(POLISH)

The Violin Concerto No. 2 "Highlander" by Jan Adam Maklakiewicz (1899-1954) was composed in the spring of 1952 during his stay in Zakopane. On April 18-20, 1952, the composer was a member of the jury of "Pierwszy Podhalański Popis Konkursowy Ludowych Muzyk Góralskich" ("First Competition Performance of Highlander Folklore Bands") in Zakopane. This competition was held on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of Karol Szymanowski's death and 24 "muzyki" (Highlander bands/ensembles) participated in it. The composer listened to live Highlander music from the Podhale region and wrote it down himself.

In his Violin Concerto No. 2 "Highlander", Jan Adam Maklakiewicz adopted the classical three-movement concerto structure. Classical tendencies are also evident in the choice of musical forms in the subsequent movements of the cycle. The first movement of the concerto has the sonata-allegro form. The second movement is written in the form of an ABA′ instrumental song (ternary form). The third movement of the concerto has the rondo form, whose structure may be written as follows:

Introduction - A - B - A′ - C - D - A′′, with the section "D" being a reminiscence of the introduction theme of the 1st movement.

The Violin Concerto No. 2 "Highlander" by Jan A. Maklakiewicz, as the subtitle of the work indicates, has a highlander character. In the face of the genesis of the concerto, it is possible to specify the source of the composer's inspiration to the folklore of the Polish Highlanders from the Podhale region. The first theme of the 1st movement of the concerto is based on a quotation of one of the Highlander "nuty" („nuta ozwodna Zakopiańska”). The second theme of the 1st movement, theme of the middle part of the 2nd movement and the theme of the rondo refrain in the 3rd movement are examples where the composer creates his own themes on the model of Highlander "nuty" (melodies). This is evident in terms of: duple meter typical of Highlander music, construction of phrases (five-bar phrases, four-bar phrases), use of the prominent augmented fourth above the tonic which is characteristic of Highlander scale, as well as melodic and rhythmic motifs. When the themes are repeated, the composer presents them in a new variation along the lines of the variability in Highlander "prym" (lead violin part), by adding diverse ornaments and double stops. The composer uses the góralska (Highlander) scale, with an augmented fourth and a diminished seventh tone of the scale. The tritone interval, which occurs in its first tetrachord, is frequently exposed throughout the piece. On several occasions the orchestration of the string quintet is based on the model of the accompaniment of sekund (accompanying violin) and basy (Highlander double bass) in Highlander muzyka (band). The concerto features fragments that can be interpreted as "sound painting", for example through the use of a combination of different harmonics in the solo part, which evokes my association with imitation of pastoral instruments, traditional wooden flutes.

Apart from the above-mentioned features referring to the musical folklore of the Podhale Highlanders, in the concerto one can also hear references to the mountain nature, the Tatra Mountains' elements. For example, in the development of the first movement, the composer's intention was to create the effect of wiatr halny ("halny wind"). Such a term appears in Jan Adam Maklakiewicz's notes to the first draft of the concerto.

The Violin Concerto No. 2 "Highlander" by Jan A. Maklakiewicz was premiered by Stanisław Jarzębski in 1952 during symphonic concerts on 12th and 13th of December at the Łódź Philharmonic. The Łódź Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Tadeusz Wilczak. In 1953 Stanisław Jarzębski also performed the concerto in Gdańsk, Gdynia and Warsaw. In the year of the 25th anniversary of the death of composer Jan A. Maklakiewicz, in 1979, the piece was performed again at the Łódź Philharmonic (with soloist Barbara Trojanowska).

Most recently the Violin Concerto No. 2 "Highlander" was performed by Katarzyna Lassak who made the first-ever recording of this unknown piece with The Polish Radio Orchestra, under the baton of Paweł Kapuła, at The Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of the Polish Radio. She performed this forgotten Polish violin concerto as a soloist at the “Masters of Polish Violin Playing” Festival with The Zielona Góra Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Norbert Twórczyński. In 2022, Katarzyna Lassak presented this concerto in Zakopane. At the concert "Composers’ Inspirations with Highlander Folklore" she presented together with the Lassak „Helios” Family from Zakopane highlander melodies that inspired the composer, and played Violin Concerto No. 2 "Highlander" by J. A. Maklakiewicz as a soloist with the Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw conducted by Michał Klauza. The performance of the composition fell on the 70th anniversary of the work's creation in Zakopane, and a highlander melody, which was quoted in this violin concerto is the "anthem" / "festival song" of the International Festival of Highland Folklore, within which the event was held.

The Violin Concerto No. 2 "Highlander" by Jan A. Maklakiewicz is unpublished. The sheet music materials of the piece are stored in the University of Warsaw Library Archives of Polish Composers, the Orchestral Materials Library of PWM Edition (Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne), the Library of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music (UMFC) in Warsaw.

The author of the information about the composition: Katarzyna Lassak

2022

Katarzyna Lassak – violin

Paweł Kapuła – conductor

Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw

Sound directors: Julita Emanuiłow, Agnieszka Szczepańczyk

The Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of Polish Radio