Mieczysław Karłowicz

(1876 Wiszniewo [Belarus] – 1909 Tatra Mountains [Poland])

Mieczysław Karłowicz was a Polish composer and conductor, a leading figure of the late Romantic period. He was passionate about mountaineering and photography. He was exposed to music from an early age, as his father, Jan Aleksander Karłowicz, was an avid cellist and pianist. In 1882, the Karłowicz family sold their vast estate in Wiszniewo and moved frequently between Heidelberg, Prague, and Dresden. Upon settling in Warsaw in 1887, he attended a regular school while receiving private violin lessons from Jan Jankowski. For six years from 1889, he studied violin with Stanisław Barcewicz, and simultaneously learned harmony from Zygmunt Noskowski and Piotr Maszyński. He also became a pupil of Gustaw Roguski, a teacher of counterpoint and musical forms. His first surviving piano piece, Song of May, was written during this period. While pursuing his musical studies, Karłowicz also studied natural sciences at the Imperial University of Warsaw.

In 1895, Karłowicz began studying violin with Florian Zajic and composition with Heinrich Urban in Berlin, while also attending lectures on the history of philosophy, physics, and psychology at the university. During the same period, he traveled extensively throughout Europe and developed a keen interest in mountaineering. Many of his songs were also composed around this time, including a cycle of ten songs based on poems by Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, and incidental music Bianca da Molena written for Józefat Nowiński's dramatic poem The White Dove.

Upon returning to Warsaw in 1901, he completed his Symphony ‘Rebirth’, which he had begun earlier. From 1903, he served as a board member of the Warsaw Music Society, actively contributing to the establishment and operation of its orchestra.

Karłowicz's works show influences from Tchaikovsky, Wagner, and Richard Strauss. Although often criticized as too avant-garde in his time, his compositional technique is highly regarded for its excellent orchestration, original instrumentation, and harmonic language.

In 1906, after staying in Leipzig to attend conducting classes, Karłowicz moved to Zakopane. As a member of the Tatra Mountain Society, he engaged in photography, mountaineering, skiing, and writing articles related to the mountains.

On February 8, 1909, he met an untimely death in an avalanche.

Major Works

• Song with piano accompaniment Ah, do not believe! (1892)
• Song with piano accompaniment With a New Spring (1895)
• Song with piano accompaniment At times, pensively (1895)
• Song with piano accompaniment Six Songs, Op. 1 (1895–96)
• Song with piano accompaniment Rusty Leaves (1896)
• Song with piano accompaniment Ten Songs, Op. 3 (1896)
• String Orchestra Piece Serenade, Op. 2 (1897)
• Song with piano accompaniment The Most Beautiful Songs, Op. 4 (1898)
• Song with piano accompaniment In the Shade of the Maple Tree (1898)
• Incidental Music Bianca da Molena, Op. 6, for Józefat Nowiński's play The White Dove (1900)
• Symphony ‘Rebirth’, Op. 7 (1902)
• Melodrama for recitation and piano To the Angel of the Lord (1902)
• Violin Concerto in A major, Op. 8 (1902)
• Symphonic Poem Returning Waves, Op. 9 (1904)
• Symphonic Poem Eternal Song, Op. 10 (1906)
• Symphonic Poem Lithuanian Rhapsody, Op. 11 (1906)
• Symphonic Poem Stanisław and Anna. The Oświęcim Siblings, Op. 12 (1906)
• Symphonic Poem A Sad Story, Op. 13 (1906)
• Symphonic Poem An Episode at a Masquerade, Op. 14 (1908–09)