His Last Works

2me Polonaise brillante pour violon avec acompagnement de piano op.21Henryk Wieniawski wrote only two polonaises. The first one, op. 4 in D minor, is one of his youthful works; the other, op. 21 in A major, is one of the last works he composed. Moreover, H. Wieniawski is the co-author of another polonaise, op. 8, for violin and piano, which he wrote with his brother Józef Wieniawski, a pianist. The latter polonaise, like the Polonaise in D minor op. 4, is also a youthful composition (1852). The polonaise as a genre, therefore, does not occupy much space in Wieniawskis heritage. Nonetheless, both polonaises, in D minor and A major, constitute an essential part of his artistic inheritance. Likewise, both polonaises had been composed in two versions: for violin and orchestra, and for violin and piano. The Polonaise in A major was completed in 1870. It is not known precisely which of the versions, the one with the piano, or the one with the orchestra first came into being. It was the version with orchestra that the composer performed for the first time on 17 March 1870, in the Grand Theatre in St. Petersburg. But merely two months later he performed the Polonaise in Warsaw, accompanied by his brother Józef at the piano. It is quite possible that Wieniawski had already performed this version of the Polonaise. It is certain, nonetheless, that both versions either appeared simultaneously, or one was composed shortly after the other. From its first public performance until the end of his concert career, Wieniawski often included this Polonaise in his concert repertoire, playing one version or another, the choice depending on the needs and circumstances. Just to mention one occasion, he played the orchestral version during a concert tour of Sweden in 1870, when he dedicated and presented a manuscript of this piece to King Charles XV of Sweden. The dedication, however, was changed in print, and both versions were eventually dedicated to François van Hal. Both versions were published simultaneously, by Schott Publishers in Mainz, with the same plate number, though the orchestral version appeared only in parts, which was a common practice in those days. The piece was most probably not published earlier than 18751. The Polonaise was praised by the critics. The reviews reported that it was a magnificent piece2, and this opinion was shared by later critical reviews, both Russian and West European. The Polonaise remained popular after the composer had died, which is evident from the number of later editions of the piece (more than ten) issued by different publishers, mostly German, and prepared by different editors. In Poland, the Polonaise was published twice after the Second World War. All the editions introduced some more or less significant changes into the text, mostly concerning performance indications, but in a sense blurring the composers intentions. All those changes were pertinent to the violin and piano version, and it was mostly in this form that the piece appeared in concert and teaching repertoires. The performances with an orchestra were much more seldom which was, among other factors, due to limited availability of the orchestral version, as it had never been published again after the first edition, until now. The Polonaise in A major was composed approximately at the same time as the Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor3. This convergence in time had influenced a certain similarity with regard to both composition and technical means, and also to the themes. In particular, the similarity becomes quite obvious in the second theme of the Allegro in the Concerto, and in the theme of the Polonaise. The Polonaise in A major is also in a certain way similar to the first Polonaise (in D minor), the motifs of the themes in both polonaises are alike. However, both pieces differ in style. The Polonaise in D minor shows the composers fascination with technical writing. Wieniawski makes the most of double-stops, chords, and all other sophisticated virtuoso techniques. The Polonaise in A major, written 18 years later, is much more mature. Although it is a virtuosic piece as well, the techniques used are somewhat more limited and subordinated to the expression. The virtuoso character of this piece is more fragile, much closer to the brillant style. At the same time, the Polonaise is typical of Wieniawskis violin playing technique. Here the composer uses the means regarded by his contemporaries to be typical of him, e.g., long staccato fragments played with one bow. The Polonaise is a concert piece in one movement extended form with a considerably abbreviated return of the first section at the end. The middle section is contrasting in character, due to the modulation to F major, change of tempo (meno mosso) and the reduction in the number of instruments (in the orchestral version). All the sections show thematic similarity. The first section, too, consists of three subsections, including a contrasting middle subsection (in E major). Zofia Chechli?ska Footnotes 1. See The Critical Commentary, p. ' and onward. 2. See V. Grigoriev, Henryk Wieniawski. ?ycie i twórczo??. [Life and Work] Warszawa - Pozna? 1986, p. 184. 3. The first version of the Concerto No. 2 in D minor was completed in 1862, but in 1870, i.e., not until the Polonaise in A major was completed, Wieniawski had been working on the Concerto and implemented quite a few changes.Publisher: PWM/Towarzystwo Muzyczne im. Henryka Wieniawskiego w PoznaniuSeries: Henryk Wieniawski - Complete WorksCover: softbackNr ISMN: 979-0-2740-0753-9Number of pages: 34 8Format: N4 stoj. 235x305Language version of text: pol., Eng.

