Ignacy Feliks Dobrzynski

Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński was a Polish pianist and composer. He was the son of Ignacy Dobrzyński, the brother of Edward Dobrzyński, and the father of Bronisław Dobrzyński. He attended a Jesuit school in Romanów, then continued his education at Vinnitsa, where he graduated from the Podole Gymnasium. He first studied music with his father Ignacy, a violinist, composer and music director. Beginning in 1825 he studied in Warsaw with Józef Elsner, at first privately, then in 1826–28 at the Warsaw Conservatory, where he was a classmate of Frédéric Chopin. In 1835, he won second prize in a composition competition for his Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 15. This symphony was later called "Symphony in the Characteristic Spirit of Polish Music" and movements were conducted by Felix Mendelssohn. In 1845 Dobrzyński toured Germany as a soloist and also conducted operas and concerts. In 1857 he founded "Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński's Polish Orchestra", which comprised leading members of the orchestra of Warsaw's Grand Theatre. In 1858–60 he participated in a committee established to found a Music Institute. He also became a member of the Lwów Music Society. He died in Warsaw on 9 October 1867, at the age of 60. His compositions included an opera, Monbar czyli Flibustierowie (Monbar, or the Filibusters), Op. 30, 1836-8; incidental music for performances of Victor Hugo's Les Burgraves, Op. 70, 1860; a cantata (Op. 44) for soprano, mixed choir and orchestra; symphonies (Op. 11 (1829), and Op. 15 in C minor (1831)); an orchestral fantasia; a piano concerto, Op. 2, 1824, and a Rondo à la Polacca, Op. 6 for piano and orchestra (ca. 1827); chamber music, most notably a sextet for two violins, viola, two cellos and double bass in E♭, Op. 39; three string quartets (Op. 7 in E minor, Op. 8 in D minor and Op. 13 in E); a piano trio (Op. 17); Duo for Clarinet and Piano (composed in the mid 1840s), Op. 47; and two string quintets (in F major, Op. 20; in A minor, Op. 40); Fantasies for violin and orchestra (Op. 32, ca. 1839) and for trumpet and orchestra (Op. 35), among other concerted works. He was also a prolific composer of songs, choruses, and piano pieces. He was influenced by Polish folk music, classical and romantic styles, and patriotic themes. He was regarded as one of the most prominent Polish composers of his time, along with Chopin, Moniuszko, and Kurpiński.