      Jun 3, 2021

      Beautiful initiative, wonderful recital, thanks a lot for organising!

      £50.00

    • Maureen MacGlashan

      Maureen MacGlashan

      May 29, 2021

      £40.00

    • Jonathan Glasspool

      Jonathan Glasspool

      May 26, 2021

    • Sue, John & Rhubarb

      Sue, John & Rhubarb

      May 20, 2021

      A fantastic project Josie - brilliant work - you're nearly there!xx

      £30.00

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    The Friends of Felix Yaniewicz

    The Friends of Felix Yaniewicz

    Musicians, heritage professionals, the thriving Polish-Scottish community and Yaniewicz’s family all take a share in his legacy. Celebrating his place in musical history, we honour the contribution of migrants to British culture and the power of music as a force for inclusion.

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