Abstract

Under the spell of classical forms: about Władysław Żeleński’s instrumental music In this essay I examine the artistic attitude and compositional legacy of Władysław Żeleński (1837–1921), focusing on his instrumental compositions. Zdzisław Jachimecki, as the author of a monograph about the composer, expressed negative opinions on that allegedly conservative and academic output many years ago. It seems, however, that the temperament of a musical critic inherent in Jachimecki took precedence over his scientific reliability. His rash judgments about Żeleński’s works were not supported by thorough research. At the same time, they ignored the wider historical and ideological context, removing from the field of reflection such related parallel phenomena as, for example, the musical aesthetics of Camille Saint-Saëns. In the further part of my essay, I discuss Żeleński’s conscious affirmation of a conservative attitude and stylistic eclecticism. These distinctive artistic gestures allow me to place Żeleński in the Polish positivist trend. The composer, as an adherent of the so-called progressive conservatism, struggled with the cultural backwardness of local music education, undertook a fight to revive sluggish concert activities, to enrich unambitious repertoires with valuable works and to raise the level of musical performances. Nevertheless, Żeleński was and remained an openminded conservative, devoid of all prejudices. He followed with great interest the new phenomena in his contemporary musical culture, so alien to his convictions and tastes. After all, he included musical examples from Wagner’s works in his textbooks of composition. Paradoxically, it was Żeleński ‘the conservative’ who was one of the few Poles present at the historic inauguration of the Wagner festivals in Bayreuth (13 August 1876). I am trying to show that the respect manifested by the composer for conservative principles and classical forms pushed him – after all – towards creative experiments. It is especially about using the potential of variation procedures as a form-creating factor. In my opinion, variability should be considered the key Żeleński’s idée fixe, which is visible especially in his mature and late instrumental compositions. In support of this thesis, I give a few musical examples taken from the following instrumental works: Two pieces for violin and piano Op. 29 (Romance and Danse fantastique, 1877) Piano Concerto in E flat major, Op. 60 (1903), Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 61 (1909). In conclusion, I present a hypothesis that the most mature Żeleński’s instrumental works (it is possible that as a result of his personal fascination with the compositional legacy of Johannes Brahms) have values that have not been noticed so far. They turn out to be attractive as an intellectual construct, and as an evidence that the ‘progressive conservative’ made his experiments with musical forms.