Milwid, Antoni (EN)

Milwid, Mielwid, Melwid, Antoni, Polish composer active in the 2nd half of the 18th century. He was a member of, and probably Kapellmeister of, the church band at the Canons Regular monastery of the Lateran in Czerwińsk nad Wisłą. There is no data on Milwid’s life. It is possible that he was the teacher of Józef Kazimierz Piotrowski (1817–1873), an organist and composer active at the Church of the Visitation Sisters in Warsaw. According to T. Maciejewski, Milwid is identical to Antoni Milewicz (*circa 1755 Stawianki near Ukmergė in Lithuania, †24 December 1837 Czerwińsk nad Wisłą), who was an organist active in the church choir at the monastery in Czerwińsk since 29 September 1779. In the collection of the library in Czerwinsk (now of the Salesian priests), 11 religious works signed with Milwid’s name and 10 written by him have been preserved. These works are often attributed to him, mainly because of his use of Milwid’s characteristic ensemble cast. Most of the preserved works are incomplete, often without title pages. In recent years, the authorship of one of the titles signed with the composer’s name (the aria Semper mi Jesu) has been questioned. Three names appear in the source: Benatski (Benatzky) Strach, Milwid. The first two may be the names of scriptors or possessors. Further research will ultimately identify the authorship of all preserved works.

Milwid is the composer of two symphonies in C major (only first movement is preserved) and in B minor (lost), which is known only from the description of A. Poliński, who also gave it the title Bieda ruska. It consisted of 4 movements (Allegro, Dumka, Menuet, Finale); it was performed in Lviv on 26 October 1910 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of F. Chopin’s birth that year. The sonata form from the Symphony in C major is characterised by a singing, lyrical theme. The four-movement structure of the symphony, the developed instrumental texture, especially for the violin, as well as the way in which the themes are built and the sonata form is shaped, allow Milwid’s symphonic work to be placed among composers such as K. Pietrowski, F. Ścigalski, J. Wański, and W. Dankowski. These composers, at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, created symphonies containing many elements of the classical style. Milwid’s symphonic works influenced his religious pieces, which, despite being written for a smaller ensemble of instruments, feature a developed instrumental texture (mainly violin). The use of figuration, ornaments, and numerous repetitions indicate the influence of divertimento, while a characteristic feature of his work is, alongside 2-bar phrases, the extension of periodic structures.

Like other Polish composers, Milwid used elements of folk music in his work. In the first Missa in Dis, he introduced the melody of the carol Lulajże, Jezuniu (Gloria – excerpt Cum Sancto), mazurka rhythms (Gloria) and Lydian consonances, characteristic of folk melodies (Christe eleison). Mazurka and polonaise rhythms appear also in some of the cantatas Sub tuum praesidium. Milwid’s works are characterised by broad, cantabile phrases and a lyricism that suggests the Slavic origins of his melodies, while the themes of the symphonies are in dumka style. The composer abandoned the use of polyphony even in those mass movements where it was most often introduced. He did not even use it in the movement in which the term fugue appears (Dona nobis in the second Missa in Dis).

The questioned aria Semper mi Jesu is characterised by a smaller cast and is maintained in Baroque style, while the cycle of 12 cantatas to the text of the antiphon Sub tuum praesidium is a combination of elements of concertante style (dialogue between vocal and instrumental parts and “ornamentation” of vocal lines), galant (themes built from 2-bar, loosely connected fragments), and early classical style (melody as a form-shaping factor, influence of sonata form – second theme in the key of the dominant). Milwid’s works are characterised by frequent changes of texture and the use of purely instrumental ritornellos.

Literature: A. Poliński Dzieje muzyki polskiej w zarysie, Lviv 1907; A. Nowak-Romanowicz Muzyka polskiego oświecenia i wczesnego romantyzmu, Z dziejów polskiej kultury muzycznej, Vol. 2, Krakow 1966; T. Maciejewski Rękopisy muzyczne z biblioteki opactwa kanoników regularnych w Czerwińsku, “Muzyka” 1988 No. 2; J.M. Chomiński, K. Wilkowska-Chomińska Historia muzyki polskiej, Vol. 1, Krakow 1995; A.Chodkowski, entry Milwid, in: Encyklopedia Muzyki, Warsaw 1995; S. Ropniak Warmińscy kompozytorzy na tle polskich twórców symfonii w stylu klasycznym w XVIII wieku, “Studia Warmińskie” 37/1, 2000; Z.M. Szweykowski, entry Milwid, in: The New Grove Doctionary of Music, Oxford University Press 2004; M. Murawa, entry Milwid, in: Encyklopedia Katolicka, Vol. 12, Lublin 2008; J. Bujas Twórczość Antoniego Milwida (1755–1837) w kontekście działalności kanoników regularnych w Czerwińsku, master’s thesis, Institute of Musicology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow 2019; J. Bujas Missa in Dis Antoniego Milwida (1755–1837) w kontekście  repertuaru kapeli klasztornej w Czerwińsku nad Wisłą, “Kwartalnik Młodych Muzykologów UJ” 41, 2019.