Ignacy Friedman ranked among the foremost pianists of the twentieth century, mentioned in the same breath as such masters of the keyboard as Josef Lhévinne, Leopold Godowsky, and Józef Hofmann. Few listeners today, however, are aware that he was also a gifted composer who left a substantial body of work – primarily pieces for solo piano (most of them miniatures grouped into cycles), but also chamber music and songs to texts by Polish national poets.

He produced numerous piano transcriptions and served as editor of a complete edition of the works of Fryderyk Chopin. His style was a natural heir to the Romantic tradition. His compositions drew on the music of Fryderyk Chopin, Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms, while his works also reveal echoes of the early style of Karol Szymanowski. He wrote mainly piano miniatures (as well as songs and chamber pieces), in which he readily turned to elements of Polish folk music Anna Parkita is a pianist, pedagogue, and Doctor of Musical Arts and maintains an active career as a performer, scholar, and editor.