Maciej Kamieński (13 October 1734, SopronGrove article states only the country: Slovakia. – 25 January 1821, Warsaw) was a Polish classical composer of Slovak origin. He studied music in Sopron, where his patron was Count Henckl von Donnersmarck. After his death (1760), Kamieński moved to Vienna to continue his education. There in 1762, he heard young

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

play. He visited Warsaw for the first time in 1773: this year the publishing house of J. Engel issued some harpsichord works by Kamieński (today lost). He gave piano and singing lessons, held an inn in Warsaw (on Świętojerska street) and organized public concerts at Dulfowski manor house.

Compositions

Kamieński's output includes 8 operas (2 German, 6 Polish), which the composer himself called operettas. '' Nędza uszczęśliwiona'' (1778) was long considered the first

Polish opera Polish opera may be broadly understood to include operas staged in Poland and works written for foreign stages by Polish composers, as well as opera in the Polish language. The tradition reaches back to Italian language entertainments of the baro ...

to be performed in public theatre. It opened a new era for Polish musical theatre. Kamieński's musical language shows a mixture of styles, from

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

and

galant The galant style was an 18th-century movement in music, visual arts and literature. In Germany a closely related style was called the '' empfindsamer Stil'' (sensitive style). Another close relative is rococo style. The galant style was drawn in ...

to classical. There are also some characteristics of opera buffa. They all are present in ''Nędza uszczęśliwiona''. After his successes, Kamieński turned more and more towards folklore, using structures from authentic

Polish folk music The Music of Poland covers diverse aspects of music and musical traditions which have originated, and are practiced in Poland. Artists from Poland include world-famous classical composers like Frédéric Chopin, Karol Szymanowski, Witold Lutosł ...

. It can be clearly seen in ''Zośka, czyli Wiejskie zaloty'' (1780), which had 76 performances in Warsaw up to 1820.

Coloratura Coloratura is an elaborate melody with runs, trills, wide leaps, or similar virtuoso-like material,''Oxford American Dictionaries''.Apel (1969), p. 184. or a passage of such music. Operatic roles in which such music plays a prominent part, an ...

and espressivo arias combine with typical village songs and Polish dances, of which polonaise is the most popular. Kamieński also composed ''Krótki rys o egzystencji najpierwszej oryginalnej opery polskiej'' (A Short Outline of the Original Polish Opera), published in ''Biblioteka Warszawska, iv'' (Warsaw, 1878). Besides operas, he composed some chamber works. His ''Duma na kształt ronda'' (Duma in the form of a rondo) shows early

Romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

tendencies.

List of works

Operas

* '' Nędza uszczęśliwiona'' (Poverty made Happy), operetta, 2 acts, text by

Wojciech Bogusławski Wojciech Romuald Bogusławski (9 April 1757 – 23 July 1829) was a Polish actor, theater director and playwright of the Polish Enlightenment. He was the director of the National Theatre, Warsaw, (''Teatr Narodowy''), during three distinct peri ...

after Franciszek Bohomolec; prem. 11 July 1778 (ed. in Opery polskie, ii; Kraków, 1978) * ''Zośka, czyli Wiejskie zaloty'' (Sophia, or Country Courtship), operetta, 1 act, text by S. Szymański; prem. 17 Oct 1780 (lost) * ''Prostota cnotliwa'' (Virtuous Simplicity), operetta, 3 acts, text by Franciszek Bohomolec; prem. 8 Feb 1781 (lost) * ''Balik gospodarski'' (The Burgher’s Ball), comic opera, 3 acts, text by

Franciszek Zabłocki Franciszek Zabłocki (2 January 1754, Volhynia – 10 September 1821, Końskowola), is considered the most distinguished Polish comic dramatist and satirist of the Enlightenment period. He descends from an old aristocratic family of Poland with ...

, after ''Le Bal bourgeois'' (1738) by Charles Simon Favart; prem. 14 Sept 1783 (lost) * ''Anton und Antoinette'', 1 act, text by A. Słowaczyński, after ''Toinon et Toinette'' (1767) by

Desboulmiers Jean-Auguste Jullien, called Desboulmiers, 1731, Paris – 1771, Paris, was an 18th-century French man of letters, historian of theatre and playwright. Works *1761: ''Les Soirées du Palais-Royal, ou les Veillées d'une jolie femme, contenant qua ...

; written in 1785, unperformed (lost) * ''Tradycia dowcipem załatwiona'' (Tradition Resolved by Humour), operetta, 1 act, text by Franciszek Zabłocki); prem. 27 May 1789 (ed. by J. Prosnak in ''Kultura muzyczna Warszawy XVIII wieku''; Kraków, 1955) * ''Słowik czyli Kasia z Hanką na wydaniu'' (The Nightingale, or Kasia and Hanka, Two Marriageable Girls), operetta, 2 acts, text by M. Witkowski); prem. 19 Jan 1790 * ''Sultan Wampum, oder Die Wünsche'', opera, 3 acts, text by

August Kotzebue August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (; – ) was a German dramatist and writer who also worked as a consul in Russia and Germany. In 1817, one of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl L ...

; written in 1794, unperformed (lost)

Choral

* Masses, Passion, offertories etc. (lost) * ''Kantata w dzień inauguracji statui króla Jana III Sobieskiego'' (Cantata on the Unveiling of the Statue of Jan III Sobieski), text by A. Naruszewicz; prem. 14 Sept 1788 (overture ed. by J. Prosnak in ''Kultura muzyczna Warszawy XVIII wieku''; Kraków, 1955)

Songs with piano

* ''Pieśń na dzień 3 maia na parafie'' (Song on the Anniversary of the Constitution of 3 May 1792), text by J. Lubański (Warsaw, 1792) * ''Czy to nie jest udręczenie'' (Isn’t it Anguish?; Warsaw, 1805)

Piano solo

* ''Duma na kształt ronda'' (Duma in the Form of a Rondo; Warsaw, 1805; new ed. by H. Feicht in ''Muzyka staropolska''; Kraków, 1966) * ''Andante'' (Warsaw, 1805)

References

Bibliography

* Barbara Chmara-Żaczkiewicz. Kamieński amięski, Kamenický, Kamenský Maciej / New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

External links

*
Scores by Maciej Kamieński
in digital library Polona {{DEFAULTSORT:Kamieński, Maciej Polish composers