Who was Apolinary Szeluto?
Born in Leningrad, he studied at the Faculty of Law in Warsaw
from 1902 to 1905 whilst having composition lessons from
Zygmunt Noskowski at the State Conservatory. After three
years of piano study with Leopold Godowski he completed his
law studies and worked in the Russian legal system from 1911
to 1918. After the outbreak of the Revolution he was appointed
Chairman of the Revolutionary Committee and following his
return to Poland he was head of a department in the Ministry
of Justice from 1923 to 1938. During the Nazi occupation
of Poland he wrote 14 Symphonies and became a baker and street
trader. After the war he wrote another 3 Symphonies, a Piano
Concerto and retired as a District Court Judge to devote
himself entirely to composition and performance. In 1948
he proposed a reform of the spelling of the Polish language
making it easier for all classes.
His
output is quite large and includes seventeen symphonies,
seven operas and a ballet as well as other orchestral works and
chamber
music.
The
Cello
Sonata is a pleasing, if somewhat old-fashioned, and
not particularly inspired, work – it could have been written
at any time during the previous 40 years. It reeks of undiluted
Brahms, and there’s more than a hint of Richard Strauss’s
Sonata for
the same instrument. By this I don’t mean that it is influenced
by Brahms; I mean that it could have been written by him,
only the occasional turn of phrase or harmony show that
it wasn’t the German master. Wróbel
plays it as if giving the Brahms sonatas and gives a bold
and romantic reading to the work. This makes me wonder
if he is actually doing a disservice to the piece. A little
less intensity might show it to be a more approachable
and enjoyable work. The material really cannot stand this
kind of hot-house performance.
It’s
interesting that Busoni wrote that Szeluto’s work indicated
a “… great creative talent, with extremely individual nature” and
Fritz Kreisler said that “His compositions are completely
different from everything else.” I have to admit to being
rather confused by these statements for neither seems at
all possible for although the other two works on this disk
are much more mature and display a surer compositional hand,
I don’t feel a really individual voice at work. Both are
well written and are in a rich and very romantic style but
they don’t really go anywhere or say anything which grabs
my attention. Although the notes claim that they are Polish
in spirit they seem much more comfortably German late-romantic.
There are none of the folk influences which make Szymanowski’s
later works so exciting and vital. In fact I would point
to Reger as being the spirit behind these works, except that
that composer is always alive to his invention. This music
never takes flight.
The
performances sound to be very spontaneous and the musicians
make the most of the music. They obviously have faith in
it, but no amount of advocacy can infuse life into something
which seems to be, basically, dull. The recording is superb
and the notes fascinating and although it’s interesting to
discover a new voice from a period which is well known to
us, I cannot see how repeated hearings of this music could
bring about further investigation of this composer. Perhaps
his orchestral music is brilliant, but we may never know.
Bob Briggs