Sinfonietta for String Orchestra by Weronika Ratusińska in the Context of the Issue of (Sub)Genre

The purpose of the article is to focus on certain terminological and historical aspects related to the genre of sinfonietta in the Polish music of the 20th and 21st century. In the introduction, the author presents the definition and general characteristics, listing the sources and the most representative works in the Polish music. Additionally, she presents numerical statistics and classification of the sinfonietta in Polish music and on this basis she analyses one of the most interesting works representing the type of sinfonietta-transcription – Sinfonietta for string orchestra by Weronika Ratusińska from 2009. The author analyses the use and manner of modification of musical motifs, the way in which the sound layer is shaped and the relation between Ratusińska’s work and tradition of the genre.

Metafora ruchu i jej urzeczywistnienie w muzyce przestrzennej XX wieku

The Metaphor of Movement and Its Materialisation in the Spatial Music of the 20th Century The article concerns the issue of experiencing spatial music. While discussing movement and space in music, Bohdan Pociej draws attention to two types of the spatiality of a musical work: the “inner” and “outer” spatiality. The first one comes from the nature of the sound material and the interaction of elements, it stays in the sphere of impressions, metaphors. The second one involves the physical parameters and the actual performance of the piece. The author notes that the works of composers of the 20th century tend to break through from the internal space, transforming it into the external one. The issue of the body as a centre is present in the works of Edmund Husserl, Yi-Fu Tuan, Edward Hall, and others. The metaphor of movement – concerning language and music – has become the subject of cognitive science. In the context of spatial music, the metaphorical level is combined with the physical level. During the performance of a composition, the listener may be have various relations with sound sources but always locates them concerning the location of their own body, which they treat as the centre. The two basic types of outer spatiality – the perspective of the observer and the perspective of the participant – correspond to the types of understanding of the metaphor of movement in music (internal spatiality) proposed by Steve Larson and Mark Johnson.

Tradycje muzyczne Żydów aszkenazyjskich a Radical Jewish Culture: definicje i treści dawnej i współczesnej muzyki żydowskiej

Jewish Music and Radical Jewish Culture: A Brief Outline of the Definitions and Content of Jewish Music in the Past and Nowadays The main purpose of the article is to describe John Zorn’s approach to klezmer music and Jewish music tradition in general. The text was split into shorter paragraphs. The first part of the article is dedicated to providing an overview of the problems concerning the definition of Jewish music. The second part focuses on analysing klezmer motifs in John Zorn’s selected works and Jewish symbols present in the visual layer connected with his works. The last paragraph contains a summary and conclusions.

Mieczysław Weinberg and the Category of Borderland

Polish musicologist and author Danuta Gwizdalanka titled her publication Mieczysław Wajnberg: kompozytor z trzech światów [Mieczysław Weinberg: Composer from Three Worlds] (Poznań, 2013). Weinberg (1919–1996) was a Polish composer with Jewish roots who spent most of his life in the USSR. Without any doubt, he can be called ‘a composer from the borderland’ due to his ‘hybrid identity’, which was one of the most important reasons that affected the appreciation of Weinberg’s output both during his lifetime and after death. The main ideas of this paper centre on the category of ‘borderland’ and its representations in Weinberg’s biography and oeuvre. According to the typology proposed by Krzysztof Zajas, Weinberg’s life and works can be considered in terms of the following types of borderland: interdisciplinary, spatial, psychological, existential, sociological, and mythological. Through the prism of the category of ‘borderland’, Weinberg’s creative work manifests itself as a highly individual and invaluable testimony of his times, Far from eclectic and epigonic in relation to the music of Dmitri Shostakovich, his oeuvre is unique in the world’s music literature.

Concerts of the Jewish Orchestra in the Łódź Ghetto during the Second World War

The article discusses concerts organised by the inhabitants of the Łódź Ghetto and their cultural context. My research focuses on concerts conducted by Teodor Ryder, with preserved posters and programmes used as my sources. The surviving concert reviews written in the ghetto contribute to a better understanding of these events. Analysis of source materials provides me with an opportunity to describe the musical life in the ghetto and discuss the role of music in the lives of its inhabitants.

