Witold Maliszewski

Witold Maliszewski before 1927, Warsaw

Witold Maliszewski (Russian: Витольд Осипович Малишевский, Ukrainian: Вітольд Йосифович Малишевський; 20 July 1873 Mohyliv-Podilskyi, Russian Empire, now Ukraine – 18 July 1939, Zalesie, Poland), was a Polish composer, first Rector and founder of Odessa Conservatory and professor at Warsaw Conservatory.

Biography

Witold Maliszewski was born on 20 July 1873 in the city of Mohyliv-Podilskyi, Russian Empire, formerly Poland, now Ukraine. Maliszewski graduated from Saint Petersburg Conservatory, in the class of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. He was a member of the composer group known as M. Belyayev's Circle. Maliszewski was a founder and the first Rector of Odessa Conservatory (1913), which gave the world a number of outstanding musicians, such as David Oistrakh, Emil Gilels and Yakov Zak.

After the Russian revolution, because of the imminent threat of Bolshevik persecution Maliszewski immigrated to Poland in 1921. In 1925–1927 he was teaching at the Chopin Music School and was the Director of the Warsaw Music Society. In 1927 he was the Chairman of the First International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition. From 1931 to 1934 Maliszewski was the Director of the Music Department at the Polish Ministry of Education. From 1931 to 1939 he was a Professor at the Warsaw Conservatory.

In the Soviet Union Maliszewski's name was prohibited and in 1950 his conservatory in Odessa was named after Antonina Nezhdanova, who had no links with the institution.

Students: Witold Lutosławski, Mykola Vilinsky, Boleslaw Woytowicz, Feliks Roderyk Łabuński, Feliks Rybicki.

Selected works

Stage

• Boruta, Ballet
• Syrena (La Sirène), Opera-Ballet in 4 acts, Op. 24; libretto by Ludomir Michał Rogowski

Orchestral

• Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 8
• Joyful Overture (Ouverture joyeuse; Fröhliche Ouverture) in D major, Op. 11
• Symphony No. 2 in A major, Op. 12 (1903)
• Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 14
• Symphony No. 4 in D (1925)
• Symphony No. 5

Concertante

• Fantazja kujawska for piano and orchestra (1928)
• Concerto in B♭ minor for piano and orchestra, Op. 29 (1938)

Chamber music

• Sonata for violin and piano, Op. 1
• String Quartet No. 1 in F major, Op. 2
• Quintet in D minor for 2 violins, viola and 2 cellos, Op. 3
• String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 6
• String Quartet No. 3 in E♭ major, Op. 15
• Quatre morceaux for violin & piano, Op. 20

Piano

• Prélude et fugue fantastiques in B♭ minor, Op. 16

Choral

• Requiem (1930)
• Missa Pontificalis (1930)

Discographie

Archive recordings

• 1952 : Fantazja kujawska (Wladyslaw Kedra, Polish Radio Orchestra of Bydgoszcz, cond. Arnold Rezler)
• 1959 : Piano Concerto (Jakub Kalecki, Jerzy Gert)
• Piano Concerto (Andrzej Stefański, Polish Radio National SO)

Commercial recordings

• 2014 : Works for Violin and Piano – Acte Préalable AP0285 [1]
• 2014 : Chamber Music vol. 1 – Acte Préalable AP0327 [2]
• 2015 : Complete Works for Piano – Acte Préalable AP0320 [3]

References

• Wrocki E., W. Maliszewski, Warszawa, 1932.
• Valentyna Nazarenko, Ukrainian page of Maestro Maliszewski. "Day" Newspaper, No. 143, August 15, 2009 (translated from Ukrainian) [4]

External links

• Witold Maliszewski [5]
• Free scores by Witold Maliszewski at the International Music Score Library Project
• Witold Maliszewski (1873–1939) : Joyful Overture (c. 1902) on YouTube
• Witold Maliszewski – piano concerto Op.27 on YouTube
• Maliszewski – Symphony No. 1 (1902) on YouTube
• Witold Maliszewski: Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 14 on YouTube