Melcer (-Szczawinski)Henryk
Melcer (-Szczawiński)Henryk
Melcer (-Szczawiński), Henryk, esteemedPolish pianist, conductor, teacher, and composer; b. Kalisch, Sept. 21, 1869; d. Warsaw, April 18, 1928. He was a pupil of Noszkowski (composition) and Strobl (piano) at the Warsaw Music Inst. (graduated, 1890). After touring Russia as an accompanist, he received further piano training from Leschetizky in Vienna. After successful concert tours of Russia, Germany, and France, he taught at the Helsinki Cons. (1895–96) and was a prof, at the Lemberg Cons. (1896–99). He was director of the Lodz music society (1899–1902) and director-conductor of the Lodz Phil, (from 1902), as well as conductor of the Warsaw Phil. (1910–12) and Opera (1915–16). He subsequently taught at the Warsaw Cons, (from 1919), serving as head of piano studies (until 1928), orchestration (1925–26), and composition (1925–28). His works include the operas Protasilas i Laodamia (1902; Paris, 1925) and Marja (Warsaw, Nov. 16, 1904), 2 piano concertos (1895, 1898, both winning the Rubinstein prize), Pani Twardowska, ballad for Tenor, Chorus, and Orch. (1898), Piano Trio (1895), Violin Sonata (c. 1896), songs, and piano pieces.
Bibliography
J. Reiss, H. M. (Warsaw, 1949).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire