Karol Mikuli

Karol Mikuli
Portrait of Karol Mikuli
Background information
Born	October 20, 1819(1819-10-20) Czerniowce, Austrian Empire
Origin	Polish
Died	May 21, 1897(1897-05-21) (aged 77) Lemberg, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austrian Empire
Occupations	pianist, composer, conductor and teacher

Karol Mikuli (Armenian: Կարոլ Միկըլի or Կարոլ Պստիկյան; (20 October 1819 – 21 May 1897) (often seen as Carl Mikuli) was a Polish-Armenian pianist, composer, conductor and teacher.

Biographical Notes

Mikuli (aka Bsdikian)^[1] was born in Czerniowce, then part of the Austrian Empire (now Chernivtsi, Ukraine) to an Armenian family. He studied under Frédéric Chopin for piano (later becoming his teaching assistant) and Anton Reicha for composition. He toured widely as a concert pianist, becoming Director of the Lviv Conservatory in 1858. He founded his own school there in 1888.^[2]

His students included Moriz Rosenthal, Raoul Koczalski, Aleksander Michałowski, Jaroslaw Zieliński and Kornelia Parnas. He died in Lemberg, then part of Austria-Hungary (now Lviv, Ukraine) and is buried in the courtyard of the Armenian church in Lviv.

He is most well known as an editor of works by Chopin. Dover Publications currently publishes reprints of his 1879 editions of Chopin's piano music, originally published by F. Kistner (Leipzig). His goal, as stated in the foreword of the edition, was to provide more reliable editions. He used several verified sources, most of which were written or corrected by Chopin himself. His editions of Chopin's works were first published in America in 1895.

Mikuli also took detailed notes of Chopin's comments made in lessons and interviewed witnesses of Chopin's performances. For many years he was regarded as the primary authority on Chopin and his remarks about Chopin's playing were often quoted by biographers.

A commemorative plaque to Mikuli in a cathedral in Lviv

Musical works

• Prelude et presto agitato, Op. 1
• Two Polonaises, Op. 8
• Six pièces pour piano, Op. 9; published by Spina (Vienna)
• Serenade for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 22 (Romanian: Serenadă pentru clarinet și pian, Op. 22)
• Variantes harmoniques sur la gamme d'Ut majeure pour piano à 4 mains, Op. 23; published by Kistner (Leipzig)
• Pieces pour piano, Op. 24
• Paraphrase sur un ancien chant de Noël polonais pour 4 voix avec instruments á cordes et orgue, Op. 31
• Two spiritual songs for male choir and Soli, Op. 32
• Veni creator for mixed choir and organ, Op. 33
• Scherzino for Three Violins
• Die Reue for baritone and string orchestra
• 43 Airs nationaux roumains for orchestra, also arr. piano.

CD-Recordings

Karol Radziwonowicz: Karol Mikuli - Piano Works

References

1. ^ «Կրթության ասպարեզ» հասարակական կազմակերպություն - Հայը և հայկականը - Շոպենի ասիստենտը եղել է հայազգի Կարլ Միկուլինը (Պստիկյան):
2. ^ Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed, 1954

• Chopin, Frédéric. Mikuli, Carl (Editor). Complete Ballades, Impromptus and Sonatas Dover Publications (September 1, 1981) ISBN 0-486-24164-5

External links

• Charles (Carl, Karol) MIKULI (1821-1897) - l'élève arménien de Frédéric Chopin à Paris et son éditeur en Podolie-Galicie
• Chopin as Pianist and Teacher - excerpt form the forward to his edition of Chopin's works for publisher F. Kistner, 1879
• Free scores by Karol Mikuli at the International Music Score Library Project

Persondata
Name	Mikuli, Karol
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1819-10-20
Place of birth
Date of death	1897-05-21
Place of death