Stanisław Moniuszko - Requiem Aeternam (Andrzej Szadejko)

Information

Composer: Stanisław Moniuszko

• Ostra Brama Litany I
• Sub tuum praesidium
• Ostra Brama Litany II
• Ecce lignum crucis
• Funeral March of Antoni Orlowski
• Requiem Aeternam
• Ostra Brama Litany III

Ingrida Gápová, soprano

Marion Eckstein, alto

Sebastian Mach, tenor

Maximilian Argmann, bass

Goldberg Baroque Ensemble

Gellert Ensemble

Andrzej Szadejko, conductor

Date: 2023

Label: Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm

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Review

Stanisław Moniuszko is one of those composers who are a kind of national heroes in their own country, but are little-known outside it. Moniuszko is rather well represented on disc, yet I rarely come across his name in the programmes of non-Polish orchestras and chamber music ensembles. He has become best-known for his music for the stage, but the international opera houses seldom include one of his works in their programmes. In Poland especially the Frederick Chopin Institute and the annual festival 'Chopin and his Europe' promote his oeuvre. The music materials for most of the works included on the disc that is the subject of this review, have been made available by the PWM program Polish Music Heritage. The various activities have resulted in a number of recordings, many - probably most - of which are by Polish performers.

Let us first have a look at Moniuszko's life and career. He was born in a village in the province of Minsk, which until 1793 was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In that year it was annexed by the Russian Empire, as a consequence of the Second Partition of Poland. Moniuszko received piano lessons from his mother. In 1827 the family moved to Warsaw, where Stanisław became a pupil of August Freyer, who was a pupil of Józef Elsner at the Conservatory. From 1830 the family lived in Minsk again; in 1834 Stanisław was sent to Berlin to further his musical studies at the Singakademie. There he became acquainted with opera, among others the works of Weber, Lortzing and Marschner. He also came into contact with the oratorios of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and others, and the works of Bach and Handel. At that time he also started to compose. After graduating he settled in Vilnius, where he was active as a music teacher, organist at St John's Church and producer of concerts, also of works of his own pen. His first opera, Halka, was positively received. He moved to Warsaw and became director of the Music Theatre in 1858 and six years later director of the Music Institute.

During his career he widely travelled across Europe, especially for the performance of his operas. He spoke several languages, which allowed him to contact various composers, such as Smetana and Rossini. He had a special liking of the latter's music, and the appreciation was mutual. In 1872 he died of a heart attack.

As mentioned, Moniuszko has become best-known for his music for the stage. Other music of his pen that has been performed and recorded are his songs. The liner-notes mention that his sacred oeuvre has largely been overlooked; in New Grove it is hardly discussed. It is true that this part of his output is not that large: apart from the works included on the present disc, it consists of a number of masses, mass fragments and smaller choral and solo works. However, according to Remigiusz Pośpiech, "it is precisely in these works that Moniuszko makes his most complete statement, which, moreover, does not result from mercantile considerations or commissions, but from inner need. They touch on the deepest and most important areas of life and are musically determined only by the composer's imagination." The scorings of his sacred works are very different: songs with organ accompaniment, works for choir and organ or string quintet and pieces in larger scoring with orchestra. Some of the latter are performed on this disc.

The title of this disc is Requiem aeternam, which is a bit misleading. The work with this title is one of the shortest in the programme, taking under five minutes. It is not a Requiem mass as one may probably expect, but a setting of a single line: "Requiem aeternam dona ei Domine et lux perpetua luceat ei. Amen." It is called a cantata religiosa and scored for eleven solo voices, choir and orchestra; it includes an obbligato part for the harp. It dates from around 1868. The orchestra plays a major role in this work, as in all the pieces on this disc. Its subtitle - only mentioned on the page with the track-list in the booklet and on the reverse - is appropriate: "Sacred Symphonic Music". Marsz Żałobny Antoniego Orłowskiego (Funeral March of Antoni Orlowski) is even entirely orchestral. It has been considered a work of Moniuszko's pen, but according to the liner-notes it is most likely a piece by Antoni Orłowski, a Polish violinist, pianist, conductor and composer, which was arranged by Moniuszko.

