Paderewski's triumphal assault on America started with a recommendation to William Steinway from an agent in London, urging him to sign a young Polish pianist for a U.S. tour. Ignace himself arrived in New York on November 1891, only to be gloomily greeted at dockside by Steinway representative Charles Tretbar bearing grim tidings. "You have had brilliant successes in London and Paris," Tretbar declared, "but let me tell you, Mr. Paderewski, you need not expect anything like that here in America.... We are not easily pleased here." Famous last words. Ignacy Paderewski 1860–1941, polish pianist, composer, and statesman; studied at the Warsaw Conservatory and later with Theodor Leschetizky. Following debuts in Vienna (1887) and Paris (1888), his brilliant, sensitive playing won him world-wide popularity exceeding that of any performer since Franz Liszt. In 1890 he made the first of many concert tours of the United States. An ardent patriot, he briefly headed Polish governments in 1919 and 1940–41 (the latter in exile). He amassed a large fortune, most of which he donated to the service of Poland and the benefit of needy musicians and Jewish refugees. Paderewski died shortly after returning to the United States to plead Poland's cause once again. In addition to the famous Minuet in G for piano, his works include some orchestral music, an opera, a cantata, a violin sonata, and piano pieces and songs. He established (1900) the Paderewski Fund to forward musical composition in the United States. Bibliography: See his memoirs, ed. by Mary Lawton (1938); biographies by Antoni Gronowicz (1943), Charles Phillips (1934, repr. 1978), and Marian Drozdowski (1983).