Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński: "Les Larmes" and "Souvenir de Dresde"

 

Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński. Portrait by Maksymilian Fajans.

(15 February 1807 – 9 October 1867/60세) was a Polish pianist and composer

 

"Les Larmes" and "Souvenir de Dresde"

Les Explorateurs: Joanna Ławrynowicz (piano), Anna Orlik (violin), Łukasz Tudzierz (cello), Grzegorz Stec (oboe)

 

1.‘Les Larmes[눈물, 울음], for cello and piano, op.41 (1843) – 00:00
2.‘Souvenir de Dresde’, for oboe, cello and piano, op.47 (1846) – 06:05

Performed by Mariusz Pędziałek (oboe), Tadeusz Wyroba (cello), Piotr Grodecki (piano). Souvenir de Dresde, op. 47 (Pamiątka z Drezna), is a trio for oboe, cello and piano.

 

Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński was an exceptionally active figure in the musical life of nineteenth-century Warsaw. In his youth he sat on the same school bench as Chopin when they were students of Elsner's Szkoia Giowna Muzyki (Main School of Music). He was a composer, a teacher and a conductor. His creative output was quite extensive, comprising of 170 compositions, which he performed not only in his homeland, but also to numerous foreign cities, especially in Germany. Beyond symphonic, sacred and stage works, he left behind an extensive legacy of chamber works that show much variation in terms of form and scoring. The character of his music still harkens back to classical models, while the technical demands he employed, especially in the piano part, clearly illustrates the early-Romantic 'brillante' style.
-“Les Larmes” for violin or cello and piano op. 41: Les Larmes (Tears) is a beautiful lyrical miniature with a nostalgic, fervent expression, marked Andantino doloroso e molto espressivo. It represents a kind of work, quite frequent found in Romantic lyrical music, which maintains a uniform "flowing" texture, combined with a prayerful cantilena against an agitated accompaniment in the background. The primary harmonic sound is expressed through the use of chordal repetitions with just a few motivic "complements" in the bass voice.
-“Souvenir de Dresde” for oboe, piano and cello op. 47. This unusually scored composition enchants the listeners with a free-flowing melody. It was recorded twice for the sake of the album: in the original version with the oboe, and in a version where the oboe part is replaced by the violin. The oboe and the cello are instruments that were made for this type of cantilena. The work was written in 1846, during a two-year concert tour throughout Germany that included Dresden on its way.