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Stanislaw Szczepanowski is reputed to
have published a considerable number of compositions for the guitar with the
English publisher Robert Cocks. They are only known by literary reference. The
only composition found so far, dedicated to Giulio Regondi, is the present Introduction
et Variations Brillantes Sur un Air National, the air being the Polish
National Anthem.
The second piece in this volume, titled Une Larme, (A Tear), was
published in the Illustrirte Zeitung in 1852, as a transcription for solo
piano, from an original for cello. While we do not know this for a fact, it is
entirely plausible that Szczepanowski would have transcribed the same piece also
for guitar. The present transcription is therefore a speculative reconstruction
of what this evocative example of mid-nineteenth century romanticism would have
sounded like, had the composer himself transcribed it for his main instrument—the
guitar.
Stanislaw
Szczepanowski was born on December 15, 1812 in Naglowice near Krakow. He took
part in the failed 1831 uprising against the Russian Czar and with a group of
other Polish army officers, emigrated to England. He later went to Edinburgh,
where he began his guitar studies with the Polish master Felix Horecki. Later,
he studied guitar and composition with Fernando Sor in Paris. Szczepanowski gave
his first public concert in 1839, launching an illustrious concert career all
over Europe. He was a close friend and associate of Chopin, Habeneck, and
Kalkbrenner. One remarkable aspect of his concert activity was his mastery of
the violoncello. He used to play both instruments in his concerts, with much
acclaim by the leading critics of the time. According to Szczepanowski’s
grand-nephew, his famous uncle was active as a secret agent for Polish
underground patriotic organizations, and used his concert tours as a cover. He
went to live in Lvov in 1852, where he died in 1877. His undercover activities,
or at least his association with the anti-Czarist uprising, did not endear
Szczepanowski to Nikolai Petrovich Makarov who spoke of him harshly in his
memoirs.
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