A recently published book, Dusza dzwięków, is a joint effort sponsored by the Polish Composers’ Union [ZKP] and Polish Music Information Center [POLMIC]. Its full English title, The Soul of Sounds—Conversations with Polish Composers, conveys the essence of this admirable undertaking that took well over a decade, and sought to present and analyze the work of some of the most prominent contemporary Polish composers.
Fascinating conversations with Rafał Augustyn, Krzysztof Baculewski, Marek Chołoniewski, Szabolc Esztényi, Eugeniusz Knapik, Krzysztof Knittel, Jerzy Kornowicz, Stanisław Krupowicz, Andrzej Krzanowski, Hanna Kulenty, Aleksander Lasoń, Piotr Moss, Elżbieta Sikora, Tadeusz Wielecki and Lidia Zielińska cover 475 pages. They are further enhanced (on almost 300 additional pages) by a detailed documentation of works by these composers and over 200 photographs, excerpts from manuscripts and published scores, as well as glossary of terms for those needing some guidance when perusing this publication. All in all, this volume covers the musical life in Poland from the mid-1970s to the early 2010s and the creative lives of composers born between the years 1939 and 1961.
In the introduction, this magisterial volume’s author, Dr. Marietta Morawska-Büngeler, also provides short biographies for each of her fifteen dramatis personae, setting the stage for the more detailed interviews that follow on the pages of her book. This project of much effort and well over a dozen years has been published with the support of the Musica et Ars Moderna Foundation as well as with substantial assistance from various donors, sponsors, patrons, cultural organizations, publishers and many others who saw this project’s outstanding merits.
For more information about this publication and to read it online, please go to:
https://duszadzwiekow.polmic.pl
[Source: email from one of the composers in this publication]