Chopin Review

Aleksota by Seweryna Pruszakowa and Stanisław Moniuszko – a rediscovered link?

Magdalena Dziadek — 2025-05-16

Held among the Moniuszko papers in the Warsaw Music Society archives is the libretto to the planned – but ultimately not written – opera Aleksota, penned by Seweryna Pruszakowa, which since 2023 has also been available in digital form on the website Polish Music Heritage in Open Access. It combines motifs taken from romantic Lithuanian mythology with fictional episodes from the history of the country’s Christianisation. The libretto was discussed and analysed by Włodzimierz Poźniak, but since he published the results of his research (1948), crucial new questions have arisen, which the authors of this article attempt to answer. They concern above all the origins of Moniuszko’s idea for a ‘Lithuanian opera’ and specific circumstances behind the project. They seem to be directly linked to the wave of patriotic, democratic and solidarity demonstrations which – having swept the lands of the former Commonwealth of Poland–Lithuania over the course of the year 1861 – on 12 August reached Kaunas and nearby Aleksota and came together on a bridge over the river Niemen. The authors go on to indicate the literary sources for the libretto, and especially a work by Aleksander Połujański which they came across, attempting to answer the question as to the musical concept behind the opera, which Moniuszko elaborated with Pruszakowa before the outbreak of the January Uprising and her subsequent departure for Paris.

Between sonata form and borrowing technique: the overtures of Stanisław Moniuszko

Stefan Keym — 2025-05-16

The genre of the overture, which stands on the border between symphonic music and opera, has often been underestimated, even though it possessed great innovative potential for this very reason. The present article demonstrates this using the overtures of Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko. The focus is on the relationship between the sonata form used in at least five of his overtures and the potpourri technique, in which melodies and other material from the subsequent opera are used in the overture. Both the formal structure and the semantic level are examined. Moniuszko followed typical genre trends of his time, but also found original solutions of his own. His overtures indicate a growing interest in transitions and in a more careful integration of material from the respective opera. Furthermore, the semantic connotations of the combination of this material become more complex in the later works.

Chopin under the sway of George Sand: controversies surrounding the Chopin Festival in Majorca (1930–1936)

Amadeu Corbera Jaume — 2025-05-16

The musician and priest Joan M. Thomàs i Sabater (1896–1966) was the promoter of the Chopin Music Festival launched in Majorca in 1931, coinciding with the establishment of the Spanish Republic, to commemorate the Polish musician’s stay on the island during the winter of 1838/39. The event was part of the modernist and Catalanist regeneration programme that, in line with the changing tides in Spain, propelled the intellectualism of Majorca at the time, with the aim of projecting their idea of a modern and European Majorca capable of attracting new visitors. However, the initiative sparked some opposition from conservative Catholics, who did not view favourably Chopin’s rather non-religious figure and his companion on that trip, the writer Aurore Dupin, known as George Sand, questioning why it should be a priest who wished to remember them. Despite the musical success of the Festival during the years of the Republic, controversy resurfaced at the beginning of the Civil War, when Thomàs, then a professor at the Conservatori de Música de Majorca, underwent Francoist purging. Among other accusations, he was charged with wanting to commemorate the journey of Chopin and Dupin and their extramarital relationship. The figures of the pianist and – especially – the writer were seen by the most reactionary elements of the new regime as contrary to the moral values and misogyny of Spanish fascism, and therefore Chopin, in this context, did not deserve to be celebrated.

Chopin and the piano. A few remarks on a person’s relationship with an object

Michał Bruliński — 2025-05-16

Fryderyk Chopin opened a new chapter in the social biography of the piano. The aim of my research was to explore Chopin’s unique relationship with his instrument from a ‘symmetrical’ perspective (the ‘turn to things’), distinguishing several categories in order to grasp the current topography of this field of study. The first category is the ‘archaeological’, oriented towards the market and the museum. The second is akin to the ‘reconstruction’ (making copies and renovating) of period instruments. In the ‘evaluative’ category, I have included Chopin’s observations concerning the craft of particular piano manufacturers. Another category can be described as ‘sociological’: Chopin’s correspondence gives us insight into the arcana of the field of music and the habitus of individual actors within the social process of playing for limited stakes (Bourdieu). It is worth emphasising that Chopin utilised the piano as a tool of class distinction. Another category, adjacent to the previous one, is that of ‘fetish’. The notion of fetish naturally pertains to the virtuoso’s relationship with the instrument. This category is related to the key dimensions of Chopin’s ‘domesticated’ space: his ‘den’ and ‘apartment’. The piano was his ‘closest friend’, to whom Chopin constantly ‘expressed himself ’, but against whom he also ‘inveighed’. He shared his sorrows and joys, released his anger and sought peace in the company of the piano. The symmetry of this relationship was revealed in dialogue: his piano ‘spoke’ and ‘sang’. Moreover, the piano was an important element of Chopin’s espaces imaginaires. One should not ignore prosaic but topical areas of the relationship: the instrument was also treated by Chopin as a piece of furniture, a tool for entertainment and an artifact in his interac- tions with women. The ‘patriotic issue’, connected with a mediated body of sources, is also noteworthy in the context of the reception of the phenomenon of the piano in Polish culture through the prism of Chopin. His intimate relationship with the piano was observed by relatives and students, spreading new piano affordances on a large scale.

Review of Lorraine Byrne Bodley: Schubert: A Musical Wayfarer

Kamila Stępień-Kutera — 2025-05-16

Review of Clive Brown: Classical & Romantic Performance Practice 1750–1900

Michał Bruliński — 2025-05-16

Review of Susan Tomes: Women and the Piano. A History in 50 Lives

Aneta Markuszewska — 2025-05-16