Różycki, Ludomir

Różycki, Ludomir , Polish composer and pedagogue; b. Warsaw, Nov. 6, 1884; d. Katowice, Jan. 1, 1953. He was a student of his father and Zawirski (piano), and of Noskowski (composition) at the Warsaw Cons., graduating with honors in 1903; then completed his training with Humperdinck in Berlin (1905–08). In 1908 went to Lemberg as conductor at the Opera and as a piano teacher at the Cons. After another Berlin sojourn (1914–20), he went to Warsaw as conductor of the Opera. In 1926 he helped to found the Polish Composers Union and served as its first president. From 1930 to 1945 he was a prof. at the Warsaw Cons., and then from 1945 at the Katowice Cons. He was highly regarded in Poland as a national composer of stature; his style of composition was a successful blend of German, Russian, and Italian ingredients, yet the Polish characteristics were not obscured by the cosmopolitan harmonic and orch. dress.

Works

DRAMATIC: Opera: Boleslaw Śmialy (Boleslaw the Bold; 1908; Lemberg, Feb. 11, 1909); Meduza (1911; Warsaw, Oct. 22, 1912); Eros i Psyche (1916; in German, Breslau, March 10, 1917); Casanova (1922; Warsaw, June 8, 1923); Beatrix Cenci (1926; Warsaw, Jan. 30, 1927); Mlyn diabelski (The Devilish Mill; 1930; Poznań, Feb. 21, 1931). operetta: Lili chce śpiewac (Lile Wants to Sing; 1932; Poznań, March 7, 1933). ballet : Pan Twardowski (1920; Warsaw, May 9, 1921); Apollo i dziewczyna (Apollo and the Maiden; 1937). ORCH.: Stańczyk, symphonic scherzo (1903); symphonic poems: Boleslaw Smialy (1906); Pan Twordowski (1906); Anhelli (1909); Król Koftua (1910); Mona Lisa Gioconda (1911); Pietà (1942); Warszawa wyzwolona (Warsaw Liberated; 1950); 2 piano concertos (1918, 1942); Violin Concerto (1944). CHAMBER: Violin Sonata (1903); Cello Sonata (1906); Piano Quintet (1913); String Quartet (1916); piano pieces. VOCAL: Choral music; song cycles.

Bibliography

A. Wieniawski, L. R. (Warsaw, 1928); M. Kaminski, L. R. (Katowice, 1951); J. Kanski, L. R. (Krakow, 1955).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire