Józef Elsner

Date of release: 2020

Publishers: National Forum of Music, CD Accord

Performers: Mikołaj Zgółka, Zbigniew Pilch, Dominik Dębski, Jarosław Thiel

For every musician and music lover, discovering a new work is a great joy and satisfaction. Moreover, if it comes from the distant past, and we know that for some reason it was not available to contemporary listeners until recently, the emotions associated with its restoration grow. The history of music knows a lot of such cases, and every time this happens, the world of music lovers is moved. It is no different in the case of the String Quartets op. 1 by Józef Elsner. Until recently, this cycle of three works was not present in concert venues at all. The only known and preserved copy of the music had been dispersed, making performances of the quartets impossible. The state of knowledge about the catalogued works by Elsner was based on research from the 1960s. It was only in 2012 and 2013 that new queries were conducted on the basis of which a catalogue of the composer’s instrumental works was created. Of particular importance is the research run by Dr Julia Gołębiowska, who in 2013 completed the Viennese musical source for the String Quartets op. 1, which is the basis of this recording. Uncatalogued materials can be found in the Gesell­schaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, located in the same building as the famous Musikverein.

Thus, 220 years after their publication, we can once again enjoy the exceptional, surprising and satisfying music. It should be mentioned that the three quartets “du meilleur goût polonois” (in the best Polish taste) were written by a composer who was quite extraordinary a personality in the history of Polish music. The enormous effort taken to develop Polish music, the establishment of the first music conservatory in Warsaw, the organisation of plethora of concerts, and journalistic activity – all these factors made the composer’s life unique. His love of Polish culture, especially folklore and musical tradition, had a significant impact on his entire compositional output, as well as on his place at the forefront of Polish composers. The String Quartets op. 1 – recorded on this album for the first time in history – are a quintessence of the Polish style. This style is woven into fully fledged musical forms characteristic of the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Mikołaj Zgółka