Maia Szymnrnwska
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Maia SzymnrnwsKa During the period of pre-Chopin Polish music, Maria Szymanowska(1789-1831) appears to have been the greatestPolish master of piano playing, and a composer of the caliber of j.N. Hummel and John Field - - at least in many of her works. Shegave concertsthroughout Europe. In 1828she settled in Saint Petersburgand was appointed Court Pianist of the Empressesof Russia. Goethewas a great friend of Szymanowskaand dedicated one of his poems to her. Many well-known European composersadmired her playing as well as her charm, Szymanowska represented,in Polish music, the brilliant technique and the sentimentality of the early romantic style. Critics describedher playing as having grace,a pervasive melodic line, and great power. Th"y compared her piano cantilenato the violin as well as to the human voice becauseof the beautiful legatoshe produced. In England the critics drew comparisonsbetween her interpretations and the pianistic art of J.B.Cramer. Szymanowska'sworks include twenty 6fudes and preludes (no difference between the two genresin her music) that were edited ca. 1820. Robert Schumannpraised the twelve 6tudes that were published in Leipzig in L836for their didactic and technical value. Shealso wrote the virtuoso Fantasiain F maior,caprices, a divertimento for piano and violin, a serenadefor piano and violoncello, and two nocfumes. This music depicted romantic musical images and heralded the future Chopin's style. The vocal ballads, the patriotic-historical chants and the rom€rncesrepresent the pre-romantic trend in Szymanowska'swork. Finally, along with a great variety of dances,anglaises, country-dances, quadrilles, minuets and waltzes, her compositions include the national Polish dances:polonaises and mazurkas. These served as dance music as weII as concert piecesin salons and manor houses. Her polonaisesshow more brilliance than the polonaisesby her contemporary M.K. Oginsky, but they do not reach the fascination of the dance-poemsof Frederick Chopin. For the present edition we have chosena collection of twenty-four mazurkas. This set was published for the first time by Breitkopf & Hiirtel in Germany ca.'l..825,by H.A. Probst in Leipzig and by T. Booseyin London ca. 1826. The copy of the Probst edition from the collection in the Moscow Library served as the basis for the new edition by LBelza in 1956. This edition includes one more mazurka from another collection entitled L8 Dancesde Dffirent Genres,edited in Leipzig by Breitkopf & Hdrtel about 1820. All the mazurkas are short, simple and charming compositionsin which the stylization of popular, folkloric pattems is evident, particularly in the irregular accentson the secondand third beats of the bar, and in the imitation of foot-tapping by leaping appoggiaturas(e.g.Mazurka #L9). Her harmony is simple, based on the functions of the sphere of the dominant, and the popular phrasesare subordinated to the tonal system although the Lydian fourth is sometimesapparent. A regular four-bar structure of dominates the musical periods, with six- measurephrasing appearing only in No. 23. The macroform of three-part ABA or two-part AB (with or without repetitions) is most frequent. Other forms Szymanowskauses include the multi-part form AABBCCDDAA (No. 10), ABCA (No. 24), AABC (No. 18), rondo-form (Mazurkafrom the EighteenDances...), and a form without symmetrical, internal segmentation (No. 22). The autographs of the Mazurkas are lost. The present edition relies on study of all the previous editions. L:rdicationsof dynamics, tempo and phrasing are absentin the formerly published material except for the accents (^), sforzatos (sf, rf,fp) in Mazurkas No. 2, 3, and 17. Some dynamic contrastsin No. 17 and the dynamic/in No. 72 and in the Mazurka (from the EighteenDances) appear in the early editions. In the English edition the last note in No. 21.,bar4 (plus its accompaniment)is absent,and added by the editor here. As far as the ornaments are concemed,the tum (^f is preferred in the Leipzig and Moscow editions. It should be played fast, and should start on the upper note. In the Booseyeditions the turn is replacedby a mordent, beginning on the principal note and using the upper note ( ^r"). Our preferenceis for the turn beginning on the upper note in the majority of cases.All editorial additions to the score are in bracketsor small print. All pedaling and fingering is added by the editor. It is our hope that this monographic cycle of Szymanowska'sMazurkas will find many admirers among pianists, virtuoso and otherwise, in the United Statesand abroad. IrennQoniatowsfor, Warsaut, eoknf, 1-993,.