Gieburowski, Wacław (EN)

Gieburowski Wacław, *6 February 1877 Bydgoszcz, †27 September 1943 Warsaw, Polish musicologist, conductor, and composer. After graduating from a classical gymnasium in Bydgoszcz and passing his final exams in Drawsko, he entered the Theological Seminary in Poznań in 1899. He was ordained a priest in 1902 in Gniezno. Between 1902 and 1905 he worked as a vicar in Wągrowiec and Witkowo, and from 1905 to 1909 as an administrator in Duszno and Łubowo near Gniezno. In 1908 he studied for half a year at the Kirchenmusikschule in Regensburg. In 1909 he was appointed vicar of Poznań Cathedral. Between 1909 and 1913 he pursued extramural musicological studies in Berlin under J. Wolf and H. Kretzschmar, and in Wrocław under O. Kinkeldey, where he received his doctorate in 1915 for a dissertation on a 15th-century musical treatise by Szydłowita; he also studied art history. From 1910 he lectured at the Theological Seminary in Poznań (history, theory, and practice of liturgical music), and from 1920 at the State Conservatory of Music (aesthetics of music). In 1922 he completed his habilitation at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Lviv. From 1919 he was a lecturer, from 1925 a docent, and later a titular professor at the University of Poznań, where he taught, among other subjects, the history of chant. Between 1923 and 1924 he edited the monthly “Vademecum dla Muzyków Kościelnych” (nos. 1-5) in Poznań. He was also active as a conductor, leading the “Lutnia” choir (from 1909) and the boys’ and men’s Poznań Cathedral Choir (1914–1939), which he brought to a high European standard. With this ensemble he performed both in Poland and abroad, presenting sacred repertoire – old and contemporary, Polish and foreign. Gieburowski also served as artistic director of the Association of Church Choirs in the Gniezno and Poznań archdiocese and held various ecclesiastical honors. For his contributions to sacred music, he was appointed a papal chamberlain (1929) and honorary canon of the cathedral in Palestrina (1926). In 1939 he was arrested by the German occupation authorities and imprisoned in the camp in Kazimierz Biskupi. Released in 1940 in seriously deteriorated health, he continued pastoral work at the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord, and later at St. Adalbert’s Church in Poznań. In 1942 he was expelled to Warsaw, where he died in a Pallottine monastery and was buried at Powązki Cemetery. In 1946 his remains were transferred to St. Adalbert’s Church in Poznań. 

Gieburowski’s significance in Polish musical culture lies primarily in his work as a researcher and promoter of sacred music. His most valuable scholarly achievements include two major studies: one analytical, presenting for the first time an important early Polish treatise on chant and demonstrating his command of historical methodology and 15th-century music theory; the other synthetic, based on lectures at the University of Poznań, outlining the development of chant in Poland from the 15th to 17th centuries, including its local features before and after the Synod of Piotrków (1577). The argument is illustrated with numerous examples from Polish liturgical manuscripts. Both works, in methodological terms, derive from the German tradition of historical musicology at the turn of the century, and their pioneering character and continuing relevance qualify them for an important place in the history of Polish musicology. As a composer and musical activist, Gieburowski did not go beyond the Cecilian model of church music, and his editorial work is purely popular and practical in character.

Literature: A. Chybiński, review in Musica magistri Szydlovitae…, “Przegląd Muzyczny” 1918 no. 4; M. Szczepańska Poznański Chór Katedralny, “Kwartalnik Muzykologiczny” 1933 iss. 19/20; A. Chybiński, review in Cantica selecta…, “Kwartalnik Muzykologiczny” 1928/29 iss. 2; J. Młodziejowski Ks. dr Wacław Gieburowski, “Ruch Muzyczny” 1946 no. 20/21; S. Durzyński Wspomnienie pośmiertne o śp. ks. dr Wacławie Gieburowskim, “Życie Muzyczne” 1947 no. 3/4; F. Łukasiewicz Wspomnienie o chórze katedralnym Ks. Gieburowskiego, “Życie Śpiewacze” 1948 no. 19/20; Z. Bernat Stan badań nad życiem i dziełem ks. Wacława Gieburowskiego, “Poznańskie Studia Teologiczne” – in print; Z. Bernat Już za życia był legendą (Wacław Gieburowski 1877–1943), in: Byli wśród nas, vol. 2 – in print.