Stanisław Moniuszko

Stanislaw Moniuszko (May 5, 1819 in Ubiel, near Minsk - June 4, 1872 in Warsaw, Congress Poland) was a Polish composer, conductor and teacher. He is generally called the father of Polish national opera.
Biography
Youth
Moniuszko was born in Ubiel (Minsk district in modern Belarus) to a Polish-Armenian noble family of landowners. He showed an early ability in music, and began private piano lessons with August Freyer in 1827. Moniuszko began to formally study composition in Berlin with Karl Friedrich Rungenhagen, who also taught him in choral conducting. While in Berlin, he had an unexpected early success when he set three songs to the words of the Polish national poet, Adam Mickiewicz.
After three years in Berlin, he returned to Poland in 1840 to marry Aleksandra Muller. He got a job as an organist in Vilnius and also worked as a private piano tutor. The Moniuszkos had ten children.
Around 1840, he began to compose strongly, writing his first operas and several other stage works, as well as sacred music and secular cantatas.
During his lifetime Moniuszko traveled many times to St. Petersburg where his concerts were very well received. He was the mentor of Cesar Cui.
Maturity
In 1848 in Vilnius, he staged and conducted the first performance of his opera Halka. After the triumph of his new four-act version of Halka at Warsaw on 1 January 1858, he toured France. It was soon later staged in Prague, Moscow and St. Petersburg, where it met with great success.
On 1 August 1858 he was made conductor of the Polish Opera in the Grand Theatre in Warsaw. In 1864, Moniuszko started lecturing at the Music Institute in Warsaw, where he also directed a choir. His disciples included, among others, Zygmunt Noskowski and Henryk Jarecki.
Stanislaw Moniuszko died on 4 June 1872 in Warsaw of a sudden heart attack. He was buried in Powazki Cemetery.
Works
Stage works
Operettas
Operas
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
!bgcolor=ececec|Work
!bgcolor=ececec|Form
!bgcolor=ececec|Composed
!bgcolor=ececec|Libretto
!bgcolor=ececec|Premiere
|-
|Halka (Helen)
|opera in two acts, laterenlarged to four acts
|c. 1847-8& 1857
|Wlodzimierz Wolski(after Kazimierz Wladyslaw Wojcicki)
|Vilnius, 1 January 1848
|-
|Sielanka (Idyll)
|opera in two acts
|c. 1848?
|Vintsent Dunin-Martsinkyevich
|lost
|-
|Betty
|comic opera in two acts
|c. 1852
|F Schober (after Scribe andMelesville)
|Vilnius, 20 May 1852
|-
|Flis (The Raftsman)
|opera in one act
|c. 1858
|S Boguslawski
|Warsaw, 24 September 1858
|-
|Rokiczana (The King of Peasants)
|incomplete
|c. 1859
|J Korzeniowski
|unperformed
|-
|Hrabina (The Countess)
|opera in three acts
|c. 1869
|Wlodzimierz Wolski
|Warsaw, 7 February 1860
|-
|Jawnuta
|opera in two acts
|c. 1860
|
|Warsaw 5 June 1860
|-
|Verbum nobile
|opera in one act
|c. 1860
|Jan Checinski
|Warsaw, 1 January 1861
|-
|Straszny Dwor (The Haunted Manor)
|opera in four acts
|c. 1861-4
|Jan Checinski (after Kazimierz Wladyslaw Wojcicki)
|Warsaw, 28 September 1865
|-
|Paria|opera in three acts withprologue
|c. 1859-69
|Jan Checinski (after a play byDelavigne)
|Warsaw, 11 December 1869
|-
|Trea|incomplete
|c. 1872
|J Jasinski after a Femish legend
|unperformed
|-
|Nowy dziedzic (The New Landlord)
|incomplete
|undated
|
|unperformed
|-
|Sen wieszcza (The Seer's Dream)
|incomplete
|undated
|Wladyslaw Syrokomla after J B Rosierand A de Leuven
|unperformed
|-
|Walka muzykow(The Musicians' Struggle)
|incomplete
|undated
|Vintsent Dunin-Martsinkyevich
|lost
|}
Ballet Monte Christo, after Alexandre Dumas (1866)Na kwaterunku (On the Bilet) (1868)Figle szatana (Satan's Tricks aka Devil's Frolics) (1870)Merry Wives of Windsor (c. 1849), ballet music composed for the opera of Otto Nicolai
Theatre Kasper Hauser (1843), melodrama by Anicet, Bourgeois and d'Ennery. First performance: Minsk, November 18, 1843Sabaudka (Savoyardess or the Mother's Blessing) melodrama in 5 acts by d'Ennery and Lemoine. First performance: Vilnius, May 6, 1845
