Chybiński, Adolf (EN)

Chybiński Adolf Eustachy, *29 March 1880 Kraków, †31 October 1952 Poznań, Polish musicologist. He began to study music regularly in Krakow in 1890 (J. Drozdowski, piano). In 1898–1903 he studied Classical Studies and German Studies (with Kazimierz Morawski, Leon Sternbach, and Wilhelm Creizenach) at the Jagiellonian University. He deepened his knowledge in Munich, where he listened to lectures by H. Paul, F. Muncker, and I. Müller. In 1904–1908 he took regular musicological studies there with A. Sandberger and Th. Kroyer, while being a private student of L. Thuille (composition). In Munich, he also participated in lectures by B. Riehl (history of art) and T. Lipps (philosophy). In 1908 at the University in Munich he defended his doctorate on the basis of his doctoral thesis Beiträge zur Geschichte des Taktschlagens (Leipzig, 1912). In 1912 he defended his dissertation at the University of Lviv Teoria menzuralna w polskiej literaturze muzycznej pierwszej połowy XVI wieku (Kraków, 1911). He became an associate professor in 1917, and then in 1921 a full professor. From 1913–1941, he headed the Department of Musicology at the University of Lviv. Furthermore, from 1916 to 1927 he was a professor at the Lviv Conservatory. He was head of the Faculty of Music at the University of Poznań from 1945 until his death.

From 1914 Chybiński was affiliated with the Tatra Museum in Zakopane – initially as a board member and later as the chairman of the scientific board. He had close relations with the museum’s director, J. Zborowski. At this time, Chybiński also became deeply interested in music and highland instruments, especially in the rich collection from the Museum. From 1926 Chybiński was active as a member and founder of the association Stowarzyszenie Miłośników Dawnej Muzyki Polskiej, as part of which, in 1928, he initiated a series of publications «Wydawnictwo Dawnej Muzyki Polskiej» (WDMP), which introduced the most outstanding works of Early Polish music. He edited the most important Polish musicological periodicals: “Kwartalnik Muzyczny”, the quarterly “Muzyka Polska”, “Polski Rocznik Muzykologiczny”. He was also the initiator and editor of the series «Analizy i Objaśnienia Dzieł Wszystkich F. Chopina». In 1929 he was appointed correspondent member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 1950 he was awarded the Order of the Banner of Labour, 1^st class. In 1951 he received the State Prize of the First Degree and the dignity of honorary member of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Chybiński was, along with Z. Jachimecki, the founder of Polish musicology as a modern university discipline. He educated the first generation of musicology professors in Poland. His primary contribution was as a historian of early Polish music. Most of his scientific works focused on source research. He believed that an insufficient knowledge of source materials made it impossible to make responsible general judgments. Among more than 650 scientific, popular science, and journalistic publications, contributions, reviews, publishing reviews, correspondences, concert, and opera reports, over 180 of these studies are related to the history of Polish music from the 16th to the 18th centuries. He published, among other things, a series of registers of musical instruments from the 16th and 17th centuries, which revealed previously unknown repertoire possibilities of Polish ensembles. He accurately described and arranged chronologically the history of the Rorantists’ at Wawel and several other ensembles (such as the one from St. Mary’s Basilica ensemble, the Jesuit ensemble in Krakow, the Cistercian Abbey in Mogila), conducted pioneering research on Tablature of Jan of Lublin, and published works on almost all of the most prominent Early Polish composers. The result of his extensive and detailed research was the publication of the first sictionary of musicians in early Poland, entitled Słownik muzyków dawnej Polski, which contains more than 2,400 names. He created within the series «Wydawnictwo Dawnej Muzyki Polskiej» – a model of scholarly critical edition in Poland.

Chybiński responded quickly to the contemporary transformations in Polish music. He enthusiastically promoted the work of composers from the “Młoda Polska” [Young Poland] group and was its main ideologist. He wrote about them and their works, with fervent zeal, or, as he later described it himself, with conscious exaggeration. Besides, he also devoted 80 works to Polish music of the 20th century. Chybiński was first to discover the talent of K. Szymanowski, and the first and only biographer of M. Karłowicz. He was interested in the music composed by his contemporaries, including figures such as L. Różycki, A. Szeluto, G. Fitelberg, H. Opieński, and others, which is reflected in numerous articles and reviews. While the history of European music was not at the primary focus of Chybiński’s interests, he did write approximately 70 works on this subject.

Although Chybiński’s publications in the field of ethnomusicology, with a specific focus on the folklore of Podhale, were not numerous (about 45 items), they hold great historical significance as the earliest scientific ethnomusicological works in Poland. In Chybinski’s oeuvre, the years 1919–1925 represent a “period of folk music”. At that time, he wrote publications on folk instruments in Podhale and articles on the preservation and collection of folk melodies. Chybiński started working on this subject already in 1907 and continued it throughout the last years of his life.

Chybiński was not a scientist, but musical critic and popularizer, he published a lot of articles in non-music magazines, for instance in “Kurier Literacko-Naukowy”. In his reviews and polemical writings, he emphasised a high level of both scientific research and compositional techniques or musical performances. It is impossible nowadays to do musicological work, especially on the history of early Polish music, without reaching back to Chybiński’s basic research.

Literature: A. Chybiński W czasach Straussa i Tetmajera. Wspomnienia, study by A. and Z. Szweykowski, Kraków 1959 (includes a full bibliography of Chybiński’s works); J. Koffler Prof. dr Adolf Chybiński, “Muzyk Wojskowy” 1927, No. 7; H. Feicht Adolf Chybiński, “Muzyka Polska” 1937, No. 1; (H. Feicht) Profesor Adolf Chybiński and T. Ochlewski Z dziejów pracy wydawniczej prof. Adolfa Chybińskiego, published in Księga pamiątkowa ku czci prof. Adolfa Chybińskiego, Kraków 1950; T. Strumiłło, Adolf Chybiński. 1880–1952, „Oscypek” 1952, No. 5; J. Chomiński Adolf Chybiński, “Muzyka” 1953, No. 3/4; S. Lorenz Adolf Chybiński (1880–1952), “Nauka Polska” 1953, No. 1; M. Sobieski Profesor dr Adolf Eustachy Chybiński, “Lud” XLI 1954; L. Bielawski Wstęp (Introduction) in Adolf Chybiński. O polskiej muzyce ludowej, Kraków 1961; K. Winowicz Adolf Chybiński. W 25. rocznicę śmierci, “Ruch Muzyczny” 1978, No. 12; K. Winowicz Listy do Adolfa Chybińskiego jako źródło wiadomości o rozwoju polskiej kultury muzycznej w pierwszej połowie XX wieku, “Muzyka” 1979, No. 3; K. Michałowski Adolf Chybiński a Młoda Polska w muzyce, published in Muzyka polska a modernizm, praca zbiorowa, «Muzyka Polska w Dokumentacjach i Interpretacjach», Kraków 1981; Adolf Chybiński. Z materiałów epistolarnych, study by K. Winowicz, «Res Facta» 9, 1982; Troski i spory muzykologii polskiej 1905–1926. Korespondencja między Adolf Chybiński i Z. Jachimeckim, study by K. Winowicz, Kraków 1983; M. Dziadek Młodopolska krytyka muzyczna a modernizm, “Muzyka” 1995, No. 3; K. Winowicz Adolf Eustachy Chybiński, published in Muzykologia na uniwersytecie im. A. Mickiewicza w Poznaniu w latach 1974–1999. Tradycje, działalność i dokumentacja, edited by M. Jabłoński, D. Jasińska, J. Stęszewski, Poznań 1999.