Sowinski, Wojciech (Albert)

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Sowinski, Wojciech (Albert)

Sowinski, Wojciech (Albert), Polish pianist, teacher, writer on music, and composer; b. Lukaszówka, Podolia, c. 1803; d. Paris, March 5, 1880. He was a pupil of Czerny, Gyrowetz, Leidersdorf, and Seyfried in Vienna, where he made his debut as a pianist in 1828; after touring Italy, France, and England, he settled in Paris as a music teacher in 1830. He publ, the first dictionary of Polish musicians in a Western language, Les Musiciens polonais et slaves, anciens et modernes. Dictionnaire biographique des compositeurs, chanteurs, instrumentistes, luthiers (Paris, 1857; in Pol., Paris, 1874), and it is through this publication that his name is remembered. He wrote the operas Lenore, ou Les morts vont vite, Le Modèle, Une Scène sous la ligne, and Zlote gody, an oratorio, Saint Adalbert, several motets, a Sym., overtures on Polish subjects, 2 piano concertos, a Piano Quartet, a Piano Trio, and numerous piano pieces in the salon genre.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire