Polish songs by Frédéric Chopin
Encyclopedia
Although Frédéric Chopin
is best known for his works for piano solo, among his output are a number of songs for voice and piano, set to Polish texts.
In 1857 the 17 then known songs were collected for publication by Julian Fontana
as Op. 74, but they were not arranged in chronological order of composition within that opus. Due to censorship restrictions, he was only able to publish 16 of them initially. These appeared in Warsaw as Zbiór spiewów polskich Fryderyka Chopina (A Collection of Polish Songs by Frédéric Chopin), published by Gebethner & Wolff; and in Berlin as 16 Polnische Lieder, published by A M Schlesinger. The 17th song, Śpiew z mogiłki (Hymn from the Tomb) was published separately in Berlin with a French title, Chant du tombeau.
A further two songs were published in 1910. Some references now include all 19 published songs in Op. 74.
Chopin is known to have written a number of other songs that are now lost. Some extant songs have been attributed to Chopin but are now considered spurious or doubtful.
Ten of them are by a friend of Chopin’s family, Stefan Witwicki
, from his Piosnki Sielskie (Idylls, 1830). (Chopin also dedicated his Mazurkas, Op. 41
, to Witwicki.) Three were by Józef Bohdan Zaleski
. Two were by Adam Mickiewicz
. Wincenty Pol
's revolutionary Songs of Janusz (1836) inspired Chopin to write up to a dozen songs, but only one survives. Zygmunt Krasiński
, a rival with Chopin for the affections of Delfina Potocka
, was another poet who inspired Chopin to write a song.
The songs have been translated into over a dozen languages, but they are most effective in their original Polish. Various English titles have been applied to some of the songs.
Other singers have recorded selected songs.
Between 1847 and 1860, Chopin's friend Franz Liszt
arranged six of the Op. 74 songs as piano transcriptions under the title Six Chants polonais, S.480, a set which has long been a concert and recording favourite. The six are:
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"....
is best known for his works for piano solo, among his output are a number of songs for voice and piano, set to Polish texts.
Background
Chopin wrote these songs at various times, from perhaps as early as 1827 when he was 17, to 1847, two years before his death. Only two of them were published in his lifetime (Życzenie and Wojak were published in Kiev in 1837 and 1839 respectively).In 1857 the 17 then known songs were collected for publication by Julian Fontana
Julian Fontana
Julian Fontana was a Polish pianist, composer, lawyer, author, translator, and entrepreneur, best remembered as a close friend and musical executor of Frédéric Chopin.-Biography:...
as Op. 74, but they were not arranged in chronological order of composition within that opus. Due to censorship restrictions, he was only able to publish 16 of them initially. These appeared in Warsaw as Zbiór spiewów polskich Fryderyka Chopina (A Collection of Polish Songs by Frédéric Chopin), published by Gebethner & Wolff; and in Berlin as 16 Polnische Lieder, published by A M Schlesinger. The 17th song, Śpiew z mogiłki (Hymn from the Tomb) was published separately in Berlin with a French title, Chant du tombeau.
A further two songs were published in 1910. Some references now include all 19 published songs in Op. 74.
Chopin is known to have written a number of other songs that are now lost. Some extant songs have been attributed to Chopin but are now considered spurious or doubtful.
Texts
All but one of the texts of the Chopin songs were original poems by his Polish contemporaries, with most of whom he was personally acquainted. The sole exception is the Piosnka litewska, which was set to a Polish translation by Ludwik Osiński of a Lithuanian song.Ten of them are by a friend of Chopin’s family, Stefan Witwicki
Stefan Witwicki
Stefan Witwicki was a Polish poet of the Romantic period.-Life:From 1822 Witwicki worked in the Congress Poland's Government Commission on Religions and Education ....
, from his Piosnki Sielskie (Idylls, 1830). (Chopin also dedicated his Mazurkas, Op. 41
Mazurkas, Op. 41 (Chopin)
Mazurkas, Op. 41 is a set of four mazurkas for piano by Frédéric Chopin, composed and published between 1838 and 1839. A typical performance of the set lasts about nine and a half minutes. The set is dedicated to Chopin's friend Stefan Witwicki, a minor poet, ten of whose poems Chopin set to music...
, to Witwicki.) Three were by Józef Bohdan Zaleski
Józef Bohdan Zaleski
Józef Bohdan Zaleski was a Polish Romantic poet. A friend of Adam Mickiewicz, Zaleski founded the "Ukrainian poetic school."-Life:...
. Two were by Adam Mickiewicz
Adam Mickiewicz
Adam Bernard Mickiewicz ) was a Polish poet, publisher and political writer of the Romantic period. One of the primary representatives of the Polish Romanticism era, a national poet of Poland, he is seen as one of Poland's Three Bards and the greatest poet in all of Polish literature...
