Vaclav Vilem Würfel, 7 Variations On A Favourite Mazur From The Opera Król Łokietek

Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego

HIRE LIBRARY CATALOG WEBSHOP PBM

Vaclav Vilem Würfel

7 Variations on a Favourite Mazur from the Opera Król Łokietek

for piano

Publisher: PWM Edition

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Cat. no. 12918

7 Variations on a Favourite Mazur from the Opera ‘Król Łokietek’, op. 19 originated in 1818. The composition was created when the opera by Józef Elnser was at the peak of popularity, in the year of its premiere. The variations are based on the melody of the duet sung by Zosia and Salusia, Parobczaki od Połańca [Ploughboys from Połaniec] from the first act, which was favoured in the composer’s lifetime (variations on this theme wrote e.g. Niccolò Paganini). The work belongs to the early brilliant style in music for piano. The theme is notated in the 3/8 metre, which is typical of the notation of Mazurs from the time before Chopin. The variations include virtuosic figurations, and their theme is transformed in various ways. The composition ends with the Polonaise, and in the scheme of the cycle we can see solutions which anticipate phenomena that can be found in a more developed form in the Variations, op. 2 by Fryderyk Chopin.
This edition is based on the first edition of the work (Warszawa, J. Fuss, ca 1820, BN Mus.II.19.209). Small corrections have been made in terms of adding the articulation and dynamics markings resulting from the assumed omissions made in the process of engraving; certain elements of the notation have been modernised as they could be misunderstood by contemporary performers. The pedalisation is entirely taken from the first edition. Fingering is the proposition of the author of the edition. In the entire piece, the composer notates dotted rhythms with the accompaniment of triplets, in accordance with the Classical tradition, assuming that the fourth value should be stroked together with the third note of the triplet, which is present in this edition.

Marek Szlezer
translated by Jolanta Bujas-Poniatowska