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Karłowicz, Mieczysław (EN)

Biography, Literature and Discography

Karłowicz Mieczysław, *11 December 1876 Wiszniewo in Lithuania, †8 February,1909 in the Tatra Mountains, Polish composer and conductor. He was the fourth and youngest child of Jan Karłowicz, an outstanding ethnologist and linguist, and Irena née Sulistrowska. Until the age of six, he spent his childhood in the Sulistrowski family estate in Wiszniewo. After the estate had been sold, in 1882 Jan Karłowicz moved with his family abroad, settling down in Heidelberg. In 1885 the Karłowicz family moved to Prague, in 1886 – to Dresden, and in 1887 they settled permanently in Warsaw. In Heidelberg and in Dresden, the boy attended general schools, from 1888 he studied at W. Górski’s Real School in Warsaw. Brought up in a music-loving environment from early childhood (his father played cello and piano, and a string quartet practised in their house), he was introduced to opera and symphonic music by, among others, Bizet, Weber, Brahms and Smetana while being abroad. He started taking private violin lessons in Dresden and Prague when he was 7, then he learned in Warsaw with Jan Jakowski; in 1889–95 he was a student of S. Barcewicz, and at the same time he learned harmony from Z. Noskowski and P. Maszyński, and later he took up counterpoint and musical forms with G. Roguski; then he also started composing, Karłowicz’s first surviving work, Chant de mai for piano is from 1893/94. In 1893–94 he attended lectures at the Department of Nature, Warsaw University.

In September 1895 he left for Berlin to study violin playing with J. Joachim. Failing to get to Joachim’s class at the Hochschule fur Musik, he took private lessons from Florian Zajic but decided to become a composer and enrolled as a student with H. Urban. At the same time, he attended lectures on the history of music, history of philosophy, psychology and physics at the Philology Department of the university in Berlin. From December 1895 to the end of 1896, most of his 22 surviving solo songs were created, including ten songs to words by K. Przerwa-Tetmajer. From Berlin Karłowicz was a musical correspondent for „Echo Muzyczne, Teatralne i Artystyczne,” taking the side of Neoromanticism, Wagnerian direction. On 15 April 1897, at a show of Urban’s students, they performed a Serenade for string orchestra Op. 2. While studying with Urban, in addition to smaller compositions, the music for J. Nowiński’s drama The White Dove was made. The overture to The White Dove, known as Bianka from Molena, was performed on 14 April 1900 in Berlin, also at Urban’s students show. At the end of the 1990s, Karłowicz started working on the Revival Symphony, which he completed on his own after he had returned to the country. In April 1901 Karłowicz graduated and returned to Warsaw. In 1902 he created Violin Concerto in A major Op. 8, dedicated to S. Barcewicz.

With his article Muzyka swojska w Filharmonii warszawskiej, Karłowicz initiated the fight for the presence of contemporary Polish music in the repertoire of the newly established Warsaw Philharmonic. In 1903 he worked on the board of the Warsaw Music Society [Warszawskie Towarzystwo Muzyczne], where he founded and led a string orchestra. Then he also published a valuable publication Niewydane dotychczas pamiątki po Chopinie, containing Chopin’s correspondence. On 21 March 1903 in Berlin, Karłowicz’s composer concert, the program of which included the overture to The White Dove, Violin Concerto and Revival Symphony, the composer conducted and S. Barcewicz was a soloist.

Undaunted with unfavourable reviews after his next composer concert in Vienna (8 February 1904), Karłowicz devoted himself exclusively to one musical form: symphonic poem. In 1904–09 he composed six symphonic poems Op. 9–14: Returning Waves, Chant éternel, Lithuanian Rhapsody, Stanisław and Anna Oświecim, Sad Story, Episode at a Masquerade left in sketches (completed and orchestrated after the composer’s death by G. Fitelberg). In 1906 the composer went to Leipzig to take A. Nikisch’s conducting course. On 21 March 1907, Eternal Songs was premiered at the concert of Young Poland composers. In this way, Karłowicz indicated his support for the group of artists associated with the Publishing Company of Young Polish Composers (called “Young Poland” by historians), which he did not formally belong to. In the same year, he settled in Zakopane. He had a special spiritual bond with the Tatra Mountain. He was active in the Tatra Society, published articles on mountain hikes, and was passionate about climbing, skiing and photography; he became one of the pioneers of Polish mountaineering.

Generally evaluated unfavourably by music critics, he experienced a great triumph after a concert at the Warsaw Philharmonic (22 January 1909), at which Eternal Songs was enthusiastically received. Less than three weeks later, on 8 February, he died in a snow avalanche in the Tatra Mountains during a lonely mountain skiing trip, on the way from Hala Gąsienicowa to Czarny Staw, at the bottom of Mały Kościelec, where there is now a commemorative plaque. He was buried on 16 February at the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw.