. Wincenty Pol
Wincenty Pol
Wincenty Pol was a Polish poet and geographer.-Life:Pol was born in Lublin , to Franz Pohl , a German in the Austrian service, and his wife Eleonora Longchamps de Berier, from a French family living in Poland. Pol fought in the Polish army in the November 1830 Uprising and participated in the 1848...
's revolutionary Songs of Janusz (1836) inspired Chopin to write up to a dozen songs, but only one survives. Zygmunt Krasiński
Zygmunt Krasinski
Count Napoleon Stanisław Adam Ludwig Zygmunt Krasiński , a Polish count, is traditionally ranked with Mickiewicz and Słowacki as one of Poland's Three National Bards — the trio of great Romantic poets who influenced national consciousness during the period of Poland's political bondage.-Life and...
, a rival with Chopin for the affections of Delfina Potocka
Delfina Potocka
Delfina Potocka, née Komar , a Polish countess, was a friend and muse to noted Polish expatriate artists Frédéric Chopin and Zygmunt Krasiński.-Life:...
, was another poet who inspired Chopin to write a song.
The songs have been translated into over a dozen languages, but they are most effective in their original Polish. Various English titles have been applied to some of the songs.
Recordings
Those who have recorded the 17 songs of Op. 74, or all 19 known songs, include:- Elisabeth SöderströmElisabeth SöderströmElisabeth Anna Söderström CBE was a Swedish soprano, who performed both opera and song. She was particularly well known for her recordings of the lead soprano roles in the three Janáček operas Jenůfa, Káťa Kabanová, and The Makropoulos Affair, all of which received Gramophone Awards...
with Vladimir AshkenazyVladimir AshkenazyVladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy is a Russian-Icelandic conductor and pianist. Since 1972 he has been a citizen of Iceland, his wife Þórunn's country of birth. Since 1978, because of his many obligations in Europe, he and his family have resided in Meggen, near Lucerne in Switzerland... - Leyla GencerLeyla GencerLeyla Gencer, or Ayşe Leyla Çeyrekgil was a world-renowned Turkish operatic soprano.Known as "La Diva Turca" and "La Regina" in the opera world, Gencer was a notable bel canto soprano who spent most of her career in Italy, from the early 1950s through the mid-1980s, and had a repertoire...
with Nikita MagaloffNikita MagaloffNikita Magaloff was a Georgian-Russian pianist.He was born in Saint Petersburg to a Georgian noble family named Maghalashvili. Magaloff and his family left Russia in 1918 for Finland and then Paris, where he studied with Isidor Philipp, chair of the piano department at the Paris Conservatory... - Stefania ToczyskaStefania ToczyskaStefania Toczyska , born in Grudziądz, Poland, on February 19, 1943, is a Polish mezzo-soprano of international repute.She lived in Toruń, where she attended the Music School Stefania Toczyska (née Krzywinska), born in Grudziądz, Poland, on February 19, 1943, is a Polish mezzo-soprano of...
with Janusz OlejniczakJanusz OlejniczakJanusz Olejniczak is a Polish classical pianist and actor.Olejniczak's piano teachers were Ryszard Bakst and Zbigniew Drzewiecki. In 1970 he won 6th place in the International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, and two years later he placed in the Alfredo Casella Piano Competition in... - Teresa Żylis-GaraTeresa Zylis-GaraTeresa Żylis-Gara is a Polish operatic soprano who had a major international career during the 1950s through the 1990s...
with Halina Czerny-StefańskaHalina Czerny-StefanskaHalina Czerny-Stefańska was a Polish pianist.She studied piano under her father, Stanislaw Szwarcenberg-Czerny, as well as with Alfred Cortot at the École Normale de Musique in Paris, and later with Józef Turczyński and Zbigniew Drzewiecki in Warsaw... - Eugenia Zareska with Giorgio Favaretto
- Stefania Woytowicz and Andrzej Bachleda with Wanda Klimowicz
- Françoise Ogéas with Eva Osinska
- Maria Kurenko with Robert Hufstader
- Urszula Kryger with Charles Spencer.
- H Januszewska with M Drewnowski.
Other singers have recorded selected songs.
Arrangements
Chopin himself arranged the piano part of Wiosna as a piece for piano alone, Andantino in G minor, B. 117. There exist five manuscript versions of this arrangement, dated between April 1838 and 1 September 1848.Between 1847 and 1860, Chopin's friend Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
arranged six of the Op. 74 songs as piano transcriptions under the title Six Chants polonais, S.480, a set which has long been a concert and recording favourite. The six are:
- 1. Mädchens Wünsch (No. 1: Życzenie – The Wish)
- 2. Frühling (No. 2: Wiosna – Spring)
- 3. Das Ringlein (No. 14: Pierścień – The Ring)
- 4. Bacchanal (No. 4: Hulanka – Merrymaking)
- 5. Meine Freuden (No. 12: Moja pieszczotka – My Darling)
- 6. Heimkehr (No. 15: Narzeczony – The Bridegroom).
