Petersburski Jerzy, *20 April 1897 Warsaw, †7 October 1979 Warsaw, Polish composer, pianist, arranger, conductor. In 1916, he graduated from A. Michałowski’s piano class at the Warsaw Conservatory, and until 1920 he continued his music studies in Vienna with A. Schnabel (composition, conducting). He made his debut as a composer in 1918 with the song Wielka Teodora (lyrics by J. Tuwim). In the 1920s and 1930s, he was a pianist, composer and arranger for Warsaw’s revues and cabarets (Miraż, Czarny Kot, Perskie Oko, Qui Pro Quo, Banda, Morskie Oko), accompanying P. Negri, H. Ordonówna and A. Wertyński. From 1926, together with A. Gold, he led the most popular dance orchestra of the interwar period, performing in revues and cabaret programmes, as well as in restaurants (Adria, Oaza, Café Club); the orchestra’s concerts were broadcast by the Polskie Radio. In 1928, he wrote Tango milonga (lyrics by A. Włast), performed for the first time on 7 March 1929 by S. Nowicka with a polish revelers chorus (E. Bodo, W. Roland, L. Sempoliński) in the revue Warszawa w kwiatach on the stage of Morskie Oko; titled Oh, Donna Clara (with English lyrics by L. Beda) later became the most famous Polish song in the world (in the repertoire of A. Jolson, E. Piaff, M. Dietrich, A. Mantovani orchestra, among others). Petersburski composed several hundred songs, many of which became timeless hits, including Już nigdy, Ta ostatnia niedziela, Szkoda twoich łez, dziewczyno, Tango andrusowskie, Odrobinę szczęścia w miłości, Ja się boję sama spać, Gdy Petersburski z Goldem gra, Cała przyjemność po mojej stronie, Młodym być, Nie ja, nie ty (E. Piaff sang it under the title Amour disait folie), Błękitna chusteczka (written in the USSR and first popular there under the title Siniy platochek). He wrote many songs for specific performers, including Z. Pogorzelska, E. Bodo, M. Fogg, T. Mankiewiczówna, and L. Sempoliński. He also wrote operetta music (including Kochanka z ekranu, Warsaw 1936) and film music (including Co mój mąż robi w nocy? (What Is My Husband Doing Tonight?), dir. M. Waszyński, 1934; Królowa przedmieścia, with H. Wars, dir. E. Bodo, 1937). As a pianist, conductor and arranger, he participated in recordings of his songs and also made guest appearances abroad (Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Davos, Prague). He was the first Polish composer of popular music to be awarded the Gold Cross of Merit in 1936.
During World War II, after the September Campaign, Petersburski found himself in the USSR, where he collaborated with local soloists and the entertainment orchestras of I. Dunayevsky and L. Utiosov. Together with H. Gold, he organised a jazz orchestra, with which he gave concerts in the largest cities of the USSR. In 1941, he joined the Polish Army of General W. Anders, with which he fought throughout the Middle East, running frontline theatres and editing radio programmes for soldiers. In 1947, he left for Brazil, where he performed in a piano duo with A. Schütz, the composer of Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino [The Red Poppies on Monte Cassino], and then settled in Argentina, where he gained popularity thanks to the song Wszystkie drogi prowadzą do Buenos Aires [title in Spanish Todos los caminos conducen a Buenos Aires], the first bars of which became the theme tune of the El Mundo radio station in 1952. From 1954 to 1962, he was a conductor at the Teatro El Nacional in Buenos Aires. In 1968, he returned to Poland, where he composed songs for his wife, S. Klejdysz, and A. Zwierz. In 1977, the album Jerzy Petersburski. Niezapomniane przeboje was released.
