Karol Lipiński
Karol Józef Lipiński(30 October 1790 – 16 December 1861) was a Polish musiccomposerand virtuosoviolinistactive during thepartitions of Poland.TheKarol Lipiński University of MusicinWrocław,Poland is named after him.
Life[edit]
Lipiński was born inRadzyń Podlaski.His father was Feliks Lipiński (1765–1847), and he had a younger brother of the same name Feliks (1815–1865). In 1810 he became the first violin and two years later the conductor of the opera orchestra at Lwów (nowLviv,Ukraine). In 1817 he went to Italy in the hope of hearingNiccolò Paganini.The two met inMilan,met daily to play, and even performed two concerts together in April 1818, which added immensely to Lipiński's reputation. Paganini dedicated hisBurlesque Variations on "La Carnaval de Venise",Op. 10 for unaccompanied violin to Lipiński. Later, in 1827, Lipiński returned the honour by dedicating his "Three Caprices for Violin" to Paganini.
In 1818 on his return to Poland he stopped inTriesteto receive instruction from Dr Mazzurana, a very elderly former pupil ofGiuseppe Tartini;Mazzurana was ninety years old, and could no longer play himself, but gave his criticism of Lipiński's performance of one of Tartini's sonatas. During that time, he also performed concerts together with the Polish pianist and composerMaria Agata Szymanowska.
In 1820 he travelled toBerlinwhere he metLouis Spohr,and to Russia. In 1829 he went to Warsaw, and played a series of concerts with Paganini that summer that were attended by the nineteen-year-oldFrédéric Chopin.However, a rivalry developed between Lipiński and Paganini which destroyed their friendship. Thereafter, whenever Paganini was asked who the greatest violinist was, he would say "I don't know who the greatest is, but Lipiński is certainly the second greatest".
In 1835–36 he went on a long tour, during which he metRobert SchumanninLeipzig.Schumann was so impressed that he dedicatedCarnaval,Op. 9 to him.
In 1836 he visited England and played hisMilitary Concertowith theRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra.In June 1839 he received a double appointment inDresden,as concertmaster of the Royal Oratory and kapellmeister at the court chapel.[1]With his Dresden duties, he ceased touring as a virtuoso, but concentrated on chamber music, with a special devotion to the string quartets ofBeethoven.Here he also gave a joint recital withLiszt,performing Beethoven'sKreutzerSonata.
He developed a great reputation as the only serious rival to Paganini.Henryk Wieniawskidedicated hisPolonaise de concert, Op.4to Lipiński, likeIgnacy Feliks DobrzyńskihisString Quartet No. 2, Op.40.He retired with a pension in 1861, and died in village Virliv (Ternopil region, Ukraine).
He was the owner of two violins,one made in 1715byAntonio Stradivariand another byGiuseppe Guarneri del Gesù.Both instruments are referred to as "ex-Lipinski".
TheKarol Lipiński Academy of MusicinWrocław,Poland was named after him.
Compositions[edit]
Early in his life, during his assignment at Lviv theatre, Lipiński composed 3 symphonies (Op. 2) and 3 operas:Kłótnia przez zakład,Terefere w Tarapacie,andSyrena Dniestru.The last one is an adaptation, with some of his own original music interpolated, ofFerdinand Kauer'sDonauweibchenand was played every season at Lviv for nearly thirty years from 1814, but the music is now lost.
Naturally, most of Lipiński's compositions are for violin. These include four violin concertos (a fifth is lost)[citation needed],two string trios (originally for an ensemble 2 violins and a cello) as well as polonaises, rondos, variations, capriccios. He also composed several songs and harmonized some popular Polish tunes.
Recordings[edit]
His compositions have been recorded among others by Polish virtuoso violinistKonstanty Andrzej Kulkaof theFryderyk Chopin University of MusicinWarsaw.[2]Of the major works, all the concertos, both trios, a symphony and an overture have been recorded, some of them more than one time.
Notes[edit]
- ^A letter to his wife of 2 July 1839 (Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek)Archived12 December 2005 at theWayback Machine.
- ^Konstanty Andrzej KulkaArchived2013-02-14 at theWayback Machine,Firma fonograficznaUniversal Music Group,January 2013.
Further reading[edit]
- Henryka Filatowna.K.J. Lipiński, Wirtuozi i kompozytor.Kraków dissertation, 1930 (unpublished)
- Józef Powroźniak.Karol Lipiński.Kraków:PWM,1970
- Translation by Maria Lewicka:Lipiński.Neptune City, NJ: Paganiniana, 1986
- Владимир Юрьевич Григорьев.Кароль Липиньский.Москва: Музыка, 1977
- Karol Lipiński: Życie, działalność, epoka. T. 1–4.Ed. byMaria Zduniaket al. Wrocław: Akademia Muzyczna im. Karola Lipińskiego, 1990, 1993, 2003, 2007
External links[edit]
- Free scores by Karol Lipińskiat theInternational Music Score Library Project(IMSLP)
- Scores by Karol Lipińskiin digital libraryPolona
| International | |
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| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1790 births
- 1861 deaths
- People from Radzyń Podlaski
- Composers from the Russian Empire
- Violinists from the Russian Empire
- 19th-century classical composers
- 19th-century classical violinists
- Polish male classical violinists
- 19th-century conductors (music)
- Polish classical violinists
- Polish conductors (music)
- Polish male conductors (music)
- Polish Romantic composers
- Polish opera composers
- Polish male opera composers