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Jan Maklakiewicz was born on November 24, 1899 at Chojnata in the Mazowsze region of Poland; he died on February 7, 1954
in Warsaw. Maklakiewicz was a composer, conductor, teacher, critic and publicist. After initial studies with his father,
a country organist, he went to Warsaw to study, first at the Chopin Music School with Biernacki (harmony),
Szopski (counterpoint) and Binental (violin) and later at the Conservatory of Music (1922-25) with Statkowski
(composition). In the years 1926-27 he completed his composer's studies at the Ecole Normale de Musique in
Paris under Paul Dukas. After his return to Poland he became engaged in composition and was also active as
an organizer of musical events, having founded a number of choral ensembles. He was also engaged in teaching,
as well as in musical journalism. In the years 1927-29 at the conservatory in Łódz he was in charge of the
school choir and lectured on theory of music. From 1929 until his death he was a teacher at the Conservatory
in Warsaw. In 1932 he was appointed organist of the Holly Cross, Warsaw, where he also worked as a choirmaster
and music critic. After the Second World War, as a musical publicist he contributed reviews and articles to
some newspapers and magazines, such as "Daily Morning," "Music," "Choir" and "Polish Daily." In the years 1945-47 he was director of the State Philharmonic in Cracow and then, from
1947-48, he occupied the same position in Warsaw, also lecturing on composition and instrumentation at the
State Higher School of Music. He wrote a great deal of church music in the 1930s and a number of mass songs after
the war. Many of his works are based on folk themes.
Maklakiewicz received the State Music Award in 1932 for his Cello Concerto, the First Prize at the Kronenberg
Competition in 1933 for his violin Concerto No. 1 and - posthumously - the Officer's Cross of the Order of
Poland's Revival (Polonia Restituta).
LIST OF WORKS
Orchestral Works and Concertos
Symphonic Variations - 1922
Concerto, for cello and orchestra on Gregorian themes - 1930
Violin Concerto No. 1 - 1930
Symphonic Tango, for orchestra - 1931
Concert Overture - 1939
Grunwald, symphonic poem - 1939-44
Prague Overture - 1947
Grand Waltz and Polka from Lowicz, from Ballet Suite The Golden Duck, arranged for wind orchestra by A. Sikorski - 1950
Violin Concerto No. 2 "Mountaineers" - 1952
Chamber Music
Hucul's Suite, violin and piano - 1927
Triptych , for cello and piano - 1927
Vocal-Instrumental Music
Les Vierges Aux Crepuscules , for 2 mezzo-sopranos, flute, viola and harp - 1927
Symphony No. 2 "Holy Lord", for baritone solo, mixed choir and orchestra - 1927
Concertino quasi una Fantasia, for piano, mezzo-soprano and orchestra - 1929
Four Japanese Songs for soprano and orchestra - 1929
Song of our Daily Bread, symphonic poem for mixed choir and orchestra - 1931
Polish Mass, for mixed choir, soprano or tenor solo and organ - 1944
Four Songs Op.5, for high voice and orchestra - 1946
Madonnas, five songs for soprano and orchestra - 1947
Silesia Works and Sings, folk suite for tenor solo, men's, women's and mixed choir with orchestra or piano - 1948
- Up with Poland
- The Boys Returned from the War
- The Haymakers
- On a green Meadow
- Silesian Dances
Suite from Łowicz for soprano solo, mixed choir and orchestra - 1948
- March
- On the Rustic Fife
- Sophie
- Cradle Song
- The Wedding
Zabrze, cantata for 4-part men's or mixed choir and symphony orchestra - 1949
Vocal-Instrumental Music (undated works)
Christmas Carols, for mixed choir with the accompaniment of an organ
- After the Star - words by S. Mlodozeniec
- When Christ is Born
- Our Lady
- He is lying in the Manger
- Bow to Jesus - words by B.S. Kossuth
- God is Born
- The Virgin Mary's Cradle Song
- At our Lord's Nativity
- Hushaby, Little Jesus
- The Star is shining above the Stable - words by B.S. Kossuth
- Little Jesus
- Our Lady lulled her Son - words by H. Jarowicz
- People's Hearts Rejoice - words by H. Jarowicz
Elegy after Roman Statkowski's Death, for 4-part mixed choir and organ
Our Lady, song from the 17th centuryfor mixed or 4-part men's choir and organ
Choral Music a capella
Five Folk Songs, for mixed choir - 1929
- Little Bell - folk tune from the Poznan region, after L. Schiller
- Persuasions - as above
- With a Pipe and a Drum - as above
- I had a Lass - tune from the Kurpie region
- The little Geese were flying - tune from the Kurpie region, dedicated to S. Wiechowicz
The little Geese were flying , tune from the Kurpie region for mixed choir - 1929
Three Strings, for 4-part men's choir - 1935
Cradle Song, for 4-part men's choir (two different versions) - 1946
Zabrze, for mixed choir - 1949
Choral Music a Capella (undated works)
Christmas Carols, for choir
Harnas from the Beskid Mountains for mixed choir, to the words by J. Reimschussel
Kashubian Bugle - Call, for 3-part mixed choir, to the words by H. Parysiewicz
Song of the Polish Sea, for mixed choir, to the words by A. Boguslawski
Two Winds , for mixed choir, to the words by J. Tuwim
Songs for Voice and Piano
Du bist wie Blume, song op.23, to the words by H. Heine - 1928
Song of the Mayor's Daughter, for op.21, to the words by J. Kasprowicz - 1928
Cradle Song (there is also an arrangement for voice and mandolin by E. Ciuksza) - 1946
Stage Works
Cagliostro in Warsaw, ballet in 3 scenes - 1938
The Golden Duck, ballet in 5 scenes - 1950
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Copyright 1999-2001 by the Polish Music
Center
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Edited in July 2000 by Ewa Grzegrzulka. Updated on 28 June 2001. |
