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

. 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 aesthet ...

and a member of the Warsaw Society of Friends of Learning (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

: ''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 Jean-François Casimir Delavigne (4 April 179311 December 1843) was a French poet and dramatist. Life and career Delavigne was born at Le Havre, but was sent to Paris to be educated at the Lycée Napoleon. He read extensively. When, on 20 Marc ...

. He was also a mentor and influence of a 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. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational h ...

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

Rawicz Rawicz (; german: Rawitsch) 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 ...

, 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 ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...

, 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 ( 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 ...

. With the help of Józef Elsner, 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 in 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 in 1823. In 1829, together with Józef Elsner he was ordered by the authorities to write music for the coronation of Nicolas I of Russia for King of Poland. 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 composers before Chopin who 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 by

Kazimierz Brodziński Kazimierz Brodziński (8 March 1791 in Królówka – 10 October 1835 in Dresden) was an important Polish Romantic poet. Life He was born in Królówka near Bochnia. He came from the low nobility. He was a student at schools in Tarnów, w ...

* ''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 classical composers 19th-century male musicians Male conductors (music) Male opera composers People from Leszno County Polish conductors (music) Polish male classical composers Polish music educators Polish opera composers Polish Romantic composers Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Congress Poland)