Tadeusz Baird (26 July 19282 September 1981) was a Polish composer.

Biography

Baird was born in

Grodzisk Mazowiecki Grodzisk Mazowiecki () is a town in central Poland, the capital of Grodzisk Mazowiecki County in the Masovian Voivodeship, with 34,718 inhabitants (2024). Grodzisk Mazowiecki is a town that developed from an Early Middle Ages, early medieval forti ...

, in Poland. His father Edward was Polish, while his mother Maria (née Popov) was Russian. In 1944 at the age of 16 he was deported to Germany as a forced labourer, and after a failed escape attempt was imprisoned in a concentration camp. After liberation by the Americans he spent six months recovering at the military hospital in Zweckel before returning to Poland. Between 1947 and 1951 Baird studied composition and musicology in Warsaw under Piotr Rytek and

Kazimierz Sikorski Kazimierz Sikorski (June 28, 1895 – July 23, 1986) was a Polish composer. His arrangement of the "" is currently used as the Polish national anthem. Biography Sikorski was born in Zurich, but studied in Warsaw, first music at the Warsaw Cons ...

, and piano with Tadeusz Wituski.Wightman, Alistair. 'Baird, Tadeusz' in ''Grove Music Online''
/ref> In 1949 he founded Group 49 along with

Kazimierz Serocki Kazimierz Serocki (3 March 1922 – 9 January 1981) was a Polish composer and one of the founders of the Warsaw Autumn contemporary music festival. Life Serocki was born in Toruń. He studied composition with Kazimierz Sikorski and piano wi ...

and Jan Krenz. The aim of Group 49 was to write communicative and expressive music according to socialist realism, the dominant ideology in the Eastern Bloc at the time. After Stalin's death in 1953 he increasingly turned to

serialism In music, serialism is a method of composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though some of his contemporaries were also ...

.Obituary, ''The Times'', 15 September 1981, p 14 In 1956, along with

, he founded the

Warsaw Autumn Warsaw Autumn () is the largest international Polish festival of contemporary music. It was established in 1956 by two composers, Tadeusz Baird and Kazimierz Serocki, and officially established by the Head Board of the Polish Composers' Union ...

international contemporary music festival. In 1974 he began to teach composition at the National College of Music (currently the Music Academy) in Warsaw. In 1977, now a full professor, he was offered a post to teach a composition class at the Warsaw Academy of Music, and also membership in the Academie der Künste der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik – Berlin in 1979. Baird died in 1981, aged 53.

Compositions

He wrote both large-scale symphonies and chamber music; however, of great importance in his output are numerous vocal cycles inspired by poetry. He was also a composer of film and theatre music. Baird's music is usually melodic, lyrical, very expressive, and intensely subjective. It is often rooted in the post-Romantic tradition, despite the use of serial techniques. Alistair Wightman identifies Baird as "a late Romantic lyricist and successor not only to

Berg Berg may refer to: People *Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * General Berg (disambiguation) * Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Berg (footballer, born 1963), Ninimbergue dos Santos Guerra, Brazilian footba ...

, but

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

and Szymanowski". Like Berg, his use of serialism was always very free and expressive, as in his String Quartet (1957). But the later works, starting with the 1966 one-act opera ''Jutro'' ("tomorrow", based on the short story by

Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the Eng ...

) become darker, particularly in the orchestral piece ''Psychodrama'' (1972) and in his final work, the song cycle for baritone and orchestra ''Głosy z oddali'' (‘Voices from afar’), which sets a bleak text by

Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz Jarosław Leon Iwaszkiewicz (; also known under his literary pseudonym Eleuter; 20 February 1894 – 2 March 1980), was a Polish writer, poet, essayist, dramatist and translator.Bartłomiej Szleszyński, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. 2003 Culture.plJ ...

on the subject of death and personal extinction. This change in perspective was a result of the traumatic experiences he faced during World War II and on into the early 1950s. Barbara Literska sees him as "a prophet of the future of music (postmodernity)".Literska, Barbara. ''Tadeusz Baird: The Composer, His Work, and Its Reception''. Peter Laing (2020)
/ref>

Music for solo instruments

*''Sonatina I'' (1949) for solo piano *''Sonatina II'' (1952) for solo piano *''Little Suite for Children'' (1952) for solo piano

Chamber music

*''Two Caprices for Clarinet and Piano'' (1953) (2nd Prize,

Polish Composers' Union The Polish Composers' Union (, ZKP) is a society of Polish composers and musicologists. History The association was founded in Kraków on August 29 or September 1, 1945 by the All-Polish Composers' Congress, as a continuation of the Association of ...

) *''Cztery Preludia our Preludesfor Bassoon and Piano'' (1954) *''Divertimento for Flute, Clarinet, Oboe, and Bassoon'' (1956) *''String Quartet'' (1957) *''Play for String Quartet'' (1971) *''Variations in Rondo Form for String Quartet'' (1978)

Orchestral works

*''Sinfonietta'' (1949) *''Symphony I'' (1950) - Polish National Prize, 1951 *''Colas Breugnon: a suite in the old style for string orchestra with flute'' (1951) *''Symphony II, quasi una fantasia'' (1952) *''Concerto for Orchestra'' (1953) *''Cassazione per orchestra'' (1956) *''

Four Essays Four Essays for Orchestra (''Cztery Eseje'') is an orchestral composition by Polish composer Tadeusz Baird written in 1958. It was prized in the 1959 UNESCO Rostrum of Composers, the first of three works by Baird to attain this distinction, and it ...

