Piano and chamber works by Jerzy Gablenz (1888-1937)

Abstract

The article is aimed at presenting piano and chamber music written by the forgotten composer of the period of the Young Poland. Born in Cracow to a family with rich music traditions, Jerzy Gablenz learned to play the piano, flute, cello and organ. But his main interest was to write music himself. As early as in his youthful years, he wrote songs and piano miniatures mainly dedicated to Małgorzaa Schoen, his future wife. He graduated from law school, but he also studied composition and theory of music with Władysław Żeleński, Feliks Nowowiejski and Zdzisław Jachimecki. His main occupation was managing the vinegar and mustard factory. Despite that, he found time for writing symphonic, opera, chamber, piano and vocal pieces. His piano works – due to their tunefulness, diversified texture, mysteriousness and ballroom elegance – are unquestionably worth promoting. They include: 4 Small Bagatelles op. 1 no. 1, 4 Improvisations op. 1 no. 3, 3 Improvisations op. 1 no. 4, Intermezzo a la mazurka op. 2, 2 Morceaux op. 3, Two Small Bagatelles op. 8, 2 Skizzen op. 24 Es war niemal…, or Suite op. 35. Gablenz’s chamber works cover: Canzona op. 1 no. 2 for flute and piano, Sonata op. 15 for cello and piano, 5 Waltzes op. 28 for piano 4 hands, Arabesque op. 28 no. 6 for oboe and piano, Trios for three female voices and piano to lyrics by Leopold Staff op. 4 and op. 19. Unfortunately, Gablenz’s tragic death on 11 November 1937 in a plane crash near Piaseczno made the further development of his great talent impossible. I believe that his creative output deserves promoting among music lovers not only in the Dominican Republic and Canada, but first of all in Poland, where some of his works still have not had their premiere performances, despite numerous efforts of Tomasz Gablenz, the composer’s son.