On June 20th of this year, Polish musicologist Teresa Chylińska celebrated her 90th birthday. This extraordinary individual and a dynamic force par excellence in the research of Karol Szymanowski’s life has been a distinguished author, a highly accomplished editor and a great expert of modern music in Poland. Tributes to this world class scholar came…Continue Reading Chylińska Triumphant!
Celebrate the life, music and legacy of Frédéric Chopin with a special Collectors’ Edition of International Piano Magazine, entitled “Chopin: The Perfect Virtuoso.” The 100-page publication presents a comprehensive portrait of the great Romantic pianist and composer, celebrating his timeless masterpieces and the artists who bring them alive. Drawing on nearly a quarter of a…Continue Reading ‘Chopin: The Perfect Virtuoso’
‘Śpiewajmy Polskę!’ [Let’s sing Poland!] is a unique songbook containing a selection of the 100 most important patriotic songs in the history of the country. Published by PMW [Polish Music Publishers], these new arrangements for voice with piano accompaniment and guitar chords are available on the website www.spiewajmypolske.pl. The arrangements give unlimited possibilities for people…Continue Reading “Let’s Sing Poland!”—New PWM Anthology of Patriotic Songs
Book Review by Marek Zebrowski For over two centuries, Polish music has been inextricably linked to history and politics. A multitude of turbulent events (including the loss of independence, uprisings, revolutions and worldwide conflicts, with Poland’s territory being invaded and pillaged and its citizenry suffering unimaginable tragedies) inevitably turned the arts, literature and music into…Continue Reading Under the Awangarda Banner
Lisa Cooper Vest—assistant professor of musicology in the Thornton School of Music, and presenter at the recent PMC Spring Górecki event—has recently published a book entitled Awangarda: Tradition and Modernity in Postwar Polish Music (University of California Press, 2020). Dr. Vest will explore this new publication at an online discussion hosted by the USC Levan…Continue Reading Book Chats—”Awangarda: Tradition and Modernity in Postwar Polish Music”
The latest book published by PWM Edition—Danuta Gwizdalanka’s Uwodziciel – Rzecz o Karolu Szymanowskim [The Seducer – A thing about Karol Szymanowski] —will appear in bookstores on 29 March 2021. This new biography of Karol Szymanowski will make readers blush. Danuta Gwizdalanka, who recently appeared in the Polish Music Center’s 2020 Paderewski Lecture (available for viewing on…Continue Reading “The Seducer. A thing about Karol Szymanowski” by Danuta Gwizdalanka
Nowy Dziennik, the New York City based Polish weekly, featured an extensive interview in Polish with violinist Kinga Augustyn. Published on 14 February 2021, the article entitled Muzyczny świat Kingi Augustyn [The Music World of Kinga Augustyn] begins with a discussion of the two most recent recordings by this Polish virtuosa, who is also a…Continue Reading Augustyn’s Interview
The first complete edition of six Ballads for piano solo composed by Jadwiga Sarnecka (1873? -1913) has been published by the Eufonium publishing house. This recent edition was based entirely on the composer’s extant manuscripts preserved at the Jagiellonian University Library, which were researched and edited by Marek Szlezer, a Krakow-based pianist and scholar. According…Continue Reading First Complete Edition of Ballads by Jadwiga Sarnecka
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Solidarność, or Solidarity, and the signing of the Gdańsk August Agreements. Founded in 1980 as a trade union in the Gdańsk Shipyard, Solidarity became a leading political force in the defeat of the Communist regime in Poland. Eventually the Polish government was forced to negotiate…Continue Reading Sikora & Mykietyn Premieres in Gdańsk
The U.K. based Boydell & Brewer just announced the publication of Lutoslawski’s Worlds, a collection of English-language essays about Witold Lutosławski and his music. The collection is edited by Lisa Jakelski, Associate Professor or Musicology at the Eastman School of Music and Nicholas Ryland, Head of Undergraduate Programs at the Royal Northern School of Music….Continue Reading New Publication on Lutosławski