Zygmunt Noskowski

Fantasia

The latest number in the Polish Chamber Music series is Zygmunt Noskowskis Fantasy String Quartet III in E minor; h was one of the leading representatives of chamber music of the second half of the nineteenth century, next to W?adys?aw ?ele?ski. Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne took on the task of rescuing the composers excellent work from the abyss of oblivion, for which Józef Reiss called in 1946, wishing that Noskowskis previously neglected works would appear permanently in concert halls. Published in 2012, the Quartet III is one of the composers most interesting works; it has a free, fanciful form, with advanced harmonic resources. Reviews after the premiere in 1884 were quite cool, but the author, aware of the works value, sent it to the 'Carillon' Society in Brussels competition, where it received the second prize. Today, musicologists, including Professor Andrzej Wróbel, founder of the Polish Chamber Music Festival, and a hot advocate of restoring Noskowskis music to the public, agree that the Fantasy String Quartet III in E minor is one of the finest string quartets written at that time in Europe.