 On sait bien peu de choses sur Wladyslaw Brankiewicz sinon que, fils de bonne famille, il eut une solide éducation musicale. Il passa l'essentiel de sa carrière de musicien devant le clavier de l'orgue de la cathédrale de Lublin où il exerça comme titulaire. Pendant ce temps, il composa près de deux cents œuvres à caractère religieux, la plupart étant pour chœur puisque son corpus pour orgue tient sur ce seul CD, publié sous l'égide du label polonais l'Acte Préalable. Si on retrouve l'ordinaire de la liturgie, une messe, quelques marches, préludes, une fugue, les fantaisies, méditation, andante cantabile et autres rondos ne s'écartent en rien d'un langage profondément monochrome. La musique de Brankiewicz est avant tout fonctionnelle et son intérêt reste limité. Le contrepoint et un certain romantisme évoquent le modèle germanique mais son penchant modal peut aussi rappeler l'orgue français. En prime deux miniatures d'un autre organiste natif de Lublin, Wladyslaw qui fut déporté à Auschwitz. (Jérôme Angouillant) There is very little information about Brankiewicz. Despite several mentions in encyclopaedias, no biographical study has ever been devoted to him, and practically his whole heritage as a composer is available only in manuscript. The following study provides a unique opportunity to get acquainted with a major fragment of his output. Brankiewicz “was born on 19 April 1853 in the house of Michal (1816–1871), an organist at Holy Spirit Church”. Five years after his son was born, Michal accepted an equivalent position in the local cathedral. We learn that he was a man of “hard work, great heart and genuine love for music”. Wladyslaw grew up in a home with a strong musical tradition, visited by many local artists. His musical career started when he learnt to play the violin. At the same time, he “attended private lessons in piano and composition given by John Nepomucene Müller (1807–1883)”. This was all just a prelude to a new period of his life. The year 1871 proved crucial as it happened that Wladyslaw “took over his late father’s duties as the cathedral organist, which he initially fulfilled under Rev. Jan Jaworski”. Since then, for over forty years, he was the cathedral organist. He resigned from the post “in 1913 giving no reasons”. His activity was not restricted to that of an organist. “On 6 August 1889, together with Stanislaw Lewicki, he established a male choir called Drumla” whose task was to improve the musical life of Lublin. Brankiewicz “died on 24 February 1929 in Lublin”.
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