Polish songs (Chopin)

Although Frédéric Chopin is best known for his works for piano solo, among his output are a number of songs for voice and piano, set to Polish texts.

Background

Chopin wrote these songs at various times, from perhaps as early as 1827 when he was 17, to 1847, two years before his death. Only two of them were published in his lifetime (Życzenie and Wojak were published in Kiev in 1837 and 1839 respectively).

In 1857 the 17 then known songs were collected for publication by Julian Fontana as Op. 74, but they were not arranged in chronological order of composition within that opus. Due to censorship restrictions, he was only able to publish 16 of them initially. These appeared in Warsaw as Zbiór spiewów polskich Fryderyka Chopina (A Collection of Polish Songs by Frédéric Chopin), published by Gebethner & Wolff; and in Berlin as 16 Polnische Lieder, published by A M Schlesinger. The 17th song, Śpiew z mogiłki (Hymn from the Tomb) was published separately in Berlin with a French title, Chant du tombeau.

A further two songs were published in 1910. Some references now include all 19 published songs in Op. 74.

Chopin is known to have written a number of other songs that are now lost. Some extant songs have been attributed to Chopin but are now considered spurious or doubtful.

Texts

All but one of the texts of the Chopin songs were original poems by his Polish contemporaries, most of whom he was personally acquainted with. The sole exception is the Piosnka litewska, which was set to a Polish translation by Ludwik Osiński of a Lithuanian song.

Ten of them are by a friend of Chopin’s family, Stefan Witwicki, from his Piosnki Sielskie (Idylls, 1830). (Chopin also dedicated his Mazurkas, Op. 41, to Witwicki.) Three were by Józef Bohdan Zaleski. Two were by Adam Mickiewicz. Wincenty Pol's revolutionary Songs of Janusz (1836) inspired Chopin to write up to a dozen songs, but only one survives. Zygmunt Krasiński, a rival with Chopin for the affections of Delfina Potocka, was another poet who inspired Chopin to write a song.

The songs have been translated into over a dozen languages, but they are most effective in their original Polish. Various English titles have been applied to some of the songs.

Recordings

Those who have recorded the 17 songs of Op. 74, or all 19 known songs, include:

• Elisabeth Söderström with Vladimir Ashkenazy
• Leyla Gencer with Nikita Magaloff
• Stefania Toczyska with Janusz Olejniczak
• Teresa Żylis-Gara with Halina Czerny-Stefańska
• Eugenia Zareska with Giorgio Favaretto
• Stefania Woytowicz and Andrzej Bachleda with Wanda Klimowicz
• Françoise Ogéas with Eva Osinska
• Maria Kurenko with Robert Hufstader
• Urszula Kryger with Charles Spencer.
• H Januszewska with M Drewnowski.

Other singers have recorded selected songs.

Arrangements

Chopin himself arranged the piano part of Wiosna as a piece for piano alone, Andantino in G minor, B. 117. There exist five manuscript versions of this arrangement, dated between April 1838 and 1 September 1848.

Between 1847 and 1860, Chopin's friend Franz Liszt arranged six of the Op. 74 songs as piano transcriptions under the title Six Chants polonais, S.480, a set which has long been a concert and recording favourite. The six are:

• 1. Mädchens Wünsch (No. 1: Życzenie – The Wish)
• 2. Frühling (No. 2: Wiosna – Spring)
• 3. Das Ringlein (No. 14: Pierścień – The Ring)
• 4. Bacchanal (No. 4: Hulanka – Merrymaking)
• 5. Meine Freuden (No. 12: Moja pieszczotka – My Darling)
• 6. Heimkehr (No. 15: Narzeczony – The Bridegroom).

