Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński - I Kwintet smyczkowy F-Dur
1831
Violin I: Jakub Jakowicz,
Violin II: Anna Maria Staśkiewicz
Viola: Kataryna Budnik
Cello I: Andrzej Bauer
Cello II: Marcin Zdunik
0:00 - I. Allegro moderato
10:47 - II. Menuetto: Allegro moderato
19:00 - III. Andante doloroso ma non troppo lento
26:32 - IV. Finale: Vivace assai
The Jeszcze Polska Nie Zginęła quotations in the third movement bear tremendous weight since Dobrzyński wrote this piece in the second year of the November Uprising. Consequently, the quintet has a concrete patriotic context.
Bio
Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński (1807-1867) is a composer often left to footnotes that read "friend of Chopin" or "Chopin's Classmate." Of course, for most observers, this is enough information. The downside is that Dobrzyński gets lumped in with Chopin. And such an assumption makes a good deal of logical sense, as both studied with Józef Elsner and both show the classical [1] leanings and predilections of their professor [2]. However, the reality is more complicated, and Dobrzyński, despite the hand-waving dismissals of his detractors who accuse him of being a Chopin copycat, was a composer with his own, unique style.
Dobrzyński's entrance into music began with the lessons he took with his father, who fell ill, making Dobrzyński the caretaker of the family [2]. He was originally going to study law or medicine, but his new role forced him to abandon these ambitions and stick to what was more familiar to him. At the advice of his aunt, he went to Elsner to further his education. Shortly thereafter, Karol Kurpiński premiered his overture in D-Minor at the National Theater in Warsaw.
Relations between Dobrzyński and Kurpiński were somewhat ambiguous. We have an alleged conversation between Dobrzyński and a historian in which the historian claims that Kurpiński "could not suffer new talent" and "[Kurpiński] used his whole ceremony and preeminance to stop [Dobrzyński] from the shadows. [3]" The accusation is biting, but we know from Kurpiński's nurturing, respectful friendship with Chopin [4] that, if this were to have happened, it would have been a genuine anomaly in Kurpiński's character and behavior.
From the first performance of his works, Dobrzyński took advantage to try and secure more material means for himself. His day-to-day life was a struggle due to his poor financial circumstances, so he tried to teach, take on pupils, publish a piano school, publish miniatures, and cycled from various posts while giving concerts - nothing improved his material existence [2].
In spite of his material difficulties, Dobrzyński achieved much from an artistic standpoint. From the Opera "Monbar" to his Characteristic Symphony and his Piano Concerto, Dobrzyński has left a great deal of valuable works in the wake of the November Uprising which left the state of Polish music uncertain. After the uprising, the Russian government closed the Warsaw conservatory. As a result, Polish music did not have nearly as many resources as it once did, but Dobrzyński founded a Polish orchestra in 1857, which helped alleviate the situation a little. He died in Warsaw in 1867 but left a legacy that his son, Bronisław Dobrzyński, and Zygmunt Noskowski carried on.
[1] B. Stróżyńska. Józef Elsner jako twórca i propagator klasycznej symfonii. Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska: Akademia Muzyczna w Łodzi. Vol. XIII, 2. 2015.
[2] L. Gawroński. Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński - muzyk z Wołynia. Niepodległość i Pamięć. 15/1. 2008.
[3] K.W. Wójcicki, Pamiętniki dziecka Warszawy i inne wspomnienia warszawskie, T. 2, Warszawa. 1974.
[4] A. Zamoyski. Chopin: Prince of the Romantics. HarperPress. 2010.
