Felix Horetzky (originally: Feliks Horecki) (1 January 1796 – 6 October 1870) was a Polish guitarist, teacher and composer who spent most of his life in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Life

Horecki was born in Horyszów Ruski, Lublin Voivodeship,

Habsburg Monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

. He came to

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

in 1815 to become a civil servant in the Treasury Commission, which he soon gave up to pursue a musical career. He became a pupil of

Mauro Giuliani Mauro Giuseppe Sergio Pantaleo Giuliani (27 July 1781 – 8 May 1829) was an Italian guitarist, cellist, singer, and composer. He was a leading guitar virtuoso of the early 19th century. Biography Although born in Bisceglie, Giuliani's center ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

where he stayed for one year. To finance tuition and accommodation, he began to teach and counted members of the imperial court among his pupils. He apparently performed in public with both Giuliani and

Anton Diabelli Anton (or Antonio) Diabelli (5 September 17818 April 1858) was an Austrian music publisher, editor and composer. Best known in his time as a publisher, he is most familiar today as the composer of the waltz on which Ludwig van Beethoven wrote ...

. After his year in Vienna he toured and successfully concertized in Germany, Belgium and France, among other places living in Frankfurt from Summer 1824 to December 1825 and giving a concert in Paris in April 1826. Horetzky was probably resident in the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

from 1827. He again spent several years touring cities in England and spent several years in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland. From there he moved to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland around 1838 where he spent most of his life. Edinburgh post office directories list his address at 7 Scotland Street for the years 1839 to 1863. His death certificate in Edinburgh where he died, aged 74, gives 12 Clarence Street as his last address. During all these years he regularly performed in other British cities and was friendly with, among others, Leonard Schulz, with whom he performed in a duo and who dedicated his ''Grand Fantasia'', Op. 48 to Horetzky's wife.Gerhard Penn, booklet notes to ''Harald Stampa plays Leonard Schulz'', KSGEXAUDIO 67043, CD, 2020. Together with Schulz and

Ferdinand Pelzer Ferdinand Pelzer (1801–1860) was a German music teacher, guitarist and composer. Ferdinand Pelzer was born in Trier. By 1821 he lived in Mülheim am Rhein, Mülheim, where his daughter Catharina Josepha was born, who became known as the guitaris ...

, Horetzky was a co-editor of ''La Giulianiad'', the world's first journal devoted exclusively to the guitar. One of Horetzky's most prominent pupils in Edinburgh was the Polish guitarist Stanislaw Szczepanowski (c.1814–1877).

Music

Horetzky is said to have written about 150 works for the guitar (Bone 1914/54), but this seems unlikely, at least in terms of opus numbers. Button's (1984) statement, "Horetzky played, taught and composed in a similar manner to that of Giuliani, and in this respect his contributions were limited" should be refuted since Giuliani stands clearly in a Viennese classical tradition whereas the influence of the more modern Romantic style is much in evidence with Horetzky from as early as the ''Amusemens'', Op. 18. However, Horetzky has written but few large-scale pieces and rather excelled in miniatures. His larger works such as the ''Fantasia'', Op. 40 are written as a theme with variations as were numerous works of the time.

Selected works

Guitar solo

* ''Nina Variations'', Op. 2 (Vienna: A. Diabelli & Co.) * ''Variations brillantes'', Op. 9 (Paris: Richault; also Frankfurt: Adolph Fischer) * ''Valses brillantes'', Op. 10 (Mainz: B. Schott's Söhne) * ''Rondo'', Op. 11 (Mainz: B. Schott's Söhne) * ''Sérénade'', Op. 12 (Paris: Richault) * ''Grande fantaisie'', Op. 14 (Mainz: B. Schott's Söhne) * ''Instructive Exercises'', Op. 15 (London: T. Boosey & Co.) * ''Grandes variations'', Op. 16 (Paris: Richault) * ''Divertissemens'', Op. 17 * ''Amusemens'', Op. 18 (London: Metzler & Son) * ''Grand Variations'', Op. 20 (London: Davis & Co., c.1830) * ''Preludes, Cadences and Modulations'', Op. 21 (London: Metzler & Son) * ''Quatre Variations avec l'Introduction et Finale'', Op. 22 (London: W. H. Aldridge, 1830) * ''12 Divertissements'', Op. 23 (London: T. Boosey & Co.) * ''Le Desir''. Waltz, after Franz Schubert, arranged for one or two guitars (London: Ewer & Johanning, c.1830) * ''12 Easy Divertimentos'', Op. 26 (London: J. J. Ewer) * ''24 Studies or Exercises Principally in Arpeggio'', Op. 30 (London: Keith Prowse, c.1835) * ''Aurora, a 3rd Collection of Forty Pieces ... for the Guitar'' (Edinburgh, c.1835) * ''De Pinna’s Popular Theme "What Fairy-like Music?"'', Op. 32 (London: Keith Prowse) * ''Instructive Lessons'', Op. 33 (London: Paine & Hopkins) * ''Grand Solo'', Op. 37 (Edinburgh: Wood & Co.) * ''Fantasia'', Op. 40 (London: Metzler & Co.)