List of Polish songs by Chopin

Polish title	English translation	Alternative title(s)	Text by	Date composed	Published	Opus no.	Other catalogue nos.	Notes
Życzenie	The Wish	The Maiden’s Wish	Stefan Witwicki	1829	1837, Kiev; later 1857, Berlin	74/1	B. 33	Franz Liszt used this melody as No. 2 (Mélodie polonaise) of his Glanes de Woronince, S.249 (1847); Liszt also transcribed the song for piano solo as No. 1 of his Six Chants polonais, S.480 (composed 1847-1860); Chopin also used a motif from the song in his posthumous Nocturne in C sharp minor, Lento con gran espressione
Wiosna	Spring	-	Witwicki	1838	1857, Berlin	74/2	B. 116	Chopin rewrote the piano part as Andantino, B. 117; there exist 5 manuscripts of this arrangement, dated between April 1838 and 1 September 1848; Franz Liszt also transcribed the song for piano solo as No. 2 of his Six Chants polonais, S.480 (composed 1847-1860)
Smutna rzeka	The Sad River	The Sad Stream; Troubled Waters	Witwicki	1831	1857, Berlin	74/3	B. 63/1
Hulanka (aka Patryot Piesn)	Merrymaking	Drinking Song; Bacchanale; Patriotic Song	Witwicki	1830	1857, Berlin	74/4	B. 50	Franz Liszt transcribed the song for piano solo as No. 4 of his Six Chants polonais, S.480 (composed 1847-1860)
Gdzie lubi ...	There Where She Loves	What She Likes; A Maiden’s Love	Witwicki	1829	1857, Berlin	74/5	B. 32
Precz z moich oczu	Out of My Sight	Remembrance	Adam Mickiewicz	1830 (perhaps 1827)	1857, Berlin	74/6	B. 48
Poseł	The Messenger	The Envoy	Witwicki	1830	1857, Berlin	74/7	B. 50
Śliczny chłopiec	Handsome Lad	Charming Lad; My Beloved	Józef Bohdan Zaleski	1841	1857, Berlin	74/8	B. 143
Melodia	Melody	Elegy; Lamento; Onward	Zygmunt Krasiński	1847	1857, Berlin	74/9	B. 165
Wojak	The Warrior	Before the Battle	Witwicki	1830	1839, Kiev; later 1857, Berlin	74/10	B. 47
Dwojaki koniec	The Double-End	The Twofold End; The Two Corpses; Death's Divisions; United in Death	Zaleski	1845	1857, Berlin	74/11	B. 156/1
Moja pieszczotka	My Darling	My Joys; My Delight	Mickiewicz	1837	1857, Berlin	74/12	B. 112	Franz Liszt transcribed the song for piano solo as No. 5 of his Six Chants polonais, S.480 (composed 1847-1860)
Nie ma czego trzeba	I Want What I Have Not	Faded and Vanished; Melancholy; Lack of Light	Zaleski	1845	1857, Berlin	74/13	B. 156/2	A simpler version was published in 1910 as Dumka
Pierścień	The Ring	-	Witwicki	8 September 1836	1857, Berlin	74/14	B. 103	Chopin wrote this song into the album of Maria Wodzińska, to whom he had just become betrothed; Franz Liszt also transcribed the song for piano solo as No. 3 of his Six Chants polonais, S.480 (composed 1847-1860)
Narzeczony	The Bridegroom	The Betrothed; The Return Home	Witwicki	1831	1857, Berlin	74/15	B. 63/2	Franz Liszt transcribed the song for piano solo as No. 6 of his Six Chants polonais, S.480 (composed 1847-1860)
Piosnka litewska	Lithuanian Song	-	trans. Ludwik Osiński	1831	1857, Berlin	74/16	B. 63/3	Translated from a Lithuanian folk song
Śpiew z mogiłki, or Śpiew grobowy, or Leci liście z drzewa	Hymn from the Tomb	Leaves are Falling; The Orphan; Poland's Dirge	Wincenty Pol	1836	1857, Berlin	74/17	B. 101
Dumka	Reverie	Dirge; Mist Before My Eyes	Zaleski	25 March 1840	22 October 1910, Lwow	(74/19)?	B. 132, KK.IVb/9	Sometimes included in Op. 74; this is an earlier, simpler version of Nie ma czego trzeba.
Czary	Witchcraft	Charms	Witwicki	1830	1910, Leipzig	(74/18)?	B. 51, KK.IVa/11	Sometimes included in Op. 74; the 1910 publication was of a facsimile reproduction of an album Chopin had sent to Maria Wodzińska. It was not finally published in normal form till 1954.
Plotno	Linen	-	?	?	-	-	KK.Vd/5	Lost; mentioned in a letter from Julian Fontana to Chopin's sister Ludwika Jędrzejewicz, dated 2 July 1852
Jakiez kwiaty	Which Flowers	-	I. Maciejowski	22 August 1829	1856, Warsaw	-	B. 39, KK.Iva/9	ded. Vaclav Hanka; piano part lost; reconstructed from extant preserved photograph
3 songs	?		?	?	-	-	KK.Vd/6-8	Lost; listed in a letter from Chopin's Scottish pupil Jane Stirling to Ludwika Jędrzejewicz, dated July 1852
4 songs								Only the violin parts remain
?	?		?	?	-	-	KK.Vc/10	Lost; mentioned in a letter from Ludwika Jędrzejewicz to her brother Chopin, dated 9 January 1841
Dumka na Wygnaniu	Song of the Exile	-	M Goslawski	?	-	-	KK.Anh. Ic/1	Doubtful authenticity
Tam no bloniu	There on the Green	-	?	?	-	-	KK.Anh. Ic/2	Doubtful authenticity
Trzeci maj	The Third of May	-	S Starzenski	?	-	-	KK.Anh. Ic/3	Doubtful authenticity
O wiem, ze Polska	Oh, I know that Poland	-	Krasinski	?	-	-	KK.Anh. Ic/4	Doubtful authenticity
Pytasz sie, czemu	You Ask Why	-	Krasinski	?	-	-	KK.Anh. Ic/5	Doubtful authenticity
Piesni pielgrzyma polskiego	Songs of a Polish Pilgrim	-	K Gaszynski	?	-	-	KK.Anh. Ic/6	Doubtful authenticity

External links

• Free scores by Polish Songs, Op.74 (Chopin, Frédéric) at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• The Spirit of Poland in Jim Samson: The Music of Chopin, pp 100, Oxford University Press 1985
• 17 Polish Songs, Op.74 classicalarchives.com