Wysocki, Kasper Napoleon (EN)

Wysocki Kasper Napoleon, *6 December 1810 Pińczów (near Kielce), †21 September 1850 Zürich, Polish composer, and pianist. He began his piano lessons in Cracow, then was a student of J. Elsner at the conservatory in Warsaw. Then, around 1824 he studied with K. Arnold in Berlin, who he already knew from his performances in Warsaw. He gave a lot of concerts, likely until 1849. He occasionally performed while seeking medical treatment abroad, a necessity due to his poor health, which had afflicted him since his youth. He enjoyed playing his own works, works by F. Chopin (for instance Concerto in E minor), F. Liszt, S. Thalberg; he was compared to them and regarded just as highly. He performed in Warsaw, where he lived for a longer period, in Leipzig (March 1839), Paris (probably in the spring of 1839), Berlin (May and June 1839), Poznań (29 June, 2, 13 and 18 July 1839), Cracow (7 January 1840), Dresden (1840 or 1841). Elsner wrote in his “Sumariusz” that Wysocki was “[…] one of the first Warsaw pianists.” The Berlin “Staatszeitung” included him among the “most outstanding virtuosos of modern times,” seeing in his “striking” and fiery playing the models of A. Henselt (“Rozmaitości”). Also in Berlin, Wysocki received a flattering review from L. Rellstab. He taught piano for some time at the conservatory in Warsaw. One of his students was W. Wiślicki. From circa 1839 he was a member of the “Towarzystwo Wsparcia Podupadłych Artystów Muzyki, ich Wdów i Sierot.” He died of tuberculosis.

Although Wysocki gained recognition as a virtuoso, his numerous compositions were functional and salon compositions; a significant number of them are stylised or similar to folk prototype dances. He was regarded as a master of Krakowiak (that is why he was called Krakowianin), which was particularly valued by J. Sikorski. A separate, large group of Wysocki’s works consists of marches and dances thematically linked to the November Uprising, such as Mazur obozowy na cześć Chłopickiego from 1830, performed in orchestral and piano versions. In his miniatures he took inspiration from Chopin.

Literature: Kasper Wysocki, “Rozmaitości”, newspaper supplement to “Gazeta Lwowska” 1839 No. 25; “Gazeta Wielkiego Księstwa Poznańskiego” 1839 No. 148, 149 and 161; „Kurier Warszawski” 1850 No. 325, 1851 No. 267; „Goniec Polski” 1850 No. 144 (obituary notices); O. K. [O. Kolberg] Wspomnienie o Kasprze Napoleonie Wysockim, “Biblioteka Warszawska” 1851 Vol. 4; J. Sikorski Kronika literacka. Kompozycye na fortepian, “Biblioteka Warszawska” 1853 Vol. 4; J. Elsner Sumariusz moich utworów muzycznych, edited by A. Nowak-Romanowicz, Krakow 1957.