Hamlet. Shakespeare's tragedy. First performance: Warsaw, March 24, 1871Zbojcy (Die Rauber). Schiller's tragedy. First performance: Warsaw 1870 and 1871Hans Mathis, drama (1872). Finished by Adam MunchheimerKarpaccy gorale, drama by J. Korzeniowski
Vocal
Cantatas
Sacred
Songs More than 300, listing the most popular:Chochlik (The Imp). Text by A.E. OdyniecCzaty (The Ambush), ballad. Text by A. Mickiewicz. Also in a version with orchestraCzarny krzyzyk (The Little Black Cross). Text by Bruno Bielawski.Dziad i baba (The Old Man and The Old Woman). Text by J.I. KraszewskiDziadek i babka (Grandpa and Grandma). Text by P. JankowskiEntuzjasta (The Enthusiast). Text by J. PrusinowskiKozak (Cossack). Also known as Tam na gorze jawor stoiKum i kuma (Chums). Text by J. CzeczotLzy (Tears). Text by A.E. OdyniecMaciek. Text by T. LenartowiczMagda karczmarka (Magda, the Innkeeper). Also known as W pustej karczmie Magda siedzi, ballad. Text by E. SztyrmerNad Nida (On Nida River). Text by Wlodzimierz WolskiPanicz i dziewczyna (The Young Master and The Girl). Also known as W gaiku zielonym. Text by A.E. OdyniecPiesn wieczorna (The Song at Dusk). Also known as Po nocnej rosie. Text by W. SyrokomlaPiosnka zolnierza (Soldier's Song). Also known as Juz matka zasnela. Text by J. KorzeniowskiPolna rozyczka (The Little, Field Rose). Text by J. GrajnertPowrot taty (Father's Return). Text by A. MickiewiczPrzasniczka (The Spinner). Text by J. Czeczot. Also in a version with orchestraRozmowa (Conversation). Also known as Kochanko moja, na co nam rozmowa. Text by A. MickiewiczRybka (The Fish). Text by A. MickiewiczSwierszcz (The Cricket). Text by J.N. KaminskiSwitezianka (The Nymph of Lake Switez). Text by A. MickiewiczTren X (Lament No. X). Also known as Urszulo moja wdzieczna. Text by J. KochanowskiTrzech Budrysow (Three Budryses). Text by A. Mickiewicz. Also in a version with orchestraTrzy spiewy: Niepewnosc, Pieszczotka, Sen (Three Chants: Uncertainty, Cuddlesome One, Dream). Text by A. Mickiewicz. German translation BlankenseeWilija (Christmas Eve). Text by A. MickiewiczZnaszli ten kraj (Do You Know Such Land). Text by A. Mickiewicz, after J. W. Goethe
Instrumental
Chamber
String quartet no.1 in D minor (1839)
String quartet no.2 in F major (before 1840)
Organ
Organ compositions on the themes of church songs, among others Vespers and Song of Ostra Brama. Published: Warsaw, 1862.
Piano Fraszki (Trifles). Two books. Published: Vilnius, 1843
Nocturne in A-flat major. Published: Vilnius, 1846
Mazurka in D major. Published: Vilnius, before 1846
Six Polonaises. Published: Vilnius, 1846
Polka in C major. Published: Warsaw, 1851
Polka, "Daniel". Published: Warsaw, 1852
Polka, "Gabirela". Published: Warsaw, 1855
"Spring" Polka. Published: Warsaw, 1860Vilanelle in B flat major. Published: Warsaw, 1851
Three Waltzes. Published: Warsaw, 1852
"Wedding" Mazurka. Published: Warsaw, 1872Kolysanka (Cradle Song) in D major. Published: Warsaw, 19 March 1872
Piano transcriptions of opera fragments and of works by other composers, among others Six Polonaises of Michal Oginski. Published: Warsaw, before 1858
Original compositions and transcriptions for piano duet
Symphonic Bajka (Fairytale), fantastic overture (1848). Two versions. First performed: Vilnius, 1 May 1848Kain, overture (1856). First performance: St. Petersburg, March 1856
War Overture. First performance: Vilnius, 19 March 1857Polonez koncertowy (concert polonaise) in A major, for large orchestra (1866)Polonez obywatelski, civic polonaise in F major (after 1863)
Recordings
Due to the current obscurity of Moniuszko outside Poland, this list more or less represents a complete discography.
Opera
Halka: Andrzej Hiolski, Barbara Zagorzanka, Jerzy Ostapiuk, Ryszarda Racewicz, Wieslaw Ochman. Robert Satanowski cond., Polish National Opera Orchestra & Chorus. 2 CDs, DDD, CPO Records, Live (recorded 1987?), 18 January 1995
Halka (highlights): Andrzej Hiolski, Edmund Kossowski, Barbara Nieman, Halina Slonicka, Bohdan Paprocki. Zdizislaw Gorzynski cond., Polish National Opera Orchestra & Chorus. CD, Polskie Nagrania Muza, 6 April 1994 (originally 1992)
Halka: Harmonia Mundi/Chant du Monde?