Guitar duos

* ''Polonaise nationale'', Op. 1 (Vienna: A. Diabelli & Co., 1820; also Paris: Richault) * ''Variations brillantes'', Op. 9 (Paris: Richault; also Frankfurt: Adolph Fischer) * ''6 Ländler'', Op. 13 (not published, see external link below to IMSLP) * ''Le Desir''. Waltz, after

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

, arranged for one or two guitars (London: Ewer & Johanning, c.1830)

Songs with guitar accompaniment

* ''Dolente immagine. Romanza'', after

Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was a Sicilian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named "the Swan of Catania". Many years later, in 1898, Giu ...

(London: Johanning and Co., c.1840) * ''Isolina'', after Francesco Masini (London, 1840) * ''Kennst du das Land'', after

Carl Almenräder Carl Almenräder (3 October 1786 – 14 September 1843) was a German bassoonist, inventor and composer. The design of the modern bassoon owes a great deal to Almenräder, who, assisted by the German acoustics researcher Gottfried Weber developed ...

(words: Theodor von Haupt) (London: Wessel & Co., c.1840) * ''O cara memoria'', after Michele Carafa (Edinburgh: Paterson & Roy, c.1840) * ''Spinnerlied'', after Carl Almenräder (London: Wessel & Co., c.1840) * ''The Crusader's Serenade'' (London: Johanning & Co., c.1840) * ''Good Night'', after

Jakob Rosenhain Jakob Rosenhain (''Jacob'', ''Jacques'') (2 December 1813 – 21 March 1894) was a German Jewish pianist and composer. Rosenhain was born in Mannheim made his debut at the age of 11.Obituary , 21 April 1894, p. 378. During their 1837 season, he w ...

(London, 1846) * ''Lady Awake''. Serenade from

Flotow Friedrich Adolf Ferdinand, Freiherr von Flotow /flo:to/ (27 April 1812 – 24 January 1883) was a German composer. He is chiefly remembered for his opera ''Martha'', which was popular in the 19th century and the early part of the 20th. Life ...

's opera Stradella (London, 1846) * ''The Voice of the Tempest: "Les Plaintes de la jeune fille"'' (London: Wessel & Co., c.1846) * ''The Spanish Bride. Bolero'' (L. Wray) (London, 1849)

Recordings

* ''Polonaise nationale'', Op. 1, performed by Ratzkowsky/Thomsen Guitar Duo (Danacord DACOCD 433, CD, 1995) * ''Amusemens'', Op. 18, performed by Karl Michelson (Sapere Aude Record, CD, 2021) * ''Fantasia'', Op. 40, performed by Mateusz Kowalski (NIFCCD 118, CD, 2020)

Bibliography

* Józef Powroźniak: "Wielcy mistrzowie gitary: Feliks Horecki (1799–1870)", in: ''Poradnik muzyczny'' (1972) no. 4, pp. 9–10, 23. In German: "Feliks Horecki: Ein polnischer Meister der Gitarre", in: ''Gitarre'' vol. 3 (1972) no. 3, pp. 1–3. In Italian: "Felix Horetzky: Un grande maestro della chitarra", in: ''Il Fronimo'' (1975), no. 12, pp. 19–22. * Thomas F. Heck: "Horetzky e la Giulianiad", in: ''Il Fronimo'' (1975), no. 12, pp. 23–26.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Horetzky, Felix 1796 births 1870 deaths Immigrants to the United Kingdom 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Polish composers 19th-century Polish musicians Composers for the classical guitar Polish male classical composers Polish classical guitarists Polish Romantic composers 19th-century guitarists