The Music Traditions of the Ashkenazi Jews and Radical Jewish Culture: A Brief Outline of the Definitions and Content of Jewish Music in the Past and Nowadays

The main purpose of this paper is to describe John Zorn’s approach to klezmer music and Jewish music tradition in general. The text has been divided into shorter sections. The first part of the article is dedicated to providing an overview of problems concerning the definition of Jewish music. The second part focuses on analysing klezmer motifs in John Zorn’s selected works and Jewish symbols present in the visual component of his recording projects. The last section contains a summary and conclusions.

Mieczysław Wajnberg a kategoria pogranicza

Mieczysław Wajnberg and the Category of Borderland Polish musicologist and author Danuta Gwizdalanka, titled her publication Mieczysław Wajnberg: Composer from Three Worlds (Poznań, 2013). Wajnberg (1919–1996) was a Polish composer with Jewish roots who spent most of his life in USSR. Without any doubt, Wajnberg can be named “the composer from the borderland” due to his “hybrid identity”, which was one of the most important reasons preventing appreciation of Wajnberg’s creative activity both during life and after death. The main ideas of the paper are focused on the “category of borderland” and its representation in Wajnberg’s biography and output. According to the typology proposed by Krzysztof Zajas, Wajnberg’s live and works can be considered in the frame of following types of borderland: interdisciplinary, spatial, psychological, existential, sociological and mythological. Through the prism of “borderland’s category”, Wajnberg’s creative activity shows itself as a very individual and invaluable testimony of his times (far away from eclectic and epigonic in relation to music of Dmitri Shostakovich), unique on the scale of world music literature.

Muzyczne reprezentacje przeszłości w dziecięcych filmach animowanych wyprodukowanych w Europie Środkowo- Wschodniej w latach komunizmu

Musical Representations of the Past in Animations for Children Produced in Central and Eastern Europe in Times of Communism The subject of the article is the composition strategies of presenting the bygone time in animated films produced in the integrated cultural space that was, during the communist era, Central and Eastern Europe. Productions made in two countries – in the Soviet Union and in Poland – are considered. The discussion of film examples is conducted in an approximate chronological order, according to the time of production of individual pictures. The presentation of specific productions is not intended to exhaustively analyse these audiovisual works, but to review thematic threads related to the past and in their context compositional ideas and tendencies.

Henryk Mikołaj Górecki’s Chamber Music Works in the Context of the Transformations of the Composer’s Style: Selected Examples

The aim of this paper is to analyse stylistic changes in Henryk Mikołaj Górecki’s output on the example of four selected chamber music works: Quartettino, Op. 5, Concerto for Five Instruments and String Quartet, Op. 11, Little Music 4, Op. 28 and Aria (‘operatic scene’), Op. 59. By applying the methods of structural and auditory analysis as well as style criticism, I discuss the diversity of composition techniques found in these compositions. Additionally, my methodology has allowed me to represent the idiomatic, idiosyncratic features of Górecki’s style and study the ways in which Górecki approached chamber music.

The Artistic Profile of Aleksander Zarzycki: A Forgotten Composer of the Romantic Era

The second half of the nineteenth century is a neglected period in the history of Polish music, in the aspects of both research and performance. Works by many composers from this period have unfortunately been forgotten. One such composer is undoubtedly Aleksander Zarzycki (1834–1895), also a teacher and piano virtuoso, the author of more than 40 opuses, including many solo songs with piano accompaniment, which have frequently been compared to the songs of Stanisław Moniuszko. Similarly as Poland’s most famous song composer, Zarzycki created two songbooks that belong to the trend of egalitarian songs. He was also renowned for his short piano pieces, written in the salon style with virtuoso elements. One of his most famous works is the Mazurka in G major, popularised by the Spanish virtuoso violinist Pablo Sarasate. Also of note is his Piano Concerto in A-flat major Op. 17, drawing on Fryderyk Chopin’s Piano Concerto in A minor and Józef Wieniawski’s Concerto in G minor. Zarzycki’s works are characteristic of his era, and contain elements of folklore, national style, virtuosity, and the so-called ‘Romantic mood’.