Władysław Żeleński - Piano Quartet (Joanna Ławrynowicz; Four Strings Quartet)

Information

Composer: Władysław Żeleński

• (01) Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 61
• (05) Variations on an original theme in G minor, Op. 21

Joanna Ławrynowicz, piano

Four Strings Quartet

Lucyna Fiedukiewicz, violin

Grzegorz Witek, violin

Beata Raszewska, viola

Łukasz Tudzierz, cello

Date: 2011

Label: Acte Préalable

https://acteprealable.com/produkt/ap0237/

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Review

If one has heard much or anything about him at all, Wladyslaw Zelenski has garnered a reputation as a composer for the voice. Nevertheless this label has been actively promoting his music for chamber forces and for piano as well, so it’s good to encounter his compositions once more.

 

Briefly, as I wrote in a previous review, he was born near Cracow and studied there and in Prague and Paris. Back in Cracow he began a distinguished pedagogic career - succeeding Moniuszko as composition teacher - before moving to an even more distinguished position in Warsaw. He was soon back in Cracow however and was eventually to become Director of the Music Conservatoire. So, a strong academic pedigree and clearly an important teacher – his most famous pupil was Zygmunt Stojowski.

 

The big work in this release is the Piano Quartet. In its rugged, sinewy direction it recalls, as so often in his music, the influence of Brahms. This is particularly true of the piano writing, which is strongly muscular and full of urgent power. Material is nicely contrasted in the extensive and impressive opening movement, though I hear distinct reminiscences of Brahms’s First Piano Concerto. In addition to this influence, Zelenski leans strongly to stern Slavic models and this, combined with his gift for melody and very busy writing, gives the music an attractively clotted feel. In the Romanza the cello sings a Song without Words, and here one feels the impress of Zelenski’s powerful vocal qualities. Noteworthy is the terse B section and also the songful reprise, now decorated by elegant piano figuration. Witty piano chimes animate the scherzo, whilst the sheer sweep of the composer can be gauged by the finale which, whilst rather disappointingly conventional, is still well laid out.

 

The companion work is the Variations on an original theme in G minor for string quartet, written significantly earlier — though neither work, unfortunately, is dated in the notes. The yearning theme is rather lovely, and we pass through eight variations, including a fugal section, a Siciliana and an Alla Polacca. Throughout, the string writing is idiomatic and effective, not least the rising unison effect produced and the quietly withdrawn way Zelenski ends the piece. It’s by no means a major work but at a quarter of an hour in length an attractive one.

 

The major work is the Piano Quartet, extremely well performed and recorded, which once again advances the claims of this Polish composer as a valued follower of Brahms.

 

-- Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International

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Władysław Żeleński (6 July 1837 – 23 January 1921) was a Polish composer, pianist and organist. Żeleński was born in Grodkowice. He was a representative of neoromanticism in Polish music. Since early days Żeleński showed interest in chamber music. While in secondary school, he wrote two quartets and a trio that, however, have not survived to our times. Later chamber pieces: Sextet in C major, Op. 9 and Wariacje na temat własny (Variations on an Original Theme) for string quartet, Op. 29 Żeleński composed while studying first in Prague and later in Paris. He died in Kraków.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_%C5%BBele%C5%84ski_(composer)

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Polish pianist Joanna Ławrynowicz was born in Warsaw and graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy (now Chopin University of Music). She is a prize winner of many prestigious international piano competitions, and has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and New Zealand. Ławrynowicz prides herself on enormous discography: she has already recorded over 30 albums for Acte Préalable, and is the only Polish artist has ever recorded a complete set of solo and chamber works by Frédéric Chopin. Her albums are highly appreciated by music lovers and critics alike.

http://www.english.lawrynowicz.info/

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