Namysłowski, Stanisław
Namysłowski Karol Franciszek, *9 September 1856 Chomęciska Małe (near Zamość), †21 August 1925 Chomęciska Małe, Polish composer and conductor. He was the son of a postmaster and studied at the Russian gymnasiums in Zamość (1865–1867) and Lublin (1867–1872) and in 1872–1876 at the Institute of Music in Warsaw. He was learning the trumpet under A. Kühny and the violin under Apolinary Kątski (graduated with honours). In 1878/1879 he taught music at the Instytut Ociemniałych in Warsaw. He organised an orchestra at the E. Deryng School of Drama, with which he performed in the Dolina Szwajcarska. Namysłowski also conducted the orchestra at the Alhambra garden theatre [Teatrzyk ogródkowy Alhambra]. After returning to Chomęciska, he observed village bands playing music in the Zamość region and taught local peasants to play instruments. He formed the Orkiestra Włościańska in Chomęciska on 4 November 1881 with 27 of his first students, which gained recognition from the local landowners and performed at various meetings and local celebrations. Karol Namysłowski composed pieces for his band based on the melodies and songs of the Zamość region. In 1882, the orchestra gave its first concerts in Zamość (in a carpenter’s workshop), Lublin (in the Rusalka public garden), Izbica, Krasnystaw, Radom and Kielce (the musicians performed in white peasant clothes and travelled on the hay wagons). Karol Namysłowski worked with the amateur peasant theatre of organist J. Tratkiewicz in Stary Zamość (Jasełka). From 1884, there were references to the orchestra in the newspapers, with the first printed programme in 1885; in July 1885, a performance took place at the Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition in Warsaw.
The orchestra’s national repertoire faced restrictions from the Russian invaders, even after its performance in 1891 in Spała in front of Tsar Alexander III, who granted the orchestra written permission to perform in Russia. Over time, Karol Namysłowski expanded the orchestra’s composition and repertoire by adding works written by Mozart, Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Kurpiński, Moniuszko, Noskowski, also Liszt, Wagner (overture Polonia) and others. The orchestra gave concerts, among others, in 1902 in Saint Petersburg and Vilnius, and in 1904 in Łódź, Warsaw (at Dynasy), Libava, Kiev, Kharkov, Smolensk and Poltava during a long tour of the Polish communities in Russia; a similar tour also took place in 1905 and each year from 1907 to 1910. In 1911 Karol Namysłowski conducted (alternating with his son Stanisław) concerts in Vienna, Prague, Lviv and throughout Galicia (he dedicated to Krakow his new works – march Wawel and mazur Sokół). On 6 March 1913, he performed in Saint Petersburg at a concert to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Romanov House; Tsar Nicholas II awarded him the Saint George’s ribbon. At the beginning of the First World War, Chomęciska was plundered, also of its musical output; Karol Namysłowski lost his eyesight. He conducted his orchestra for the last time in 1923 in the garden of the Grand Hotel in Łódz.
Karol Namysłowski was particularly appreciated for his spirited conducting of folk mazurs with vocal improvisations. During concerts, he stood in front of the ensemble facing the audience, conducting while playing the violin. Critics emphasised the orchestral musicians’ chemistry, technical proficiency and purity of intonation, correct tempos, verve, and proper expression. Orkiestra Włościańska was so popular that poems were composed in tribute to Karol Namysłowski. For many years, his works remained in the ensemble’s repertoire; he composed about 300 (according to A. Bryk) mazurs, krakowiaks, polonaises, obereks, polkas, waltzes, marches, contradances, fantasies, musical illustrations to plays and folktales. The concert dedicated to the works of Karol Namysłowski took place at the Philharmonic Hall in Lublin on 28 January 1962.
Literature: K. Hoffman Karol Namysłowski, “Wiadomości Muzyczne” 1926 No. 10; J. Majkut Karol Namysłowski w służbie sztuki, Warsaw 1948; A. Bryk Karol Namysłowski, Lublin 1961, expanded edition entitled Karol Namysłowski i jego orkiestra, Lublin 1980 (includes list of compositions).