Stojowski, Sigismund

Preface

Sigismund Stojowski
(b. Strzelce, 14 May 1869 – d. New York, 5 November 1946)

Symphonie in d- Moll für grosses Orchester Op. 21 (1898)

Andante mesto p.3
Andante p.60
Scherzo: Molto vivace p.76
Finale: Allegro con fuoco, ma non vivace p.115

Preface
Sigismund Stojowski is a Polish composer, pianist, and teacher. He began playing the piano at a young age, taking lessons from his mother before studying with Wladyslaw Żeleński and Ignacy Jan Paderewski in Kraków. He then attended the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied piano with Louis Diémer and composition with Léo Delibes. He became widely known for his talent as a concert pianist and performed successful concerts in Paris, London, Brussels, and Berlin. In 1905, Stojowski moved to the United States to head the piano department at the New York Institute of Musical Art, the predecessor to The Juilliard School. Stojowski was the first Polish composer to have an entire program of his works programmed by the New York Philharmonic, but his productivity as a composer diminished as he settled in America and his priorities shifted to teaching and performing. He left NYIMA in 1911, and eventually opened up a very successful studio of private students. Stojowski enjoyed a great career as a pianist and performed with many of the major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, the Boston Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Cincinnati Symphony under Leopold Stokowski.cA late Romantic composer, Stojowski’s music was rich, lyrical, and elegant. His major influences include Wagner, Saint-Saëns, and Franck. A proud Pole, Stojowski’s music frequently included strong hints of the Polish national color. He initially enjoyed great success as a composer, winning national competitions and even premiering his cantata Spring at Buckingham Palace for Queen Victoria. His later works blended romanticism with French impressionism, but Stojowski was an open critic of modern music and refused to abandon his romantic style entirely. Unfortunately, as his audience’s taste developed and the musical world evolved, his music fell out of favor. Stojowski has been largely forgotten as a composer and is best remembered as a teacher and pianist.

While his popularity has since faded, Stojowskicwas the first Polish symphonist to achieve larger success in Europe. He composed the symphony in 1898, dedicating it to his mentor Paderewski, and entered it in that year’s Paderewski Competition in Leipzig. The symphony won first prize and was performed in the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra’s inaugural concert on November 5, 1901. The symphony was first performed in America in 1915 as part of the New York Philharmonic’s all-Stojowski program, alongside the Concerto in D Minor for Violoncello and the Second Piano Concerto.

While Stojowski did not write the symphony with a program in mind, he included the quote “to be or not to be” on its title page. In addition to serving as the symphony’s anonymous identification code for the Paderewski competition, it might have also served as its motto. The symphony begins with bass clarinet quietly and mysteriously reflecting before the movement falls into turmoil between lightness and darkness, or, “to be or not to be.” The second movement is slow and tender, with two interruptions from the horns introducing a new theme. The third movement is the most notable of the symphony and was frequently performed alone on concerts conducted by Nikisch and Młynarski. From a mystical texture of runs and tremolos, the theme from the first movement emerges and is passed around the orchestra, this time in a more subdued state. The final movement is noble and proud, featuring Polish characteristics and the theme introduced by the horns in the second movement. Although Stojowski is largely forgotten today, the symphony is a quiet gem of the Polish literature.

Mallory Sajewski, 2015

For performance material please contact Peters, Mainz. Reprint of a copy from the Musikbibliothek der Münchner Stadtbibliothek, Munich.