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THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE THE UNDERESTIMATED CELLO CONCERTOS: HISTORICAL, STYLISTIC AND COMPOSITIONAL COMPARISON OF THE TWO CELLO CONCERTOS OF FELIKS NOWOWIEJSKI AND GRAŻYNA BACEWICZ A DOCUMENT SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS By ANGELIKA MARTA MACHNIK-JONES Norman, Oklahoma 2021 THE UNDERESTIMATED CELLO CONCERTOS: HISTORICAL, STYLISTIC AND COMPOSITIONAL COMPARISON OF THE TWO CELLO CONCERTOS OF FELIKS NOWOWIEJSKI AND GRAŻYNA BACEWICZ A DOCUMENT APPROVED FOR THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC BY THE COMMITTEE CONSISTING OF Dr. Jonathan Ruck, Chair Dr. Anthony Stoops Dr. Frank Riddick Dr. Stephen Weldon © Copyright by ANGELIKA MACHNIK-JONES 2021 All Rights Reserved. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the members of the committee for their guidance in preparation of this document. Dr. Jonathan Ruck has been a source of my constant academic support and encouragement. I am honored to have him as my mentor, inspiration for music excellence and friend. Dr. Anthony Stoops, Dr. Frank Riddick and Dr. Stephen Weldon have been encouraging and have provided me with excellent mentorship. I would like to thank Paweł Nodzak, the librarian at the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk, for all the help in locating manuscripts and multiple resources about the Feliks Nowowiejski and his cello concerto. It has been especially difficult to obtain documents during the Covid-19 pandemic. I am grateful to Mr. Nodzak for helping me acquire copies of the documents existing only in the Polish libraries. I would like to thank Jan Czaja and Paweł Panasiuk for our conversations on the Nowowiejski concerto. These conversations provided me with encouragement to continue learning about this concerto, as well as invaluable information coming from a point of view of the performer of this work. I would like to thank my students for their patience during this busy time and my Oklahoma Conservatory of Music teachers for their understanding and constant encouragement. Most importantly I would like to thank my husband, Dustin Jones for being my continuous cheerleader during this doctoral degree adventure. I could not have done this without him. From proofreading the document multiple times to taking care of our beautiful son Daniel, he’s always been there for me and I know he always will. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. iv ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES ................................................................................. viii I. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................1 Statement of Purpose .............................................................................................1 Need for Study .......................................................................................................3 Methodology/Scope and Limitations .....................................................................5 Review of Related Literature .................................................................................7 II. HOW TWENTIETH-CENTURY HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL EVENTS OF POLAND SHAPED THE DEVELOPMENT OF POLISH MUSIC .............................................................................................16 Officially a Nation Again: Poland and Polish Music During the First Half of Twentieth Century ......................................................................16 A Nation Not Free: Poland and Polish Music During the Second Half of Twentieth Century .................................................................24 III. FELIKS NOWOWIEJSKI (1877-1946) ..............................................................29 Biographical Information and Compositional Output ..........................................29 Reasons for Neglect and Long-Awaited Revival of Nowowiejski’s Music .......................................................................................37 Poznan Period: Neoclassical Inspirations and Background of the Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in e minor, op.55 .......................................40 Location and Information About the Manuscript .................................................42 Analysis of Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in e minor, op.55 .........................43 I. Allegro con brio ............................................................................43 v II. Aria: Andante tranquillo ...............................................................54 III. Passacaglia: Allegro moderato ....................................................60 ‘Tour de Force’ Concerto: Performance Challenges ............................................72 IV. GRAŻYNA BACEWICZ (1909-1969) ................................................................74 Biographical Information and Compositional Output ..........................................74 General Characteristics of Cello Concerto no.1 ...................................................81 Analysis of Cello Concerto no.1 ...........................................................................84 I. Allegro non troppo ........................................................................84 II. Andante tranquillo ........................................................................90 III. Finale: Allegro giocoso ................................................................94 V. SEPARATED BY A GENERATION AND A WAR, UNITED BY ONE IDEA: HISTORICAL, STYLISTIC AND COMPOSITIONAL COMPARISON OF THE TWO CONCERTOS .................................................101 VI. CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................113 VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY ...............................................................................................115 Books ..................................................................................................................112 Journal Articles and Conference Reports ...........................................................114 Theses and Dissertations .....................................................................................115 Websites ..............................................................................................................115 Scores ..................................................................................................................116 vi ABSTRACT Feliks Nowowiejski (1877-1946), a Polish composer whose name is synonymous with Polish patriotic music, including the country’s second unofficial anthem, contributed to the twentieth-century cello repertoire with his Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in E Minor, op.55. Except for Jan Maklakiewicz’s Cello Concerto on Gregorian Themes, Nowowiejski’s composition was the first known significant Polish cello concerto written in the twentieth century. Composed right before World War II, the concerto represents the neoclassical style of Nowowiejski’s last years. Grażyna Bacewicz (1909-1969), known for her violin compositions and string quartets, was a major representative of the Polish neoclassical style. Her Cello Concerto no.1, composed several years after World War II, represents the neoclassical style following the oppressive restrictions of the communist government. This document will explore and analyze these two concertos through the prism of the composers' experiences and influences. It also means to compare the concertos through a historical, stylistic, and compositional perspective. The Nowowiejski concerto has as of yet not received much attention. There is no publication of the composition, nor are there any recordings. The author of this document’s utmost hope is that this will change as more study is devoted to the life and compositions of this Warmian composer. vii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES Music Example 1: Feliks Nowowiejski, Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in E Minor, I. Allegro con brio, Measures 1-8 ..........................................................45 Music Example 2: Feliks Nowowiejski, Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in E Minor, I. Allegro con brio, Measures 23-36 ......................................................47 Music Example 3: Feliks Nowowiejski, Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in E Minor, I. Allegro con brio, Measures 100-125 ..................................................49 Music Example 4: Feliks Nowowiejski, Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in E Minor, II. Aria: Andante tranquillo, Measures 1-10 .........................................56 Music Example 5: Feliks Nowowiejski, Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in E Minor, III. Passacaglia: Allegro moderato, Measures 61-75 .............................64 Music Example 6: Feliks Nowowiejski, Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in E Minor, III. Passacaglia: Allegro moderato, Measures 367-425 .........................71 Music Example 7: Grażyna Bacewicz, Cello Concerto no.1, I. Allegro non troppo, Measures 33-50 .....................................................................................................85 Music Example 8: Grażyna Bacewicz, Cello Concerto no.1, I. Allegro non troppo, Measures 76-78 .....................................................................................................86 Music Example 9: Grażyna Bacewicz, Wind Quintet, II. Air: Andante, Measures 5-16 .......................................................................................................87