'' (1958) - UNESCO Prize, 1959 *''Variations Without a Theme'' (1962) *''Epiphany Music'' (1963) *''Four Novelettes for chamber orchestra'' (1967) *''Sinfonia Breve'' (1968) *''Symphony III'' (1969) - National Prize, 1970 *''Psychodrama'' (1972) *''Elegia'' (1973) *''Canzona'' (1980)

Concertos

*''Piano Concerto'' (1949) *''Four Dialogs for oboe and chamber orchestra'' (1964) - UNESCO Prize 1966 *''Oboe Concerto'' (1973) *''Scenes for cello, harp and orchestra'' (1977) *''Concerto Lugubre'' (1975) for viola and orchestra

Vocal-instrumental works

*''Four Love Sonnets for baritone and orchestra'' (1956) to texts by Shakespeare *''Exhortation for reciting voice and orchestra'' (1960) to old Hebrew texts *''Erotyki for soprano and orchestra'' (1961) to texts by Małgorzata Hilar *''Five Songs for mezzo-soprano and six instruments'' (1970) to texts by H. Poświatowska - National Prize, 1970 *''Goethe Letters: Cantata for Baritone for mixed choir and orchestra'' (1970) to texts by Goethe and Charlotta von Stein *''Głosy z oddali oices from Afarfor baritone and symphony orchestra'' (1981) to texts by J. Iwaszkiewicz (1981)

Opera

*''Tomorrow'', a musical drama to a libretto by J. S. Sito (1964-66)

Film Music

* ''Warsaw In Canaletto Paintings (Warszawa W Obrazach Canaletta)'' (1955) * ''The Noose (

Pętla ''Noose'' () is a Polish film released in 1958, directed by Wojciech Jerzy Has, and starring Gustaw Holoubek. The film is an adaptation of a short story by Marek Hłasko, and follows a day in the life of an alcoholic. Plot Kuba Kowalski (Gustaw H ...

)'' (1958) * ''The Stone Sky (Kamienne Niebo)'' (1959) * ''Year One (Rok Pierwszy)'' (1960) * ''April ( Kwiecień)'' (1961) * ''The Artillery Sergeant Kalen ( Ogniomistrz Kalen)'' (1961) * ''Night Train (Ludzie Z Pociągu)'' (1961) * ''Samson'' (1961) * ''Between The Shores (Między brzegami)'' (1962) * ''Those Who Are Late (Spoznieni Przechodnie)'' (1962) * ''Manhunter (Naganiacz)'' (1963) * ''The Passenger ( Pasażerka)'' (1963) * ''Room For One (Miejsce Dla Jednego)'' (1963) * ''Their Every Day Life (Ich Dzien Powszedni)'' (1963) * ''The Unknown (

Nieznany ''The Unknown'' ( Polish: ''Nieznany'') is a 1964 Polish film, directed by Witold Lesiewicz. A war film set in a Soviet labour camp. The action of the film takes place in 1943. Two Poles escape from the Soviet labor camp. Their goal is to get to ...

)'' (1964) * ''Visit At The Kings (Wizyta U Królów)'' (1965) * ''Rugged Creativeness (Szorstka Twórczość)'' (!967) * ''When Love Was A Crime (Kiedy Miłość Była Zbrodnią)'' (1967)

Recordings

* Eastern Discoveries. MSR MS1517 (2015). ''Four preludes for bassoon and piano'' * Epiphany Music. Olympia OCD 312 (1989). ''Epiphany Music for orchestra, Elegia For orchestra, Four Love Sonnets, Symphony No 3'' * Film Music, Volumes 1 and 2. Olympia OCD 604 (1994) and OCD 607 (1995) * Günter Wand: The Radio Recordings. Profil PH13038 (2016). ''Four Dialogues for oboe and orchestra'' * Orchestral Works. Koch 3-6770-2 (2001). ''Psychodrama, Oboe Concerto, Scenes for cello, harp and orchestra, Conzona for orchestra, Concerto Lugubre for viola and orchestra'' * Polish Piano Concertos. Dux 0651 (2009). ''Piano Concerto'' * Polish Songs. Acte Prealable APO 274 (2013). ''Trouveurs’ Songs'' * Psychodrama. Olympia 326 (2000). ''Psychodrama, Tomorrow'' * Songs and Orchestral Music. Olympia OCD 388 (1993). ''Voices From Afar, Goethe-Briefe, Scene For cello and harp With orchestra, Canzona for orchestra'' * Streichquartette. Colosseum 0648 (1986). ''Play for string quartet, Variations on Rondo Form, String Quartet No 1'' * Szymanowski, Gorecki, Baird. EMI 5 65418 (1995). ''Colas Breugnon Suite''

References

External links

Baird page
at the Polish Music Center
Tadeusz Baird Page at the Polish Music Information Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baird, Tadeusz 1928 births 1981 deaths People from Grodzisk Mazowiecki 20th-century Polish classical composers Academic staff of the Chopin University of Music International Rostrum of Composers prize-winners Polish male classical composers Polish opera composers People from Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–1939) Polish people of Russian descent Polish people of Scottish descent Twelve-tone and serial composers 20th-century Polish male musicians Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland)