 Méconnu, Konstanty Gorski, polonais de naissance et fervent catholique, passa la plus grande partie de sa vie en Russie, principalement à Kharkiv où il eut un rôle prépondérant dans la vie musicale de la grande cité ukrainienne. Violoniste virtuose – Tchaïkovski le considérait comme le meilleur interprète de son concerto, il eut comme professeur de composition et d’instrumentation Rimski-Korsakov. Il fut aussi un organiste réputé et sa Fantaisie pour orgue en fa mineur est l’une de ses œuvres célèbres. Nous découvrons 12 mélodies (il en a composé une centaine) sur des poèmes polonais du 19e siècle ou des textes anonymes. La traduction anglaise laisse deviner une inspiration très romantique faite de paysages champêtres, de danses de village (mazurka bien sûr), de feuilles d’automne et de langueur amoureuse. Rafal Kobylinski, ténor et homme d’église, et Grzegorz Biegas au piano redonnent vie à ces chants de facture très classique délaissés depuis plus de cent ans et dont seules des oreilles polonaises apprécieront toute la saveur. Note d’accompagnement (polonais et anglais) prolixe sur le compositeur et les interprètes mais muette sur les mélodies ici proposées. (Gérard Martin) Konstanty Gorski was a Polish composer, violinist, organist and music teacher. Gorski began his education in Grodno and continued at the First Philological Gymnasium in Wilno. He obtained his musical education at the Musical Institute in Warsaw and St. Petersburg Conservatory. In 1881 he completed his violin studies with Leopold Auer and then spent the next year studying composition and instrumentation with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. In 1890 he arrived in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov, where he remained for 29 years. During this very active period of his life, he taught at the Kharkov Music Secondary School, co-founded the “Dom Polski” Cultural Society, and was conductor of the Kharkov Symphonic Orchestra and also the Polish and Church Choir, both which he founded. He also remained a very popular violinist, valued by fellow composers, whose works he performed. The changing political environment in the Russian Empire, particularly the October Revolution in 1917, greatly affected Gorski. With the approaching civil war he had no possibility of continuing his work in Kharkov and returned to newly independent Poland with his family. He first he settled in Warsaw, and then moved to Poznan, where he became concertmaster of the Teatr Wielki Opera orchestra, a post he held until his death. His opera Margier was performed there in 1927. He died on 31 May 1924 in Poznan.
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