Classical Music | Violin Music

Recorded on 08/23/2017, uploaded on 11/08/2018

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Born in the Russian-occupied Polish city of Lublin, Henryk Wieniawski was a Polish virtuoso violinist and composer. As an eight-year-old prodigy, he was accepted to the acclaimed Paris Conservatoire. Despite living outside the Polish Congress, in the same manner as Chopin, Wieniawski never lost his Polish soul, and always emphasized that he was Polish. He was, however, strongly influenced by French culture and music making, and French audiences adopted him as their own. As a performer, he was often praised for his artistry, brilliance and beautiful singing tone.  The Polonaise de concert, Op. 4, was dedicated to another Polish virtuoso violinist whom Wieniawski admired, Karol Lipiński. Polonaise is a Polish national dance of a majestic character in triple meter. Wieniawski's full-of-fire Polonaise de concert pairs those characteristics with numerous technical challenges for a violinist, such as double stops, harmonics, large leaps, ricochets and staccato, and twists them with beautiful and catchy singing lines. The work, one of his most popular, was written during Wieniawski's youthful years, and it represents the first time he showed independence and maturity as a composer.    Kinga Augustyn

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.