Sołtyk Franciszek Salezy, count, *13 or 18 October 1783 Piastów (near Radom), †25 (not 24) September 1865 Piastów (near Radom), Polish violinist and composer. He studied violin playing with A. Fleming in Lublin and Ch.Ph. Lafont and R. Kreutzer in Paris, then he studied composition with J. Elsner in Warsaw. In Piastów, where he lived, composers such as F. Liszt, S. Thalberg, H. Vieuxtemps, Ch.Ph. Lafont, and A.-J. Artôt visited him while they were giving concerts in Poland. He spent several months each year in Warsaw giving concerts for charity, including at the National Theatre (3 June 1807); he also performed as a chamber musician. He played with perfection and maintained his technical proficiency to the end of his life; K. Lipiński claimed that he could not name better violinists among Poles than A.F. Duranowski and Franciszek Sołtyk (“Ruch Muzyczny” 1861, No. 28). He composed a lot but did not care for the publication of his works. His piano Mazurs were played in transcriptions for orchestra, to be danced, at numerous courts of the Polish nobility. These works were valued for their tunefulness, good taste, and overall composition. He bequeathed the manuscripts of his compositions to A. Werner, his friend, the musician – this collection is believed to have been lost. It consisted of symphonies, quartets, sonatas, works for violin and piano (e.g., fantasies, nocturnes, rhapsodies, variations) and songs. Nowadays, from their title are known only: Rondeau précédé d’une introduction Op. 2, for violin and orchestra, published in Leipzig circa 1828, Koncert skrzypcowy D-dur [‘Violin concerto D major’] and Sonata skrzypcowa G-moll [‘Violin sonata in G minor’]. According to M. Jelski (“Ruch Muzyczny” 1861 No. 28), Franciszek Sołtyk’s Koncert skrzypcowy was stylistically reminiscent of Kreutzer’s concertos. Franciszek Sołtyk was a recognised expert on art, and during the November Uprising he also held high positions in the Sejm and Senate; he signed the act of dethronement of Nicholas I and was a justice of the peace in the Radom district for 20 years.
Literature T. L. [Tomasz le Brun] Franciszek Hrabia Sołtyk, “Gazeta Muzyczna i Teatralna” 1865 No. 2.
