What do Stanisław Moniuszko and Sailing Have in Common?

On Stanisław Moniuszko’s birthday, we have an unusual question for you: do you know what the composer and sailing have in common? If not, you will find the answer in today’s article!

Calm at Sea, Sailing and The Storm are parts of the cantata entitled Crimean Sonnets, which Stanisław Moniuszko arranged instrumentally in 1867 to accompany Adam Mickiewcz’s poetic cycle.

The cantata is scored for solo tenor, mixed choir, and symphony orchestra, and consists of 10 parts

1. Intrada / Introduction
2. Cisza morska / Calm at Sea
3. Żegluga / Sailing
4. Pieśń młodzieńca / Song of a Young Man
5. Burza / The Storm
6. Ruina (Bakczysaraj) / Ruins (Baktschi Serai)
7. Noc / The Night
8. Hymn (Czatyrdah) / Hymn (Tschatir Dagh)
9. Pielgrzym / The Pilgrim
10. Epilog (Ajudah) / Epilogue (Ayu-Dagh)

An excerpt from Sailing. Manuscript of the Crimean Sonnets (1867)

The cantata was one of the most important genres in Moniuszko’s compositional career – he wrote ten cantatas in total. In a letter to Józef Ignacy Kraszewski from 1854, he wrote: “Even the most fantastic subject matter can easily be shaped into a cantata”.

Crimean Sonnets premiered on 16 February 1868 at Teatr Wielki (Grand Theatre) in Warsaw. The soloist was Jan Koehler, and the performance was conducted by Stanisław Moniuszko himself. The cantata was warmly received, although some critical voices also appeared.

The reviewers wrote:

“Imitative harmony exposed weaknesses in the composer’s orchestration”. Gazeta Polska

“By bringing Mickiewicz’s masterful poetry under the discipline of harmony, he merged the beauty of the said poetry with the beauty of music […]”. Kurier Codzienny

Be sure to explore the complete cantata and other materials related to Stanisław Moniuzko available in our collections!