Antoni Kątski

Souvenir de Cracovie

Souvenir de Cracovie, published circa 1870 with the subtitle Improvisation sur les krakowiak nationaux (an improvisation on the themes of national Krakowiaks), dedicated to Countess Franciszka Komorowska (Madame la Comtesse Françoise de Komorowska) is a very pretty composition which upgrades the folklore to the level of salon music. After several bars of mysterious introduction with little clues of further themes on which the composer would 'improvise' in the piece, there is a direct citation of the melody from a popular song Krakowiaczek jeden ('A Cracovienne had seven horses, he went to war and returned with one'). However, it is not the end of 'playing with Krakowiak' by Kątski. In the work we can also find references to another popular song from Kraków Albośmy to jacy tacy ('We are nothing but boys from Kraków, a red hat, a little horseshoe, a red sukmana'). Both Krakowiaks are arranged in an interesting and challenging way. Souvenir de Cracovie, despite its cheerful character, keeps the listener interested until the culmination, in which both melodies are played simultaneously. The entire work ends with a comparatively calm epilogue, which presents the most important motifs of the composition once again. Kątski's composition is an extremely interesting work in Kraków piano literature. Anna Miernik translated by Jolanta Bujas-Poniatowska.

Softcover.