Chamber concert as part of the 25th "Stars Promote" Festival

Tomasz Strahl cello

Robert Morawski piano

Antoni Fogurski violin

Katarzyna Górna violin

Seweryn Kosiorowski viola

Dominik Gawarkiewicz cello

Józef Domżał piano

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Ludomir Różycki

Two Melodies for Cello and Piano, Op. 5

Cello Sonata in A Minor, Op. 10

Piano Quintet in C Minor, Op. 35

Although Ludomir Różycki is known primarily for his operas and ballets, his most important chamber works date from the early phase of his career, which culminated in the 1916 premiere of his opera Eros and Psyche. A pupil of Zygmunt Noskowski and Engelbert Humperdinck, and one of the leading figures of the Young Poland movement in music, Różycki remained faithful to the Neo-Romantic aesthetic, combining large-scale formal design with a distinctive melodic gift and a masterful command of instrumental colour.

Composed between 1904 and 1916, the Two Melodies for Cello and Piano, Op. 5, the Cello Sonata, Op. 10, and the Piano Quintet, Op. 35, reflect successive stages in the development of Różycki’s compositional artistry. The lyrical Two Melodies are among his earliest chamber works to receive opus numbers and display the song-like quality characteristic of his music as a whole. Written for his friend, the cellist Konstanty Sarnecki, the Cello Sonata quickly won critical acclaim for its balance between cantabile expression and the brilliant virtuosity demanded of both instruments. The culmination of this period is the Piano Quintet in C Minor, a work conceived on an almost symphonic scale, with a rich texture and an expansive musical narrative. It is regarded as one of Różycki’s finest achievements in chamber music.

All three compositions exemplify a mature Neo-Romantic language and place Różycki’s music among the most significant achievements of Polish chamber music in the early twentieth century.