On April 11, 2025, the Warsaw premiere of Adam Sołtys’s Second Symphony took place at the Polish Radio Concert Studio in Warsaw. Adam Sołtys (b. 1890 in Lviv, d. 1968 in Lviv) was one of the most prominent figures in the musical life of Lviv and interwar Poland.
Until 1939, he was a respected conductor, pedagogue, and director of the Conservatory of the Polish Music Society in Lviv. From 1940, he taught at the Lviv State Conservatory, established by Soviet authorities, and remained there even after 1945. The Second Symphony was composed during World War II and completed in 1945. Its world premiere took place in 1946 in Lviv, which, following its separation from Poland, became part of the USSR. The symphony reflects both the influence of German neo-Romanticism (Sołtys studied in Berlin) and a distinctly Polish folk character—as in all of his works, exclusively Polish folk music. Formally, it is a classical four-movement symphony, comprising:
I. Allegro moderato,
II. Adagio,
III. Allegretto,
IV. Adagio espressivo.
The third movement is based on a folk song from Kujawy (Jużeś nie nasza dziewucha), and the fourth features clear polonaise motifs. Near the end, one can hear a quotation of the melody "Przylecieli sokołowie" by Stanisław Moniuszko.
The Warsaw premiere, marking the 80th anniversary of the symphony’s completion, was presented by the Polish Royal Opera, with its orchestra brilliantly conducted by Katarzyna Tomala-Jedynak. Specially attending the concert from Lviv was Maria Sołtys, the composer’s daughter.
Michał Piekarski
