Various Composers - Polish Chamber Music for Wind Instruments

Information

• Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński - Duo for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 47
• Wojciech Kilar - Sonata for Horn and Piano
• Franciszek Lessel - Grand Trio for Piano, Clarinet and Horn, Op. 4

Roman Widaszek, violin

Tadeusz Tomaszewski, horn

Joanna Domańska, piano

Date: 2013

Label: DUX

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Description

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The style brillant developed in the piano music of the first half of the 19th century together with the emergence of a new social class – the bourgeoisie. Its members were hardly musical connoisseurs and what appealed to them were relatively easy pieces, ones with sentimental melodies, technical virtuosity and vocal artistry. These elements, coupled with the great strides in the construction of the piano and its fast growing popularity, led to the development of the new style. Its most prominent representatives were the pianist-composers Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Ferdinand Ries, Friedrich Kalkbrenner, John Field, Ignaz Moscheles, Carl Maria von Weber, Sigismund Thalberg, and in Poland – Franciszek Lessel and Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński.

The earliest composition on the CD is Lessel’s Grand Trio for Piano, Clarinet and Horn Op.4 (1806). Lessel (1780-1838) belonged to the generation of composers directly preceding Chopin. He took his first lessons – in piano, violin and composition – from his father, Wincenty. At the end of 1799 he went to Vienna to take up compositional studies with Haydn. His ten-year stay there was interspersed with visits to Łańcut, where he served as court composer and musician at Prince Lubomirski’s residence. After Haydn’s death in 1809, Lessel returned to Poland and embarked on a concert career, performing his piano compositions in Lviv, Kraków and Warsaw as well as at the court of the Czartoryski family in Puławy.

As with Hummel, one of the finest representatives of the style brillant who followed the model developed by his teacher Mozart, Lessel patterned himself on his own mentor, Haydn. Both of them inherited from their great teachers the classical principles and many devices of piano technique, which they later developed thanks to their own creative talents.

One of Lessel’s youthful compositions, the Grand Trio combines classical features and those of the early style brillant, as evidenced by the highly virtuoso texture of its dominant piano part and the altered proportions between individual sections of the sonata allegro, which are typical of the style brillant. In the outer movements, Allegro con spirito and Allegro, the supreme role is played by the bridge sections, which are filled with figurative display. The absence of expressive contrast between the themes is also evident.

The second movement, Adagio espressivo, is a harbinger of the Romantic period, with its highly expressive, atmospheric dialogue between the clarinet and horn against the background of a discreet, figurative piano accompaniment. The extremely rare combination of these three instruments produces a highly interesting result.

Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński (1807-1867) belonged to the same generation as Chopin. They both studied composition with Józef Elsner at the Main School of Music in Warsaw and Dobrzyński was regarded by their teacher as the most talented student after Chopin. Unlike Chopin, however, Dobrzyński focused on symphonic and chamber music, his most important compositions being the Piano Concerto Op.2, the String Sextet Op.39, three string quartets and two string quintets.

Duo for Clarinet and Piano was written in the mid 1840s, at a time when Dobrzyński was already a popular and highly regarded composer. It is reasonable to infer that in writing the piece he was inspired by Carl Maria Weber’s Grand Duo Concertant in E flat major Op.48 (1816), scored for the same instruments. The clarinet started to be used in symphonic and chamber music following the improvements made in the construction of the instrument by Ivan Müller in 1812. Thanks to these technical innovations, the potential of the clarinet had increased so tangibly that Dobrzyński was able to employ it on an equal footing with the piano.

The first movement, Agitato, pulsates joyfully with its triplet-based figurations and is an incessant dialogue between the two instruments. It is followed by the lyrical Adagio doloroso e molto espressivo, which communicates emotions of a Romantic character. The third movement, Allegretto mosso e animato, is in the form of a rondo with a recurring pastoral theme and is rounded off by a coda which exhibits a stylistic affinity with Chopin’s early music. It is a virtuoso display for the two instruments, sparkling with humour.

Wojciech Kilar’s Sonata for Horn and Piano is in a neo-Classical style. Born in 1932 in Lviv, Kilar began serious musical education in 1948 at the State Secondary Music School in Katowice, studying the piano with Władysława Markiewiczówna. From that time onwards, he has lived and worked in Katowice. In 1950-1955 he studied the piano and composition with Bolesław Woytowicz at the city’s State Higher School of Music. In 1959-1960 he lived in Paris, taking composition lessons from Nadia Boulanger.

When writing the Sonata, in 1954, Kilar remained under the far-reaching influence of Stravinsky and Bartók. The work follows the classical tripartite pattern. The first movement, Allegro, is full of energy as well as contrasts in dynamics and expression. Strongly accentuated equal rhythmic values give the music its motoric drive. The ensuing Recitativo e arioso introduces a mood of anxiety and gloom, whereas the final Allegretto grazioso is full of humour and charm, with distinct elements of folk music.

The work is dedicated to Kilar’s colleague from the Music Academy, Józef Brejza, an incredibly talented horn player for whom no score, no matter how technically demanding, presented any problems. Bearing this in mind, Kilar composed a piece with a high degree of complexity, in which the second movement in particular, with its long built-up tension, reaching a climax in the high register con tutta forza, poses very special demands. In an early radio recording of the Sonata, the composer and Brejza performed the work’s original, more expanded version. The present recording is of the work’s final version which was published by PWM Edition in 1959.

— Joanna Domańska, translated by Michał Kubicki

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Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński (15 February 1807 – 9 October 1867) was a Polish pianist and composer. After studying with his father, he trained under Józef Elsner at the Warsaw Conservatory alongside Frédéric Chopin. He gained recognition when his Symphony No. 2 'Characteristic', Opus 15 won second prize in a composition competition, with movements later conducted by Felix Mendelssohn. Dobrzyński toured Germany as a pianist and conductor, founded a Polish orchestra in 1857, and helped establish a Music Institute. His works include operas, symphonies, concertos, chamber music, piano pieces and songs.

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Wojciech Kilar (17 July 1932 – 29 December 2013) was a Polish composer. After studying in Poland, Paris under Nadia Boulanger, and attending the Darmstadt summer courses, he developed a distinctive neo-tonal style that combined serial techniques with traditional forms. His compositions were deeply influenced by Polish folk traditions and his Catholic faith, as reflected in works such as Krzesany, Angelus and Bogurodzica. Kilar composed scores for more than 150 films, earning international acclaim through collaborations with directors including Francis Ford Coppola, Roman Polanski and Jane Campion.

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Franciszek Lessel (c. 1780 – 26 December 1838) was a Polish composer and pianist. Born in Puławy, he received his early musical training from his father, Wincenty Ferdynand Lessel, and under Joseph Haydn from 1799 until the composer's death. Lessel worked as a court musician, directed Warsaw's Amateur Music Society, and taught the glass harmonica before later taking administrative positions outside music. He is best known for his Grand Trio for Clarinet, Horn, and Piano, Op. 4, Fantaisie in E minor, Op. 13, and his Piano Concerto in C major, reflecting his contribution to early nineteenth-century Polish music.

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