Alfons SZCZERBIŃSKI (1858-1895)
Complete Piano Works 1
4 Chansons sans Paroles Op.3 [9:16]
2 Chansons sans Paroles Op.5 [7:52]
4 Chansons sans Paroles Op.12 [10:43]
4 Chansons sans Paroles Op.14 [8:56]
Chanson sans Paroles Op.36 [2:23]
Chanson sans Paroles in D minor [1:42]
Andante cantabile [5:55]
3 Valses Op.17 [12:18]
Mazurka [2:21]
Giorgio Koukl (piano)
rec. 2021, Studio Bottega del pianoforte, Lugano, Switzerland
GRAND PIANO GP876 [62:04]
Alfons Szczerbiński was born in the town of Gostyń in Western Poland, which at that time of his birth in 1858 was under German control. His first tuition was with an organist in nearby Śrem and his early life was spent composing and generally involving himself in the musical life of the city. It was not until after the death of his father in 1877 that he ventured further afield, moving to Berlin where he so impressed the director of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, none other than Josef Joachim, that he gained a larger than usual scholarship to study there under Edward Grell (1800-1886) and Waldemar Bargiel (1828-1897). He completed his studies in 1883 and returned to Poland where he taught and composed before heading off to Kraków where money problems and dissatisfaction with his compositional and performing career led him to consider a religious position. Any ambitions in that regard were thwarted by his death in 1895 from fume inhalation due to a faulty heater.
His output may have been large but not a great deal survived the first world war; it seems that his family, and in particular his niece, the pianist Maria Szczerbińska, managed to save some 65 works (all but 13 in manuscript) and these are now housed at the Święta Góra oratory near his birthplace. The bulk of these are for the piano and this CD is the first in a complete collection of his works for that instrument. All are first recordings and it is fair to say that all are well written and attractive works, though there is nothing here to demonstrate what Joachim could have meant by Szczerbiński having the potential to be the next Beethoven as the booklet suggests. No dates are known for these works but they appear to be have been written in the final decade or so of his life and display no particular stylistic development; they are all very similar and it is only the opus numbers that suggest any chronology. 16 out of 21 of these works fall under the generic title Chansons sans paroles and Szczerbiński wrote at least two more sets with this title. Was he influenced by Mendelssohn's Lieder ohne Worte? For me Mendelssohn is certainly the strongest influence here with Schumann making an appearance in the op.5 set and Chopin in the three Valses op.17 and mazurka. The op.3 Chansons sans paroles are typical, opening with an intense piece whose agitated mood stems from stubbornly repeated left hand notes beneath a rising and falling melody, a melody that closely resembles that of his op.14 no.1. Triplets provide a gently vibrant accompaniment to the melody of the second piece which, like many of these pieces has more drama at its heart. The syncopations of the third reminded me of Mendelssohn's op.38 no.2 though they accompany a melody that could have been written by Tchaikowsky and the flowing melody of the fourth with its constant rolling figuration could be a much slower echo of Mendelssohn's familiar Spinning Song from op.67. Other sets include a brisk funeral march and an old minuet as well as what is for me the highlight of the CD, the beautiful andante cantabile op.14 no.2 with its elegiac tones and melancholy expressed through very Mendelssohnian suspensions. Of the three Valses op.17 it is the second that has the most interesting harmony, a descending chromatic bass accompanying a melancholy theme, though overall the depth and subtlety of Chopin's harmonic language is absent here and they have a generic mid 19th century feel to them. The third is perhaps the most unlike the rest of the pieces here with a bright Italianate lilt to its main theme. Closest in character to Chopin is the closing piece, a mazurka that would fit very nicely alongside a selection of Chopin's originals. After Chopin it is only Szymanowski's Mazurkas that have gained recognition but there are some beautiful examples from the second half of the 19th century and later that deserve an outing; examples by Ignaz Friedman, Eugene Pankiewicz and Aleksander Michałowski spring to mind to and this little piece of Szczerbiński's could join them.
Once again it is nice to hear a forgotten voice from the world post-Chopin, Mendelssohn and the like and though nothing here breaks any new ground it is pleasant listening; it is an album to dip into rather than taking in all at once and Giorgi Koukl plays very competently, making a good case for these pieces though I miss that final spark that could have lit up these miniatures. Nonetheless I am looking forward to hearing the next instalments in this series.
Rob Challinor
Previous review: Steve Arloff
