Wieniawski, Adam (EN)

Wieniawski Adam Tadeusz, *27 November 1876 (not 1879) Warsaw, †19 (not 21) April 1950 Bydgoszcz, Polish composer, teacher, conductor and social activist, son of Aleksander, a clerk and singer, who was a twin brother of Józef Wieniawski and Julia nee Zielińska. He attended secondary school in Warsaw and in Silesia, among others, in Kluczbork. He studied with E. Pankiewicz, H. Melcer-Szczawiński and A. Michałowski (piano) as well as with Z. Noskowski (composition) at the Warsaw Music Institute, later with W. Bargiel at Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, then from around 1905 with V. d’Indy at Schola Cantorum in Paris and at the conservatory there with G. Fauré, who later became his friend; what is more, he studied philosophy and the history of art and literature at the University of Berlin. A. Wieniawski premiered his first compositions in Warsaw in 1896–97, and he succeeded as a composer of songs and chamber music in 1900–02 in Paris; he was also a co-founder of Société Nationale de Musique there and conducted symphonic works by S. Moniuszko and Z. Noskowski. As a music reporter, he cooperated with the Russian press (Journal de St. Pétersbourg), and the Belgian and Polish press (Echo Muzyczne and Kurier Warszawski). He gave the first concert of his symphonic works in Warsaw in 1903 at the Philharmonic. He married the singer Maria Leokadia Muromcew around 1906 (in 1912 she played the title role in the world premiere of A. Wieniawski’s opera Megaë), with whom he then went on a journey through Spain, England, Switzerland and Russia. The war found Wieniawski in France; after enlisting in the army, he served at the front for four years (Red Cross delegate), for which he was awarded the Legion of Honour and the Croix de Guerre twice. In 1922, he returned to Warsaw and started organising modern musical institutions. From 1924, he acted as secretary of the Polish Section of the MTMW, and in 1925, he contributed to the establishment of the Association (soon to be the Union) of Polish Composers, originally as the WTM Section, and was also its secretary and long-time president; in 1928 he was elected music director of WTM and director of the F. Chopin Higher School of Music; he also taught composition and instrumentation there. In 1929, inspired by Wieniawski, Filharmonia Ludowa was established, but it went under after the first concert (conductor: Z. Górzyński). Before 1930, Wieniawski became the president of the Association of Music and Theatre Reporters and the president of the Supreme Council of the Association of Music Schools in Poland, and in 1934, he contributed to the establishment of the F. Chopin Institute, which he was president of in 1945–49. In 1932 and 1937, he chaired the jury of the 2^nd and 3^rd International F. Chopin Piano Competition, and in 1935 the 1^st International H. Wieniawski Violin Competition in Warsaw. From 1936, he held the offices of vice-president of the Society for the Promotion of Polish Art among Foreigners and vice-president and then president of the Association of Stage Authors and Composers ZAiKS (currently the Association of Authors ZAiKS), which was expanded to include publishers on his initiative. In 1937, Wieniawski became vice-president of the International Confederation of Unions of Authors, Composers and Publishers. At that time, he was a ‘press reporter’ and a member of the artistic council of the Warsaw Opera. He spent World War II there; in 1940–41, with permission from the German authorities, he continued to run the WTM Music School, but not as the “Higher School,” but as the “Warsaw School,” intended for children. After the Warsaw Uprising, Wieniawski was deported to Pruszków and the Kielce region, and in 1945, he returned to Warsaw, where, among other things, he took over as vice-president of WTM; he also established the Trade Union of Polish Musicians. On 16 May 1947, he celebrated the 50^th anniversary of his artistic work in the Roma Theatre in Warsaw.

Throughout his life, especially in the interwar period, Wieniawski worked as a critic, among others, in Rzeczpospolita in 1925–30, Kurier Poranny, Nowiny Muzyczne i Teatralne in 1919–30, Muzyka, Scena Polska in 1929, Wiadomości Muzyczne, Radiofon Polski, Świat. Before 1939, he received the Gold Cross of Merit and the Officer’s Cross of Polonia Restituta, and in 1936 the Music Award of the Capital City of Warsaw, and in 1947 the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. In 1948, he went to Bydgoszcz (where his daughter Eugenia Suszyńska and her children lived) and died there; he was buried in the Avenue of Merit of the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw.

During World War II, A. Wieniawski’s compositional legacy was completely burned in the Grand Theater, the WTM Library (in the Philharmonic building) and in Wieniawski’s apartment at ul. Widok. Most of the surviving manuscripts (approx. 30) are incomplete copies, posterior or in development; most editions are also unavailable. In this situation, today we can only evaluate A. Wieniawski’s work in the most general terms, based on the opinions of contemporary reviewers. Most often, these were good opinions, especially when they concerned operas with French traditions (J. Massenet, G. Fauré, C. Debussy). The best reviews were received by Megaë, performed in Warsaw (1912 and in a shortened version on 4 June 1927), St. Petersburg (March 1916), Moscow (1920) and Lviv (4 October 1930), and Wyzwolony; the press emphasised the charming lyricism of these works, smooth melody, well-constructed themes and accurate characterisation of people, as well as dramatic nerve, determined by neatly written librettos. They wrote about the softness and ‘pastelness’ of the orchestral colours with a slight “touch of modernism.” Instrumental works were also seen as evidence of solid mastery of the craft, and artistry was also seen in songs, distinguished by good taste and careful finishing of details.

In his extensive and thematically diverse journalism, A. Wieniawski displayed a conservative attitude. He was a well-liked and respected man; he was friends with, among others, T. Miciński. However, he did not gain recognition from K. Szymanowski. The critic’s reputation was damaged by writing reviews of cancelled productions (see K. Stromenger, Wiadomości Literackie of 6 April 1930). However, in the Polish musical culture of the 20^th century, Wieniawski played an important role as its tireless, ardent animator, thanks to his comprehensive education, numerous organisational talents, keen insight and wide relationships.

Literature: documents in archives of ZKP and WTM (from years 1945–48), Warsaw; A. Wieniawski “Jak powstała opera ‘Wyzwolony’” Muzyka 1928 no. 6; H. Opieński “Kronika muzyczna” Tygodnik Ilustrowany 1913 no. 5 (review of the premiere of Megaë at the Warsaw Opera 1912); J.Fr. G. “Adam Tadeusz Wieniawski. Kilka dat z okazji dzisiejszego wystawienia opery Megaë” Rzeczpospolita 1927 no. 152; M. Gliński “Nowa opera Adama Wieniawskiego (Wyzwolony)” Muzyka 1928 no. 6; S. Łobaczewska “Opery Adama Wieniawskiego” Muzyka 1930 no. 11/12; K. Arski “Wywiad z laureatem Nagrody Muzycznej m. st. Warszawy, dyrektorem Adamem Wieniawskim” Przegląd Artystyczny 1936 no. 7; Bis [L. Binental] “Adam Wieniawski laureat nagrody m. st. Warszawy” Kurier Warszawski 1936 no. 316; „Zgon Adama Wieniawskiego” Ilustrowany Kurier Polski 1950 no. 113 (Bydgoszcz); Ziemia Pomorska 1950 no. 111 (obituary).