Ewa Chamczyk

Infant prodigies were a common phenomenon in the 19th century. They astonished the audience not only through their impressive abilities, but also the innocent beauty and the youthful grace. The perfect example of this is Apolinary Kątski (1826–1879), a violin virtuoso and a composer, known mainly as the founder of the Institute of Music in Warsaw, who, since he was three, was recognizable in concert halls all over Europe.
According to the author, the early stage of the violinist’s activity requires more attention. The presented article sketches the path of young Apolinary’s life from the moment of his first performance in 1829 to May 1838, when he was granted with the famous recommendation of Niccolò Paganini. It introduced him to numerous concert halls of Europe and positively influenced his further artistic activity. The hereby presented paper makes an attempt to find out the date and place of birth of Kątski in the context of the rich musical activity of his family members. It also shows the first artistic tours of the young virtuoso against the background of his artistically talented siblings: a violinist Karol, pianists Stanisław and Antoni, and a singer Eugenia. The crucial moment are reflections on the stay of the family in Paris and their first performances in the musical centre of Europe as well as contacts of the young violinist with Niccolò Paganini.
The studies on the correspondence of the father of the virtuoso, Grzegorz Kątski, and research on the foreign newspapers let the author reconstruct the life of Apolinary Kątski in the very first stage of his musical activity and place him in the context of infant prodigies of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Apolinary Kątski as an Infant Prodigy

Infant prodigies were a common phenomenon in the 19th century. They astonished the audience not only through their impressive abilities, but also the innocent beauty and the youthful grace. The perfect example of this is Apolinary Kątski (1826–1879), a violin virtuoso and a composer, known mainly as the founder of the Institute of Music in Warsaw, who, since he was three, was recognizable in concert halls all over Europe.
According to the author, the early stage of the violinist’s activity requires more attention. The presented article sketches the path of young Apolinary’s life from the moment of his first performance in 1829 to May 1838, when he was granted with the famous recommendation of Niccolò Paganini. It introduced him to numerous concert halls of Europe and positively influenced his further artistic activity. The hereby presented paper makes an attempt to find out the date and place of birth of Kątski in the context of the rich musical activity of his family members. It also shows the first artistic tours of the young virtuoso against the background of his artisti-cally talented siblings: a violinist Karol, pianists Stanisław and Antoni, and a singer Eugenia. The crucial mo-ment are reflections on the stay of the family in Paris and their first performances in the musical centre of Eu-rope as well as contacts of the young violinist with Niccolò Paganini.
The studies on the correspondence of the father of the virtuoso, Grzegorz Kątski, and research on the foreign newspapers let the author reconstruct the life of Apolinary Kątski in the very first stage of his musical activity and place him in the context of infant prodigies of the 18th and 19th centuries.

The tradition of musical duels harkens back to the days of ancient Greece. One of the earliest examples of musical rivalry is the myth of Marsyas and Apollo, which ends tragically for the satyr. Without doubt, the tournaments of the ancients served as an inspiration for later generations of musicians. In each epoch they took a different form, tailored to the current norms and customs. In the sixteenth century the singing contests of the Meistersingers became extremely popular. With the development of instrumental music in the seventeenth century, duels, in which the main subject of the dispute was the superiority of one of the performers in terms of interpretation and mastery of playing a given instrument, were increasingly growing in importance.

The eighteenth century, in which public concert life flourished and demand for virtuoso instrumentalists consequently grew, brought a genuine boom in musical duels. During that era, musical duels were not only confrontations between individual musicians or their patrons, but also important contributions to the exchange of experiences between artists, the spread of musical novelties and dissemination of the works themselves. Additionally, such ‘battles’ symbolised a confrontation of musical styles, in particular the Italian and the French one.

Jean-Marie Leclair, known as the French Corelli, is considered by many researchers as the founder of the French violin school. Pietro Antonio Locatelli, an heir to the legacy of Arcangelo Corelli, is justifiably considered as the Paganini of the eighteenth century. Despite shared roots in the Italian violin school, their music differs in both form and expression. At first glance, Locatelli’s typically Italian music goes far beyond the previously accepted norms as far as demands placed on the violinists are concerned, whereas Leclair’s French music bears the mark of Antonio Vivaldi’s models set in the latter’s violin concertos. We know that the first confrontation of the violinists took place on 22 December 1728 at Kassel court. Some authors speculate that it was not the only meeting of these two musicians. The surviving accounts suggest that both of them stirred strong emotions among the audiences with their playing.

Despite their enormous importance for the development of violin music, both composers remain underrated. This article briefly outlines the history of musical duels and sheds light on the practice of violin performances in the first half of the eighteenth century. Additionally, I have attempted a comparative analysis of selected violin concerts, namely: Locatelli’s Violin Concerto in G major Op. 3 No. 9 and Violin Concerto in A minor Op. 7 No. 5 by Jean-Marie Leclair. These two come from a similar period in the work of both composers and are close in time of composition to the famous duel.

The London Episode of Apolinary Kątski (1838)

The early artistic career of Apolinary Kątski (1824–1879) was that of an infant prodigy – one of the Wunderkinder who (especially in the 19th century) dazzled audiences with their exceptionally well-developed abilities. The Polish virtuoso, unlike many prodigies, did not disappoint the hopes placed in him, going down in history as a distinguished  violinist, as well as the founder and longtime director of the Institute of Music in Warsaw. In the author’s opinion, the violinist’s early career requires more thorough discussion. The present article outlines the fortunes of the young  Apolinary Kątski in the second half of 1838 – so, directly after his meeting with Niccolò Paganini. This event represented a certain turning point in the development of Kątski’s career. The letter – a peculiar sort of recommendation – drawn up by the Italian virtuoso to rate the young violinist’s playing opened the doors for him to many of Europe’s concert halls and had a favourable effect on his later artistic career. Kątski had the opportunity to see for himself the power of Paganini’s words during his first trip to London, the primary aim of which was to perform before the British Queen, Victoria. The present article describes Kątski’s activities in preparation for this event. It takes up the thread of the reception of the young Kątski’s first performances in the capital of England, as well as his reception by the Polish community resident in London. Beyond this, it discusses the relationship of the Kątski family with journalist and émigré activist Leonard Niedźwiecki, who served as their guide in the salons of the city upon the Thames.
Studies of the correspondence of Leonard Niedźwiecki (with, among others, Eustachy Januszkiewicz, who was active in the Polish émigré community in Paris), as well as preliminary research of the foreign press, have permitted us to recreate Apolinary Kątski’s experiences during his first independent artistic journey to London.

Duels of the Sound: Pietro Antonio Locatelli Versus Jean-Marie Leclair

The tradition of musical duels harkens back to the days of the ancient Greece. One of the earliest examples of a musical rivalry is the myth of Marsyas and Apollo, which ends tragically for the satyr. Without doubt, the battles of the ancients served as an inspiration for the next generations of musicians. In each era, they took a different form, tailored to the prevailing norms and customs. In the 16th century the singing competitions of the Meistersingers became extremely popular, and along with the development of instrumental music in 17th century, duels, in which the main subject-matter of the dispute was the superiority of one of the performers in terms of interpretation and fluidity in playing a given instrument, gained increased importance.