Sielanka [Idyll]. Capriccio pastorale for chamber orchestra, Op. 4 (before 1925) -Józef Koffler

Sielanka [Idyll]. Capriccio pastorale for chamber orchestra, Op. 4 (before 1925)

Orchestral Works, Work with Opus Number

Manuscript: Destroyed

Premiere: Lwów, 20 April 1928, Adam Sołtys – conductor (Słowo Polskie 1928, no. 114; Lwowskie Wiadomości Muzyczne i Literackie 1928, no. 5

Performed at a special symphonic concert held by the Polish Music Society on 20 April 1928 in Lwów under the baton of Adam Sołtys.

Announcement of the performance of Capriccio pastorale at Polish Music Society concerts, Echo Muzyczne 1928 no. 5.

Shortly before, Koffler printed his own note about this work (composed four years earlier: ‘A Few Words about My Idyll’, Muzyk Wojskowy 11 (1928), 12), describing it in retrospect as ‘very foreign to me now’ and openly discussing its programmatic character (‘roosters crow’, ‘shepherd boys play pipes’).

He also wrote:

I defined the form of this idyll as a capriccio since it is a sinfonietta capriciously squeezed into one movement. Nevertheless, all the four traditional sections can be found there, certainly in mood though perhaps not in content. It has a standard recapitulation, except that instead of reaching a grand finale the music dies down in a kind of impressionist coda. The rustic character manifests itself in some melodic turns, in the numerous pedal notes, and in details of instrumentation. […] The texture is homophonic in principle but abounds in canon-like voice-leading.

S. Łobaczewska, ‘Extraordinary Symphonic Concert of the Polish Music Society’, Gazeta Lwowska, 28 April 1928

In her review of the concert, Stefania Łobaczewska commented:

Op. 4 is still almost completely tonal, approximating the style of Richard Strauss or early Schreker. It certainly demonstrates an undeniable talent for construction, a gift for fluid melodies, as well as very solid technique and instrumentation

(Gazeta Lwowska, 29 April 1928).