Nitrowski, Andrzej
Nitrowski, Nitrofsky, Nietrowski, Nidrowski, Witrowski Daniel, *ca. 1650, †after 1727, Polish organ builder, younger son of Jerzy, brother of Andrzej. He presumably learned the trade from his father and also apprenticed with his brother Andrzej. Hypothetically, his first work is the organ in Pelplin Cathedral, built in 1674–79 under the supervision or with the collaboration of J.G. Wulf of Orneta (probably identical with Wulf of Malbork); it is possible that Daniel Nitrowski was his journeyman. He was active mainly in Pomerania: renovation of the organ in St. Reinhold’s Chapel in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Gdańsk (1683, carried out under Andrzej’s supervision), a contract for the construction of a new instrument in Frombork Cathedral (1683–85), construction of a new instrument (with elements of the old one) in the Church of St. Joseph in Gdańsk (after 1680), construction of positive organs in the Evangelical churches in Gnojewo and Stara Kościelnica (1691), construction of the positive organ in Krzywe Koło (1694), renovation of the organ in the Holy Trinity Church in Gdańsk (1697–98), construction of an instrument in the Church of St. Bridget in Gdańsk (1700–24), and in the same church of St. Michael (1727).
The Nitrowski family were among the most outstanding organ builders of the 17th century in Poland. They were the founders of the so-called Gdańsk school of organ building. They developed their own style, which was a synthesis of the Italian and North German schools. A characteristic feature of their instruments are two bass pipes (tympanum effect) placed on church pillars (Olkusz, Frombork, Pelplin, Krakow, Gdańsk).
Literature: J. Gołos Polskie organy i muzyka organowa, Warsaw 1972, English transl. The Polish Organ, Warsaw 1992; A. Jazdon Polskie budownictwo organowe w XVII wieku na przykładzie działalności rodziny Nitrowskich, master’s thesis, typescript AMU Library UAM, 1981; W. Renkewitz, J. Janca Geschichte der Orgelbaukunst in Ost- und Westpreussen von 1333 bis 1944, vol. 1, Würzburg 1984; E. Smulikowska Prospekty organowe w dawnej Polsce, Wrocław 1989.