A violinist, composer and conductor born on 30 October 1790 in Radzyń (Podlasie region) and died 16 December 1861 in Urlov near Lviv.
Lipiński started to learn the violin at the age of five, under his father. In 1799 his family moved to Lviv, and he became the concertmaster of Adam Count Starzeński's palace orchestra which was led by Lipinski's father. Meanwhile he developed an interested in the cello and learned to play it as fast as he did the violin. In 1809 he took the position of concertmaster of the opera theatre orchestra, and three years later was appointed the orchestra's kapellmaster. In 1814 he went to Vienna and there met Ludwig Spohr, the German violinist and composer. Having been persuaded by Spohr to pursue the career of a violin virtuoso, Lipinski gave up his Lviv theatre job, devoting himself solely to mastering his violin technique and working on the repertoire.
After he had performed in Lviv in 1817, he set out on an artistic journey to Italy via Hungary and Croatia. He gave concerts in Venice, Milan, Padua, Verona and Piacenza. In April 1818, while in Piacenza, he appeared twice with Niccolò Paganini. During a subsequent artistic tour which lasted for a few years, he gave concerts in Lviv, Kiev, Krzemieniec, Kamieniec Podolski, Vilno, Cracow, Wroclaw, Poznan, Leipzig, Berlin, Moscow and St Petersburg, earning huge acclaim wherever he performed. Following his concerts in Warsaw in late 1827-8, he was appointed first violinist of the Court of the Polish Kingdom and, in 1831, of the Tsar's Court. He concertised in Warsaw again during the coronation ceremony of Nicholas I in May 1829, once more playing with Paganini. In 1830 he suspended his concert activities for three years, devoting himself to honing his playing skills. After that he resumed his European artistic tours, performing in Leipzig, Frankurt on the Mein, Paris (Frederic Chopin helped him to organise a concert there), London, Manchester and Wroclaw. In recognition of his masterful playing he was made an honorary citizen of the city of Vienna after performing there.
In 1839 Lipiński settled permanently in Dresden. For the following twenty years he would be the concertmaster of the King of Saxony, Frederick-August, as well as taking part in a number of symphony and chamber concerts, playing also with Franz Liszt. He would travel to Lviv, Kiev and Warsaw, and work as a teacher, taking care of the fourteen-year-old Jozsef Joachim in 1845 and of the thirteen-year-old Henryk Wieniawski in 1848. His rheumatic fever made him reduce his concert activities from 1846. His outstanding contribution to the royal court was rewarded with the Knightly Order of Prince Albert. Upon his retirement in 1861, he moved to his estate in Urlov near Lviv and founded a music school for talented peasant children there.
Major compositions:
- Two polonaises op. 1 for violin and orchestra
- Siciliano varié op. 2 for string quartet
- Symphony in E flat major op. 2 no. 1 (before 1810)
- Symphony in C major op. 2 no. 2 (before 1810)
- Symphony in B major op. 2 no. 3 (before 1810)
- Sonnet for orchestra (before 1810)
- Favorite-Mazurka for orchestra (before 1810)
- Szlachta czynszowa czyli Kłótnia o wiatr / Tenant Noblity or the Argument about the Wind, opera (1810-14)
- Two capriccios op. 3 for violin and piano or for solo violin
- Variations in G major op. 4 for string quartet
- Variations in G minor op. 5 for violin and orchestra
- Three polonaises op. 5 for piano
- Concert polonaise op. 6 for violin and orchestra
- Rondo alla Polacca in E major op. 7 for violin and orchestra (before 1817)
- Trio for two violins and cello op. 8 (1821)
- Three polonaises op. 9 for violin and string quartet
- Three capriccios op. 10 for violin and piano or for solo violin
- Variations on Rossini's opera 'Cinderella' op. 11 for violin and orchestra
- Trio for two violins and cello in A major op. 12
- Rondo alla Polacca op. 13 for violin and orchestra
- Concerto for violin and orchestra in F sharp minor op. 14 (1822)
- Variations on the theme of Bellini's opera 'The Pirate' op. 15 for violin and orchestra (ca. 1820-24)
- Duo on the theme of Meyerbeer's opera 'Il Crociati di Egitto' op. 16 for violin and orchestra (ca. 1820-24)
- Rondo alla Polacca on the theme of Polish songs op. 17 for violin and orchestra (ca. 1820-24)
- Rondeau de concert op. 18 for violin and orchestra (ca. 1820-24)
- Variations on the theme of the cavatina from Rossini's opera 'The Barber of Seville' for violin and orchestra (ca. 1820-24)
- Souvenir de la mer Baltique, divertissements op. 19 for violin and piano or for solo violin
- "Military" concerto for violin and orchestra in D major op. 21 (ca. 1826)
- Variations de bravoure sur une Romance militaire op. 22 for violin and orchestra
- Fantaisie et variations op. 23 on the motifs of Bellini's opera 'La sonnambula' for violin and orchestra (ca. 1824)
- Rodacy we Wszechnicy Wrocławskiej / Compatriots at Wroclaw University for 4 voices (1826)
- Concerto for violin and orchestra in E minor op. 24 (1830-33)
- Adagio elegico op. 25 for violin and orchestra
- Fantasia and variations using motifs of Meyerbeer's opera 'Les Hugenots' op. 26 for violin and orchestra"
- Three capriccios op. 27 for violin and piano or for solo violin
- Great fantasia using motifs of Bellini's opera 'The Puritans' op. 28 for violin and orchestra
- Polonoise guerrière op. 29 for orchestra (1837)
- Three capriccios op. 29 for violin and piano or for solo violin
- Fantasia on Verdi's opera 'Ernani' op. 30 for violin and piano or for solo violin (ca. 1845)
- Fantasia on the theme of Neapolitan arias op. 31 for violin and piano or for solo violin
- Concerto for violin and orchestra in A major op. 32 (1844)
- Fantasia using the motifs of Stefani's opera 'Cracovians and Mountaineers' op. 33 for violin and orchestra (before 1826)
- Impromptus op. 34 for violin and piano or for solo violin (ca. 1842)
Author: Małgorzata Kosińska, Polish Music Information Center, October 2006