Adolf Chybiński and Norway

Dagmara Łopatowska-Romsvik

Abstract

Authors of monographs on the life and legacy of Adolf Chybiński and his students have often mentioned Professor Chybiński’s fascination with the music of Edvard Grieg. Chybiński admitted as much in his diary. To date, however, nothing has been known about Chybiński’s efforts to broaden his knowledge about Norway. The vast correspondence between Norwegian composers and Chybiński, which has never been investigated from this perspective, offers insight into his ambitious plans to popularise Norwegian music in Poland and into the way he sought research materials. The letters reveal that Chybiński started looking for publications on Grieg’s music while still a student in Cracow. Later in life, he returned to subjects related to Norway several times. His activities in this field were particularly intense during the 1930s, when he planned a series of lectures on Norwegian piano music for his students. For many years, he had encouraged his students to make Norwegian music a subject of their dissertations. In addition, extant sources inform us about the contents of the Professor’s private library, the works by Norwegian composers he became familiar with during this period, and which ones he particularly treasured and readily played to his friends.

The surviving letters also show that Chybiński intended to popularise knowledge about Norwegian music. He published a number of articles on the subject and was working on books about the history of particular genres in Norwegian music. It is likely, however, that those works remained unfinished.

As a lover of Norway, Chybiński wanted to propagate knowledge about Norwegian culture in general, including Norway’s wildlife and politics. During the period in question, he authored several texts on these subjects, under a pseudonym.