Karłowicz was the first Polish composer who took up an ambitious task to include Polish music in European culture. His work can be divided into two periods: the first one (to 1902), including school and youthful works, songs, and Revival Symphony, crowned with a fully mature Violin Concerto; and the second (1903–09), when he created his opus vitae – six symphonic poems, creating a specific programmatic and philosophical cycle. In the aesthetic sense, Karłowicz’s work mainly expresses tendencies of early modernism, related to the late Romantic, Wagnerian-Schopenhauerian heritage. He represents the Slavic circle of modernism, remaining in the orbit of German culture (R. Wagner and R. Strauss). In earlier works – Serenade for String Orchestra and Revival Symphony – the influence of Pyotr Tchaikovsky is visible; in later works, there are reminiscences of Lithuanian and Belarusian folklore (symphonic poems: Eternal Songs, Lithuanian Rhapsody).

The works of K. Przerwa-Tetmajer were particularly close to Karłowicz, celebrating the longing for the lost paradise of childhood, the starry sky, love and death. He wrote ten out of his 19 youthful songs to his poems. Karłowicz’s songwriting, thoroughly Young-Poland and modernistic in its poetic and aesthetic aura, is still deeply rooted in the early Romantic style, in major-minor tonality, in terms of its sound language and formal features. Two basic types of forms predominate: stanzaic (often with elements of recomposition, variation or rondo) and reprise, more or less extensive. The free, overcomposed musical flow typical of Szymanowski’s or Paderewski’s songs is still foreign to the young Karłowicz. M. Tomaszewski (1981) distinguished two basic types of Karłowicz’s songs: expressive and impressionistic. Songs of an expressive type, saturated with strong emotionalism, melancholy, drama (Smutną jest dusza moja, Skąd pierwsze gwiazdy, Przed nocą wieczną, Nie płacz nade mną, Z erotyków) is characterised by a cadential harmonic-formal arrangement, a distinct melodic flow, harmonics with strong functional tensions, and accompaniment with a simple chord texture. Songs of the impressionistic type, maintained in a quiet, gentle, dreamy mood (Czasem gdy długo, W wieczorną ciszę, Pamiętam ciche, jasne, złote dnie) are characterised by the loosening of functional connections, the predominance of parallel and mediant connections, transitional chords, and figurative accompaniment that enhances colour effects. The type of Karłowicz’s songs of early Romantic provenance can also be distinguished, of a dance-folk nature (waltz, mazurka, krakowiak) or dumka (Z nową wiosną, Rdzawe liście, Najpiękniejsze piosnki, Pod jaworem).

Karłowicz’s aesthetic views were related to the New Romantic trend, derived from Wagner’s work. He particularly appreciated the orchestral music of R. Strauss and composers of national schools: Smetana, Dvořák, Grieg, and Tchaikovsky. He considered Brahms a representative of the conservative trend; he accused his music of epigonism, academicism, colourlessness of instrumentation, and poverty of inventiveness. According to Chybiński (1949), Karłowicz neither approved of the music of Mahler nor the works of Russian and French modernists: Scriabin, Debussy, and Ravel. He was a spokesman for music with a strongly crystallized individual face, of an emotional nature, program music, addressing eternal existential and metaphysical problems of the human condition. He presented his aesthetics explicitly in a letter to his friend H. Egerow, expressing a negative attitude towards the close integration of drama or poetry with music (he considered his songs to be a mistake of his youth). By preferring orchestral music independent of poetry and a “detailed programme,” he expressed a special understanding of the programmatic nature of literature in music, consistent with the ideas of poetic symbolism. He understood it as a certain poetic and philosophical inspiration, as a circle of ideas, feelings and moods reflected in music, and possibly later concretised in the form of commentary. Karłowicz’s program comments were created ex-post – as literary explanations addressed to listeners, intended to prevent misinterpretation of the work. Karłowicz’s correspondence, however, proves that the creation of each symphonic work was accompanied by some poetic intention, sometimes revealed with reluctance; we know the original formulations of literary programs from the composer’s letters.

There are three threads running through the literary themes of Karłowicz’s orchestral works: melancholy, tragic love and the mystery of existence and death. The sphere of depression and sadness is depicted in literary commentaries by metaphors of inertia, lifelessness, numbness of the soul, motifs showing the fatalism of life’s journey as an endless, grey road or ribbon of life (introduction of the first part of the Revival Symphony, Returning Waves). Love always remains unfulfilled. It is a reminiscence of youthful dreams (Returning Waves) or a blind passion doomed to failure (3rd movement of the Revival Symphony). Marked by conflict, it inevitably leads to tragedy (overture Bianka from Molena, Stanisław and Anna Oświecim, Episode at the Masquerade). Death has a tragic and destructive dimension (A Sad Story), but on the other hand, it brings about crossing a mysterious border, solace and salvation, and a connection with the universe (Eternal Songs).