List of Polish songs by Chopin
| Polish title | English translation | Alternative title(s) | Text by | Date composed | Published | Opus no. | Other catalogue nos. | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Życzenie | The Wish | The Maiden’s Wish | Stefan Witwicki Stefan Witwicki Stefan Witwicki was a Polish poet of the Romantic period.-Life:From 1822 Witwicki worked in the Congress Poland's Government Commission on Religions and Education .... |
1829 | 1837, Kiev; later 1857, Berlin | 74/1 | B. 33 | Franz Liszt Franz Liszt Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age... used this melody as No. 2 (Mélodie polonaise) of his Glanes de Woronince Glanes de Woronince Glanes de Woronince , S. 249, is a suite of three piano pieces by Franz Liszt, written in 1847 at Voronintsi, the Polish-Ukrainian estate of Princess Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein in Ukrainian Podolia.Liszt had first met the Princess when he played in Kiev on 14 February of that year... , S.249 (1847); Liszt also transcribed the song for piano solo as No. 1 of his Six Chants polonais, S.480 (composed 1847-1860); Chopin also used a motif from the song in his posthumous Nocturne in C sharp minor, Lento con gran espressione |
| Wiosna | Spring | - | Witwicki | 1838 | 1857, Berlin | 74/2 | B. 116 | Chopin rewrote the piano part as Andantino, B. 117; there exist 5 manuscripts of this arrangement, dated between April 1838 and 1 September 1848; Franz Liszt also transcribed the song for piano solo as No. 2 of his Six Chants polonais, S.480 (composed 1847-1860) |
| Smutna rzeka | The Sad River | The Sad Stream; Troubled Waters | Witwicki | 1831 | 1857, Berlin | 74/3 | B. 63/1 | |
| Hulanka (aka Patryot Piesn) | Merrymaking | Drinking Song; Bacchanale; Patriotic Song | Witwicki | 1830 | 1857, Berlin | 74/4 | B. 50 | Franz Liszt transcribed the song for piano solo as No. 4 of his Six Chants polonais, S.480 (composed 1847-1860) |
| Gdzie lubi ... | There Where She Loves | What She Likes; A Maiden’s Love | Witwicki | 1829 | 1857, Berlin | 74/5 | B. 32 | |
| Precz z moich oczu | Out of My Sight | Remembrance | Adam Mickiewicz Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz ) was a Polish poet, publisher and political writer of the Romantic period. One of the primary representatives of the Polish Romanticism era, a national poet of Poland, he is seen as one of Poland's Three Bards and the greatest poet in all of Polish literature... |
1830 (perhaps 1827) | 1857, Berlin | 74/6 | B. 48 | |
| Poseł | The Messenger | The Envoy | Witwicki | 1830 | 1857, Berlin | 74/7 | B. 50 | |
| Śliczny chłopiec | Handsome Lad | Charming Lad; My Beloved | Józef Bohdan Zaleski Józef Bohdan Zaleski Józef Bohdan Zaleski was a Polish Romantic poet. A friend of Adam Mickiewicz, Zaleski founded the "Ukrainian poetic school."-Life:... |
1841 | 1857, Berlin | 74/8 | B. 143 | |
| Melodia | Melody | Elegy; Lamento; Onward | Zygmunt Krasiński Zygmunt Krasinski Count Napoleon Stanisław Adam Ludwig Zygmunt Krasiński , a Polish count, is traditionally ranked with Mickiewicz and Słowacki as one of Poland's Three National Bards — the trio of great Romantic poets who influenced national consciousness during the period of Poland's political bondage.-Life and... |
1847 | 1857, Berlin | 74/9 | B. 165 | |
| Wojak | The Warrior | Before the Battle | Witwicki | 1830 | 1839, Kiev; later 1857, Berlin | 74/10 | B. 47 | |
| Dwojaki koniec | The Double-End | The Twofold End; The Two Corpses; Death's Divisions; United in Death | Zaleski | 1845 | 1857, Berlin | 74/11 | B. 156/1 | |
| Moja pieszczotka | My Darling | My Joys; My Delight | Mickiewicz | 1837 | 1857, Berlin | 74/12 | B. 112 | Franz Liszt transcribed the song for piano solo as No. 5 of his Six Chants polonais, S.480 (composed 1847-1860) |
