Biography
After completing his training under Rungenhagen in Berlin, Moniuszko came back to Poland and took up the post of organist at St John's in Vilnius. He also offered piano lessons while directing the theatre orchestra. Literary acquaintances nurtured a growing fascination with drama, leading him to turn toward opera composition. "Halka" received its premiere in Vilnius in 1848 and reached Warsaw audiences in 1857. These pieces reflected an emerging current of Polish nationalism in which Moniuszko played a leading part. He assumed the conductorship of the Grand Theatre in Warsaw by 1859 and, in 1864, began teaching at the Institute. Commoners cast as victims and portrayals of the Polish nobility formed recurring elements in his plots. The scores themselves placed strong emphasis on choral writing and Polish dance rhythms, above all the mazurka. "Songbooks for Home," a set of two hundred and sixty seven songs with piano accompaniment, stood out for their rhythmic freedom and for sustaining Polish identity in a "stateless" society. Moniuszko's songs remained simple, strophic, rhythmic, and inventive.