The inspiration from literature had a significant impact on Karłowicz’s thematic inventiveness and the selection of musical themes and motifs. This is evidenced by, among others, literary definitions of music themes in the poem Eternal Songs, included in the manuscript, lost during World War II. What is striking is the parallelism of the structure of the literary programmes of the symphonic poem Returning Waves and Revival Symphony formulated by Karłowicz on the one hand, and the form, arrangement of individual parts and themes of these works, on the other. Therefore, themes of death-eternity, fate, rebirth, and “dead flowers” can be distinguished as symbols of tragic love, the idyllic memory of the “spring figure of a girl,” etc. In works with a dramatic, quasi-fiction programme (Bianka from Molena, Stanisław and Anna Oświecim, Episode at the Masquerade), the composer was undoubtedly guided by the intention of musical portraying the characters, their psyche and feelings through the main themes.

In analogy to the previously distinguished spheres of literary themes, three main areas of musical symbolism in the composer’s works can be distinguished. The sphere of love feelings is associated with the primacy of the melodic factor with a smooth, wavy pattern, with motifs inspired by, among others, Valkyrie (the love story of Sigismund and Siglinde) and Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde (abundant chromaticism symbolizing love desire); amorous remembrance or Dionysian intoxication manifests itself in the whirlwind of dance, especially in waltz and quasi-waltz rhythms. The sphere of melancholy, sadness and depressive numbness is most often expressed in the initial parts of the poems (Returning Waves, Song of Eternal Longing from Eternal Songs, Sad Story). It is represented by sound structures of a static nature, dissonant harmony, and a dark colour resulting from its location in the low registers of the orchestral space. The sphere of symbolism of eternity-university refers to the overtone themes of nature-universe, popular in late Romanticism (The Song of Universal Being from Eternal Songs). Death in its tragic, destructive aspect is expressed in dramatic, piercing fate motifs, oscillating between a dark and dense sonic aura on the one hand – and devastatingly piercing on the other (e.g. the tritone theme of fate-death in Stanisław and Anna Oświecim).

After his academic compositional experiences (Revival Symphony), Karłowicz developed a fully creative inventiveness in the field of a free orchestral form of a symphonic poem, not dictated by any a priori scheme. In addition to the freely treated sonata form, inherently related to the theme of love drama and already used in the overture Bianka from Molena, and later in the symphonic poems Stanisław and Anna Oświęcim, Episode on the Masquerade, we also find among his poems the song form ABA (Eternal Songs) and multi-thematic forms: evolutionary in Returning Waves and serial-evolutionary (quasi-epic) in Lithuanian Rhapsody. A sensation in the field of formal exploration is A Sad Story, where we are dealing with an athematic form, as compact as possible, thoroughly permeated with chromatic parallelisms.

The core of the sound architecture of Karłowicz’s works is the major-minor functional tonality in the sense of maintaining the tonal unity of the work and basing its harmonic macrostructure on the pattern of a great cadence. This macrostructure, as shown by the results of the analysis carried out using the Schenker method, is the result of the release of harmonic forces inherent in the designed musical material (initial theme). In addition to tonally stabilised thematic structures, in Karłowicz’s works, there are also complicated modulation courses, progressions, chromatic chord mixtures, and even fragments based on the whole-tone scale (Stanisław and Anna Oświecim, bars 270–287). All these deviations from harmony with a decidedly tonal character play an important expressive role – as a symbol of dramatic, love-ecstatic or even psychotic experiences (e.g. the feverish, desperate character of Sad Story, Karłowicz’s most harmonically advanced work).

The instrumentation of Karłowicz’s symphonic works – less extensive than in Wagner’s or Strauss’ later symphonic poems – evolves from a double to a triple and quadruple tree, from two to three trumpets, from four to six horns and more and more elaborate percussion (Stanisław and Anna Oświecim). The instrumentation technique, initially influenced by the rules of class instrumentation (doublings, unison tutti of the orchestra), is developing towards greater and greater textural stratification, the polyphony of orchestral colours, and polygenisation of sound (E. Dziębowska). The variability of sound structures is closely related to the thematic work, evolutionary processes, permutations of themes and motifs presented in new instrumentation. The influence of R. Strauss, visible especially in the symphonic poem Stanisław and Anna Oświecim, is expressed in the considerable mobility and shimmering of the orchestral tutti. These effects are achieved by the composer through trills, tremolos and tremolandos, variously shaped figurations of spread chords or scales, glissandi, and repetitions of motifs – used simultaneously in many orchestrations and overlapping each other. Specific, innovative features of Karłowicz’s instrumentation technique are revealed in the last completed work of Sad Story. In the culminating phases of the progressions, which involve a chromatic shift of the harmonic structure, strong sound concentrations are created in the highest registers of the orchestral space. They are characterised by sharp dissonance and at the same time brightness of timbre (high register of the trumpets con sordino), suggesting an expressionist aesthetic. A characteristic feature of Karłowicz’s orchestral style is his preference for dark, nasal, melancholic or devastatingly penetrating colours. As melodic instruments, he willingly uses clarinets (often in low registers), English horn, oboe, and on the other hand, horns and trumpets con sordino, up to the highest sounds of the latter (Sad Story).

