b. 1930, Vilnius
Biography
Romuald Twardowski (b. 17 June 1930) studied at the State Conservatory of the Lithuanian Republic in Soviet Union in Vilnius (1952-1957). Since 1957 he continued his compositional studies at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw (with Bolesław Woytowicz). After graduating in 1960, he studied for one year in 1963 with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Twardowski withdrew most of his early pieces. In the 1950s his music went through a phase characterized by dissonance and thick textures; in subsequent years his style became more melodic. His stage music reveals a gift for theatrical timing and a sense of drama. The fluency and lightness of musical narration finds its reflection in the variety of genres and forms ranging from instrumental miniatures to concert forms (with orchestra), from vocal solo and choral cycles to operas and ballets. A didactic element plays an essential part in the composer’s music, especially for youth and children.
Twardowski received many awards for his music, including the Prince Rainier Prize for the ballet Sorcerer’ Sculptures, and a Prize at the Prague Spring Festival for Sonetti di Petrarca. In 2000 he donated a number of his manuscripts to the PMC collection. The photograph features a moment at the Polish Composers’ Union after the donation ceremony (23 September 2000).
List of Works
Orchestral Music
Little Symphony for strings, piano, and percussion (1959)
Nomopedia, cinque movimenti per orchestra (1962)
Trittico fiorentino
-I. Tre studi secondo Giotto for chamber orchestra (1966)
-II. Sonetti di Petrarca, for solo tenor and two a capella choirs (1965)
Marian Triptych for strings (1974)
Two Landscapes for orchestra (1975)
Capriccio in Blue for violin and orchestra (1979)
Joannes Rex for baritone, choir, and orchestra(1983)
Concerto for Piano (1984)
A Spanish Fantasy for violin and orchestra (1986)
Three Frescoes for symphony orchestra (1986)
The Italian Album for orchestra (1989)
Nigunim, Hassidic Melodies for violin and orchestra (1991)
Opera and Ballet
The Naked Prince, ballet in one act (1960)
Cyrano de Bergerac, opera in four acts(1962)
The Fall of Father Suryn, music drama for radio after Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz’s Mother Joanna of the Angels (1969)
Maria Stuart, opera (1980)
Vocal-Instrumental Music
Little Orthodox Liturgy for vocal ensembles and chamber orchestra (1968);
Ode to Youth for speaker, choir, and orchestra to the text of Adam Mickiewicz (1969);
Small Concerto for vocal orchestra (1986);
Canticum canticorum for soprano, flute and strings (1994).
Manuscripts at USC
Mała liturgia prawosławna, na zespół wokalny i 3 grupy instrumentalne [The Lesser Orthodox Liturgy: for vocal ensemble and three instrumental groups] (1968). Manuscript score in black ink; 49 pages, on music paper of 26 staves.
Interludia no. 1-3 from the opera “Maria Stuart” (1979).
Manuscript score in black ink, excerpts from an opera, 66 pages; on KKF Russian music paper of 30 staves.
Trio, for violin, cello and piano, dedicated to Trio de Chopin. Manuscript score in black ink, 16 pages; on music paper of 18 staves.
Capriccio in Blue, version for violin and piano(n.d., 19 pages).
Sonata breve, for harpsichord or piano (1979, 8 pages).
Nigunim: melodie Chasydow [Hassidic melodies], for violin and orchestra (1991). Manuscript score in black ink, 30 pages; 24-staves music paper.
Hommage a J.S. Bach, for organ (2000). Manuscript sketches in pencil, not signed. The manuscript consists of: Toccatina; Two inventions; Preludio; Postludio; Preludio; Chorale.
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