Władysław Żeleński
Władysław Żeleński was born on July 6th, 1837 near Kraków in the village of Grodkowice. Żeleński moved to Kraków with his mother and siblings after his father was killed during the Galician massacre. His musical education consists of piano lessons under Kazimierz Wojciechowski and Jan Germasz in Kraków and composition under Franciszek Mirecki. During university, Żeleński studied piano with Alexander Dreyschock while enrolled at the Department of Philosophy at Jagiellonian University (Kraków) and later organ and composition with Josef Krejãi in Prague. In 1886, Żeleński studied composition with Napoléon Henri Reber at the Paris National Music Conservatoire and from 1868-70, he was a private student of Bertold Damcke.
In 1871, Żeleński returned to Kraków and arranged the first performance of his compositions. Later, he accepted a position at the Institute of Music in Warsaw, where he taught harmony and counterpoint. Żeleński’s music is representative of neoromanticism in Polish music and while he was highly productive composing chamber music, he wrote over 100 songs to the words of Bohdan Zaleski, Adam Mickiewicz, Teofil Lenartowicz, Mikolaj Boloz, Narcyza Zmichowska, and others.
Żeleński was essential to the establishment of the Conservatory of the Kraków Music Society, which emerged in 1887. At the conservatory, of which he managed until his death, Żeleński taught courses on organ and music theory. Some of his most notable students include Henryk Opieński, Zygmunt Stojowski, and Bolesław Wallek-Walewski.
Żeleński was the father of writer and translator Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński, who became a prominent figure in the Młoda Polska movement of the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Władysław Żeleński died in Kraków on January 23rd, 1921.
Works featured in our catalog include:
| Title of Work | Poet | Title of Work | Poet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powrót piosenki | Adam Asnyk | Pan Jezus chodzi po świecie | Adam Asnyk |
| Siedzi ptaszek na drzewie | Adam Asnyk | Mój kwiatek | Mikołaj Bołoz Antoniewicz |
| Posyłka | Mikołaj Bołoz Antoniewicz | Róża dzika | Karol Kucz |
| Niepewność | Adam Mickiewicz | Na śnieżnym krzaku choiny | Teresa Wodzicka |
| Robaczek kochał się w roży | Teresa Wodzicka | Złota rybka | Jan Zacharjasiewicz |
| Brzozy | Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer | Wierzba | Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer |