From Poland with Music: 100 Years of Polish Composers Abroad (1918-2018)

by Marlena Wieczorek

Overview

• First comprehensive treatment of the subject of Polish composers (in all musical genres) abroad
• Published in celebration of Poland's centenary as a modern nation
• Emigration is central to Poland's cultural identity — in Europe only Ireland bears comparison
• Lively, accessible collection of general essays and composer biographies which can be dipped into or read sequentially
• Specially commissioned line drawings (composer portraits and conceptual images) made by original and talented graphic designer Max Skorwider offer a fresh and attractive approach to illustrating a book on this subject
• Also available as an e-book

From Poland with Music: 100 Years of Polish Composers Abroad (1918–2018) is the first comprehensive treatment of the theme of emigration among Polish composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. The book focuses on classical composers (e.g. Paderewski, Weinberg, Panufnik), but extends to important figures from the worlds of jazz and film music (Komeda, Makowicz, Kaczmarek, Korzeniowski).

The first part of the book contains a series of essays on overarching themes related to the Polish musical diaspora, while the second part comprises an engaging collection of interviews with experts concerning the life and legacy of selected composers, with revealing insights into the artists' personalities and entertaining anecdotes from their lives. Ignacy Jan Paderewski was not only an outstanding pianist and composer, but also the prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of free Poland in 1919. Bronisław Kaper was the first Polish composer to win an Oscar in 1954 for Lili, and Henryk Wars scored 60 projects for Columbia, Universal, Twentieth Century Fox, MGM, United Artists and Paramount.

From Poland with Music recalls all of these stories, revealing just how impactful Polish composers have been on the international music scene in the last 100 years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781785514166
Publisher:	Scala Arts Publishers Inc.
Publication date:	12/15/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Dr Beata Boleslawska-Lewandowska is a Researcher at the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Dr Mariusz Gradowski is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Musicology at the University of Warsaw and Lecturer on the postgraduate course ‘Music and Media' at Collegium Civitas. He also works regularly with Polish Radio 2 and The Frederic Chopin Institute. Dr Grzegorz Piotrowski is Head of the Cultural Studies Department at the University of Gdansk and lecturer at the Music Academy in Gdansk. Dr Marlena Wieczorek is a musicologist, cultural manager, and the president of the MEAKULTURA Foundation which is responsible for this project. She is a two-time holder of the MKiDN (Ministry of Culture and National Heritage) scholarship. Marlena devised the concept for this book.

Table of Contents

This Is How It Usually Begins

100 Musical Thanks

Marlena Wieczorek 11

A Wor(l)d of Recommendation

Krzysztof Moraczewski 12

Instead of an Introduction: Let's Chat Marlena Wieczorek Beata Boleslawska-Lewandowska 15

Part I Music in Motion: Contexts

The History of Music Often Means the History of Emigrants Danuta Gwizdalanka 27

At the Courts

Towards Metropolises

Exiles and Fugitives

Polish Jews

Remembering the Absent

"Cosmopoles"

Life Choices: Causes and Effects of Migration Marlena Wieczorek 43

Motivations for Leaving

Life Above All

Lack of Acceptance

Perspectives for Development

Career and Money Also Matter

Accidents Happen

What If…

In Their Own Words

Various Thoughts at the End

Towards the Four Corners of the World: Directions of Emigration Jolanta Guzy-Pasiak 63

Reasons and Places

Emigration Directions for the Most Important Polish Composers

Music in Transit: Currents and Styles Iwona Lindstedt 77

Ubiquitous Neoclassicism

National Tradition and Folklore

Religious Traditions

Émigré

Avant-Garde

Sound Above All Else

Between Avant-Garde and Tradition: On Diversity

Music for Practical Use

Do We Know Them? Does the World Know Them? The Presence of Musical 'Nomads' in Poland and Abroad Beata Boleslawska-Lewandowska Krzysztof Stefanski 91

Censor's Cut: Political Constraints

In the Embrace of the Avant-Garde

Difficult Returns: The Restored Presence

In Reborn Poland

Rebels and Outsiders

Making Émigré Music Better Known

Without Borders

Independent and True to Themselves: The Migration of Young Polish Composers Marta Wryk 107

Following Passion or Escaping the Familiar: Motives for Going Abroad

Scholarships and What Next?

Looking for a More Capacious Form

Faithful to His Path

Dancing with a Theremin

"Actually, I'm on the Internet": Final Thoughts

The Paths of Film Music Agnieszka Cieslak Mariusz Gradowski 117

Direction: America

Emigrants by Choice

With Polish Blood in Their Veins

New Horizons

Optic Fibers and Staves

Particular Existences: Jazz and Popular Music Composers Grzegorz Piotrowski 129

Red Poppies at Green Dolphin Street

Other Ways

An Artist Cannot Create Without Freedom

I Love Poland

From Poland, Back to Poland (and the World)

Enclaves of Young Polish Jazz Piotr Matla 137

Denmark and Germany

Other Continents

Rock Journeys Jacek Kurek 145

At Construction Sites, in Taxis and Trucks

Beginning with Big Beat

Labyrinth of Freedom

Is It Still Rock?

