The Crimean Sonnets are an arrangement of eight poems by Adam Mickiewicz in the form of a cantata for choir, orchestra, and soloist. They are a monumental, colourful, and brilliantly inventive masterpiece that invites the listener to embark on a journey to the steppes of Akerman through the two pairs of eyes: of the outstanding poet and the talented composer.
The presented edition of the Crimean Sonnets by Stanisław Moniuszko is the first-ever critical edition of the work with a comprehensive introduction and a commentary. This cantata, one of the most important ones by the father of the Polish national opera, was at the same time perceived as the best one by its author. The premiere of the piece took place at the National Theatre in Warsaw on 16 February 1868 and was received enthusiastically. Then, it was performed several times in the 19th century but lost its popularity over time. Today, it is rarely played although indefinitely worth including in the concert repertoire.
The presented edition contains a 203-page-long score that reflects the basic source and includes elements coming from the contemporary editor. The publication is of an academic nature and has been dedicated to all who are interested in Moniuszko’s life, art, and technique; it brings closer the process of creation as well as the reception of the work, reaching for sources in order to follow the composer’s intention as closely as possible.
- Introduction by: Jolanta Bujas-Poniatowska
- Editor: Jolanta Bujas-Poniatowska
- Series: Moniuszko - Works
- ISMN 979-0-2740-3505-1
- Number of pages: 292
- Cover: hardcover
- No. of edition: 1
- Published: 2024
- Type: score
- Size: N+ (243x324 mm)