Karol Kurpiński - Clarinet Concerto in B-Flat Major (Kam, Bühl)

Karol Kurpiński - Koncert klarnetowy
Completed in 1823

Clarinet: Sharon Kam
Conductor: Gregor Bühl
Orchestra: ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra

Karol Kurpiński (1785-1857), like Józef Elsner, was a pillar of the pre-uprising musical scene in Poland who is only really remembered as one of Chopin's teachers. While Chopin highly valued Kurpiński's input as a teacher and output as an operatic composer [1], Kurpiński was much more than his place in Chopin's life. Kurpiński's place at the heart of Warsaw's musical life, along with Elsner and Soliva, invigorated a thriving musical scene. Kurpiński conducted, organized, composed, wrote, taught, and propagated cutting edge works in Poland, ensuring the highest possible artistic standards.

Kurpiński was raised near Lwów (Lviv), and moved to Warsaw in 1810, where his talent would be discovered and encouraged by Elsner and Bogusławski [1]. He quickly found himself the second conductor of the National Theater, which would be the epicenter of his musical activities until after the defeat of the November Uprising by the Russian Empire in 1831, which saw a near total end to Kurpiński's musical activity. In 1823, he went on an 8-month trip throughout Europe to absorb as many musical influences as possible [2], a year later he became the director of opera at the National Theatre, bringing that influence eastward to Warsaw.

As a composer, Kurpiński shared many characteristics with Elsner, writing in a de-facto classical style, bringing Polish folklore and dance material into his works, emphasizing opera, and writing some of the first Polish cantatas [3]. While he wrote as a classicist, he had many Romantic aesthetic leanings, specifically toward programmatic music and the use of folk material [4]. Consequently, he wrote the first Polish programmatic symphony whose form, like in Beethoven, questions what a symphony is. Like an early quasi tone-poem, it is in one movement with motivic imagery sprinkled throughout. In spite of his technical classicism, he brought many innovations to Polish music and was among the most published composers in Poland [3].

The most familiar aspect of Kurpiński for musicologists is Kurpiński as pedagogue, but even that picture is focused too sharply on Chopin to capture the fullness of Kurpiński's significance. In addition to Chopin, Kurpiński taught Dobrzyński and Józef Brzowski [3], both of which pushed Polish music further, Dobrzyński serving as a parallel to Chopin and Brzowski as an echo of Berlioz. But, of course, musical pedagogy was severely crippled in Poland after the conservatory's forced closure after the failure of the November Uprising, so Kurpiński's reach as a teacher was also forcibly cut short. But even after the uprising, Kurpiński's Warszawianka retained popularity even as the Russian Empire was swallowed by bolshevism.

[1] J. Miziołek. Teatr Wielki W Warszawie: 250-Lecie Teatru Publicznego w Polsce 1765-2015. Red. E. Sławińska-Dahlig. Warszawa. 2015.
[2] J. Wąsacz-Krztoń. Teatry operowe w Europie na początku XIX stulecia w opinii Karola Kurpińskiego. 2016.
[3] W. Śmiałek. Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński (1807-1867): His Life and Symphonies. Dissertation for Doctor of Philosophy. North Texas State University. Denton, TX. 1981.
[4] B. Bolesławska-Lewandowska. Symphony and symphonic thinking in Polish music after 1956. 2009.