A Polish saint. Historical-national themes in Franz Liszt’s oratorio ‘St Stanislaus’

• Authors: Ryszard Daniel Golianek
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

PL

Saint Stanislaus, a Polish bishop murdered in 1079 by King Boleslaus the Bold, is the title character of Franz Liszt’s oratorio St Stanislaus. The libretto of St Stanislaus has several authors - the first author was the Cracow man of letters and folklore scholar Lucjan Siemieński, whom Liszt asked to write a text for his oratorio. The libretto, completed in 1869, was translated by Peter Cornelius, who made certain changes to the order of events. Not until 1874 did Liszt set about writing the music for his oratorio in earnest, and that was when he asked Cornelius to revise the libretto. The author’s premature death thwarted that intention, and so Liszt was forced to seek other authors. The version prepared several years later by Karl Erdmann Edler finally met the composer’s expectations. In its final version, the libretto comprises four scenes, which form a logical sequence of events and at the same time serve to emphasise Stanislaus’ spiritual strength and the causative power of his actions. Liszt did riot succeed in setting the whole text of the libretto; the extant material covers only scenes 1 and 4. The musical style of St Stanislaus indicates that the composer drew on various types of musical inspiration and technique. Hence the work is characterised by a certain heterogeneity - a synthetic character that encapsulates a nineteenth-century aesthetics. Nevertheless, the oratorio is undoubtedly one of the most distinctive manifestations of Liszt’s interest in Polish subjects. The presence of quotations from the Polish songs ‘Boże, coś Polskę’ and ‘Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła’ lends the work a distinct national colouring and evokes a mood of solemnity and religious contemplation, as well as the aura of triumph, victory and domination. Such an attitude may be symptomatic of the typically nineteenth-century perception of Poland as a tormented nation deprived of its statehood, which thanks to its valour and resilience will ultimately regain its independence.

Keywords

PL

Liszt; Saint Stanislaus; oratorio; Polish theme; history

• Publisher: Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
• Journal: Interdisciplinary Studies in Musicology
• Year: 2014
• Issue: 13
• Pages: 79-90

Dates

published

2018-10-17

Contributors

author

Ryszard Daniel Golianek

• Polish musicologist, professor at the Department of Musicology of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. His scientific interests are mainly focused on the history and aesthetics of music of the 19th century, with opera being one of the main topics of his research. After graduating musicology (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, 1988) and cello (Musical Academy in Poznań, 1989), he obtained his Ph.D. in musicology (1993), presenting the dissertation on the dramaturgy of Dmitri Shostakovich’s string quartets (published in 1995). In his postdoctoral career he was involved in research projects on programme music (habilitation, 2000) and on the work of Juliusz Zarębski (Jules Zarembsky), 19th century Polish pianist and composer (publications: catalogue of his works, monograph, edition of his newly found works). In the years 2006-2010 he studied Giuseppe Poniatowski’s life and operatic output, and since 2011 he works on the Polish threads in the 19th century European music. Since 1999 he also teaches at the Musical Academy in Łódź, having the post of the visiting professor.