In the Audience

Instead of Ending

Composing as an Autobiography Aleksandra Bilinska 155

Between a Memory and a Diary

Life-Writing

Lyrical Quality

We Keep Wandering: On Existential Migration Piotr Jakubowski 167

Experiencing Borders

Homines Viatores (People of the Road)

Part II Composers' Profiles: In Other Words, Marlena Wieczorek Asks, Experts Respond

Zbigniew Bargielski Violetta Przech 174

Roman Berger Iwona Lindstedt 178

Wojtek Blecharz Jan Topoiski 181

Joanna Bruzdowkz-Tittel Aleksandra Bilinska 184

Andrzej Dobrowolski Ewa Choroscian 188

Jerzy Fitelberg Ewelina Boczkowska 191

Mikolaj Piotr Górecki Beata Boleslawska-Lewandowska 194

Roman Haubenstock-Ramati Iwona Lindstedt 197

Dobromila Jaskot Malgorzata Gamrat 201

Jan Andrzej Pawel Kaczmarek Mariusz Gradowski 204

Jacek Kaczmarski Filip Marcinkowski 208

Bronislaw Kaper Agnieszka Cieslak 212

Jaroslaw Kapuscinski Kinga Krzymowska-Szacon 215

Zbigniew Karkowski Wojtek Krzyzanowski 219

Dominik Karski Karol Furtak 221

Tadeusz Zygfryd Kassern Violetta Kostka 225

Pawel Klecki Lech Dzierzanowski 228

Krzysztof Komeda Grzegorz Piotrowski 231

Marzena Komsta Karol Furtak 234

Michal Kondracki Kinga Krzymowska-Szacon 238

Abel Korzeniowski Anna Wyzga 241

Martyna Kosecka Emilia Stefanska 245

Hanna Kulenty Weronika Nowak 248

Andrzej Kwiecinski Dominika Mical 252

Szymon Laks Piotr Krajewski 256

Wanda Landowska Dorota Relidzynska 260

Roman Maciejewski Marlena Wieczorek 262

Milosz Magin Kinga Krzymowska-Szacon 265

Adam Makowicz Iwona Granacka 268

Krzysztof Meyer Dorota Szwarcman 271

Eugeniusz Morawski-Dabrowa Marcin Gmys 275

Piotr Moss Kinga Krzymowska-Szacon 278

Ignacy Jan Paderewski Malgorzata Gamrat 282

Roman Palester Beata Boleslawska-Lewandowska 286

Andrzej Panufnik Beata Boleslawska-Lewandowska 290

Jerzy Petersburski Magdalena Nowicka-Ciecierska 294

Prasqual Maria Majewska-Mocek 298

Marta Ptaszynska Magdalena Nowicka-Ciecierska 302

Karol Rathaus Jolanta Guzy-Pasiak 305

Konstanty Regamey Katarzyna Naliwajek 308

Ludomir Michal Rogowski Jolanta Guzy-Pasiak 313

Roman Ryterband Iwona Granacka Diana Eisele 316

Zbigniew Seifert Tomasz Chyla 319

Elzbieta Sikora Ewa Choroscian 322

Stanislaw Skrowaczewski Beata Boleslawska-Lewandowska 325

Bettina Skrzypczak Aleksandra Bilinska 329

Cezary Skubiszewski Grzegorz Dabrowski 333

Michal Spisak Agnieszka Nowok-Zych 335

Tomasz Stanko Tomasz Tliczkiewicz 338

Zygmunt Stojowski Marcin Gmys 341

Stanislaw Syrewicz Grzegorz Dabrowski 343

Witold Szalonek Iwona Lindstedt 346

Antoni Szalowski Elzbieta Szczurko 350

Jagoda Szmytka Monika Pasiecznik 354

Michal Talma-Sutt Kinga Krzymowska-Szacon 357

Aleksander Tansman Malgorzata Gamrat 360

André Tchaikowsky Anastasia Belina 363

Ewa Trebacz Aleksandra Bilinska 366

Michal Urbaniak Tomasz Chyla 370

Henryk Wars Grzegorz Piotrowski 373

Mieczyslaw Weinberg Aleksander Laskowski 376

Krzysztof Wolek Wojtek Krzyzanowski 379

Andrzej Zielinski Anna Kruszynska 381

References

Appendix: List of Composers Abroad (1918-2018) 386

Notes 398

About the Publisher 411