The historical significance of Karłowicz can be summarised in three points. First of all, he is the creator of modern Polish symphonic music, and the most outstanding Polish representative of the late Romantic symphonic poem. Secondly, he transferred the latest achievements in the field of instrumentation to his native land, creatively adapting the sound and orchestration discoveries of R. Strauss. Thirdly, he introduced to Polish music the harmony typical of the late, culminating stage of the development of the major-minor system. His music was one of the last attempts to unite the unstable major-minor tonality. In his last works, especially Sad Story, he was already reaching its final limits. The organic logic of the form of Karłowicz’s symphonic poems – not in the sense of fidelity to academic formal schemes, but the consistency of the harmonic structure – gives his works the mark of prominence.

The work of Karłowicz, a leading representative of the ideological and artistic trend called “Young Poland in music”, found an ardent propagator in the person of A. Chybiński, the author of numerous articles about Karłowicz’s music and an extensive, richly documented biography of the composer. An analysis of Karłowicz’s works, methodologically similar to the works of H. Riemann and H. Leichtentritt, was undertaken by M. Liebeskind in his doctoral thesis, which today has mainly source and documentation value, as the author had manuscripts of Karłowicz’s works collected at the WTM, which were lost during World War II. Modern analytical methods were presented in the doctoral dissertations of E. Dziębowska (sonoristic analysis, relations between sound and form in symphonic poems) and L. Polony (analysis of harmony using the method of H. Schenker and V. Zuckerkandl, aesthetic issues, programming). The basic and only existing monograph of Karłowicz’s work and activities so far is a collective work – a collection of studies and materials (1970) edited by E. Dziębowska. The situation regarding the documentation of Karłowicz’s life and work has changed fundamentally; H. Anders, based on the archive collected by Chybiński, compiled Karłowicz’s correspondence and the memories of people who knew him, J. Młodziejowski published the composer’s Tatra writings, B. Chmara-Żaczkiewicz, A. Spóz and K. Michałowski prepared a thematic catalogue of Karłowicz’s works and a bibliography, PWM began editing Karłowicz’s complete works, edited by L. Polony. Karłowicz’s orchestral works and songs have been included in the concert repertoire in Poland for years, they have numerous editions and recordings, but they are little known abroad. After all, Karłowicz created his own, original artistic world with a specific type of expression. Karłowicz’s work, with its meaning and universality of message, goes beyond the time of its creator. His music carries a special ethos: it encourages reflection on human fate, its loneliness, tragedy, and in all of this – sublimity.

Literature: B. Chmara-Żaczkiewicz, A. Spóz, K. Michałowski Mieczysław Karłowicz. Katalog tematyczny dzieł i bibliografia, Kraków 1986; I. Chomik, H. Harley, A. Spóz Katalog rękopisów muzycznych Mieczysława Karłowicza w Bibliotece WTM, „Muzyka” 1965 no. 3; Mieczysław Karłowicz w listach i wspomnieniach, compiled by H. Anders, Kraków 1960 (also includes Karłowicz’s works: literary comments to symphonic works, Orfeum warszawskie w roku 1910, correspondance from Berlin and articles about Warsaw Philharmonic and H. Urban); Mieczysław Karłowicz w Tatrach. Pisma tatrzańskie i zdjęcia fotograficzne, przedmowa S. Komornicki, Kraków 1910, new edition, ext. compiled by J. Młodziejowski, Kraków 1957, 3. published in 1968; M. Liebeskind Twórczość Mieczysława Karłowicza, doctoral dissertation, Jagiellonian University, 1931; M. Kęcki Mieczysław Karłowicz. Szkic monograficzny, Warsaw 1934; Mieczysław Karłowicz w 25 rocznicę śmierci, Poznań 1934, includes: Z. Wasilewski O psychice Mieczysława Karłowicza, A. Chybiński O symfonice Mieczysława Karłowicza, H. Opieński Wspomnienia z berlińskich czasów, M. Zaruski Non omnis moriar, J. Młodziejowski Dwadzieścia pięć lat…, A. Chybiński Mieczysław Karłowicz (1876–1909). Kronika życia artysty i taternika, vol. 1 part 1 (to 1901), Warsaw 1939, new ed. Kraków 1949 (covers the whole life of Karłowicz), I. Bełza Mieczysław Karłowicz, Moscow 1951; H. Anders Pieśni solowe Mieczysława Karłowicza, „Studia Muzykologiczne” vol. 4,1955; T. Marek Poematy symfoniczne Mieczysława Karłowicza, Kraków 1959; Z życia i twórczości Mieczysława Karłowicza, ed. E. Dziębowska, Kraków 1970, includes: E. Dziębowska Postawa ideowo-artystyczna Mieczysława Karłowicza oraz Twórczość symfoniczna, B. Chmara-Żaczkiewicz Liryka wokalna, J. Morawski Utwory szkolne, Z. Helman Twórczość Karłowicza w oczach współczesnych, A. Spóz Mieczysław Karłowicz – działacz WTM, W. Malinowski Karłowicz-taternik, also Kronika życia i twórczości and the list of Karłowicz’s compositions and works; L. Polony Poetyka muzyczna Mieczysława Karłowicza, Kraków 1986 (doctoral dissertation); A. Chybiński Mieczysław Karłowicz (1786–1909), „Gazeta Lwowska” 1909 no. 47; A. Chybiński Mieczysław Karłowicz, „Sfinks” 1909 vol. 5 issue 3, vol. 6 issue 4; A. Chybiński Niedokończony poemat symfoniczny śp. Mieczysława Karłowicza, „Słowo Polskie” 23 II 1909 no. 89; A. Chybiński Młoda Polska w muzyce, „Museion” 1911 no. 3, reprint in: W czasach Straussa i Tetmajera, Kraków 1959; A. Chybiński Mieczysław Karłowicz, „Przegląd Muzyczny” 1911 no. 8; P. Rytel Ostatnie dzieło Mieczysława Karłowicza (Episode at the Masquerade), „Sztuka” 1914 issue 20/22; A. Chybiński Mieczysław Karłowicz, „Muzyka” 1926 no. 33; G. Fitelberg Dzieje „Epizodu na maskaradzie”, „Muzyka” 1926 no. 3; M. Gliński Młoda Polska w muzyce, „Muzyka” 1931 no. 4/6; A. Chybiński Mieczysław Karłowicz (1876–1909). Preludia, „Muzyka Polska” 1934 issue 1; A. Chybiński Do kwestii „wpływologii” muzycznej (based on Karłowicz’s works), „Muzyka Polska” 1934 issue 4; polemic: Z. Jachimecki Pod jakim kątem patrzy profesor dr Adolf Chybiński na kwestie wpływologii muzycznej?, Kraków 1935; A. Chybiński Mieczysław Karłowicz jako kompozytor i taternik, „Lwowskie Wiadomości Muzyczne i Literackie” 1934 no. 82; A. Chybiński Z ostatnich dni Karłowicza. Rozwianie legendy, „Kurier Literacko-Naukowy” 1935 no 5 (supplement to „Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny” 3 II 1935); E. Dziębowska Mieczysław Karłowicz jako krytyk muzyczny, in: Studia Hieronymo Feicht septuagenario dedicata, Kraków 1967; E. Dziębowska Instrumentacja Karłowicza a Czajkowskiego, in: Polsko-rosyjskie miscellanea muzyczne, ed. Z. Lissa, Kraków 1967; M. Bliwert Mieczysław Karłowicz a twórczość Ryszarda Wagnera, in: Ryszard Wagner a polska kultura muzyczna, Katowice 1964; B. Pociej Karłowicz a symfonizm, „Ruch Muzyczny” 1976 no. 25; B. Pociej Mieczysław Karłowicz. 1876–1909, „Tygodnik Powszechny” 1977 no. 1; B. Chmara-Żaczkiewicz Mieczysław Karłowicz w opinii krytyków wiedeńskich, J. Prosnak Nieznane dokumenty Mieczysława Karłowicza, „Muzyka” 1979 no. 1; L. Polony O harmonice Mieczysława Karłowicza, „Muzyka” 1979 no. 1; L. Polony Motywy i tematy-symbole w muzyce Karłowicza, in: Muzyka w muzyce (Spotkania muzyczne w Baranowie 1977), Kraków 1980; M. Tomaszewski Nad pieśniami Karłowicza, in: Muzyka polska a modernizm, praca zbiorowa, Kraków 1981; L. Polony Program literacki i symbolika muzyczna w twórczości symfonicznej Karłowicza, in: Muzyka polska i modernizm, Kraków 1981, reprint Le programme littéraire et la symbolique musicale dans l’oeuvre symphonique de Karłowicz, in: „Polish Art Studies” VI, Wrocław 1985; H.P. Anders Geneza „Smutnej opowieści” Karłowicza, „Ruch Muzyczny” 1982 no. 9; A. Chybiński Mieczysława Karłowicza portret fizyczny i duchowy, compiled by H.P. Anders, „Ruch Muzyczny” 1984 no. 3; A. Wightman Karłowicz. Young Poland and the Musical Fin-de-Siecle, Hampshire 1995.

