Symphony (Paderewski)

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The symphony in B minor “Polonia” op. 24 is the only symphony by the Polish pianist and composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski . It alludes to the Polish national anthem Poland is not lost yet and can be seen as an announcement of Paderewski's political activities after the premiere in 1909.

Instrumentation and sentence names

instrumentation

Paderewski's instrumentation for three sarrusophones , a tambourine de basque, a thunderbolt and an organ is very unusual . The complete instrumentation is: piccolo, 3 flutes, 2 oboes, 1 cor anglais, 2 clarinets in A, 1 bass clarinet in A, 2 bassoons, 1 contrabassoon, 4 horns in F, 4 trumpets in F, 3 trombones, 1 tuba, 3 double bass -Sarrusophone in E ♭ , timpani, percussion (triangle, cymbal, tambourine, bass drum, tambour de basque, tam-tam, glockenspiel, bells, thunder plate), harp, organ and strings.

Sentence names

  1. Adagio maestoso - Allegro vivace (approx. 30 min)
  2. Andante con moto (approx. 17 min)
  3. Vivace (approx. 27 min).

History of origin

Paderewski's Symphony in B minor, entitled Polonia (lat. "Poland") was probably the title of a Series of Artur Grottger borrowed from the 1863 which of daily life and suffering reality in Poland of the 19th century represented, because the The series of images was a direct response to the failed January uprising of 1863. On the 40th anniversary of the uprising, in January 1903, Paderewski said goodbye to the concert podium for a year to begin the first sketches for this symphony in his Swiss domicile near Morges . He worked on this symphony for five years and had completed three movements with a duration of 75 minutes. He rejected the initially planned fourth movement Scherzo .

premiere

The public premiere with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Max Fiedler took place on February 12, 1909, after the symphony had already been heard privately on Christmas 1908.

Analysis of the individual sentences

Paderewski's Symphony in B minor "Polonia" is a monumental work of three movements that are not based on strict symphonic structures, but rather follow the Liszt model. The symphony has the effect of a late romantic symphonic poem without being explicitly programmatic.

First sentence

The first movement begins in the exposition with a Slavic contemplation, which later gives way to a restless fighting spirit in the Allegro vivace . The music critic Adrian Thomas thinks that sometimes it takes on "an intensity almost reminiscent of Elgar and an almost martial triumphant demeanor". But the Allegro vivace is just as short-lived here as the euphoria of numerous confederations and uprisings in the history of Poland . His return initiates the implementation . The beginning of the recapitulation can be recognized by the melancholy deep brass chords. A solo appearance by the organ is noticeable in the coda . According to the critic Adrian Thomas, it fulfills a similar transcendental function as its counterpart in Tchaikovsky's "Manfred" symphony.

Second sentence

The second movement in the Andante con moto is dark and lyrical. The longing felt in the first movement now seems more elegiac. The music critic Adrian Thomas speaks of Paderewski's skilful handling of the sometimes elusive 9/8 time, which allows the pearly music to ebb and swell in an enticing way, reminding one of Rachmaninoff and his symphonic poem Die Toteninsel , which was written a little later .

Third sentence

The finale of the symphony makes indirect reference to Polish folk traditions. For more than four minutes, fragments of the main topic begin to emerge from the opening phrases. "But his character is so vague that you shouldn't blame anyone other than a Pole if he doesn't recognize his meaning," says critic Adrian Thomas. In fact, the main theme of the third movement is a cleverly veiled arrangement of the first two bars of the Polish national anthem Poland is not lost yet . It sounds here in two-time, not in three-time of the Mazurka style in which the original is laid out. "For a slogan the motif sounds muted," says Adrian Thomas, "but its all-pervasive character is extremely effective." Nevertheless, the effect is rather bittersweet: on the one hand it meant edification for the Polish public, but on the other hand its necessary veiling was a pure expression of helplessness in the face of ongoing national oppression.

reception

The 1998 recording of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Polish conductor Jerzy Maksymiuk is the first recording of the full symphony outside Poland: until then it was usually performed in an abridged version, with large sections in the first movement and the finale in particular left away.

Discography

  • Paderewski - Symphony in B minor (Polonia) . BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Jerzy Maksymiuk. Duration: 74 min, CD Hyperion Records Limited, 1998
  • Paderewski - Symfonia in B minor op. 24 "Polonia" . Academic Symphony Orchestra Krakow, Wojciech Czepiel. Duration: 72 min, CD DUX Records, 2003

literature

  • Booklet for CD Paderewski - Symphony in B minor (Polonia) , Hyperion Records Limited, 1998

Web links