| Nie ma czego trzeba | I Want What I Have Not | Faded and Vanished; Melancholy; Lack of Light | Zaleski | 1845 | 1857, Berlin | 74/13 | B. 156/2 | A simpler version was published in 1910 as Dumka |
| Pierścień | The Ring | - | Witwicki | 8 September 1836 | 1857, Berlin | 74/14 | B. 103 | Chopin wrote this song into the album of Maria Wodzińska, to whom he had just become betrothed; Franz Liszt also transcribed the song for piano solo as No. 3 of his Six Chants polonais, S.480 (composed 1847-1860) |
| Narzeczony | The Bridegroom | The Betrothed; The Return Home | Witwicki | 1831 | 1857, Berlin | 74/15 | B. 63/2 | Franz Liszt transcribed the song for piano solo as No. 6 of his Six Chants polonais, S.480 (composed 1847-1860) |
| Piosnka litewska | Lithuanian Song | - | trans. Ludwik Osiński | 1831 | 1857, Berlin | 74/16 | B. 63/3 | Translated from a Lithuanian folk song |
| Śpiew z mogiłki, or Śpiew grobowy, or Leci liście z drzewa | Hymn from the Tomb | Leaves are Falling; The Orphan; Poland's Dirge | Wincenty Pol Wincenty Pol Wincenty Pol was a Polish poet and geographer.-Life:Pol was born in Lublin , to Franz Pohl , a German in the Austrian service, and his wife Eleonora Longchamps de Berier, from a French family living in Poland. Pol fought in the Polish army in the November 1830 Uprising and participated in the 1848... |
1836 | 1857, Berlin | 74/17 | B. 101 | |
| Dumka | Reverie | Dirge; Mist Before My Eyes | Zaleski | 25 March 1840 | 22 October 1910, Lwow | (74/19)? | B. 132, KK.IVb/9 | Sometimes included in Op. 74; this is an earlier, simpler version of Nie ma czego trzeba. |
| Czary | Witchcraft | Charms | Witwicki | 1830 | 1910, Leipzig | (74/18)? | B. 51, KK.IVa/11 | Sometimes included in Op. 74; the 1910 publication was of a facsimile reproduction of an album Chopin had sent to Maria Wodzińska. It was not finally published in normal form till 1954. |
| Plotno | Linen | - | ? | ? | - | - | KK.Vd/5 | Lost; mentioned in a letter from Julian Fontana Julian Fontana Julian Fontana was a Polish pianist, composer, lawyer, author, translator, and entrepreneur, best remembered as a close friend and musical executor of Frédéric Chopin.-Biography:... to Chopin's sister Ludwika Jędrzejewicz, dated 2 July 1852 |
| Jakiez kwiaty | Which Flowers | - | I. Maciejowski | 22 August 1829 | 1856, Warsaw | - | B. 39, KK.Iva/9 | ded. Vaclav Hanka; piano part lost; reconstructed from extant preserved photograph |
| 3 songs | ? | ? | ? | - | - | KK.Vd/6-8 | Lost; listed in a letter from Chopin's Scottish pupil Jane Stirling Jane Stirling Jane Stirling was a Scottish amateur pianist who is best known as a student and later friend of Frédéric Chopin; two of his nocturnes are dedicated to her. She took him on a tour of England and Scotland in 1848, and took charge of the disposal of his effects and manuscripts after his death in 1849... to Ludwika Jędrzejewicz, dated July 1852 |
|
| 4 songs | Only the violin parts remain | |||||||
| ? | ? | ? | ? | - | - | KK.Vc/10 | Lost; mentioned in a letter from Ludwika Jędrzejewicz to her brother Chopin, dated 9 January 1841 | |
| Dumka na Wygnaniu | Song of the Exile | - | M Goslawski | ? | - | - | KK.Anh. Ic/1 | Doubtful authenticity |
| Tam no bloniu | There on the Green | - | ? | ? | - | - | KK.Anh. Ic/2 | Doubtful authenticity |
| Trzeci maj | The Third of May | - | S Starzenski | ? | - | - | KK.Anh. Ic/3 | Doubtful authenticity |
| O wiem, ze Polska | Oh, I know that Poland | - | Krasinski | ? | - | - | KK.Anh. Ic/4 | Doubtful authenticity |
| Pytasz sie, czemu | You Ask Why | - | Krasinski | ? | - | - | KK.Anh. Ic/5 | Doubtful authenticity |
| Piesni pielgrzyma polskiego | Songs of a Polish Pilgrim | - | K Gaszynski | ? | - | - | KK.Anh. Ic/6 | Doubtful authenticity |
External links
- The Spirit of Poland in Jim Samson: The Music of Chopin, pp 100, Oxford University Press 1985
- 17 Polish Songs, Op.74 classicalarchives.com