Felix Nowowiejski – Organ Pieces op. 9
(36 pages, 15 €)
Felix Nowowiejski (1877-1946) was known in Europe in the first half of the 20th century as a composer, organist and conductor. His extensive work included all musical genres of his time: vocal works (operas, oratorios, cantatas, masses, solo songs) as well as symphonic works (symphonies, overtures, symphonic poems, solo concertos), piano and chamber music. As a composer, he achieved international recognition with his early oratorio Quo vadis op. 30 (1907-1909) based on the novel by the Polish Nobel Prize winner for literature Henryk Sienkiewicz, which was performed over 200 times worldwide.
Felix Nowowiejski was considered the 'Chopin of the organ'; concerts with organ improvisations made him famous in Poland, Germany, England and France. His organ works include above all the Nine Organ Symphonies op. 45, which he later described as his 'musical testament'. He also wrote Four Concertos for Organ Solo op. 56, the Symphonic Fantasy In Paradisum op. 61 and numerous individual organ pieces.
Most of the organ pieces op. 9 were written in 1936 and 1937 in Poznań, where Nowowiejski worked as a university lecturer and director of the local concert society. They are all based on chorales, either on Gregorian melodies or Polish hymns. The first two pieces, on the other hand, are of earlier origin: The Fantasy Polonaise with the subtitle Minuit de Noël dans la Cathédrale au Wawel de Cracowie was written before the First World War and was published by Gebethner & Wolff in Warsaw.
The short Fantasy Róze Sw. Teresy (Roses of Saint Theresa) on a song that is still known in Poland today was written around the same time, probably in connection with his sixth organ symphony, in which Nowowiejski quotes this hymn in the first movement. As a motto, Nowowiejski prefaced this piece with the words of Saint Theresa of Lisieux Je veux passer mon ciel à faire du bien sur la terre ('I will spend my time in heaven doing good on earth').
The organ pieces No. 3 Preludium na temat Kyrie z mszy XI (Prelude on the Kyrie of Mass XI) and No. 4 Wstęp do Choralu Witaj Królowo (Choral Prelude on Salve Regina) were composed by Nowowiejski in 1936 for a composition competition in Warsaw, where they won prizes and were published together in 1937.
The last two organ pieces in this collection, op. 9 No. 7 Wstęp do Sekwencji Victimae paschali laudes and No. 8 Wstęp do Hymnu Veni Creator Spiritus, were also written in 1937 in Poznań. Like the other organ pieces op. 9, they impress with their imaginative, original use of Gregorian melodies and Nowowiejski's always interesting 'narrative art'.
(Dr. Rudolf Innig)