Wiktor Labunski - A Polish American Pianist and Composer

Wiktor Labunski (Łabuński;1895-1974).

Many eminent Polish musicians settled in the United States during the 20^th century. Among them was the celebrated pianist, composer and pedagogue Wiktor Labunski (Łabuński; 1895-1974). Born in a Polish family in St. Petersburg in Russia and educated as a pianist at St. Petersburg Conservatory, Labunski spent the post WWI years in Poland, teaching in Cracow and Lviv and giving concerts as a virtuoso pianist. He married Wanda Młynarska, the daughter of the eminent conductor Emil Młynarski. His wife’s sister Aniela (Nela) was married to the celebrated virtuoso Artur Rubinstein. His older brother, Felix (Feliks, 1892-1979), was also a musician, composer, and conductor.

In 1928 Wiktor Labunski moved to the United States, initially serving as Director of the Nashville Conservatory and later as Director of Piano Studies at Bohlman School of Music in Memphis. At that time, he was highly respected as a virtuoso pianist. The Curtis Institute of Music awarded him in 1936 with an Honorary Doctorate, a title shared at that time only by two world-class pianists: Sergei Rachmaninov and Joseph Hofmann. 

In 1937 Labunski relocated from Tennessee to Kansas City to serve as Director of Kansas City Conservatory. Later, when the Conservatory was incorporated into the University of Missouri, Labunski remained on faculty as Artist-in-Residence.

Over the years, through his tireless musical activism, Labunski became a local celebrity. During his thirty-seven years as Kansas City resident he gave locally over two hundred piano recitals. To mark the Polish-American musician’s 70^th birthday. Mayor of the city, Ilus W. Davis proclaimed April the 14^th, 1965 “Wiktor Labunski Day”. In 1971, Labunski became the Honorary Member of Kansas City Musical Club. He died on January 26^th, 1974 in Kansas City.

Today, very few people remember this remarkable musician from Poland. After his death, Labunski’s personal archives, photos, autographs, recordings, manuscripts of his compositions, as well as the manuscript of his extended memoirs were all deposited in the Special Collections at the Miller Nichols Library at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The materials at UMKC contain several published and unpublished compositions, a great majority of them works for the piano, many of them in manuscript. 

Although composition was not at the center of his daily activities, Labunski produced an impressive body of high quality music which deserves examination and recognition. While he was active throughout his life as a virtuoso romantic pianist, his compositions indicate fascination with modernity and an acute awareness of contemporary musical fashions.

Dr. Slawomir Dobrzanski

Kansas State University

Member of PAHA, Dr. Slawomir Dobrzanski, Professor of Piano at Kansas State University, recently researched and recorded Wiktor Labunski’s complete solo piano music, soon to be released as a CD by the Acte Prealable label in Poland.

News from Polish Archives and Collections in America

Jerzy Skwarek's Polish American Photographic Collection at the Polish Museum of America

The Polish Museum of America in Chicago, Il, is pleased to announce adding a photographic collection by Jerzy “George” Skwarek to its permanent collection. Mr. Skwarek grew up in German-occupied Poland and spent his youth in Soviet-occupied Poland after WWII. After emigrating to the U.S. and settling in Chicago in 1971, he became a photographer and journalist documenting Polish American life. Since moving to Chicago, Skwarek worked as an author and travel guide; he published Polish-language travel books on the National Parks, Florida and an “Around The World” guide. As photographer and journalist for the Polish Daily News, Skwarek was given an opportunity to document major events in cultural and social life of Polish Americans.

Pope John Paul II’s Mass in Brighton Park 1979, Skwarek’s photo (Polish Museum of America, Chicago, Il.)

The Polish Museum of America was established in 1935 as the “Museum and Archives of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America.” The first public display area opened on January 12, 1937 in a specially designed and constructed room within the headquarters building of the PRCUA. From that date the Museum’s collection and importance grew very rapidly and quickly gained autonomous status as “The Polish Museum of America” with its own governing board of directors. There were two events that caused the rapid expansion of the Museum’s collections. The first originated from the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City, New York. Unfortunately, in September of 1939 Poland was invaded and war had gripped Europe. At the close of the World’s Fair, it became clear that the Polish exhibits could not return to Poland and their disposition was uncertain. In order to preserve at least a portion of the exhibits the directors of the Museum determined to purchase from the government of Poland nearly three fourths of the exhibits.The second significant event was the donation to the Museum of the personal possessions of Ignacy Jan Paderewski following his death in June 1941. Both Ignacy Paderewski and his sister, Antonina Paderewska Wilkonska, were enthusiastic supporters and generous sponsors of the Museum. Antonina, executor of Ignacy’s will, decided to donate these personal possessions to the Museum. In addition, the management of the Buckingham Hotel in New York City, where Ignacy spent the last months of his life, allowed Antonina to obtain the furnishings from the suite of rooms he had occupied.
More information about PMA: https://www.polishmuseumofamerica.org/about-pma/

Alfred Szebla's Historic Donation to the Pilsudski Institute

In September 2019, The Pilsudski Institute was pleased to announce that a letter of King Sigismund I (1467-1548) from Vilnius, dated October 17, 1513 was donated to the Pisudski Institute. The letter, whose originality has already been pre-confirmed, is addressed to Jan Mikołajewicz Radziwiłł, land marshal in the then Duchy of Lithuania, and concerns the land of Bogusz Bohovalnowicz in the Słonim poviat. The letter is signed "Zygmunt". This unique document from the Jagiellonian era is a gift from Alfred Szebel, a famous collector from Chicago, who has been working with the Pilsudski Institute and supporting the Institute for many years.

