Day 356
Maria Symanowska: Piano pieces
6 Minuets
Fantasie
Sławomir Dobrzański
Symanowska (1789-1831)was perhaps the first professional female composer in Poland. She was extremely well connected musically and seems to have been well regarded as a composer and pianist. Several pieces are dedicated to her. One of these is a tiny one page piano piece by Beethoven (WoO 60) which some sources claim is dedicated to her, although accurate information is hard to come by.
The 6 minuets are largely domestic in character and would be within the capabilities of a good amateur pianist. They are largely in a fairly conservative idiom reminiscent of Haydn and early Beethoven but there are traces, particularly in the last one, of what would become in Chopin's hands the mazurka.
The fantasy is a more substantial piece with some virtuoso flourishes. I found it very uneven. Some of the material was highly developed with some free piano writing and explorations of quite advanced chromatic harmony. But other parts of the piece were trivial and mechanical. It was an odd mixture which didn't really come off - but there was enough here of interest so show that Symanowska had real talent. But claims that she is a substantial figure in her own right seem to me to be special pleading.
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