 

Discography: symphonic poems Op. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, Silesian Philharmonic orchestra, conducted by J. Salwarowski /Wifon LP 063–065/, Chant du monde /LDC 278 966/7 CD/; Eternal Songs, Warsaw Philharmonic orchestra, conducted by W. Rowicki /Muza X 2549–51, XL 0006/, National Philharmonic orchestra, conducted by S. Wisłocki /Muza XI 0290/; Lithuanian Rhapsody, Warsaw Philharmonic orchestra, conducted by W. Rowicki /Muza X 1749–51/, Warsaw Philharmonic orchestra, conducted by S. Wisłocki /Muza CK 669/; Stanisław and Anna Oświecim, Warsaw Philharmonic orchestra, conducted by W. Rowicki /Muza X 2406-08, XL 0059/, National Philharmonic orchestra, conducted by S. Wisłocki /Muza XL 0269, CK 669/; Sad Story, National Philharmonic orchestra, conducted by W. Rowicki /Muza XL 0179/, Warsaw Philharmonic orchestra, conducted by S. Wisłocki /Muza CK 670/; Episode at the Masquerade, PR Symphonic Orchestra in Katowice, conducted by G. Fitelberg /Muza X 1745–48, XL 0024, SX 1816/, National Philharmonic orchestra, conducted by S. Wisłocki /Muza XL 0269, SX 0269/; Serenade for string orchestra, PR Amadeus orchestra, conducted by A. Duczmal /PN CD 068/; Bianca da Molena. Prologue symphony WOSPR in Katowice, conducted by G. Fitelberg /Muza X 2547–8, XL 0025/; Revival Symphony, Pomeranian Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by B. Wodiczko /Muza SXL 1072, CK 670/; Violin Concerto, violin W. Wiłkomirska, National Philharmonic orchestra, conducted by W. Rowicki /Muza XL 0179, MHS 1103/, violin K.A. Kulka, National Philharmonic orchestra, conducted by W. Rowicki /Muza SX 1254/; violin K. Danczowska, PRiTV orchestra in Krakow, conducted by A. Wit /Wifon MC–0190/, only 2nd part: Romanza, violin E. Umińska, PR Orchestra /Columbia DM 1843/; songs: op. 1, 3, 4 and without opus number, baritone A. Hiolski, piano J. Marchwiński /Muza SXL 0862/.

Editions, Compositions ad Works

Compositions

Instrumental:

orchestra:

Serenade op. 2 for string orchestra, 1897, performed Berlin 15 April 1897, Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester, conductor H. Urban, 1st edition Berlin 1897 C.A. Challier

Bianca da Molena op. 6 for orchestra, music for drama The White by J. Nowiński, published in Kraków 1953: 1. Prologue (performed Berlin 14 April 1900, Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester, conductor J. Rzebiczek), 2. Intermezzo, 1900

Revival Symphony, E minor op. 7, 1902, performed in Berlin 21 March 1903, Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester, conductor Mieczysław Karłowicz, published in Kraków 1993

Violin Concerto in A major op. 8, 1902, performed in Berlin 21 March 1903, Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester, violin S. Barcewicz, conductor Mieczysław Karłowicz, partiture and piano extract: Berlin 1906 Schlesinger

Returning Waves op. 9, symphonic poem, 1904, performed in Warsaw 28 September 1904, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Mieczysław Karłowicz, 1st edition Berlin 1907 Schlesinger

Eternal Songs op. 10, symphonic poem, 1906, performed in Berlin 21 March 1907, Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester, conductor G. Fitelberg, 1st edition Kraków 1908 Gebethner i Spółka

Lithuanian Rhapsody op. 11, symphonic poem, 1906, performed in Warsaw 26 February 1909, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor G. Fitelberg, 1st edition Warsaw 1909 WTM

Stanisław and Anna Oświecim op. 12, symphonic poem, 1907, performed in Warsaw 27 April 1908, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Mieczysław Karłowicz, 1st edition Warsaw 1912 WTM

Sad Story op. 13, symphonic poem, 1908, performed in Warsaw 13 November 1908, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor G. Fitelberg, 1st edition Warsaw 1913 WTM

Episode at a Masquerade (completed by G. Fitelberg) op. 14, symphonic poem, 1908/09, performed in Warsaw 11 February 1914, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor G. Fitelberg, 1st edition Warsaw 1931 WTM, compiled by G. Fitelberg

Vocal-instrumental

songs:

