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Karol Józef Lipiński (30 October 1790 – 16 December 1861) was a Polish musiccomposer and virtuosoviolinist active during thepartitions of Poland. TheKarol Lipiński University of Music inWrocław, Poland is named after him.
Lipiński was born inRadzyń Podlaski. His father was Feliks Lipiński (1765–1847), and he had a younger brother of the same name Feliks (1815–1865). In 1810 he became the first violin and two years later the conductor of the opera orchestra at Lwów (nowLviv,Ukraine). In 1817 he went to Italy in the hope of hearingNiccolò Paganini. The two met inMilan, met daily to play, and even performed two concerts together in April 1818, which added immensely to Lipiński's reputation. Paganini dedicated hisBurlesque Variations on "La Carnaval de Venise", Op. 10 for unaccompanied violin to Lipiński. Later, in 1827, Lipiński returned the honour by dedicating his "Three Caprices for Violin" to Paganini.
In 1818 on his return to Poland he stopped inTrieste to receive instruction from Dr Mazzurana, a very elderly former pupil ofGiuseppe Tartini; Mazzurana was ninety years old, and could no longer play himself, but gave his criticism of Lipiński's performance of one of Tartini's sonatas. During that time, he also performed concerts together with the Polish pianist and composerMaria Agata Szymanowska.
In 1820 he travelled toBerlin where he metLouis Spohr, and to Russia. In 1829 he went to Warsaw, and played a series of concerts with Paganini that summer that were attended by the nineteen-year-oldFrédéric Chopin. However, a rivalry developed between Lipiński and Paganini which destroyed their friendship. Thereafter, whenever Paganini was asked who the greatest violinist was, he would say "I don't know who the greatest is, but Lipiński is certainly the second greatest".
In 1835–36 he went on a long tour, during which he metRobert Schumann inLeipzig. Schumann was so impressed that he dedicatedCarnaval, Op. 9 to him.
In 1836 he visited England and played hisMilitary Concerto with theRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra. In June 1839 he received a double appointment inDresden, as concertmaster of the Royal Oratory and kapellmeister at the court chapel.[1] With his Dresden duties, he ceased touring as a virtuoso, but concentrated on chamber music, with a special devotion to the string quartets ofBeethoven. Here he also gave a joint recital withLiszt, performing Beethoven'sKreutzer Sonata.
He developed a great reputation as the only serious rival to Paganini.Henryk Wieniawski dedicated hisPolonaise de concert, Op.4 to Lipiński, likeIgnacy Feliks Dobrzyński hisString Quartet No. 2, Op.40. He retired with a pension in 1861, and died in village Virliv (Ternopil region, Ukraine).
He was the owner of two violins,one made in 1715 byAntonio Stradivari and another byGiuseppe Guarneri del Gesù. Both instruments are referred to as "ex-Lipinski".
TheKarol Lipiński Academy of Music inWrocław, Poland was named after him.
Early in his life, during his assignment at Lviv theatre, Lipiński composed 3 symphonies (Op. 2) and 3 operas:Kłótnia przez zakład,Terefere w Tarapacie, andSyrena Dniestru. The last one is an adaptation, with some of his own original music interpolated, ofFerdinand Kauer'sDonauweibchen and was played every season at Lviv for nearly thirty years from 1814, but the music is now lost.
Naturally, most of Lipiński's compositions are for violin. These include four violin concertos (a fifth is lost)[citation needed], two string trios (originally for an ensemble 2 violins and a cello) as well as polonaises, rondos, variations, capriccios. He also composed several songs and harmonized some popular Polish tunes.
His compositions have been recorded among others by Polish virtuoso violinistKonstanty Andrzej Kulka of theFryderyk Chopin University of Music inWarsaw.[2] Of the major works, all the concertos, both trios, a symphony and an overture have been recorded, some of them more than one time.
