<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>The paper is an attempt at a synthetic presentation of the Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz’s (1909–1969) musical output and artistic career, presented against the background of events in her personal life, and of major events in Polish and European history in the first seven decades of the 20th century. Bacewicz was called ‘the Polish Sappho’ already in the years between World Wars I and II, when there were very few women-composers capable of creating works comparable to the most eminent achievements of male composers. Her path to success in composition and as a concert soloist leads from lessons with her father, the Lithuanian Vincas Bacevičius, to studies at the Łódź and Warsaw Conservatories (violin with Józef Jarzębski, composition with Kazimierz Sikorski), and later with Nadia Boulanger at the École Normale de la Musique, as well as violin lessons with André Tourret. Her oeuvre has for many years been linked with neoclassicism, and folkloric inspirations are evident in many of her works. Her crowning achievement in the neoclassical style is the <italic>Concerto for String Orchestra</italic> of 1948, while influences from folklore can distinctly be heard in many concert pieces and small forms. The breakthrough came around 1958, under the influence of avant-garde trends present in West European music, which came to be adapted in Poland thanks to the political transformations and the rejection of socialist realism. In such pieces as <italic>Music for Strings, Trumpets and Percussion</italic> of 1958, Bacewicz transforms her previously fundamental musical components (melody, rhythm, harmony) into a qualitatively new type of sound structures, mainly focused on the coloristic aspects. Grażyna Bacewicz also applied the twelve-note technique, albeit to a limited extent, as in <italic>String Quartet No. 6</italic> (1960). Her last work was the unfinished ballet <italic>Desire</italic> to a libretto by Mieczysław Bibrowski after Pablo Picasso’s play <italic>Le désir attrapé par la queue</italic>.</abstract>

Grażyna Bacewicz – The Polish Sappho

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Looking back on the first Handel Festival in Halle in 1922, it is argued that a close connection between science and practice has been characteristic of the Halle Festival from the very beginning. Arrangements of Handel’s works were made both by performing musicians and by recognised musicologists. Despite this common editing practice, the opera-pasticcio group of works has been disregarded until the early twenty-first century. Since 2012, the Stiftung Händel-Haus in Halle has been considering a reassessment of this group of works. Alongside performances, editions were to be produced. The positive results of this initiative are listed, but its failures are also pointed out. It is believed that the pasticci and Handel’s composition practice will ultimately only receive a suitable appreciation if a new aesthetic of the music work is applied as a foundation.
</abstract>

Handel’s Pasticci between Music History and Current Music Practice at the Handel Festival in Halle

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The paper is dedicated to the eminent Ukrainian composer Myroslav Skoryk's opera <italic>Moses</italic>, which has been researched here from the standpoint of musical imagology for the first time. The methodology of the paper is based on the complex imagological concepts of Manfred S. Fischer and Jean-Marc Moura, in which they propose to analyse literary phenomena in national comparative contexts in terms of imagemes, imagothemes, and imagotypes. This triad in its totality makes up the imagosphere, that is, the world of artistic images which are both a cultural representation of a given national identity and its reflection in the artist's work. It has been found that one of the central images of Skoryk's opera and entire output is the national character of his music, which is defined by references to Ukrainian folksongs as well as the nation's operatic and choral tradition. The imagothemes of Skoryk's opera are related to a wide range of ‘eternal’ philosophical problems, such as good vs evil, faith vs its lack, human vs God, etc. By developing the ideas of Ivan Franko, the author of the opera's literary prototype, the composer presents a whole complex of ‘eternal’ themes, which he refers to the contemporary Ukrainian context: freedom and faith, liberation from centuries-long slavery and dependence, as well as the theme of the nation's spiritual leaders’ responsibilities and their relationship with the people. The main imagotypes of the opera: the God Jehovah, the prophet Moses, a lyrical young couple, and the Poet – correspond to the main qualities of Ukrainian mentality and national character, namely: patriotism, spirituality, piety, ‘cordocentrism’, and a lyrical-poetic worldview.
</abstract>

The Imagosphere of Myroslav Skoryk's Opera <italic>Moses</italic><xref ref-type="fn" rid="j_muso-2022-0001_fn_001">1</xref>

Research into the Resources of Polish Courts. Notes on the Musicians of Stanisław Ciołek Poniatowski (1676–1762)

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>The following dances are most commonly considered nowadays as national dances (or emblems of Polish national culture): the polonaise, the mazur, the krakowiak, the oberek and the kujawiak. These dances form the cultural canon as defined by Andrzej Szpociński (i.e. a constantly revised part of tradition which carries significance outside the domain of dance and is obligatory for all the community members). In Polish musicological studies it has been emphasised that the phenomenon of stereotypisation of native folklore has played a major role in the formation and emergence of emblematic national phenomena. However, some of the phenomena and processes that have taken place during the formation and revision of the national canon cannot be reduced to the idea of creating a stereotype. The author of this paper draws on Maria Janion’s treatment of the categories of myth and phantasm, which can be much more useful for the interpretation especially of borderline or clearly alien phenomena that have frequently found their way into the Polish national dance canon and played a very important role in that canon. The author also discusses the changing functions of dances from the canon, which resulted from external circumstances determined by political events and social processes.</abstract>

National Dances in the Canon of Polish Culture

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>The genesis of the Warsaw Autumn Festival was fraught with both potential and real complications. Musical life in Poland at the end of the first postwar decade was in a state of flux, if not turmoil, as ideological disagreements and material complications contributed to an atmosphere of dismay and distrust among musicians and authorities. This paper provides insight into the context in which the Festival’s organizers were operating, particularly the shortcomings of musical life in mid-decade that threatened to derail the Festival before it even began.</abstract>

From Restrictions to Freedom The Perilous Path to the First Warsaw Autumn Festival

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The figure of the street musician has long attracted much attention among scholars working in various academic disciplines. This paper attempts to answer the question of who the street musician / artist actually is. While on a scholarship to Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3 University in 2013, I conducted a number of surveys and experiments in order better to understand what situations present-day musicians face while playing in the streets and how their social status is changing. Interviews with street performers and their audiences prove to be a valuable source of information. The paper presents the results of my own field research conducted both among street musicians and their audiences, as well as my own personal experience of performing music in public urban spaces in Montpellier, Sète, and Paris
</abstract>

The Profiles and Artistic Experiences

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The paper discusses Wrocław’s beach bars, i.e. open-air riverside facilities which (as the name suggests) mostly possess artificial sandy beaches. This importance of this type of venue, relatively new in Wrocław, for the local music life is constantly growing. The text characterises these urban spaces (which have been of only marginal interest to Polish scholars to date) and defines their place in the city’s popular music scene in relation to traditional forms of that repertoire’s presence. In his survey of local musical practice, the author refers to the city’s sonic identity (soundscape), which is co-created by urban artists. The paper covers the period of the author’s field research in 2019–2021 as well as his later observations which indicate potential directions of beach bars’ development and confirm their growing role in shaping Wrocław’s local music scene.
</abstract>

The Role of Beach Bars

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The paper characterises music-involving cultural practices in Cracow’s urban parks, squares, streets, and ice rinks in the period of the so-called Galician Autonomy (1866–1918). Typologies of the spaces where music was performed and of open-air events involving music have been proposed. Music repertoires and performers have been discussed. The main sources for this text are press materials, memoirs, regulations, sheet music, and iconography.
</abstract>

Everyday Outdoor Music Life

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Eminent Polish composer Karol Rathaus (1895–1954) left behind an essay dedicated to his uncle Chune Wolfsthal (1851–1924). In this text, Rathaus recalls his childhood and adolescent years in (Austria-Hungary’s crown land of ) Galicia. His memories of Wolfsthal, a famous klezmer and operetta composer active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, provide an opportunity to recollect the now non-existent world of Jewish amateur musicians working in Tarnopol and Lwów before World War II. Those musicians performed in synagogues, at family events and social functions, in cafés and tea gardens. Some of them, including Chune, became involved in the activity of the then emerging Jewish theatre, which was a part-vulgar, part-artistic phenomenon.
</abstract>

Jewish Popular Music in Galicia: Karol Rathaus’ Recollections of Chune Wolfsthal

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The paper discusses Georg Philipp Telemann’s presence in Sorau (now Żary in Poland) in 1704–1708, inspirations from Polish folk music in Telemann’s works, as well as projects undertaken by and in the present-day city of Żary with a view to incorporating and commemorating Telemann’s figure and oeuvre in the city’s contemporary culture.
</abstract>

<italic>Żary – The City</italic>

The Urban Music Scene

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>The paper is a survey of research on music in territories of occupied Poland conducted by the author in recent years, as well as a review of selected existing literature on this topic. A case study illustrates a principal thesis of this essay according to which music was used by the German Nazis in the General Government as a key elements of propaganda and in appropriation of conquered territories as both physical and symbolic spaces.</abstract>

Music in Nazi-Occupied Poland between 1939 and 1945

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Farinelli came to Venice only when his career was already well advanced. In 1728/29 he performed there in two operas, <italic>Catone in Utica</italic> by Leonardo Leo and <italic>Semiramide riconosciuta</italic> by Nicola Porpora. These operas needed to become a financial success because of the high remuneration the star singer earned. The composition and adaptation of the operas to the stage uncover the strategies by the impresarios of the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo, the Grimani brothers, and by Farinelli himself to secure income and renown. <italic>Catone in Utica</italic> underwent a highly unusual procedure at its very premiere because the opera was “impasticciata”, i.e. merged with pre-existing or newly-composed music by other composers. The substitutions reveal Farinelli's aim to stun the audience in his very first aria on stage. His brother's (Riccardo Broschi's) “Mi lusinga il cor d’affetto” Farinelli had sang earlier in 1728 presents his entire vocal profile in a single aria. In subsequent arias, Farinelli adds some features not present in this aria or concretizes several aspects of it. In the second opera, Porpora's <italic>Semiramide riconosciuta</italic>, Farinelli concentrates on another feature of his vocal style: small, fast, quasi-improvisational motives. Although they are also found in operas by other composers and were also sung by other singers, <italic>Semiramide riconosciuta</italic> is a special case because of their high frequency in Farinelli's role. All in all, the two operas of his first appearance in Venice seem to follow the intention to present his entire vocal spectrum to the audience.
</abstract>

How to Impress the Public: Farinelli's Venetian Debut in 1728–1729

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The article aims at assessing the differences between Hasse's original setting of Metastasio's <italic>Siroe</italic> in 1733 and the composer's second setting of the same drama, exactly thirty years later, in terms of dramatic, vocal, and musical balance. The two versions will be comprehensively compared with a focus on two main issues. The first is the origin of the two settings, which goes back to two distinct versions of the libretto, originally conceived by Metastasio for Venice and Naples respectively; a different starting point which gave birth to two, largely separate dramatic projects, differentiated by a number of distinctive facets. On the other hand, special attention will be devoted to the play's characters, which, though basically the same in both settings, demonstrate remarkable differences in individual characterisation and overall balance, both as far as drama and music are concerned.
</abstract>

Hasse's <italic>Siroe</italic>, Thirty Years Later: A Veritable Work in Progress

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> The article is an attempt to present important categories of composer Paweł Szymański’s musical language, based on his self-analytical statements, which were in major part answers to musicologists’ questions. Luciano Berio pointed out why the situation of a composer who would like to address questions about his or her music is difficult - a lack of necessary detachment would be one of the reasons. A musicologist, on the other hand, is tempted to construct their own supposedly objective analytical view of a composer’s musical language. The dialogistic approach proposed by anthropological musicology may be a solution to these dilemmas. Other main topics mentioned in the article are related to the role of meta-concepts in Szymański’s musical language.</abstract>

Paweł Szymański’s Self-Analyses Reread

Women-Composers in Poland

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Determining in an unequivocal and definitive way what the Italian <italic>dramma per music</italic>a was in the eighteen century is only apparently an easy task. Starting with a discussion of the definition of eighteen century Italian <italic>dramma per musica</italic> as a variable spectacular text, the paper attempts to provide a concise taxonomy useful for critically assessing the situations that can arise when analysing the sources and tradition of <italic>opere impasticciate</italic> and <italic>pasticci</italic>. Changes in operatic texts, in all their components (the poetry, music, visual and proxemic aspects) can occur at various levels of their evolutionary textual tradition, in different functions, manners, and for different reasons. The change of operators and other environmental contexts may lead to adaptive reworking, to a varying degree, of one or more of the linguistic elements constituting the work: verse, music, scenes and so on. It should be noted that the documentation of one or more levels may, naturally, be partly or completely lost.
Furthermore, some possible new research themes have been suggested as an attempt to understand the ways and reasons for the peculiarities of the adaptations of Italian <italic>dramma per musica</italic> in foreign countries. Within this context the work’s adaptations created by the composers may reveal facts that deserve to be studied more systematically. For instance, they may have an almost involuntary cognitive, formative function. Adapting a text forces one to reflect on its dramaturgy, to formulate solutions and find ideas that can make it still theatrically effective, It can even, if necessary, transform the <italic>maestro</italic> into a proto-director who guides the musician-actors. It is appropriate to investigate this point and verify, for example, whether and how the adaptations introduced in the various situations by the different <italic>maestri</italic> in some central European theatres could lead to a richer language of musical gestures correlated with an actor’s personal gestural expression which, perhaps, was more explicit or more disguised in those countries.
</abstract>

The Work Concept in Eighteenth-Century Italian Opera: Some Issues, Modest Proposals and Contributions

Editorial Policy

Open Access License

Instructions for Authors

Musicology Today

The Journal of University of Warsaw

 ISSN - 1734-1663eISSN - 2353-5733  Musicology Today is a double-blind peer reviewed journal published since 2004 by the Institute of Musicology, University of...

Impact Factor

Five Year Impact Factor

MNiSW

 ISSN - 1734-1663eISSN - 2353-5733  Musicology Today is a double-blind peer reviewed journal published since 2004 by the...

Musicology Today

The Journal of University of Warsaw

Tous les volumes et éditions dans cette revue