Niewiadomski first studied under Karol Mikuli at the Galician Music Society Conservatory in Lvov. His debut as a composer was the cantata Akt wiary / Act of Faith for bass, male choir and orchestra, which he wrote on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the November 1831 Rising. The acclaim it won made him choose music as a career and so he studied composition in 1882-5, first under Franz Krenn at the Vienna Conservatory of Friends of Music and then under Salomon Jadassohn at the Royal Music Conservatory in Leipzig.
Upon his return to Lvov he became an active pedagogue, music critic and champion of music life. Initially a tutor at Count Skarbek's Theatre, in 1886-7 he co-managed it as art director of the opera and operetta. In 1887 he took professorship at the Galician Music Society Conservatory in Lvov, a tenure which he was to hold until 1918 and which consisted of lecturing on the theory of music, harmonics and history of music as well as running the choral singing class. Parallel to that, he was the second conductor - alongside Stanisław Cetwiński - of the Lutnia-Macierz Singing Society in 1885-92 and taught choral singing in the Society's singing school in 1888-92. From 1890 to 1900 he sat on the commission supervising the artistic aspect of Count Skarbek's Theatre. By that time he had been heavily involved in music criticism, writing reports and reviews for the Lvov newspapers "Gazeta Lwowska" and "Dziennik Polski" and being a correspondent of the Warsaw journals (EMTA). In 1902-14, however, he narrowed down his contribution as a music reviewer and columnist to "Słowo Polskie".
Niewiadomski spent the time of World War I (1914-18) in Vienna, managing the city's branch of the Lvov Conservatory, an institution which had been organized for the sake of refugees. Its staff was composed mostly of Lvov professors who had been evacuated to Vienna. Upon his return to Lvov in 1918, he assumed the position of manager of the Town Theatre's opera. In 1919 he settled in Warsaw, teaching esthetics, history of music and instrument science at the State Music Conservatory until 1927. In 1924 he founded the Association of Music Writers and Critics, an organization over which he would preside for many years. He was also the first chairman of the Section of Contemporary Polish Composers, established in 1925, and in 1927-31 served as director of the Albert Grudziński Music Institute. During his Warsaw years he continued his journalistic activity, contributing to "Rzeczpospolita", "Warszawianka", "Dzień Polski", "Kurier Polski", "Muzyka", "Gazeta Poranna", "Lwowskie Wiadomości Muzyczne i Literackie", Lvov's "Wiek Nowy", Poznan's "Przegląd Muzyczny", Przemysl's "Orkiestra" and Katowice's "Śpiewak", as well as delivering lectures and papers on the radio and, occasionally, in the philharmonic and the opera. He received the Music Award of the City of Warsaw.
Major compositions:
Orchestral works:
- Symphony in A minor
- Symphony in B flat major
Chamber works:
- String quartet in D minor
Piano works:
- Trzy utwory / Three pieces (Menuet, Barcarolle, Valse) op. 12
- Dwa utwory / Two pieces (Romanze, Valse-Caprice) op. 16
- Deux Mazurkas op. 26
- Liebesfeste op. 27
- 4 Charakterstücke op. 28
- Quatre morceaux op. 30
- Polonaise et Krakowiak op. 31
- 6 Morceaux melodiques op. 34
- Trois danses polonaises
- Thème et variations in D minor
Works for male choir:
- Trzy pieśni / Three Songs op. 5, words by Adam Asnyk (ca. 1888)
- Grób wikinga / A Viking's Grave op. 22, words by Or-Ot [Artur Oppman] (ca. 1897)
- Zaszumiał las / The Swoosh of the Forest op. 32, words by Maria Konopnicka (ca. 1885)
- Górskie dzwony / Mountain Bells op. 32, words by Maria Konopnicka (before 1907)
- Siostrzane dole / Sisters' Fates op. 32, anonymous words (before 1907)
- Siedzi ptaszek na drzewie / A Bird is Sitting on a Tree op. 32, words by Adam Asnyk (before 1907)
- Ave Caesar op. 35, words by Maria Konopnicka
- Hymn polskiej młodzieży / Hymn of the Polish Youth, words by composer
Vocal and instrumental works:
- Akt wiary / Act of Faith, cantata for bass, male choir and orchestra, words by Kornel Ujejski
- Pod kolumną wieszcza / Under the Poet's Monument op. 25, cantata for male choir and wind instruments or for male choir a cappella, words by Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer (1898)
- Kantata na cześć Marii Konopnickiej "Pieśń hołdu" / Cantata in Honour of Maria Konopnicka "Tribute Song" for solo voices, mixed choir and orchestra, words by Anna Neumanowa
- Modlitwa wiosenna / A Spring Prayer, for mixed choir, piano or orchestra, words by Maria Konopnicka
- Serenada ku uczczeniu Najjaśniejszego Cesarza i Króla Franciszka Józefa I / Serenade in Honour of His Majesty the Emperor and King Franz Josef I for male choir and orchestra, words by Stanisław Rossowski
- Na Podegrodziu / In Podegrodzie for bass, male choir, piano or orchestra, words by Stanisław Wyspiański
Pieces for voice and piano:
- Trzy piosnki / Three Songs op. 1, words by Emanuel Geibel (1873)
- Abdykacja / Abdication op. 4, words by Adam Asnyk (1888)
- Między nami nic nie było / Nothing Has Happened Between Us op. 4, words by Adam Asnyk (1888)
- Z ksiąg Genezy / From the Books of Genesis op. 4, words by Adam Asnyk
- Dwie pieśni / Two Songs op. 6, words by Maria Konopnicka
- Z wiosennych tchnień / The Breath of Spring, words by Marian Gawalewicz (ca. 1893)
- Jaśkowa dola / Johnny's Fate, words by Maria Konopnicka (1894-98)
- Swaty / The Matchmakers op. 14, words by Maria Konopnicka (1895)
- Menuet op. 17, words by François Coppée
- Chanson de printemps op. 17, words by Armand d'Artois
- BolÉro op. 17, words by Alfred de Musset
- Kurhanek Maryli / Maryla's Mound, words by Adam Mickiewicz (1897-1907)
- W białym dworku / In the White Manor op. 37, words by Kazimierz Laskowski (before 1903)
- Astry / Asters op. 40, words by Adam Asnyk
- Paź i Poliksena / The Page and Polyxene, words by Stanisław Wyspiański
- Słonko / The Little Sun op. 49, words by Adam Asnyk
- Maki / The Poppies op. 50, words by Kornel Makuszyński (ca. 1916-18)
- Rota / The Oath, words by Maria Konopnicka
- Hymn do zgody / Hymn to Harmony, words by Jan Kochanowski
Author: Małgorzata Kosińska, Polish Music Information Center, October 2006