Polish composers

1. Polishcomposers

2. Frederic Chopin 1st March 1810 – 17th October 1849 Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of French-Polish parentage

3. Life and work • He was one of the best known composers in the world. • He is considered to be one of the greatest masters of Romantic music. • Chopin was born in Żelazowa Wola a village near Warsaw. • Seven-year-old "little Chopin" composed two Polonaises and began giving public concerts. • He received a good general education at one of the first colleges of Warsaw.

4. Life and work • Because of political reasons he was forced to leave Poland in 1830 at age 20 and settled in Paris for the rest of his life. • Here he soon became the favorite and musical hero of society. • He was connected with George Sand who was the most important woman inhis life. • He was buried in the cemetery of Père-Lachaisein Paris.His heart was buried in Warsaw.

5. The most importantcompositions • „Revolutionary Etude” • C Minor Op. 10 No.12 (1829-1832). It was created when the November Uprising was suppressed by the Russian detachments. The composer intended it to be a piano exercise to practice the left hand. • Polonaise A flat Major Op. 53One of the best known polonaises, a musical symbol of the Polish nation. • „Raindrop prelude” prelude D flat Major Op. 28 No. 15 A set of 24 preludes, each in a different key. Chopin created it during his stay on Majorca when it rained all the time.

6. The most importantcompositions • Sonata B Minor Op. 35 No. 2 It’s next to last part is the Funeral March which, to these days, is performed during every important funeral ceremony. • „Minute Waltz” D flat Major Op. 64 No. 1. • Piano Concerto F Minor Op. 21. • Piano Concerto E Minor Op. 11. • Scherzo H Minor Op. 20 Scherzo H Minor Op. 20

7. The International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition • First competition was organized in 1927 and it’s organized every 5 years in Warsaw. • It’s one the oldest and most important international competitions for pianists which takes place all over the world. • The pianist who wins this competition becomes very famous.

8. Stanislaw Moniuszko 5th May 1819 – 4 th June Polish composer and pianist, creator of Polish national opera

9. Life and work • He was a Polish composer, conductor and teacher. His output includes many songs and operas, and his musical style is filled with patriotic folk themes. He is generally referred to as the father of Polish national opera. • The source of Moniuszko's melodies and rhythmic patterns often lies in Polish musical folklore. One of the most visibly "Polish" aspects of his music is in the forms he uses, including dances popular among upper classes such as polonaise and mazurkas, and folk tunes and dances such as kujawiak and krakowiak.

10. Compositions Operas: • Bettly – 1872, • The Raftsman – 1858, • Halka – 1846, • The Countess – 1860, • Paria - 1859-69, • The King of Peasants, • Idyll, • The Haunted Manor - 1861-64, • Verbum Nobile – 1860;

11. Compositions • Operettas:Beata - 1870; • Idol – 1840; • The Gypsies - 1850; • Karmaniol or Frenchmen Like To Joke – 1840; • Lottery – 1842; • Overnight in Appenines - 1837-1840; • The New Don Quixote or Hundred Follies - 1923. • Masses and Other Sacral Works:Litanies of Ostra Brama - mixed choir, organ and orchestra. 1843-1855. • Funeral Mass in D-minor for 4-part mixed choir and organ. 1850. • Mass in E-minor for 2 sopranos, alto and organ. 1855. • Mass in E-flat major for solo voices, mixed choir, organ and string quintet. 1865. • Mass in B-flat major Piotrowinska' for solo voices, mixed choir and organ. 1872. • Ecce lignum crucis. Motet for baritone solo, mixed choir and organ. 1872. • The Lord's Prayer "Our Father” for 4-part mixed choir and orchestra or organ, 1859. • Psalm Ne memineris' for solo voices, mixed choir, organ and string quintet. • Psalm Vide humilitatem meam' for mixed choir, sting quintet and organ. • Requiem aeteranam for 11 solo voices, mixed choir and orchestra.

12. Karol Maciej Szymanowski 3rd October 1882 – 28th March 1937 Polish composer and pianist

13. Life and Work • He spent his childhood in the home village.  • In 1889 he began playing the piano. • In 1921 he traveled to the United States. • In May 1922 he made his concert composer in Paris,ended with great success. • In 1930 Szymanowski suffering from tuberculosis, he settled in Zakopane. • Tuberculosis attacked the throat of the composer, so that Szymanowski was not able toeat anything. He died in his sleep, in a clinic in Lausanne Du Signal.

14. His better known orchestral works are: • Four symphonies (No. 3, Song of the Night with choir and vocal soloists and No. 4, Symphonie Concertante, with piano concertante) and two dream-like violin concertos. • His stage works include the ballets Harnasie and Mandragora and the operas Hagith and „King Roger”. • He wrote much piano music, including the four Etudes, Op. 4 (of which No. 3 may be his single most popular piece), many mazurkas and the exquisite and highly individual Metopes. • Other works include the Three Myths for violin and piano, two masterful string quartets, a sonata for violin and piano, a number of orchestral songs and his Stabat Mater, an acknowledged choral masterpiece.

15. Krzysztof Penderecki was born on 23rd November 1933 in Dębica. Contemporary Polish composer and conductor

16. Life and work • In 1959, he composed Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima. For this, one of his best known and most often performed compositions, he received the UNESCO prize. • In 1972 Penderecki started his conductor’s career. Since that time he is conducting the largest orchestras of the world. Between 1972-78 he was a professor of Yale University School of Music. • In 1999 Krzysztof Penderecki received two Grammy Awards for Best Classical Contemporary Composition. • Penderecki was reborn—the performance marked a turning point in his career making him the most acclaimed artist since Igor Stravinsky

17. Compositions • Orchestral Works • Concertos • Cello Concerto No.2 • Cello Sonata • Concerto Grosso, for 3 cellos and orchestra • FluteConcerto • Largo, for cello and orchestra • Viola Concerto • ViolinConcerto No.1 • Symphony No.3 • Symphony No.1 • Symphony No.2 ('ChristmasSymphony') • Symphony No.4 ('Adagio') • Symphony No.5 • Symphony No.8, for 3 voices, chorus, and orchestra ('Lieder der Vergänglichkeit') • Symphony No.7 (Seven Gates of Jerusalem'), • De Natura Sonoris 2 • Fluorescences • Polymorphia, for 48 strings • Threnody 'to theVictims of Hiroshima', for 52 strings • Chamber Works • Cadenza, for viola solo

18. Compositions • Sinfonietta No.2, for chamber orchestra • Sinfonietta, for chamber orchestra • AgnusDei, for 4 soloists, chorus and orchestra (mvt.10 fromcollectivecomposition 'Requiem of Reconciliation') • Benedictus, for chorus • Cantatain honorem AlmaeMatrisUniversitatisIagellonicae, for chorus and orchestra • Credo, for soloists, boys' choir, chorus and orchestra • Diesirae, for soloists, chorus, and orchestra • FromthePsalms of David, for chorus, strings, and percussion • Hymn to St. Daniel, for chorus and winds • Polish Requiem, for soloists, chorus, and orchestra • Psalms of David, for chorus, 2 pianos, percussion, double bass and harp • Song of theCherubim for chorus • Passio et Mors Domini NostriJesu Christi SecundumLucam for 3 voices, narrator, choruses, and orchestra • Te Deum, for 4 soloists, 2 choruses, and orchestra • Utrenia I: TheEntombment of Christ, for 5 voices, 2 choruses, and orchestra • Utrenia II: TheResurrection of Christ, for 5 soloists, boy'schoir, chorus, and orchestra