Stefani, Jan (EN)

Stefani, Steffan, Steffani Jan, Johann, Jean, *ca. 1750 Czech Republic (Prague?), †23 (not 24) February 1829 Warsaw, composer, conductor and violinist of Czech origin. His name was recorded in the court records of King Stanisław August Poniatowski as Steffan, Steffani, Steffani de Prague, in other (later) sources as Stefani or Stephani, less frequently Steffani. He received his general and primary musical education in Prague from the Benedictines; he probably continued his musical studies in Italy. Around 1766, he was a musician and bandmaster of the Kinski Regiment Orchestra in Vienna, and then a violinist in the court orchestra of Emperor Joseph II. Probably in 1773, he came to Warsaw with other Czech musicians, where from 1779, he was employed as bandmaster and concertmaster of the 9-person “Viennese band” at the court of Stanisław August Poniatowski. In 1780, the ensemble became part of the newly established royal theatre orchestra (His Royal Majesty’s Orchestra), in which Jan Stefani played in the first violin group certainly until 1787, and probably until the ensemble was disbanded in 1795, after which he continued to be supported from the royal treasury (in October 1797, he received a severance allowance). He was also, with breaks, the Kapellmeister at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist until the end of his life; he occasionally led choirs in other churches in Warsaw. From the mid-1790s, he occasionally conducted at the National Theatre in Warsaw, and in 1799–1818, he was the first violinist in the theatre orchestra. Before 1791, Stefani married Fryderyka de Monter. Of his children, at least six lived to adulthood, including those related to music: Kazimierz (1791–1811) and Jan Franciszek (1797–1826), violinists in the same opera orchestra, Eleonora (1802–1831), an opera singer, and Józef Andrzej, a composer, violinist and teacher. Contrary to information given in many sources, Karolina Stefani (Stephani), a singer at the National Theatre who lived from 1784 to 1803, was not Jan Stefani’s daughter. Her father, Johann Steffani (Stefani, Steffan, Steffani de Prague, Stephani), a bassoonist active in the “Viennese band” led by Jan Stefani, died on 31 May 1794 in Warsaw (the degree of possible relationship to Jan Stefani is unknown), and her mother, Barbara, was remarried the year Karolina died. Jan Stefani was buried at the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw (plot 181–4–23).

Jan Stefani’s stage works come from the time when he was a violinist at the National Theatre. He made his debut on 4 November 1785 with music for the ballet Miłość każdemu wiekowi właściwa. In 1786, his first opera was performed – Król w kraju rozkoszy to a text by M.-A. Legrand translated by F. Zabłocki. Stefani’s vocal-instrumental stage works belong to the genre of comic opera. Instead of recitatives, the composer introduced spoken parts, and in the parts arranged musically, he used very simple means. Arias are often songs or chants, choirs are maintained mainly in a homophonic texture, and dance sections play an important role. Stefani gained fame with Cud czyli Krakowiacy i Górale (The Pretended Miracle, or Krakovians and Highlanders) with text by W. Bogusławski (original libretto title Cud albo Krakowiaki i Górale), the most famous Polish opera from the 18^th century, the only opera by this composer preserved in its entirety, although probably in a slightly different form than the version presented at the premiere (1794). The title Cud mniemany czyli Krakowiacy i Górale, which is most often used today, probably appeared for the first time in 1796 during the premiere of the piece in Lviv. Jan Stefani gave a folk character to the music of this “village” comic opera by using rhythm and simple melody characteristic of Polish dances (mainly krakowiak, polonaise and mazurka), as well as tonality typical of Polish folklore (with the presence of so-called lidisms) and folk instrumentation, different in the Krakowiacy group and in the Górale group. It is known that Stefani was a collector of folk melodies and used some of them in his score. On the other hand, excerpts from the opera became popular among the people, hence in the case of the similarity of the melody from Cud… with songs from Polish folklore (especially from the Kraków region and Masovia), published by O. Kolberg after 1857, it is difficult to determine the role of the composer’s invention. It is believed that the Góral song from Act I (Próżno Kasia od nas stroni), written to the tune of the melody from Babia Góra, is of folk origin, while examples of folk stylisation include Dorota’s polonaise (Rzadko to bywa na świecie), Jonek’s krakowiak (Oj da da da) – to which J. Elsner referred in Rondo à la krakowiak for piano (1803) – and Jonek’s mazurka (Kiej się kobieta usadzi). Due to the content and political message of Bogusławski’s text and the historical significance of the work, as well as the charm of its simple musical setting, Cud mniemany czyli Krakowiacy i Górale, considered a national opera, enjoyed great popularity in Poland, deprived of independence in the first half of the 19^th century; it remains in the theatre repertoire to this day.

