Namysłowski, Karol
Namysłowski Stanisław Wojciech, *23 April 1879 Warsaw, †27 June 1963 Zamość, Polish violinist, conductor and composer, son of Karol. In 1904 he graduated from the Institute of Music in Warsaw in the violin class of S. Barcewicz and continued his studies in Prague under O. Ševčík (violin) and V. Novák (composition and conducting) from 1905 to 1908. In 1906 he made his debut there as a conductor at concerts in the Rudolfinum, and later at the Philharmonic, then returned to Chomęciska and worked together with his father with the Orkiestra Włościańska. He conducted at the concerts of this orchestra and often appeared as a soloist. His repertoire included works by Mendelssohn, Wieniawski, Vieuxtemps and Sarasate. He conducted the orchestra alternately with his father during performances in 1911 in Vienna, Prague and Lviv, and more than 50 cities and towns in Galicia. Repertoire of the ensemble, which already consisted of 70 members, included symphonic, popular, and folk pieces.
In 1915 Stanislaw Namyslowski took over the direction of the orchestra from his father. During World War I, he gave several concerts in Lublin, in 1919 he performed among others, in Pomerania, and in 1920 in Małopolska and Cieszyn Silesia. He was mobilised with his entire team and took part in the war in 1920 under the command of General Haller. From 18 February to 12 May 1925, he conducted an orchestra United States concert tour entitled Polska Orkiestra Ludowa (Polish People’s Orchestra). During 80 concerts in 14 states (including the Metropolitan Opera House and Manhattan Opera House in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Boston, Detroit, Chicago), works by Moniuszko, Noskowski, Żeleński, T. Joteyko, L. Lewandowski and others were performed. Stanislaw Namysłowski met with President Coolidge, and recorded albums for the Victor company. He performed with the orchestra in the Eastern Borderlands, Ciechocinek and Poznań in the years 1926–1929. During the Great Depression, he gave concerts for the benefit of the unemployed in 1932–1933, and in 1939 for the National Defence Fund [“Fundusz Obrony Narodowej”]. He lived through the years of World War II in Chomęciska and Warsaw, returned to Zamość in 1945 and, struggling with problems, continued to lead an ensemble under the name Reprezentacyjna Orkiestra Włościańska Namysłowskiego. He conducted the concerts among others in Warsaw in 1946, in the Western Borderlands in 1947, in the towns of Białystok Region in 1950, in Łódź in 1954. On 2 December 1955, he celebrated the 50th anniversary of his artistic work with the Lublin Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra’s activities intensified after 1956 (in 1958 it performed in Lviv); Stanisław Namysłowski conducted it until 1963. In 1958 he was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. He composed mazurkas, obereks, polonaises, waltzes, and marches, among others.
Literature: S. Niewiadomski Stanisław Namysłowski, “Orkiestra” 1931 No. 3.