b. 1922, Toruń – d. 1981

Biography

Kazimierz Serocki was born in Toruń on 3 March 1922 and died in 1981. He studied composition with Kazimierz Sikorski and piano with Stanisław Szpinalski at the State Higher School of Music in Łódź and graduated in 1946. He continued his studies in composition with Nadia Boulanger and in piano with Lazare Levy in Paris in 1947-48. From 1946 to 1951 he performed many times as a concert pianist in Poland and abroad. From 1952 onwards he was exclusively committed to composing. Serocki’s output is concentrated in two main spheres : orchestral music and vocal-instrumental pieces to Polish texts selected with fine discrimination.

Serocki is one of the initiators of the festival “Warsaw Autumn”. Together with J.Krenz and T. Bairdem he formed the composers’ group (“Group 49”). He was vice-president of the central administration of the Polish Composers’ Union (1954 – 55). He received a number of Polish and foreign awards, including several State Prizes, among them one in 1952 for his music to the film “Young Chopin”. He also received a prize at the UNESCO competition (1959, for the Sinfonietta) and the award of the Minister of Culture and Fine Arts for the whole of his work (1963).

List of Works

Chamber Music

Suite for 4 trombones – 1953
Continuum Sextet for Percussion Instruments – 1966
Swinging Music for clarinet, trombone, cello or double bass, and piano – 1970
Fantasmagoria for piano and percussion – 1971
Arrangements for 1-4 recorders – 1975-76

Orchestral works and concertos

Three Melodies from Kurpie for 6 sopranos, 6 tenors, and chamber orchestra – 1949
Symphony No. 1 – 1952
Symphony No. 2  “Symphony of Song” for soprano, baritone, choir, and orchestra – 1953
Concerto for trombone and orchestra – 1953
Sonatina for trombone and orchestra – 1954
Sinfonietta per due orchestre d’archi – 1956
Heart of the Night song cycle for baritone and orchestra – 1956
Eyes of the Air song cycle for soprano and orchestra – 1957
Musica concertante – 1958
Episodes for strings and 3 groups of percussion – 1959
Segmenti – 1961
Symphonic Frescoes – 1964
Niobe music to extracts from a poem by Konstanty I. Gałczyński for 2 reciters (man and woman), mixed choir, and orchestra – 1966
Forte e piano music for two pianos and orchestra – 1967
Poems to words by Tadeusz Różewicz for soprano and chamber orchestra – 1969
Dramatic Story – 1970
Fantasia elegiaca for organ and orchestra – 1972
Impromptu fantasque for orchestra – 1973
Concerto alla cadenza per flauto a becco e orchestra – 1974
Ad libitum for symphony orchestra – 1973-77
Pianophonie – 1976-78

Solo instruments

Suite of Preludes – 1952
Brownies 7 little pieces for children – 1953
Sonata – 1955
A piacere suggestions for piano – 1963
Sonatina for trombone and piano – 1954
Dance for clarinet and piano – 1955

Voice and Piano

Heart of the Night song cycle for baritone and piano – 1956
Eyes of the Air song cycle for soprano and piano – 1957

4-Part Unaccompanied Mixed Choir

Songs of Midsummer Night, suite , folk text – 1954
Suite from the Opole Region in Silesia, folk text – 1954

Manuscripts at USC

None

Links

French Site


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