Score-Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884 - 1920) was an American composer whose life was tragically cut short by influenza at the age of 35. His Poem For Flute And Orchestra (1919) was one of the last works completed before he became ill and is by far the most popular of his works today. It marks a new direction in his music with a tendency to use a more abstract and complex style in a slight break from the French Impressionism that had come to predominantly influence his work. He remains the prominent American composer from the turn of the last century.

Ludwig Schytte (1848-1909) was a Danish composer and pianist who spent most of his life living and working in Germany and Austria. Born in Jutland he studied with Franz Liszt before settling in Vienna where he taught for twenty years. He wrote around 175 works with opus numbers most of which were published in his lifetime including two operas and a Piano concerto. Most of his compositions were shorter works for the Piano and many of his pedagogical studies are still used today.25 Studies For Piano (25 Leichte Etuden Fur Pianoforte; Op. 160) was published in 1908 making it one of the composer’s last works. It has remained popular withPiano teachers and students for over a century.

One of Mozarts most famous operas and one of his last works Die Zauberflöte (“The Magic Flute”) continues to be performed worldwide each year. From its iconic majestic opening three chords Mozartsoverture is a wonderfulcombination of the sentiment and spirit of the opera that follows. This adaption for strings is classical programming at its very best.

For violin and piano. Commissioned by the 1994 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. One of the composer's last works dating from the same year as his 4th Symphony.

This collection of Sonatas For Piano contains Prokofiev?s Sonatas Nos. 6-9 i.e. Opp. 82 83 84 and 103. The three ?War Sonatas? (Opp. 83-4) were written between 1940 and 1944 while No. 9 was finished in 1947 just after the war. They were among the last works he completed before the infamous Zhdanov Doctrine was implemented which severely restricted his artistic freedom. Serge Prokofiev (1891-1953) was a Ukrainian-born Soviet composer pianist and conductor. He is best remembered for his 1936 children?s theatrical work Peter And The Wolf but he also wrote several operas symphonies ballets and concertos. He was a leading figure in the Neoclassical movement; his dissonant harmonies and virtuosic style frequently shocked audiences and helped establish him as one of the foremost composers of his generation.

Par KRZANOWSKI ANDRZEJ. Relief VII (1988) is a composition in which we can hear echoes of phrases contained in Programme no. 6 and Relief IV. This time they are evoked by tubular bells in secundal-tritonal motifs and, in general, by other percussion instruments. The accordion part is dominated by the narrative of unrestrained repetition, often based on broken ninth structures, ending with four silent, recurrent harmonic turns (as if cadenzas) and a final, slightly ‘truncated tonic.’ The tempo Lento appasionato e lontano may indicate a quest for a new, distant, and, at the same time, judging by the rhythmic notation, quite difficult and demanding path. It is one of Andrzej Krzanowski’s last works. Its premiere took place on 15 August 1988 in Darmstadt as part of the International Summer Courses for New Music; the composer performed the accordion part while Chris Brannick played the percussion. Fragment of preface Grazyna Krzanowska translated by Zaneta Pniewska. / Date parution : 2022-11-08/ Recueil / Accordéon et Percussion

Par PERGOLESI GIOVANNI BATTISTA. Shortly before his death, Giovanni Pergolesi moved to the Franciscan monastery in Pozzuoli, where he composed his last works. Among these is his Stabat mater - based on the medieval Latin poem. The piece reveals the infusion into church composition of the operatic style. Pergolesi's Stabat mater features a lively declamation of the text and great melodic appeal and expressiveness. Underlying everything is the contrapuntal background that was expected in music composed for the church at this time. This is is the full score of the original version, which was written for Soprano and Alto Solos and small String Ensemble. / Musique religieuse / Répertoire / Choeur