Surzynski came of a musical family from the west of Poland. He studied in Berlin and Leipzig before returning to Poznan. He then felt the need for further study and enrolled at Regensburg School of Church Music. During the 1890s he held various church organist posts at Libawa, Kiev, St Petersburg and Saratov.

The Organ Concerto dates from 1904 and was thought to have been irretrievably lost in the 1939 fire at the Warsaw Philharmonic. In fact a copy was stored at Poznan University and this was discovered by Jerzy Golos in 1990. It is a prime cut late-romantic concerto in which taut control is balanced with excellent melodic invention - sample the sauntering elegance of the start of the Intermezzo (tr.2). The sighing and lightly yearning romantic lines are shared between Gothic organ and supine orchestra. Dvořák and Franck seem to be Surzynski's heroes but their voices are moderated by the light touch of Mendelssohn. Of the pieces for solo organ the most substantial is the sonata in D minor. Each shows a taste for Gallic smoothness and a fruity grandeur. The Improvisation is the most lively. It is in three parts with a flighty airborne Capriccio and an almost syrupy Chant triste which suggests the pathos of Tchaikovsky. Surzynski never cloaks his gift for direct talking melody in academic profusion or complexity.

Think in terms of a Polish Guilmant. Surzynski proves himself a Gallic-inclined songsmith for the organ.

Rob Barnett

 

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