From the Forgotten Pages of Polish Chamber Music - Volume 1
Karol Kątski (1813-1867)
Grand Trio in D, Op 30 (1859)
Ignacy Dobrzyński (1807-1867)
Duo for clarinet and piano in A-flat, Op 47 (before 1853)
Józef Krogulski (1815-1842)
Piano Quartet in D, Op 2 (c. 1835)
rec. 2021, Concert Hall of the Stanislaw Moniuszko Academy of Music, Gdansk, Poland
DUX 1797 [67]
The booklet notes open with the statement that “chamber music of Polish composers born in the first decades of the 19th century has been considered almost forgotten”, the “almost” allowing for Chopin. There is no doubt that most classical music lovers outside Poland would struggle to come up with too many other names, let alone be familiar with their chamber music, so in that regard, the title of this new series is justified. Mind you, Dux itself seems to have “forgotten” that it has its own recording of the Dobrzyński Duo (0857), and there are at least two releases of his chamber music from the other major Polish label, Acte Préalable. For the other two composers, however, forgotten is definitely appropriate. Dux makes no claims that the Kątski and Korgulski works are being given first recordings, but I can find no evidence to suggest that they aren’t.
Karol Kątski was the eldest of three musical brothers; the music of the middle one, Antoni, does have a few recordings in the catalogue. Indeed, Presto has mistakenly ascribed the work on this disc to Antoni in its database. As with the other two composers on this disc, Karol had a significant career in his native country and beyond as a performer. I listened to the Grand Trio (no explanation is given for the title but it does run to twenty-four minutes) before looking carefully at the booklet, and, on the basis of the music, which is somewhat Mozartian, presumed that he must have been writing in the early part of the nineteenth century, if not before. Imagine my surprise when I found that he wasn’t even born until 1813, and the work was written in 1859. Recently my colleague Steve Arloff highly praised a disc of Kątski’s string chamber works on Acte Préalable (review). While I don’t share his high level of enthusiasm for the composer, I do note that Steve also felt the music harked back to the previous century, specifically Haydn.
The notes describe the trio as marked by “melodic simplicity”, which I agree with, but for the first two movements, I see it as a criticism. They are indeed simplistic, bordering on banal. When earlier I said the music was somewhat Mozartian, I meant only in the most general of senses. Mozart might have written something like this when he was five (and his father would probably have torn it up). All of which leaves one unprepared for the final movement, which is quite superb; full of drama, inventive rhythms and memorable melodies. It seems almost unbelievable that it was written by the same person responsible for the first two movements.
The Duo by Dobrzyński is a considerable contrast to the works either side of it on the disc, partly because of the scoring for a wind instrument, but mainly because it is a virtuoso showpiece. As such, a different mindset is needed, and I’m not sure I achieved it. The first movement Agitato runs to more than ten minutes (almost half the work) and undoubtedly tests the clarinettist, and indeed the listener, as it seems to be at the expense of musicality. The remaining two movements strike a better balance, but overall, this is one for the clarinet aficionado.
The best work overall is by the short-lived Józef Krogulski. It is a work, written around the age of twenty, that suggests that he might have been a significant name had he not succumbed to tuberculosis. Like the Kątski, it is slightly backwards-looking in style, late Mozart/early Beethoven perhaps. It features interesting melodies and textures, and there is good contrast across the twenty-plus minutes between reflective and high-spirited moments.
The booklet notes get a not entirely idiomatic but adequate translation, and because these composers are mostly forgotten, the relatively scanty biographical details can be forgiven. The description of the music is well done, informative without being too complicated. The three works are performed by different ensembles, all Polish, and they all do a good job. Sound quality is what one expects these days.
For collectors of unsung composers, Polish or otherwise, this new series is a cause for some joy. Hopefully, in coming volumes, there might be the occasional gem.
David Barker
Performers
Kątski: Polish Piano Trio
Dobrzyński: Andrzej Wojciechowski (clarinet), Mirosława Sumlińska (piano)
Krogulski: Karolina Piątkowska-Nowicka (violin), Krzysztof Komendarek-Tymendorf (viola), Maciej Kułakowski (cello) and Bogna Czerwińska-Szymula (piano)
