Servais - Grande Fantaisie polonaise sur des Airs du Ballet La Noce de Cracovie, Op. 19 (Urtext Edition)

Grande Fantaisie polonaise sur des Airs du Ballet La Noce de Cracovie was known during Servais’s lifetime under several titles, including Fantaisie slave and Wesele w Ojcowie: Grand-Caprice. The earliest known performance took place on 29 April 1842 and was received positively by the press. Servais continued to perform the work throughout his career, including in Warsaw with Samuel de Lange on 1 February 1859. The first edition was printed by Schott in 1861.

The work is dedicated to Stanislas (Stanisław) Jasiński (ca. 1823–1879), a notary whom Servais met in Cracow. Its themes come from the ballet Wesele w Ojcowie, compiled in 1823 by Karol Kurpiński and Józef Damse. Several of these melodies had also appeared in Bernhard Romberg’s Capriccio sur des Airs et Danses polonaises, Op. 47, which may have served as Servais’s immediate source.

The Fantaisie unfolds in four large sections rather than as a theme and variations. It opens with a tutti and a solo section based on “Zosiu ach już cię traciemy,” followed by a mazurka with a bravura octave passage. The third section is based on “Już śpiewasz, skowroneczku,” and the finale uses “Nie uważaj miła Zosiu.”

A notable feature of the work is its scordatura: the soloist tunes the C string down to B. While the first edition prints the solo part in concert pitch throughout, our edition prints concert pitch in the score and scordatura pitch in the solo part, making the lowest-string passages more intuitive to read. Passages intended for the lowest string are marked with the numeral “IV.”

ASTA Level: 6