A Polish Renaissance
Four Polish composers who changed the shape of music in the 20th-century.
Bernard Jacobson
- Looks at four Polish composers, Andrzej Panufnik (1914-91), Witold Lutoslawski (1913-94), Krzystof Penderecki (b.1933) and Henryk Górecki (b.1933), who have changed the shape of music in the second half of the 20th century
- Traces the development of their radically differing creative approaches in spite of their common national origins
- Examines the changing political regimes by which they were affected and their relationship with the various musical movements of the time
Paperback
156 x 220 mm, 6 1/8 x 8 5/8 in
240 pp
80 black and white illustrations
ISBN 9780714832517
0714832510
Polish music has flowered in the later twentieth century, with the emergence of artists of international stature. Yet the four Poles whose story is told here - Andrzej Panufnik (1914-91), Witold Lutoslawski (1913-94), Krzystof Penderecki (b.1933) and Henryk Górecki (b.1933) - are noted for their development of radically differing creative approaches, in spite of common national origins.
Against the background of artistic experience and political regimes by which all were affected, their works are illuminated through an in-depth account of their lives and careers, which have so powerfully contributed to the phenomenon of rebirth in modern Polish music.
Bernard Jacobson was Artistic Director of the Residentie Orkest (Hague Philharmonic) from 1992 to 1994, and is widely published as an author and translator.
'As a series, Phaidon's 20th Century Composers has brought remarkable variety and a welter of information, both necessary and delightfully trivial. Intended both for the general reader and for the more enthusiatically musical...' (The Scotsman)