1910
On 28 February Roman Maciejewski is born in Berlin. His parents are Józef Maciejewski, a tailor and amateur musician, and Bronisława (née Zgaińska), a violinist. The Maciejewski family lives in the centre of Berlin, in Friederichstrasse.
25 June — premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird in Paris.
27 April — Tomasso Marinetti delivers his manifesto Contro Venezia passatista in Venice’s St. Mark’s Square.
1 December – Austrian authorities legalise “Strzelec” (Rifleman), a Polish paramilitary organisation.
1911
7 December – birth of Maciejewski’s sister Jadwiga (1911–2005), who would become a teacher and after the Second World War would work for the School Inspectorate in Poznań.
7 April – Grzegorz Fitelberg conducts the premiere of Karol Szymanowski’s Symphony No. 2, dedicated to the conductor.
18 May — Gustav Mahler dies in Vienna.
May — Ernest Rutherford presents a model of the atom with an extremely small and massive nucleus (“Rutherford experiment”).
1912
31 March — a performance of Alban Berg’s 5 Orchester-Lieder in Vienna causes a scandal and the concert is interrupted.
14 April — the passenger liner Titanic hits an iceberg and sinks the following day, causing the death of over 1500 people.
8 October – outbreak of the First Balkan War, leading to the creation of an independent Albania.
1913
25 January — Witold Lutosławski is born in Warsaw.
29 May — the premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring in Paris provokes one of the biggest musical scandals of the twentieth century.
30 June — beginning of the second Balkan War.
5 September — premiere of Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in Saint Petersburg.
22 November — birth of Benjamin Britten.
1914
At the beginning of the war the Maciejewski family moves to a place in Wilhelmstrasse. The composer’s father is called up, but in the end instead of fighting he makes military uniforms.
21 December – birth of Roman Maciejewski’s brother Zygmunt (1914–1999). In 1939 he would obtain an MA degree in philosophy from the University of Warsaw, but after the war would become a theatre and film actor.
28 June — the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo leads directly to the outbreak of the First World War. Three days later Germany declares war on Russia.
6 August — the First Cadre Company, headed by Józef Piłsudski, sets out from Kraków.
14 September — Michał Spisak is born in Dąbrowa Górnicza.
24 September — birth of Andrzej Panufnik in Warsaw.
1915
It is probably at that time that the future composer begins to learn the piano with his mother. As he recalled years later: “My mother wanted me to become a violinist, but since it is easier to start learning the piano, we began the lessons with this instrument. In any case, my mother was a proficient pianist and one of the strongest impressions of my childhood was Chopin’s music which lulled me to sleep every evening.”
22 April — the Germans use poison gas for the first time (during the Battle of Ypres).
27 April — Alexander Scriabin dies in Moscow.
Charles Ives completes his “Concord” Piano Sonata No. 2, on which he had been working since 1911 (it would be published in 1919).
1916
Maciejewski begins to attend the Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium in Berlin.
5 February — Cabaret Voltaire is established in Zurich, marking the beginning of the Dada movement.
At Tymoszówka Karol Szymanowski composes two of his most important works: Symphony No. 3 and Violin Concerto No. 1.
5 November – the German and Austrian authorities issue a declaration promising the establishment of a Kingdom of Poland.
1917
22 January — Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, delivers an address calling for the creation of an independent Polish state.
7 November — a revolution breaks out in Russia (called the October Revolution because of the use of the Julian calendar).
De Stijl group, bringing together advocates of geometric abstractionism, is formed in Amsterdam.
1918
At the age of eight Maciejewski is admitted to the Stern Conservatoire, where his piano teacher is Maria Goldenweiser.
25 March — Claude Debussy dies in Paris.
November – riots, caused by the Spartacus League, beak out in Berlin. The revolution is put down and its leaders (Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht) are killed. Maciejewski recalled the events years later in the following manner:
“These were terrifying moments, because we heard all around us not just machine guns but also artillery, which bombarded the walls of the newspaper building opposite our house.”
14 July – birth of the famous director Ingmar Bergman in Uppsala.
11 November — an armistice in signed in Compiègne between the Entente and the German Empire. The Regency Council transfers power to Józef Piłsudski. Symbolic date of the regaining of independence by Poland.
1919
The Maciejewski family moves first to Radomicko, and then to Leszno, to Ulica Komeńskiego 42.
Roman Maciejewski is admitted to the Jan Komeński State School for Boys in Leszno, known for its rich tradition.
18 January–28 June – Peace Conference in Paris. Poland’s independence is recognised.
26 January – parliamentary elections in Poland.
Marcel Proust receives the Goncourt Prize for the novel In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower, second part of the cycle In Search of Lost Time.