Chanson slave for piano (before 1918)
Manuscript: Unknown
Publication: Chanson slave. Dr J. Köffler [sic!]. A. de Smit, Editor, Paris 1925.
Premiere: No data available
Maciej Gołąb claims it had been written before 1918, as confirmed by an article (‘Prof. dr Józef Koffler’, Muzyk Wojskowy 3 (1927)) which states that the composer destroyed ‘everything that he had written before 1918, only preserving Chanson slave, which was brought out in print by A. Smit in Paris’.
Whatever the date of composition, the press reported that the miniature had been submitted to an international competition held by La maison de Smit (Le petit comtois, 4 Sept. 1924) and that a jury chaired by Paul Vidal selected Chanson slave for publication and inclusion in an ‘abonnement musical’, i.e. subscription programme (along with twenty-three other pieces).
This bipartite miniature (Moderato and Refrain, d’apres un populaire motif Slave), rooted in traditional major-minor tonality, resembles a nineteenth-century salon dance with motifs that suggest South-Eastern Slav folklore.