S. MONIUSZKO’S DANCES IN HIS COMPOSITIONS FOR THE PIANO

Assoc. Prof. Šviesė Čepliauskaitė, pianist, works at the Music Academy of Vytautas Magnus University, member of the Lithuanian Musicians’ Union

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The numerous S. Moniuszko’s compositions for piano solo and four hands are almost as highly recognised as his vocal works and can be characterised by a diversity of genres and forms. While some of these works (various dances and miniatures) were created for home performance, others (e.g., polonaises) require a higher level of performance skills and can be treated as composed for playing at concerts. In Moniuszko’s works for the piano, along with original plays, one may encounter transcripts of opera overtures and dances composed both by Moniuszko himself and other composers.

All of S. Moniuszko’s works for the piano were compiled and edited by Polish musicologist and composer Krzysztof Antoni Mazur (1929-2000) and published (1976) with exhaustive comments by the largest Polish music publisher PWM (Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne) in Krakow, in Volume 34 of the collection of all the works by the composer. In this report, we will mention and refer to the recent edition of this collection that was specially reprinted for the anniversary of S. Moniuszko and supplemented by the transcriptions of the six polonaises by Duke M. K. Ogiński.

The major part of Moniuszko’s piano works contains dances — polonaises, mazurkas, waltzes and polka dances. K. A. Mazur grouped them, like all the compositions in the collection, under several categories:

I. Works for two hands:

1. Published works

2. Unpublished early works

3. Transcriptions of works by other composers

4. Transcriptions of Moniuszko’s own works

II. Works for four hands:

1. Original compositions

2. Transcriptions (of Moniuszko’s own works and those by other composers)

POLONAISES

A polonaise (Fr. la danse polonaise: a Polish dance) is a solemn ¾-metre dance; it was Duke Michał Kleofas Ogiński (1765-1833) who first developed this dance into a concert genre composition. Unquestionably, Moniuszko, who had lived in Vilnius for almost two decades (1839-1858), knew not only the polonaises by M. K. Ogiński who occasionally visited Vilnius, but also those by other famous composers of that time — Vilnius-born composer Józef Deszczyński (1781-1844); Maria Szymanowska (1789-1831), who would perform in Vilnius; F. Chopin's teacher Józef Elsner (1769-1854); Karol Kurpiński (1785-1857), and Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849).

Moniuszko created 19 polonaises for the piano; these include nine original polonaises for piano solo, eight transcriptions for piano solo and two transcriptions for piano for four hands.

Original Polonaises for the Piano

K. Mazur writes that "after having graduated in Berlin and settled in Vilnius, Moniuszko, for a long period of time, failed to find a publisher who would run the risk and make an effort to publish the works of a young and, at that time, little-known composer. Thus, Moniuszko, with all his energy and determination, chose to become his own music publisher. In this way, out of eight collections of works published for his own money within the period of 1842-1846, as many as four (which is a half) publications are compositions for piano solo.”

One of the collections is Six Polonaises (Sześć polonezów na fortepian: Nr. 1 Fis-dur, Nr. 2 Es-dur, Nr. 3 Es-dur, Nr. 4 D-dur, Nr. 5 es-moll i Nr. 6 G-dur) was first published in 1846 in Vilnius (publisher Antoni Klukowski). Later, Moniuszko used the polonaise under number six — Polonaise No. 6 G major — as the instrumental interlude in his opera Hrabina (The Countess); so, for multiple times, this polonaise was published under the title of Pan Chorąży (The Standard-bearer). For the first time under this title it was published by Michał Glücksberg's bookshop in March 1860 (one month after the premiere of the opera). At the same time, variations of the polonaise — for cello and piano and for piano and voice — were also published (the text by Wincenty Pol).

It interesting that three polonaises from this collection (in G major, E flat major, and E flat minor) for a second time appeared in Stuttgart in 1857, in the series of published editions Das Pianoforte edited by F. Liszt (Eduard Hallberger’s printing house) and it was only in 1860 when J. Zawadzki, at that time the most influential publisher of books and sheet music in Vilnius, printed a third edition and, later in the same year, a fourth edition of all the six polonaises in Vilnius.

The Polonaise in D minor, published in St. Petersburg in 1852 for the money of Lucia Racińska, was dedicated to “Jenerałowi Sumarokoff“ (General Sumarokov). According to K. Mazur and V. Rudzinski, the manuscript of this polonaise was handed to General Sumarokov in 1849 in Vilnius, and it was exactly this manuscript according to which its first publication was prepared.

The Polonaise in D flat major, printed by J. Zawadzki’s printing house in Vilnius in 1858, was dedicated “à Mademoiselle Josephine Przeciszewska” (for Miss Josephine (or rather Józefina) Przeciszewska).

The Polonaise in E flat major was published in 1860 as the first of the compositions of the appendix to the sheet music to accompany Karol Czerniawski's dissertation O tańcach narodowych z poglądem hystorycznym i estetycznym na tańce Różnych narodów (On national dances in the historical and aesthetical context of dances of different nations, and the Polish dances, in particular).

Transcriptions for the Piano

The Six Polonaises by Duke Michał Ogiński (Sześć polonezów księcia Michała Ogińskiego: Des-dur, B-dur, Es-dur, C-dur, c-moll i G-dur) were published in 1858 by J. Zawadzki’s printing house in Vilnius, with a dedication “À Monsieur François Lisz”. L. Kiauleikytė writes that this publication, in which Moniuszko presents a specific version of the six Ogiński’s polonaises, with slightly modified harmony and texture of the music, was sent to Franz Liszt, who “on March 16 of the same year (1858), in a letter posted from Vienna, expresses the sincerest gratitude on having received the polonaises by Count Ogiński saying that he had been deeply touched by such flattering attention and asked to express the highest favour and deepest respect for S. Moniuszko”. In the same year, the second edition of the polonaises is mentioned (in the same source), which evidences that the works and their transcriptions were favoured, purchased and performed.

The polonaise from the opera Halka was published for the composer’s money in Vilnius in 1850; in Halka, this polonaise is performed by soloists and a choir to the accompaniment of an orchestra; therefore, the first edition of the sheets of the transcription for the piano comprised marks for the entries and written text.

The Concert Polonaise in A major for Two Hands is Moniuszko's own arrangement of his Concert Polonaise for a Grand Orchestra (Polonaise de Concert à Grand Orchestre)" for piano solo published in 1866 by Ferdynand Hösick’s publishing house in Warsaw. At the same time, Moniuszko’s version of the same Concert Polonaise for four hands was printed which only differs in details in the melody, harmony, rhythm as well as in the articulation and phrasing.

The last polonaise — the Polonaise in D major for Four Hands — was only printed in 1898 by the Department of S. Moniuszko at the Warsaw Musical Society (Sekcja S. Moniuszki WTM). The dedication of the manuscript of the composition says: “Aloizemu Żółkowskiemu „Polonez“ na cztery ręce poświęca całém sercem Stanisław Moniuszko“ (To Alojzy Żółkowski, the Polonaise for four hands is dedicated by Stanisław Moniuszko, with all his heart).

MAZURKAS

A mazurka, a 3/4- or 3/8-metre Polish folk dance characterised by the accents placed on the weak parts of the beat, emerged as an independent instrumental composition for concert performance in the 19th century and became a popular piano play thanks to F. Chopin's music. Thus, it is obvious that Moniuszko, who lived in Vilnius and was interested in the new trends in the European music, wrote charming compositions of this genre for the piano.

There are 14 mazurkas composed by Moniuszko (if we include the composer’s version of his Mazur Weselny (The Wedding Mazurka) for four hands). It is interesting that Moniuszko used two different names for the versions — Mazur and Mazurek — while, when translating into the Lithuanian language, we use a single word Mazurka.

Of the ten mazurkas composed for piano solo, we can distinguish two as the most interesting and complete (these are the only two mazurkas prepared by the composer for publishing): Mazurka (Mazur) in D major, published for the composer’s money in Vilnius in 1846, and The Wedding Mazurka in C major (Mazur Weselny), printed by Gebethner i Wolff in Warsaw in 1872 with a dedication “Kochanemu Bratu Aleksandrowi Wańkowiczowi” (To My Beloved Brother Aleksander Wańkowicz). The other seven mazurkas and The Quasi Mazurka (Quasi Mazur) for piano solo are short plays, with a character, that were first published only in the collection of all works by S. Moniuszko.

For piano solo, Moniuszko also transcribed three mazurkas from his stage works. Transcribing various works was not only a popular trend in the music by the19th-century Romantic composers (especially F. Liszt), but also an opportunity for home music performers to learn about the materials of complex musical compositions.

For these transcriptions, Moniuszko chose the mazurkas from his operas Halka and The Haunted Manour (Straszny dwór) and ballet Monte Christo. Mazurkas from the operas were published by Gebethner i Wolff in Warsaw: Mazurka (Mazur) from Halka was published in 1858 and Mazurka (Mazur) from The Haunted Manour — in 1865. The story of Mazurka (Mazur) from the ballet Monte Christo is more interesting. The sheet music of the dance was published (by Ferdynand Hösick's publishing house in Warsaw) before the audience heard all the music from the ballet — in the June of 1866, i.e. a couple of months prior to the premiere of the baller, while the same mazurka was used by Moniuszko also in the operetta Jawnuta, in its second staging in Warsaw in 1868.

We will also notice the features of mazurka in Moniuszko's Fraszki (Trifles); out of the eleven compositions published in the earlier mentioned publication, four can be recognised as mazurkas (No. 8 in C major, No. 9 in G minor, No. 10 in G major, and No. 11 in F major), while two other compositions (No. 1 in G major and No.3 in A major) suggest some elements of this dance.

THE LITHUANIAN THEME IN COMPOSITIONS FOR THE PIANO

We would like to emphasise that while living in Vilnius, Moniuszko thoroughly knew the complex and colorful environment of Vilnius in terms of its ethnicity, religions, languages and cultures and found his niche in it. Although Moniuszko often complained about the provincial nature of the city and underwent financial difficulties, for him — for almost two decades — Vilnius was not only a place of love and a happy family life, but also a city where his major works appeared. Thus, it is obvious that Moniuszko’s piano compositions echo the everyday life of Vilnius. The titles of several piano works serve as evidence, e.g.:

The Waltz Pohulanka in A flat major: Pohulanka was the name of J. Basanavičius Street in the19th-century Vilnius.

A miniature titled of Moans of a Lithuanian Man (Westchnienie Litwina) in F sharp major, is perhaps one of the composer's impressions of the Lithuanian character.

Spring Polka (Wiosenna) in F major: this title is given in the manuscript by Moniuszko; however, the composer's wife, Aleksandra, already after the composer’s death in her letter to German publishers, claimed that the original title of the polka was Litwinka – Polka (Lithuanian Girl Polka). There is another title of this composition, Leokadia.

Mazurka Pożegnanie z Wilnem (A Farewell to Vilnius) in E minor reminds us of a quotation from Moniuszko's letter to Edmund Ilcewicz, a Vilnius friend of his: "Sooner or later, we will return to Vilnius. I will be happy to come back to my own plot of land, and especially to the one that evokes plentiful memories of the sweetest times.”

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