The main items on this disc are the three Litanie Ostrobramskie (according to the work-list in New Grove there are four of them, but here only three are performed, and the liner-notes don't mention the existence of a fourth). They date from Moniuszko's time in Vilnius. They were probably the result of a commission by the poet Tomasz Zan, who asked Moniuszko to compose "a decent accompaniment to the song Unter deinem Schutz/Sub tuum Praesidium and to the litanies sung in Ostra Brama". Unfortunately the liner-notes offer hardly information about Ostra Brama. It refers to Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn, "a prominent Catholic miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated by the faithful in the Chapel of the Gate of Dawn (or Sharp Gate) in Vilnius, Lithuania. The painting was historically displayed above the Vilnius city gate; city gates of the time often contained religious artifacts intended to ward off attacks and bless passing travellers", according to Wikipedia, where one can find more about this. Technically these are demanding pieces, which is remarkable given the modest forces Moniuszko had at his disposal in Vilnius. In these Litanies passages for solo voices and for choir alternate. It is not easy to follow the performance due to the fact that in the booklet the invocations "ora pro nobis" are omitted. The second track of the first Litany starts with "Sancta Maria ora pro nobis", but in the text as printed in the booklet you won't find these words. It is also regrettable that it does not offer any translations. The instrumentation differs from one Litany to the other, evolving "from classical in the first litany to symphonic in the third". Moniuszko performed them in Vilnius and in Warsaw; only the third was published, and earned the praise of Rossini.

The first Litany is followed by a setting of the antiphon Sub tuum praesidium, which Tomasz Zan referred to in his commission. It was originally scored for baritone and organ and performed on Good Friday 1857 in St John's Church in Vilnius. Here it is performed in an orchestration by Zygmunt Noskowski, one of Moniuszko's students. The form is operatic: an aria with cadenza. The motet Ecce lignum crucis was also orchestrated by Noskowski; it was originally scored for baritone, choir and organ. It dates from 1872 and is one of Moniuszko's last compositions. The piece ends with a dramatic choral episode.

In New Grove Moniuszko's "other compositions" - meaning everything except the stage works and the songs - are characterised as "of rather less interest". On the basis of this recording of sacred works I have to disagree. It seems to me that these pieces are of quite some interest, for musical and historical reasons. Especially the role of the orchestra is notable, and the choral parts are also substantial. The solo voices probably play a minor role, except those of the baritone; Maximilian Argmann does give an excellent account of these parts. The other soloists are also entirely convincing. The Goldberg Baroque Ensemble mainly plays baroque music, as its name indicates, but performs here as a full-blown 19th-century orchestra, and does so very well. The choir consists of 24 singers, which may be smaller than was common at the time, but the balance between choir and orchestra is satisfying. The choir produces enough power to do justice to the scores.

Those who like Moniuszko's operas should investigate this recording, which completes the picture of the composer. It is also a valuable contribution to our knowledge of 19th-century sacred music, which overall takes a minor place in modern performance practice.

— Johan van Veen

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Stanisław Moniuszko (5 May 1819 – 4 June 1872) was Poland's leading 19th-century opera composer. After studying composition and choral conducting in Berlin, he worked as an organist in Wilno (now Vilnius, Lithuania), where literary influences inspired his operatic career. His Śpiewnik Domowy (Songbook for Home Use) became a landmark collection of 267 songs reflecting Polish folklore. His opera Halka established his reputation and led to appointments at Warsaw's Grand Theatre and Musical Institute. His operas and choral works blended Romantic style with Polish traditions, patriotic themes and expressive melodies.

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Andrzej Szadejko (born 1974) is a Polish composer, conductor, organist, professor and specialist in historical organs. Educated in Gdańsk, Warsaw and Basel, he has built an international career as a performer, scholar and cultural organizer, giving over 700 concerts worldwide. A professor at the Academy of Music in Gdańsk, he combines teaching with research, composition and organ restoration projects. As founder and director of the Goldberg Baroque Ensemble, he has championed the rediscovery of Gdańsk's musical heritage through acclaimed recordings and publications. His work has earned numerous award nominations.

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