The story of Adolf von Henselt can be told in many ways. We can speak of the American dream, because Henselt, the son of a factory owner, became the teacher of the tsar’s children at the court in St. Petersburg and shaped music education in tsarist Russia. He was also a romantic hero, for whom his beloved left her husband and children in order to live happily with him until his final days. He was also an admirer of Fryderyk Chopin and his work. Henselt played Chopin’s compositions at the tsar’s court, although the Polish composer’s music was forbidden in the lands under partition.
However, the story worth telling today is one of pride in our small homeland. When we travel around the world for various reasons and want to tell foreigners where we come from, we can say that we live in a place that hosted outstanding artists in the 19th century, such as Liszt, Wagner and Hans Christian Andersen, who read the fairy tale about the little mermaid in Gierałtów.
“There are not even ruins left of the palace in Gierałtów, but Henselt was the court musician of the tsars, so there would be nothing revolutionary about it if I had not discovered that such great creators as Schumann, Wagner and Liszt stayed at the palace,” Leszek Socha said at the picnic. “What is more, Andersen not only described one of the palace chambers in one of his fairy tales—it was also here that he gave a reading of ‘The Little Mermaid,’ a fairy tale adapted by the largest film studios in many languages and versions. One can imagine that Wagner and Schumann sought inspiration in this park. Gierałtów itself is important to Polish and European culture because the works of the musicians mentioned are performed in philharmonic halls around the world,” added one of the picnic’s organizers.
The first concert in years in Gierałtów’s palace park
Residents of Gierałtów and the Nowogrodziec municipality came to the event in large numbers, as did visitors from the county, who planned a bicycle trip to the event on the sunny Sunday of September 27. A total of 100 people attended, and around 40 joined the Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Gierałtowa, initiated by one of the organizers, Leszek Socha.
The exceptional event was a concert of Romantic music, expertly composed and conducted by Dorota Straburzyńska, a cello teacher at the State Music School of the first degree named after Witold Lutosławski in Bolesławiec and at the State Music School of the first and second degree named after Feliks Nowowiejski in Zgorzelec. The concert featured:
Wiktoria Orawiec (violin, a graduate of the first-degree State Music School in Bolesławiec), who played Humoresque, Op. 101, No. 7 by Antonín Dvořák. Piotr Orawiec (cello), Dorota Straburzyńska’s student, presented two works by Fryderyk Chopin, Hulanka and Życzenie, as well as Zygmunt Noskowski’s work W ciemnym lasku.
Alicja Skorupska (piano), a student of Andrzej Janiga, gave a wonderful interpretation of Reinhold Glière’s work In the Fields. Amelia Dudek (clarinet), a student of Magdalena Falewicz-Wesołowska, performed Franz Schubert’s Waltz.
The musical feast concluded with works performed by Andrzej Janiga and Dorota Straburzyńska. Thanks to them, Adolf von Henselt’s works sounded in Gierałtów’s palace park for the first time in 160 years.
Dorota Straburzyńska (cello), accompanied by Andrzej Janiga, played Ludomir Różycki’s Piosenka Caton, Pietro Mascagni’s Intermezzo and Stanisław Moniuszko’s Evening Song. Then Andrzej Janiga (piano) performed Adolf von Heselt’s Melancholy Waltz, Op. 36. The concert ended with a piano duet by Andrzej Janiga and Dorota Straburzyńska, who performed two works by the “Chopin of the North”: Souvenir de Varsovie and Polka.
The Milikowianki folk ensemble completed the musical feast
The Milikowianki ensemble, introduced by Alicja Kopała, completed the musical concert in Gierałtów. The combination of classical Romantic music with folk compositions proved ideal, considering how highly the Romantics valued and how eagerly they drew inspiration from folk creativity. In 2023, Milikowianki celebrated 40 years of stage activity. The ensemble has won numerous prizes and distinctions at local and regional reviews and festivals. It is also a co-organizer of the Bread Festival in Milików. Milikowianki’s cultivation of folk traditions was noticed and appreciated by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, who awarded the ensemble the title “Distinguished for Polish Culture.”
The ensemble performed 10 love and convivial songs, which corresponded perfectly with the theme of the picnic devoted to the musical genius Adolf von Henselt. The large audience could hear, among others, “By the Seashore,” “How They Have Fun,” “The Little Sun Is Setting,” “Black Eyes” and “Gledam bajnu zoru.”
A truly royal feast was served during the picnic: goulash soup, bigos, roast chicken, excellent cake, as well as juices, water, coffee and tea. Everything was served on plates at tables covered with white tablecloths and styled as a palace picnic. Children were offered art workshops where they could create portraits of Adolf von Henselt using various techniques. A dozen or so portraits were made, and the children, pleased with their work, took them home.
The project was carried out by an informal group consisting of:
- Leszek Socha initiator of the Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Gierałtowa, local activist and history enthusiast. A longtime activist with experience as a local government official.
- Katarzyna Grzelak expert on the labor market, education and lifelong learning, actively involved in the life of the local community. She works for the integration of residents and the development of the region.
- Grażyna Hanaf art historian, journalist for istotne.pl and organizer of outdoor events and workshops for young people, and an ally of LGBTQ+ people. Member of the boleslawianie.eu association. For years, she has worked to promote the region, culture and education.
Preserve Gierałtów’s history and join the Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Gierałtowa: e-mail: leszek.socha1@o2.pl
The project entitled “Henselt’s Composer Heritage in Gierałtów—an Integration Picnic, Classical Music Concert and the Initiation of the Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Gierałtowa” was financed from the budget of the Self-Government of Lower Silesian Voivodeship as part of the “Lower Silesian Small Grants 2026—Local Impulse from FRW” program
