Karol Lipi?ski - music scores

As part of the "Musical Traces" programme of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in Poland, the Artus Court Cultural Centre, in partnership with the Toru? Symphony Orchestra and University of Nicolaus Copernicus, has published the musical scores of four works, hitherto unavailable in print, by the outstanding Polish violinist and composer Karol Lipi?ski: Fantasy and variations op. 33 based on motifs from the opera ‘Krakowiacy i górale’ by J. Stefani and three Polonaises op. 9: No. 1 in A major, No. 2 in E minor, No. 3 in D major. The editorial team working on the scores included such eminent Polish violinists as Professor Konstanty Andrzej Kulka, Professor Andrzej Wróbel (also known as a foremost propagator of Polish music) and Piotr Wróbel. The publication will be available free of charge in both physical and electronic versions.

Karol Lipi?ski was one of the most outstanding violin virtuosos of the first half of the 19th century on a par with Niccolò Paganini, who was his friend. Strangely, however, his music sank into oblivion, despite the fact that he is known in the music circles as “Poland's Paganini". Many critics believe that Lipi?ski performer better than his Italian counterpart. Works for violin by Karol Lipi?ski are a model example of nineteenth-century Polish Romantic music composed for violin virtuosos.

Chopin's Polonaises are well known and performed all over the world, Wieniawski's Polonaises and other virtuoso violin works are also internationally renowned, but Lipi?ski's work remains completely unknown outside Poland. Even so, even in Poland performances and recordings of his compositions are a rarity, which is mainly due to the lack of publications presenting his works. Until now, one could only rely on the scores published by Lipi?ski himself in the 19th century, which could only be found on the Internet or in the national libraries of Paris, Vienna or Berlin. The National Library in Warsaw holds only a fraction of Lipi?ski's works and, as it happens, parts of a single piece of his music can be found in library collections of different countries.

The scores published by these two cultural institutions of the city of Toru? are addressed to students and graduates of music schools, to all violinists in Poland and abroad. These musical pieces present hitherto unknown musical material of supreme quality and now become available to all musicians, in particular to violinists and accompanying pianists.

It is worth mentioning that the works included in the publlication will form part of the mandatory programme of the Karol Lipi?ski International Violin Competition in Toru?, whose fifth edition is planned for 2019. All aspiring young violin virtuosos, their teachers and music lovers will be able to access these materials and discover the unique character of these compositions, which will make it possible for Lipi?ski's music to become widely known and present on stages around the world.

Information about the publication can be found on the website: www.tos.art.pl, www.violintorun.tos.art.pl, www.artus.torun.pl

The files can be downloaded here:
Karol Lipi?ski – 3 Polonaises Op. 9,  Fantasy on themes from ‘Krakowiacy i górale’ by Stefani, for violin and piano – VIOLINO