Stanisław Moniuszko (; May 5, 1819 – June 4, 1872) was a Polish composer, conductor and teacher. He wrote many popular art songs and operas, and his music is filled with patriotic folk themes of the peoples of the former

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania rul ...

(mainly Poles, Lithuanians and Belarusians). He is generally referred to as "the father of Polish national opera". Since the 1990s Stanisław Moniuszko is being recognized in Belarus as an important figure of Belarusian culture.

Life

Moniuszko was born into a

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

landowning family in Ubiel,

Minsk Governorate The Minsk Governorate (russian: Минская губерния, Belarusian: ) or Government of Minsk was a governorate ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. The seat was in Minsk. It was created in 1793 from the land acquired in the partitions ...

(now Belarus). He initially took piano lessons with his mother and then continued his musical education in

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 officiall ...

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the adm ...

, and in Berlin under Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen. In 1858 he was appointed conductor at the Warsaw Opera and later became professor at the

Warsaw Conservatory The Chopin University of Music ( pl, Uniwersytet Muzyczny Fryderyka Chopina, UMFC) is a musical conservatorium and academy located in central Warsaw, Poland. It is the oldest and largest music school in Poland, and one of the largest in Europe.

. He died in Warsaw,

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...

and was buried at

Powązki Cemetery Powązki Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Powązkowski), also known as Stare Powązki ( en, Old Powązki), is a historic necropolis located in Wola district, in the western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of t ...

Works

For a complete list, see List of compositions by Stanisław Moniuszko Moniuszko composed more than 300 solo songs, mainly to texts of Polish poets, and around two dozen operas. His series of twelve song books is notable and contains songs to the words of

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish ...

, Antoni Edward Odyniec,

Józef Ignacy Kraszewski Józef Ignacy Kraszewski (28 July 1812 – 19 March 1887) was a Polish writer, publisher, historian, journalist, scholar, painter, and author who produced more than 200 novels and 150 novellas, short stories, and art reviews, which makes him the ...

, Stefan Witwicki,

Antoni Malczewski Antoni Malczewski (3 June 1793 – 2 May 1826) was a Polish romantic poet, known for his only work, "a narrative poem of dire pessimism", ''Maria'' (1825). At the times, prominent and scandalizing was his autodestructive romance with a married w ...

, and

Wincenty Pol Wincenty Pol (20 April 1807 – 2 December 1872) was a Polish poet and geographer. Life Pol was born in Lublin (then in Galicia), to Franz Pohl (or Poll), a German in the Austrian service, and his wife Eleonora Longchamps de Berier, from a F ...

. Moniuszko noted that his songs, which were published under the collective title ''Śpiewnik Domowy'' (''Domestic Songs''), had a national character. Their 'Polishness' is found in his use of and reference to traditional Polish dance rhythms like

Polonaise The polonaise (, ; pl, polonez ) is a dance of Polish origin, one of the five Polish national dances in time. Its name is French for "Polish" adjective feminine/"Polish woman"/"girl". The original Polish name of the dance is Chodzony, meani ...

Mazurka The mazurka (Polish: ''mazur'' Polish ball dance, one of the five Polish national dances and ''mazurek'' Polish folk dance') is a Polish musical form based on stylised folk dances in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, with character de ...

, Kujawiak, and

Krakowiak The Krakowiak or Cracovienne is a fast, syncopated Polish folk dance in duple time from the region of Kraków and Lesser Poland. The folk outfit worn for the dance has become the national costume of Poland, most notably, the rogatywka peaked hat w ...

and the propagation of texts written by Polish national poets. The songs formed the basis of repertoire of Polish choirs in the Austrian, German, and Russian territories, and became a point of reference for later Polish composers. Moniuszko's opera style bears similarities to that of

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

and Auber, but with greater emphasis on chorus and melodies based on Polish dances. '' Halka'' is an opera to a libretto written by Włodzimierz Wolski, a young Warsaw poet with radical social views. Following its production in Warsaw in 1858, it became the most popular Polish opera and is part of the canon of Polish national operas.

Modern performances

An English version of ''Straszny dwór'' ('' The Haunted Manor'', or ''The Haunted Castle'') was created and premiered by the student operatic society at

Bristol University , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

in 1970; this version has been performed since, specifically in 2001 by Opera South, which company also presented the world premiere of a specially created new English version of ''Verbum Nobile'' in 2002. In 2008, Pocket Opera, of San Francisco, CA, USA, premiered Artistic Director Donald Pippin's English language translation of '' The Haunted Manor''. Moniuszko's opera '' Flis'' (''The Raftsman'') was performed and recorded in the Grand Theatre of Polish National Opera at the 2019 Chopin and his Europe International Music Festival, marking the 200th anniversary of Moniuszko's birth. '' Paria'' was performed at Poznań Opera in June 2019, directed by

Graham Vick Sir Graham Vick (30 December 1953 – 17 July 2021) was an English opera director known for his experimental and revisionist stagings of traditional and modern operas. He worked in many of the world's leading opera houses and was artistic d ...

and conducted by Gabriel Chmura. Moniuszko's operas are regularly performed at the Belarusian National Opera.

Notes

References

External links

* *
List of works
lieder.net
"Stanisław Moniuszko"
biography, list of works, Polish Music Center,

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

How Family Shaped the Father of Polish Opera

The Lesser Known Faces of Stanisław Moniuszko
* Sound examples and discussion o

an

editionsilvertrust.com
Collection of works by Stanisław Moniuszko in National Digital Library of Poland (Polona)

Stanislaw Moniuszko. Musical Romantic from Minsk Region to the 200th anniversary of his birthWorks by Stanislaw Moniuszko on the Belarusian stage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moniuszko, Stanislaw 1819 births 1872 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century conductors (music) 19th-century organists Belarusian composers Burials at Powązki Cemetery Chopin University of Music faculty Male conductors (music) Male opera composers Male classical organists People from Chervyen District People from Igumensky Uyezd Polish classical organists Polish conductors (music) Polish male classical composers Polish opera composers Polish people of Armenian descent Polish Romantic composers