Bolesław Woytowicz - Symphony No. 2 "Warsaw" (Florencio)

Bolesław Woytowicz - II Symphonie „Varsovienne” / Druga Symfonia „Warszawska" 1945 pub. 1958 Conductor: José Maria Florêncio Orchestra: Polish National Radio Symphony 0:00 - I. Sinfonia: Largo - Moderato 17:33 - II. Scherzo: Presto 22:25 - III. Fugue: Andante 33:48 - IV. Finale: Vivo Bolesław Woytowicz (1899-1980) was a highly decorated Polish composer and influential pedagogue. The young Bolesław began his education at the feet of his father and grandfather who were both organists. He later studied at the classical grammar school in Kamieniec while also attending a musical school. He tried his hand at composing, but he settled on studying Philology and Mathematics before pursuing law in Warsaw. While he was there, he did not abandon his growing musical talents, studying piano playing under Aleksander Wielhorski and later under Aleksander Michałowski. In 1920, he began his studies at what is now the Chopin University of Music where he studied with Witold Maliszewski, Felicjan Szopski, and Roman Statkowski. The tension between disparate futures dissipated when his career as a concert pianist took off, carrying him across Europe and to the United States. What seems to be the artist's normal course of winding roads that he or she must travel to earn a living gives plenty of opportunities for the extraordinary. In Woytowicz's case, that road took him to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger, and his opportunity for the extraordinary arrived with the second World War. During the war, Bolesław ran a café in Warsaw called the "Salon of Art (Salon Sztuki)," which became a hub of concert activity and a medium for underground activity among Warsaw's musicians. Woytowicz himself put together concerts to benefit struggling artists. Eventually, he was arrested for four weeks, but that did not deter him from conducting underground activity. After the war, he continued to give concerts. As a pedagogue, he would fill many high posts in music education, serving as rector and giving lectures. Additionally, he served as a juror in many piano competitions, wrote biographies and essays, and he crafted new editions of the works of Beethoven, Debussy, Grieg, Albeniz, and Liszt. Woytowicz was clearly accomplished, but what of his compositions? Like many other composers, World War 2 stole many manuscripts from him, but what is extant also impresses. He spanned the gamut of output ranging from the orchestral to the vocal ensembles. Boulanger trained him well in neoclassicism, but Szymanowski's influence remains at the forefront, especially in his third symphony. Among Woytowicz's output, we find pain, recollection, color, elegance, and a thrilling journey into the dissonant 20th century.