Karol Kazimierz Kurpiński (March 6, 1785September 18, 1857) was a Polish

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, conductor and

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

. He was a representative of late

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthe ...

and a member of the Warsaw Society of Friends of Learning ( Polish: ''Towarzystwo Warszawskie Przyjaciół Nauk'', TWPN). He is also known for having composed the music to the 1831 patriotic song '' La Varsovienne'' with lyrics by Casimir Delavigne. He was also a mentor and an influence on young Chopin.

Career

Born in Włoszakowice, Karol began his studies under his father, Marcin Kurpiński, an

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

. At the age of 12, he became an organist at a church in Sarnowa, Konin County, near

Rawicz Rawicz (; ) is a town in west-central Poland with 21,398 inhabitants as of 2004. It is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship (since 1999); previously it was in Leszno Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of Rawicz County. History The ...

, where his uncle Karol Wański was a parish priest. In 1800 his other uncle, the cellist Roch Wański, took him to the estate of

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Feliks Polanowski near

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, who had a private orchestra of which Wański was a member, and in which the young Kurpiński played the violin. There, around 1808, Kurpiński composed his first opera, ''Pygmalion''. In 1810 he settled in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. With the help of

Józef Elsner Józef Antoni Franciszek Elsner (sometimes ''Józef Ksawery Elsner''; baptismal name, ''Joseph Anton Franz Elsner''; 1 June 176918 April 1854) was a Polish composer, music teacher, and music theoretician, active mainly in Warsaw. He was one of ...

, he became a conductor of the Warsaw Opera, a position he held until 1840. He taught music at several prominent schools including one he founded. In 1815 he became a member of many musical societies in Poland and abroad, including the Société des Enfants d'Apollon in Paris. He became Kapellmeister of the Polish royal chapel in 1819 and the same year received a lifetime achievement award for his services to music. In 1820 he founded and edited the first Polish music newsletter. He was decorated with the

Order of Saint Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus (, ), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It remained under the Congress Poland, Kingdom of Pola ...

in 1823. In 1829, together with

he was ordered by the authorities to write music for the coronation of Nicolas I of Russia for

King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Royal elections in Poland, free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electab ...

. For this occasion Kurpiński composed ''Te deum.'' The work wasn't performed again until 2011. Kurpiński was a romanticist and one of the most revered Polish composers before Chopin, whom he met in 1828. He helped to lay the foundations of a national style and prepared the ground for Polish music of the Romantic period, particularly Chopin. He contributed to the development of Polish opera, introducing new musical devices and achieving a novel mode of expression. He died on September 18, 1857, in Warsaw, aged 72.

Works, editions and recordings

Stage works

* ''Pygmalion'', opera (c. 1800–08) (lost) * '' The Palace of Lucifer'', opera in 4 acts (1811) * ''Mistress Marcin of the Harem'', comic opera in 3 acts (1812) * ''The Charlatan, or The Raising of the Dead'', opera in 2 acts (1814) * ''Jadwiga, Queen of Poland'', opera in 3 acts (1814) * '' The Reward, or the Revival of the Polish Kingdom'', melodrama in 2 acts (1815) * ''Superstition, or Krakovians and Mountaineers, or The new Krakovians'', opera in 3 acts (1816) * ''Jan Kochanowski at Czarny Las'', opera comique in 2 acts (1817) * ''Czaromysl the Slav Prince'', opera in 1 act (1818) * ''Terpsichore's New Colony on the Vistula'', ballet (1818) * ''The Castle of Czorsztyn, or Bojomir and Wanda'', opera in 2 acts (1819) Libretto: Józef Wawrzyniec Krasiński z Radziejowic (recording by Polska Orkiestra Sinfonia Iuventus – conducted Michał Niedziałek, with soloists Aleksandra Orłowska-Jabłońska, Hubert Stolarski, Jadwiga Niebelska, Tomasz Raff, Witold Żołądkiewicz Dux Records) * '' Kalmora, or The Paternal Right of the Americans'', melodrama in 2 acts (1820)

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

by Kazimierz Brodziński * ''Mars and Flora'', ballet in 1 act (1820) * ''The Foresters of Kozienice'', opera in 1 act (1821) * ''The Three Graces'', ballet (1822) * ''Cecylia Piaseczynska'', opera in 2 acts (1829)

Orchestral works

* Grand Symphony Imagining a Battle, or The Battle of Mozhaysk Op. 15. * Grand Fugue on the Song "Poland has not perished yet", arranged for piano (1821) * Potpourri, or Variations on National Themes, for piano and orchestra (1822) * Clarinet Concerto in B-flat major, arranged for clarinet and piano (1950)

Chamber music

* ''Fantaisie en quatuor'' * Trio, for clarinet, violin and cello * ''Reverie over Wanda's tomb'', for violin and piano (1820) * Nocturne, for horn, bassoon and viola, Op. 16 (1823) * ''Paysage Musical'', for horn and bassoon, Op. 18 (1823) * Cavatina, for trumpet or trombone and piano (1953)

Piano music

* ''A Dreadful Dream'' (1820) * ''Le reveil de J.J. Rousseau au printemps'' (1821) * Nine variations (1821) * Fantaisie for alto (1821) * Fantaisie, Op. 10 (1823) * Six Variations (1823)

Vocal works

Sacred

* Six Masses, including "Country Mass" (1821) * Oratorio, for 4 voices, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, double bass, timpani and organ, *Te deum laudamus (1829).

Cantata

* Cantata on the Anniversary of Napoleon's Coronation (1810) * Elegy on the Death of Tadeusz Kosciuszko (1819) * Cantata on the Unveiling of the Copernicus Monument (1830)

Songs

* '' The Song of Warsaw'' (1831) * ''The Song of the Lithuanian Legionaries'' (1831)

References

External links

Works by Karol Kurpiński in National Digital Library of Poland (Polona)
Polish Music Center {{DEFAULTSORT:Kurpinski, Karol 1785 births 1857 deaths 19th-century Polish classical composers 19th-century Polish male musicians Polish male conductors (music) Polish male opera composers People from Leszno County Polish conductors (music) Polish music educators Polish opera composers Polish Romantic composers Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Congress Poland)