The Jozef Pilsudski Institute of America was established on July 4, 1943 in New York City as a major research archival and science institution for research of modern history of Poland. It was founded by a group of Polish-American community leaders, prominent Polish statesmen, and political expatriates.The Institute houses a rich collection of primary sources covering the period from the 1863 Insurrection to the present day. The collection includes documents, photographs, films, posters, periodicals, books, personal memoirs of diplomats, and political and military leaders. The archival collection contains over one million documents, or 150 linear meters of shelf space.  It is one of the largest and most important archives outside of Poland. The most important documents relate to the following subjects: the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1919-1922, Marshal Jozef Piłsudski, the Silesian Uprisings of 1919-1921 and more. 

The Library contains about twenty thousand books and many rare manuscripts mainly related to the modern history of Poland. The Institute also houses 20,000 photographs covering the period from the beginning of twentieth century related to Polish and European political, military and cultural institutions, events, and personalities. The collection includes 2,450 maps from the second half of the nineteenth century through 1999. An art gallery with more than 240 items features oil paintings, watercolors, drawings and illustrations by such artists as Jan Matejko, Józef Chełmoński, Juliusz Kossak, Tadeusz Styka, Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski, Leon Wyczólkowski, Aleksander Gierymski, and Jacek Malczewski. https://www.pilsudski.org

New Polish-American Composers' Collections at Polish Music Center, California

Manuscripts by Witold Lutoslawski at PMC since 1985.

Located at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, the Polish Music Center collects items pertaining to Polish music and culture. The PMC Archives began when the Polish Manuscript Collection was established in 1985 with a gift of five original manuscripts from Witold Lutosławski (with Mi-Parti, Paroles tissées, Preludes and Fugue, and Novelette). Works by Grażyna Bacewicz, Tadeusz Baird, Joanna Bruzdowicz, Marta Ptaszyńska and Stanisław Skrowaczewski created the core of the collection, enlarged in 2000-2002 by gifts from over 30 Polish composers (Rafał Augustyn, Zbigniew Bujarski, Krzysztof Knittel, Zygmunt Krauze, Hanna Kulenty, Szymon Laks, Roman Maciejewski, Krystyna Moszumanska-Nazar, Krzysztof Meyer, Krzysztof Penderecki, Elżbieta Sikora, Edward Sielicki, Aleksander Tansman, Romuald Twardowski, Tadeusz Wielecki, Lidia Zielińska, and many others). Recent additions include the Ludomir Różycki Collection

 From the core of the Manuscript Collection, the PMC Archival Collection has grown with the addition of full collections held by several important composers. Encompassing not only original musical manuscripts, but also rare printed scores, letters, photographs, books, personal items and much more, these collections are:

• Henryk Wars [Henry Vars] Collection (donated by the Vars family in 2005) – featuring the composer’s newly discovered symphonic music
• Zygmunt and Luisa Stojowski Collection (donated by Alfred and Henry Stojowski in 2006) – featuring Zygmunt Stojowski’s manuscripts and first editions of scores, as well as articles, personal notes and a portion of his private library
• Bronisław Kaper Collection (donated by his former agent in 2007) – featuring his film scores and popular songs
• Paderewski Archive—the Paso Robles Collection (donated by related persons and collectors in 2008) – featuring items relating to his travels in the US, visits in California, and his life in Switzerland, illustrated by rare photographs, documents and personal memorabilia
• Roman Ryterband Collection (donated by the Ryterband and Eisele families in 2016) – featuring manuscript scores, drafts of compositions, correspondence, photographs, artwork and personal items

https://polishmusic.usc.edu/research/pmc-archives/


The Polish Room at SUNY Buffalo's Lockwood Library


The Polish Room, room 517 in the State University of New York at Buffalo’s Lockwood Library, is open by appointment to the general public as well as to the UB community. The collection includes over 12,000 volumes. Its website notes: “Its strengths are in literature and history, but the genealogical literature and the language sections are very strong for a collection of this size.

In addition to the book collection, the Polish Room possesses a number of unique materials, which include 21 manuscripts of the Polish kings from the 16th to 18th centuries, by Sigismund August (1548-1572), Stefan Batory (1576-1586), Sigismund Third Vasa (1587-1632),  Ladislaus Fourth Vasa (1632-1648), John Casimir (1648-1668), John Third Sobieski (1674-1696), August Second of Saxony (1697-1733) and 

Stanislaus August Poniatowski (1764-1795). The collection also holds letters and other signed documents of important people of the 20th century, including writers such as: Stefan żeromski, Maria Konopnicka, and Maria Dąbrowska. Other items include hundreds of video recordings, some Solidarność documents; 135 underground press books on microfiche, along other microfische documents.

https://library.buffalo.edu/polish-room/