Hart, Antoni (EN)

Hart, Harth, Antoni, 2nd half of the 18th century, composer and violinist active in Poland in the, probably of German origin. From December 1775 to September 1781, he served as ballet répétiteur and violinist in the orchestra of the public theatre in Warsaw. In the autumn of 1781, he joined the royal orchestra attached to the court of King Stanisław August Poniatowski and the public theatre. Hart performed in the first violin section, continued to work as a ballet répétiteur, and in 1791 acted as director of the ensemble. He also composed music and adapted works by other composers for Warsaw ballet productions, collaborating with the choreographers Daniel Curz and François-Gabriel Le Doux. In 1787 he became a member of the Masonic lodge Bogini Eleuzis (‘Goddess of Eleusis’), holding the rank of master. In the summer of 1788, he appeared in Warsaw (at the theatre on the island in Łazienki) in the operas Annette et Lubin by G. Pugnani (role of the Servant) and Le milicien by E.R. Duni (role of the Drummer). In 1792 he resided at Dunaj Street, mortgage no. 144 (the house of the glazier Sz. Więcławski). He probably remained active in the royal orchestra at least until 1793.

Hart was the leading ballet composer in Poland in the second half of the eighteenth century. The thirteen works known today only by title probably represent only part of his output. Kozaki (The Cossacks), choreographed by Curz, was the most frequently performed work among more than 200 ballets in the repertory of the Warsaw theatre of the period. The music of Kozaki – the only complete Polish ballet from the eighteenth century to survive – shows that the composer, like other creators of the Stanisław August era, readily employed folklore, adapting Polish melodies (no. 17, polonaise; no. 26, mazurka), Ukrainian melodies (nos. 18 and 24, cossack dances; no. 26, duma), and Hungarian melodies (no. 25, Hungarian style dance).

Literature: J. Prosnak Kultura muzyczna Warszawy XVIII w., Krakow 1955 (the supplement contains a piano reduction of the ballet Kozaki).