Operowy świat ballad Stanisława Moniuszki

Abstract

the first set of Stanislaw Moniuszko’s songs was published in 1838 in Berlin. the nineteen-year composer studied then under Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen. throughout his whole life Moniuszko composed over 300 songs for solo voice and instrument. Among them, there are the most simple ones, dedicated to be performed by amateurs. But there are also many songs, often with the complicated inner formal structure, that may be a challenge even for proffesional musicians. this category of works includes especially Moniuszko’s ballades. they are mainly settings of Adam Mickiewicz’s poetry. the narrative poetic text inspired Moniuszko to seek various forms of musical expression. In his ballades one may recognize some elements from another genre of vocal music, namely opera. there are some excerpts, that are set as recitativo secco or accompaniato. In other places Moniuszko uses fast parlando, most likely inspired by the opera buffa. Lyrical cantilena parts connote opera arias, while the dialogue passages may be viewed as duets. Moniuszko attributed to piano part in his ballades such significance, that it may be considered as an equivalent of an operatic orchestra. the composer also often uses technique of musical painting, which to a certain extent can replace stage scenography.