MIĘDZY LIBRETTEM OPEROWYM, BROSZURĄ AGITACYJNĄ I WYKŁADEM. ADNOTACJE AUTORSKIE W "POLCE. OPERZE W TRZECH AKTACH" JÓZEFA WYBICKIEGO
Between the Operatic Libretto, the Agitational Pamphlet, and the Lecture: Authorial Annotations in 'Polka: Opera w trzech aktach' by Józef Wybicki

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the extensive commentary and explanatory notes with which Józef Wybicki furnished his 'Polka: Opera w trzech aktach' ['Polka: Opera in Three Acts'] (1788). The author highlights the unusual nature of this practice – since footnotes appear only sporadically in Wybicki’s other dramatic works – and poses the question of its underlying motivation. In response, the article advances the thesis that the formal shape of 'Polka' was determined by Wybicki’s ambition to create a heroic opera grounded in Polish history, while at the same time maintaining political relevance of that period and promoting the model of patriotism desired by this playwright of the Stanisław August era. 'Polka' is read here within the framework of Enlightenment reflections on opera, as well as in relation to Franciszek Dionizy Kniaźnin’s 'Matka Spartanka' ['Spartan Mother'], Jan Paweł Woronicz’s concept of a national songbook, and Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz’s 'Śpiewy historyczne' ['Historical Songs']. Having regarded Kniaźnin as the patron of his poetic work, Wybicki produced an “opera” that emerged as a precursor to the cultural initiatives undertaken in the early nineteenth century by the Society of Friends of Science.

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