Józef Elsner
Encyclopedia
Grodków
Grodków is a town in Opole Voivodeship in Poland. It has 8,709 inhabitants and lies 20 km south of Brzeg.Grodków was granted city rights in 1268 by Duke Henryk IV Probus. The medieval city plan was characterized by a rectangular marketplace and four streets leading to the towers of the city...
, Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
1 June 1769 – 18 April 1854, Elsnerów, Elsner's estate, now within Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
) was a composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, music teacher and music theoretician, active mainly in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. He was one of the first composers in Poland to weave elements of folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
into his works.
He composed many symphonic, chamber, solo, and vocal-instrumental (about 120 religious) works, and 38 operas. He is perhaps best known as teacher of the young Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
.
Life
Joseph Elsner was born in GrottkauGrodków
Grodków is a town in Opole Voivodeship in Poland. It has 8,709 inhabitants and lies 20 km south of Brzeg.Grodków was granted city rights in 1268 by Duke Henryk IV Probus. The medieval city plan was characterized by a rectangular marketplace and four streets leading to the towers of the city...
, Herzogtum Neisse ( (Duchy of Nysa
Duchy of Nysa
The Duchy of Nysa , or Duchy of Neisse was one of the duchies of Silesia with its capital at Nysa in Lower Silesia. Alongside the Duchy of Siewierz, it was the only ecclesiastical duchy in the Silesian region, as it was ruled by a bishop of the Catholic Church...
)), near Breslau, Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
, on June 1, 1769, to Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
n Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
parents Franz Xaver Elsner. His mother was from the famous Matzke family of Glatz, which had intensive contacts with Czech culture
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
in Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
. Joseph Elsner was initially educated for the priesthood at Breslau's Dominican monastery school, St. Matthew's Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
, and a local Jesuit college, but chose the music field. In 1832–37 he would compose nineteen religious pieces for Breslau Cathedral.
After completing his studies at Breslau and being a violinist at Brünn
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
, in 1792 he became 2nd Kapellmeister at the German Opera in Austrian-ruled Lemberg
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
. There in 1796 he married Klara Abt, who died a year later. In 1799, with Wojciech Bogusławski, he went to New East Prussia
New East Prussia
New East Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1795 to 1807. It was created out of territory annexed in the Third Partition of Poland and included parts of Masovia and Podlaskie...
(Prussian-ruled Poland) and became the principal conductor, first at the German Theatre, then at the Polish National Theatre in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
.
Elsner traveled to Paris, Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
and Posen (Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
), where he met E.T.A. Hoffmann
E.T.A. Hoffmann
Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann , better known by his pen name E.T.A. Hoffmann , was a German Romantic author of fantasy and horror, a jurist, composer, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist...
. Together they founded the Musikressource in 1805. In 1802 he had married a second wife, Karolina Drozdowska. Due to complaints that he preferred Germans, he resigned from Theater work.
During his decades in Warsaw, Elsner's name and family life gradually polonized
Polonization
Polonization was the acquisition or imposition of elements of Polish culture, in particular, Polish language, as experienced in some historic periods by non-Polish populations of territories controlled or substantially influenced by Poland...
. Elsner's ethnicity should not be evaluated in terms of 19th- and 20th-century national identity, as he continued to refer to himself primarily as a Silesian
Silesians
Silesians , are the inhabitants of Silesia in Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic. A small diaspora community also exists in Karnes County, Texas in the USA....
.
Elsner taught the composers Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński
Ignacy Feliks Dobrzynski
Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński was a Polish pianist and composer.-Life:Dobrzyński was born in Romanów, in Volhynia, now Dserschynsk, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine....
and Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
. Chopin dedicated to Elsner his Piano Sonata No. 1 in C minor, Op. 4 (1828) — composed while Chopin was studying with Elsner.
In 1799-1824 Elsner was the principal conductor at Warsaw's National Theater, where he premiered a number of his opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s. Elsner also taught at the Warsaw Lyceum
Warsaw Lyceum
The Warsaw Lyceum was a secondary school that existed in Warsaw, under the Kingdom of Prussia and under the Kingdom of Poland, from 1804 to its closing in 1831 by Imperial Russia following the Polish November 1830 Uprising.-History:...
, housed in the Kazimierz Palace.
As only teacher, Elsner from 1823–29 taught Chopin music theory
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
and composition. At the time, Elsner wrote of Chopin in his diary: "Chopin, Frederic, third-year student, amazing capabilities, musical genius."
Elsner died at his estate named after him (Elsnerów, now within the city limits of Warsaw) on April 18, 1854.
Works
Elsner's compositions included- the operas, Leszek Biały (Leszek the WhiteLeszek I the WhiteLeszek I the White , also listed by some sources as Leszek II the White, was Prince of Sandomierz and High Duke of Poland from 1194 until his death, except for the short periods following when he was deposed as Polish ruler...
) and Król Łokietek (about Władysław I the Elbow-high) - the oratorioOratorioAn oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
, Męka Pana Naszego Jezusa Chrystusa (The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ) - eight symphoniesSymphonyA symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
- polonaisePolonaiseThe polonaise is a slow dance of Polish origin, in 3/4 time. Its name is French for "Polish."The polonaise had a rhythm quite close to that of the Swedish semiquaver or sixteenth-note polska, and the two dances have a common origin....
s, waltzWaltzThe waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
es, marchesMarch (music)A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to the brisk military marches of John... - Msza B-dur (Mass in B-flat major) and Msza F-dur (Mass in F major)
- Nieszpory do NMP (VespersVespersVespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...
for the Most Sacred Virgin Mary).
Elsner was one of the first composers to weave elements of Polish folk music into his works.
He also wrote Sumariusz moich utworów muzycznych (Summary of My Musical Works, published 1957).