August 22, 2024 marked one hundred years since Andrzej Markowski was born in Lublin. He was a noted Polish conductor, composer and founder—as well as the first director—of the Wratislavia Cantans Festival. Coming from a musical family (his father, Tadeusz, was a singer and actor, and his older brother, Jan, a composer and pianist), Andrzej Markowski studied composition with Artur Malawski. During World War II, Markowski joined the Home Army (Armia Krajowa) underground, fought in the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 and thereafter was sent, with his brother, to a German concentration camp in Murnau (Bavaria).
After the war, Markowski studied at London’s Trinity College with Alec Rowley (1946-1947). Following his return to Poland in 1947, he pursued composition studies with Piotr Rytel and Tadeusz Szeligowski and conducting with Witold Rowicki.
In 1966 Markowski was instrumental in creating the prestigious international Wratislavia Cantans Festival, which is focused on liturgical music, as well as the Polish Contemporary Music Festival in Wrocław, Festival for Organ and Harpsichord Music, and Kraków Composers’ Spring Festival.
As a composer, Markowski is remembered not only for his orchestral, instrumental and popular music, but also by his film scores for such acclaimed features as the 1954 feature Pokolenie [Generation] and the 1965 historical epic Popioły [Ashes], based on Stefan Żeromski’s novel. Both of these films were directed by Andrzej Wajda. In 1956 Markowski teamed up with another celebrated director, Jerzy Kawalerowicz, for a thriller entitled Cień [Shadow]. His other memorable score came in 1969 for Jerzy Hoffman’s Pan Wołodyjowski, a swashbuckling historical adventure based on a novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz.
As a conductor, Andrzej Markowski led Poland’s top orchestras: Silesian Philharmonic (1955-1958), Kraków Philharmonic (1959-1964), Wrocław Philharmonic (1965-1969), National Philharmonic in Warsaw (1971-1978), and the Rubinstein Philharmonic in Łódź (1981-1986).
Markowski’s extensive achievements were recognized with multiple awards including the Silver Cross of Merit, Ministry of Culture Award, Polish Composers’ Union Award (1969 and 1971), as well as the Grand Prix du Disque—Charles Cross Award for his recording of Krzysztof Penderecki’s Jutrznia in 1974. He died in Warsaw on October 30, 1986, and is buried at Powązki Cemetery.
The centennial of this important figure in Polish music has been marked with several recent concerts and other events. These include a concert entitled “Hommage à Markowski” at the Silesian Philharmonic on September 12, the program of which featured the world premiere of Mikołaj Piotr Górecki’s 1944 for choir and orchestra, op. 65. He will also be honored on October 18 at the “100th Anniversary Andrzej Markowski Memorial Concert” at the Szymanowski Philharmonic in Kraków, with a program of Panufnik, Schumann and Beethoven.
[Source: email from the composer’s family]