Cudowny kwiat for voice and piano, text Cz. Jankowski, 1891, lost

Zbudź się for voice and piano, text W. Gomulicki, 1892, lost

O, nie wierz for voice and piano, with J. Karłowicz, text L. Méyet, 1892, 1st edition  „Echo Muzyczne, Teatralne i Artystyczne” 1898 no. 14 supplement

Z nową wiosną for voice and piano, text Cz. Jankowski, 1895

Czasem, gdy długo na półsennie marzę for voice and piano, text K. Przerwa-Tetmajer, 1895

Sześć pieśni op. 1, 1895–96, 1st edition  Warsaw 1895–96 Gebethner i Wolff: 1. Zasmuconej for voice and piano, text K. Gliński; 2. Skąd pierwsze gwiazdy for voice and piano, text J. Słowacki; 3. Na śniegu for voice and piano, text M. Konopnicka; 4. Zawód for voice and piano, text K. Przerwa-Tetmajer; 5. Pamiętam ciche, jasne, złote dnie for voice and piano, text K. Przerwa-Tetmajer; 6. Smutną jest dusza moja for voice and piano, text K. Przerwa-Tetmajer

Rdzawe liście strząsa z drzew for voice and piano, text K. Przerwa-Tetmajer, 1896

10 pieśni op. 3, 1896: 1. Mów do mnie jeszcze for voice and piano, text K. Przerwa-Tetmajer, 1st edition  no. 1–6 , w: Drugi śpiewnik op. 3, published in Warsaw 1898 M. Arct; 2. Z erotyków, text J. Waśniewski, 1st edition  no. 1–6, in: Drugi śpiewnik op. 3, published in Warsaw 1898 M. Arct; 3. Idzie na pola for voice and piano, text K. Przerwa-Tetmajer; 4. Na spokojnem, cichem morzu for voice and piano, text K. Przerwa-Tetmajer; 5. Śpi w blaskach nocy for voice and piano, text H. Heine, translation M. Konopnicka; 6. Przed nocą wieczną for voice and piano, text Z. Krasiński; 7. Nie płacz nade mną for voice and piano, text J. Iwański, 1st edition  „Nowości Muzyczne” 1903 no. 3, in: 3 pieśni, published in Warsaw 1933 WTM; 8. W wieczorną ciszę for voice and piano, text K. Przerwa-Tetmajer; 9. Po szerokiem morzu for voice and piano, text K. Przerwa-Tetmajer; Zaczarowana królewna for voice and piano, text A. Asnyk

Pod czarnym żaglem for voice and piano, text H. Heine, 1896, lost

W zadumań naszych dal for voice and piano, text J. Iwański, 1896 (?), uncompleted (?), lost

Najpiękniejsze piosnki for voice and piano op. 4, text A. Asnyk. 1898, 1st edition  Warsaw 1899 Gebethner i Wollf

Pod jaworem for voice and piano, folk text, 1898, 1st edition  Berlin 1907 Spółka Nakładowa Młodych Kompozytorów Polskich

Na Anioł Pański, melodeclamation for reciting voice and piano, text K. Przerwa-Tetmajer, 1902 (?), 1st edition  Warsaw 1910 WTM

also juwenilia: 26 works from 1891–99, including:

Chant de mai in F major for piano, 1893/94

Serenada in G major for cello and piano, 1896

Serenada marcowa z kotem E-flat major for violin and cello, 1896

Szczęście in F major, song for a mixed choir a capella, 1897, published in P. Maszyński Lirnik, Warsaw 1901 Gebethner i Wollf, Kraków 1954

Las for male choir a cappella, 1897, published in Kraków 1953

Marsz in D major for brass band, 1899

7 lost works

 

Editions: 

Sad Story op. 13, Kraków 1948

Stanisław and Anna Oświecim op. 12, Kraków 1949, 4. published in 1982

Eternal Songs op. 10, compiled by S. Wisłocki, Kraków 1949,  3. published in 1982

Violin Concerto in A major op. 8, compiled by G. Fitelberg, Kraków 1952, 3. published in 1982, piano extract , compiled by I. Dubiska, Kraków 1948, 5. published in 1987, piano extract, compiled by A. Cofalik, Kraków 1994

Bianca da Molena op. 6, cz. 1 Prologue, compiled by G. Fitelberg, Kraków 1953

Collected Songs, compiled by J. Młodziejowski, Kraków 19530, jako Pieśni for voice and piano, «Musica Viva» Kraków 1980

Serenade op. 2, compiled by B. Wodiczko, Kraków 1954

Lithuanian Rhapsody op. 11, compiled by W. Rowicki, Kraków 1954, 1980, piano extract compiled by S. Kisielewski, Warsaw 1953