Jan Stefani also composed cantatas, which have been preserved in fragments or only in extracts for vocal parts and keyboard instrument. They are an example of commemorative compositions for Polish texts of a patriotic nature. They are characterised by simple musical arrangements – homophonic choirs, solo parts of small ambitus and mainly syllabic melody, as in the case of the cantata Niechaj wiekom wiek podawa, composed for the anniversary of the coronation of Stanisław August Poniatowski (performed on 25 November 1791 at the end of J. Wybicki’s comedy Szlachcic mieszczaninem at the theatre in the Orangery in Łazienki Park) and written together with A. Weinert, J. Elsner and K. Kurpiński Muzyka do obchodu pogrzebowego W.M. po zgonie księcia Józefa Poniatowskiego (performed on 8 March 1814 at the funeral ceremony at the home of the Freemasons in Warsaw). Jan Stefani’s mass output included works with both Latin and Polish texts. The few surviving songs show the influence of J. Haydn’s song works from the 1780s. Among the chamber works, a significant group consists of compositions for wind instruments (perhaps intended for the “Viennese band”). Stefani’s numerous polonaises, including those for piano or harpsichord, with a melancholic expression, similar in this respect to the compositions of M. Kl. Ogiński, contributed to the development of the sentimental style in Polish keyboard music at the turn of the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

Literature: M. Karasowski Jan Stefani, “Ruch Muzyczny” 1857 No. 27–30; O. Kolberg Melodye ludowe w operze Jana Stefaniego „Krakowiacy i Górale,” “Ruch Muzyczny” 1858 No. 46; M. Karasowski Rys historyczny opery polskiej poprzedzony szczegółowym poglądem na dzieje muzyki dramatycznej powszechnej, Warsaw 1859; H. Dorabialska Polonez przed Chopinem, Warsaw 1938; J. Prosnak Kultura muzyczna Warszawy XVIII wieku, Kraków 1955 (in the Musical supplement a fragment of cantata Niechaj wiekom wiek podawa); Z. Jędrychowski Cud mniemany czyli Krakowicy i górale. Kalendarium przedstawień 1794–1941, “Pamiętnik Teatralny” XXVIII, 1979 No. 2; A. Nowak-Romanowicz J. Wybicki autorem tekstu kantaty „Niechaj wiekom wiek podawa,” “Muzyka” 1981 No. 3/4; J. Morawski Partity Jana Stefaniego (includes a thematic catalogue of 6 partitas) and A. Nowak-Romanowicz Utwór na śmierć księcia Józefa Poniatowskiego, “Muzyka” 1982 No. 3/4; A. Żórawska-Witkowska Związki Stanisława Augusta z muzyką w ostatnich latach jego życia, “Muzyka” 1984 No. 3; E. Ostaszewska XIX-wieczne polonezy ze zbiorów Henrietty Bąkowskiej, “Muzyka” 1985 No. 1; L. Cieślak Cud mniemany… w służbie narodu — ale czy zawsze? Z dziejów powojennej inscenizacji opery „Krakowiacy i górale,” «Zeszyty Naukowe Akademii Muzycznej w Łodzi» No. 22, 1991; W. Tomaszewski Bibliografia warszawskich druków muzycznych 1801–1850, Warsaw 1992; A. Żórawska-Witkowska Muzyka na dworze i w teatrze Stanisława Augusta, Warsaw 1995; E. Wąsowska Rękopisy muzyczne XIX–XX wieku, vol. 3, «Katalog Mikrofilmów» 28, BN, Warsaw 2001, M. Klimowicz Wstęp in: Wojciech Bogusławski Cud albo Krakowiaki i Górale, ed. M. Klimowicz, «Biblioteka Narodowa» 162, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków 2005; A.T. Kulka Wstęp in: Cud mniemany, czyli Krakowiacy i górale / The Supposed Miracle or Cracovians and Highlanders, ed. A.T. Kukla, «Dzieła Wszystkie Jana Stefaniego / The Complete Works of Jan Stefani», Kraków 2019; J. Chachulski Opera komiczna – komedioopera – melodramat. O gatunkach muzyki scenicznej w twórczości Józefa Esnera, in: Długi wiek XIX w muzyce: pytania – problemy – interpretacje, ed. M. Sułek, G. Zieziula, Warsaw 2020; J. Chachulski, from Cud mniemany, czyli Krakowiacy i górale / The Supposed Miracle or Cracovians and Highlanders, ed. A.T. Kukla, «Dzieła Wszystkie Jana Stefaniego / The Complete Works of Jan Stefani», Kraków 2019, “Muzyka” 2021 No. 2; J. Chachulski Autograf Jana Stefaniego i nowa edycja muzyczna „Krakowiaków i Górali”. Raz jeszcze o sytuacji tekstologicznej opery, “Pamiętnik Teatralny” LXX, 2021 No. 2.