2025 № 4 (55)

UDC 7.094; 78

BBC 85.31

DOI: 10.51678/2226-0072-2025-4-580-607

For cit.: Sobakina O.V. Cantatas Widma and Sonety krymskie
by Stanisław Moniuszko with the Lyrics by Adam Mickiewicz:
The Interpretation of the Plot and the Specifics of the Genre. Hudozhestvennaya kul’tura [Art & Culture Studies], 2025, no. 4, pp. 580-607. https://doi.org/10.51678/2226-0072-2025-4-580-607 (In Russian) 

Sobakina Olga V. 

D.Sc. (in Art History), Leading Researcher, Department of Music Theory, State Institute for Art Studies, 5 Kozitsky Lane, Moscow, 125375, Russia

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0161-949X

ResearcherID: AAX-9257-2020

olas2005@mail.ru

Cantatas Widma and Sonety krymskie by Stanisław Moniuszko to the Lyrics by Adam Mickiewicz: The Interpretation of the Plot and the Specifics of the Genre 

Abstract. A. Mickiewicz’s poetic cycles, to which S. Moniuszko turned during his Warsaw period of creativity, provided the composer with a rare opportunity not only to use highly artistic texts united by a dramatic plot, but also to interpret a variety of national motifs. The topic of the article was previously touched upon episodically in the book by I.F. Belza and is of interest due to the insufficient study of Moniuszko’s outstanding works, as well as due to certain publications that have appeared in Polish scientific periodicals and offer interesting observations and information. Drawing on the methodology of poetological and comparative analysis, the author examines Moniuszko’s approach to interpreting the cantata genre, which was innovative for Polish music, demonstrates the differences in the composition and style of The Ghosts (Widma) and The Crimean Sonnets (Sonety krymskie), and reveals the determinacy of the poetics of the cantatas in Mickiewicz’s texts.
The Ghosts and The Crimean Sonnets are among the rare examples of the use of plot dramaturgy in cantatas which enriched the genre stylistics with scenic expressiveness. In Moniuszko’s works, the genre of the chamber lyric cantata was transformed thanks to the aesthetic demands of Romanticism. The poetics of the lyric cantata is evident in the concept of The Crimean Sonnets which are significantly more traditional in their interpretation of the cantata as a vocal and orchestral cycle, in contrast to the theatrical and innovative stage cantata that The Ghosts became. The operatic quality of The Ghosts and the theatrical quality of its musical dramaturgy are expressed in an original composition based on the interactions of many stage characters. 

Keywords: Stanisław Moniuszko, Adam Mickiewicz, cantatas, Widma, Dziadу, Sonety krymskie 

References:

Belza I.F. Pushkin i Mitskevich v istorii muzykal’noi kul’tury [Pushkin and Mickiewicz in the History of Musical Culture]. Moscow, Muzyka Publ., 1988, 255 p. (In Russian)

Kopyt’ko N.A. Kamerno-kantatnye printsipy myshleniya i ikh pretvorenie v tvorchestve Stanislava Monyushko [Chamber-Cantata Principles of Thinking and Their Implementation in the Works by Stanisław Moniuszko]. Vesci Belaruskai dzyarzhaunai akademii muzyki, 2006, no. 8, pp. 15–19. (In Russian)

Mitskevich A. Dzyady: Poema [Ghosts. Poem], transl. L. Martynov, V. Levik. Mitskevich A. Sobranie sochinenii: V 5 t. [Collected Works: In 5 vols.]. Vol. 3, eds. M.F. Rylsky, B.A. Turganov. Moscow, Goslitizdat Publ., 1952, pp. 27–286. (In Russian)

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Zieziula G. Moniuszkowskie “Widma”, sceny liryczne z “Dziadów” Adama Mickiewicza: od inspiracji do realizacji. S. Moniuszko. Widma. Original version — World Premiere Recording: CD booklet. NFM recordings. NFM 47, 2017, ss. 16–31.

Received 12.08.2025

Accepted 16.10.2025