Episode at a Masquerade op. 14, compiled by G. Fitelberg, Kraków 1957 

Mieczysław Karłowicz. Works, ed. L. Polony, vol. 6: Returning Waves, ed. J. Salwarowski, intro L. Polony, Kraków 1988; vol. 4: Revival Symphony, ed. J. Salwarowski, intro L. Polony, Kraków 1993; vol. 2: Serenade op. 2, ed. J. Salwarowski, into H. Anders, Kraków 1994

 

Works:

musical:

Z Berlina, „Echo muzyczne, teatralne i artystyczne” 1896 no. 3, 6, 8, 10, 13

Nauczyciel Stanisława Moniuszki, „Tygodnik Ilustrowany” 1896 no. 19

Berliniana, „Echo muzyczne, teatralne i artystyczne” 1897 no. 10, 18

„Moja bieda”. Listy Wodzińskich do Fryderyka Chopina, compiled by Mieczysław Karłowicz, in: Księga pamiątkowa na uczczenie setnej rocznicy urodzin Adama Mickiewicza, vol. 1, Warsaw 1898, reprint in: Niewydane dotychczas pamiątki po Chopinie. Listy Chopina do rodziny i rodziny do niego. Listy pani Sand i jej córki. Listy Wodzińskich. Listy uczennic i znajomych Chopina. Korespondencja panny Stirling. Rozmaitości

Heno.yk Urban, „Echo muzyczne, teatralne i artystyczne” 1900 no. 52

Kowalski Teofil: Nauka śpiewu, „Książka” 1902 no. 3

Konopasek Feliks: Podręcznik szkolny na 3 głosy męskie lub żeńskie, „Książka” 1902 no. 11 (rec.)

Muzyka swojska w Filharmonii warszawskiej, „Gazeta Polska” 1902 no. 334 form 26 November

W sprawie muzyki swojskiej, „Gazeta Polska” 1902 no. 340 from 15 December (polemic with E. Młynarskim)

Ruch muzyczny w Warszawie (1 January–1 December 1902), „Nowości Muzyczne” 1903 no. 1

Niewydane dotychczas pamiątki po Chopinie. Listy Chopina do rodziny i rodziny do niego. Listy pani Sand i jej córki. Listy Wodzińskich. Listy uczennic i znajomych Chopina. Korespondencja panny Stirling. Rozmaitości, compiled by Mieczysław Karłowicz, Warsaw 1904 [1903], French edtion changes Souvenirs inédits de Frédéric Chopin, translation L. Disière, Paryż 1904 

Kobieta w muzyce. (Jej twórczość i zdolność odbiorcza), in: Kobieta współczesna, praca zbiorowa, Warsaw 1904

Orfeum warszawskie w roku 1910, Warsaw 1905

Z notatek podróżnych, „Lutnista” 1905 no. 4, 5/6

Z zatargu o Filharmonię warszawską, „Nowa Reforma” (Kraków) 1908 no. 273 z 15 June

Notatki o dawnych polskich skrzypcach (Z papierów pośmiertnych), published by H. Opieński, KW 1911 issue 1.

Literary comments to symphonic works:

Bianca z Moleny. Prolog symfoniczny do dramatu Józefata Nowińskiego „Biała Gołąbka”, in: Program koncertu symfonicznego w Teatrze Wielkim w Warszawie 7 XII 1900

„Odrodzenie” – symfonia w czterech częściach Mieczysława Karłowicza, „Słowo Polskie” (Lwów) 1903 no. 161

Stanisław i Anna Oświecimowie, in: Mieczysław Karłowicz Stanisław i Anna Oświecimowie, partyture, Warsaw 1912

Powracające fale, „Scena i Sztuka” 1909 no. 8

Tatra-themed:

Kościelec, „Kurier Zakopiański” 1892 no. 2

Kominy (z J. Chmielowskim), „Kurier Zakopiański” 1892 no. 6

Wycieczka na króla tatrzańskiego i Szczyt Mięguszowiecki, „Wędrowiec” 1895 no. 7–10

Turyści – „włamywaczami”, „Taternik” 1907 no. 1

Przejście z Dol(iny) Jaworowej do zielonego Stawu Kieżmarskiego przez Przełęcz Kołową, „Taternik” 1907 no. 2

Droga na Szczyt Żłobisty, „Taternik” 1907 no. 2

W ważnej sprawie, „Taternik” 1907 no. 3

Międzynarodowa wystawa sportowa w Berlinie, „Taternik” 1907 no. 3

Po „młodym” śniegu. (Dziewięć dni w Tatrach), „Taternik” 1907 no. 4

Wśród śniegów tatrzańskich, „Słowo Polskie” (Lwów) 7 February 1908

W jesiennym słońcu, „Taternik” 1908 no. 3

Rohacze, „Taternik” 1908 no. 4

Z wędrówek samotnych, „Pamiętnik Towarzystwa Tatrzańskiego” vol. 30, 1909