Josef Zygmunt Szulc (4 April 1875,

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 ...

Warsaw Governorate Warsaw Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of Congress Poland of the Russian Empire. It was created in 1844 from the Masovia Governorate, Masovia and Kalisz Governorates, and had the capital in Warsaw. In 1867 ter ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

– 10 April 1956,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) was a composer and conductor. He also used the pseudonym Jan Sulima.

Life

Born in Poland to a musical family, he began his formal training as a pianist at the Warszawa Conservatory under Moszkowski. He also lived in Berlin briefly (using the name Joseph Schultz) and later moved to Paris to complete his studies in conducting and composition in 1899, converting the spelling of his first name to Joseph. At the conservatoire he trained under

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...

. In 1903 he moved to

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, where he was made chief conductor at the

Théâtre de la Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (, ; , ; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National Opera of Belgium, a federal institution, takes the name of this theatre in which it is ho ...

and saw instant success with his

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

''Ispahan'' and several tunes. His wife, Suzy Delsart, was an operetta star (operette divette) and sang the title role of ''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' ( ) is an operetta by the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The Libretto, librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein (writer), Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's ...

'' by

Franz Lehár Franz Lehár ( ; ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is '' The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe''). Life and career L ...

and also influenced her husband into writing lighter and more popular tunes. In 1907 he completed the music for Marcel Gerbidon's operetta, ''Flossie'' or ''Je m'appelle Flossie.'' In 1908 he adapted

Pierre Veber Pierre-Eugène Veber (15 May 1869 – 20 August 1942) was a French playwright and writer. Biography Pierre Veber was the brother of the painter Jean Veber, and the brother-in-law of both René Doumic and Tristan Bernard. His family was quite l ...

's comedy ''Loute'', then in 1914 began the musical comedy ''Flup !'' to a

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 Gaston Dumestre, which had a successful premiere in 1920, followed by 5,000 performances. His other successes included ''Titin'' to a libretto by Gaston Dumestre. Between World War I and World War II, he composed nearly twenty operettas. Additionally, he wrote songs to poetry of Paul Verlaine (Opus 83) one song of which was recorded by the great tenor,

Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyric tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that r ...

. It was recorded by other major artists of the day and was featured in an anthology printed in the United States by International Music Company. Sergius Kage was the compiler of this anthology. Szulc wrote some other lieder to German poetry which were published in Berlin during a brief stint there. he also composed a Violin Sonata. Szulc's song, "Clair de Lune", from his 10 Melodies, Op. 83, has been recorded by French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky on his album Green – Melodies Francaises. This was also the song recorded by Caruso and other artists in the 1910s and 20s. Collections of Szulc operetta scores have been found in the University of Nebraska, Lincoln music library, donated by Jack Rokhar. Another collection can be found at the British Library. The donor pasted many articles and reviews in the flyleaf of these scores and they are an invaluable source of information for researchers.

Musical comedies

*1920 : "''Flup !''", with a libretto by Gaston Dumestre *1920 : "''Titin''", with a libretto by Gaston Dumestre *1925 : "''Mannequins''", with a libretto by Jacques Bousquet and Henri Falk *1926 : "''Divin Mensonge''", with a libretto by Alex Madis,

and Hugues Delorme. *1945 : "''Pantoufle''", with a libretto by

Albert Willemetz Albert Willemetz (14 February 1887 – 7 October 1964) was a French librettist. Career Albert Willemetz was a prolific lyricist. He invented a new type of musical, with a humorous and "sexy" style. He was the author of more than 3000 songs, inc ...

Filmography

*1930 : La route est belle, directed by

Robert Florey Robert Florey (September 14, 1900 – May 16, 1979) was a French-American director, screenwriter, film journalist and actor. Florey directed more than 50 films, the best known likely being the Marx Brothers first feature ''The Cocoanuts'' (1929 ...

and André Baugé *1930 :

L'Enfant de l'amour L'Enfant may refer to: * ''L'Enfant'' (film), a 2005 Belgian film * L'Enfant (poster), a noted 1987 photographic poster * Pierre Charles L'Enfant, architect and civil engineer credited with planning the city of Washington, D.C. * , a 1943 cargo ...

, directed by

Marcel L'Herbier Marcel L'Herbier (; 23 April 1888 – 26 November 1979) was a French filmmaker who achieved prominence as an avant-garde theorist and imaginative practitioner with a series of silent films in the 1920s. His career as a director continued unti ...

*1933 :

Mannequins A mannequin (sometimes spelled as manikin and also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off ...

, directed by

René Hervil René Hervil (1881–1960) was a French actor, screenwriter and film director.Goble p.322 Most of his films were made during the silent era. He directed the ''Maud'' series of films between 1912 and 1915 starring the Anglo-French actress Aimée Ca ...

*1933 : , directed by

Karl Anton Karl Anton or Karel Anton (25 October 1898 12 April 1979) was a Bohemian-born German film director, screenwriter, and film producer. Biography He was born in Prague on 25 October 1898. His father, Wilhelm Anton (1861–1918) was a physician. ...

*1935 : '' Wedding Night'', directed by Maurice Kéroul and Georges Monca

Discography

*2013 : Violin sonata in A minor op. 61 – Acte Préalable AP027

Notes

1. ^Brister, Wanda. (2011). The Songs of Józef Zygmunt Szulc. Journal of Singing, Vol. 67, no. 3, 347–354.

External links

* *
Page on lesgensducinemaFilmography on dvdtoile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Szulc, Josef 1875 births 1956 deaths Musicians from Warsaw French composers French male composers Polish composers French male conductors (music) Polish conductors (music) Polish male conductors (music) 19th-century conductors (music) 20th-century French conductors (music) Emigrants from Congress Poland to France 19th-century French musicians 20th-century French male musicians