Czesław Niemen (; February 16, 1939 – January 17, 2004), born Czesław Juliusz Wydrzycki, and often credited as just Niemen, was one of the most important and original Polish singer-songwriters and rock balladeers of the 20th century, singing mainly in Polish.

Biography

Early life

Niemen was born in

Stare Wasiliszki Staryya Vasilishki ( be, Старыя Васілішкі, russian: Старые Василишки, Starye Vasilishki, pl, 'Stare Wasiliszki', literally: "Old Vasilishki") is a village in Vasilishki Selsoviet, Shchuchyn district, Hrodna Voblast, ...

in the Nowogródek Voivodeship of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...

(now in the

Grodno Region Grodno Region ( pl, Grodzieńszczyzna) or Grodno Oblast or Hrodna Voblasts ( be, Гродзенская вобласць, ''Hrodzienskaja vobłasć'', , ''Haradzienščyna''; russian: Гродненская область, ''Grodnenskaya oblast' ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

). Czesław Niemen belonged to a community of Belarusians and Poles, living outside the eastern borders of contemporary Poland, on the eastern lands of the historical

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

(called '

Kresy Eastern Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Wschodnie) or simply Borderlands ( pl, Kresy, ) was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the History of Poland (1918–1939), interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural ...

' – 'borderlands' – in Polish). Czesław Niemen studied in Grodno at " State college. In the dawn of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

these ethnic Polish lands were

annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

by the Soviet Union, when Poland was split due to the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, and became a part of the

Belorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

, which was affirmed by Europe's post-war reorganization performed during the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...

1960s

He made his debut in the early 1960s, singing Polish rock and

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became ...

. He possessed an unusually wide voice range and equally rich intonation. He was also an ardent composer and a keyboard player. In 1964 at

Congress Hall, Warsaw The Congress Hall ( pl, Sala Kongresowa) is a 2,880-seat theatre at the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland. It was opened in 1955. Renovation The hall was closed for approximately 2 years from July 2014 for renovations, modernisati ...

, Niemen, together with his group, played as a support act to

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

during her concert. She heard his song ''"Czy mnie jeszcze pamiętasz"'' ("Do you still remember me?") there. She enjoyed it so much that she soon wrote her own lyrics for the song and recorded ''"Mutter, Hast du Mir Vergeben"'' ("Mother, have you forgiven me?"). Soon after his first successful concerts in France, he started to use the pseudonym ''Niemen'' instead of his real name, gaining wider notoriety in Poland and making it easier to pronounce by foreigners (Niemen is a Polish pronunciation of the

Neman River The Neman, Nioman, Nemunas or MemelTo bankside nations of the present: Lithuanian: be, Нёман, , ; russian: Неман, ''Neman''; past: ger, Memel (where touching Prussia only, otherwise Nieman); lv, Nemuna; et, Neemen; pl, Niemen; ; ...

, which flows in close proximity to his place of birth). His 1967 song "Dziwny jest ten świat" (''Strange Is This World'') is commonly acknowledged to be the most important Polish

protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...

of that era; an English version was also recorded in 1972. The song was influenced by the American blues tradition

He was one of the first Polish performers to wear long hair and colourful clothes and introduced the style of

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

Poland, which displeased officials. The first three

LP album The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...

's Niemen recorded with his band "Akwarele" (''Watercolours''). Subsequently, he recorded with his other new bands: "Enigmatic", "Grupa Niemen" and "Aerolit". In 1969 he changed his musical style to

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...

while recording the monumental album ''Enigmatic''. That album's most notable song was "Bema pamięci żałobny rapsod" (''A Mournful Rhapsody in Memory of

Józef Bem Józef Zachariasz Bem ( hu, Bem József, tr, Murat Pasha; March 14, 1794 – December 10, 1850) was a Polish engineer and general, an Ottoman pasha and a national hero of Poland and Hungary, and a figure intertwined with other European patriot ...

''), based on the 19th-century poem by

Cyprian Kamil Norwid Cyprian Kamil Norwid, a.k.a. Cyprian Konstanty Norwid (; 24 September 1821 – 23 May 1883), was a nationally esteemed Polish poet, dramatist, painter, and sculptor. He was born in the Masovian village of Laskowo-Głuchy near Warsaw. One of hi ...

. The rest of ''Enigmatics songs were also in sung poetry form. Niemen played the

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

on his records, later moving to the

mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. ...

and the

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

1970s

In the early 1970s, Niemen recorded three English language albums under the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

label, two of them (and three more in Poland) with the Silesian band SBB. With SBB Niemen performed at the Rock & Jazz Now! opening show for the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 19 ...

in Munich sharing the stage with

Mahavishnu Orchestra The Mahavishnu Orchestra were a jazz fusion band formed in New York City in 1971, led by English guitarist John McLaughlin. The group underwent several line-up changes throughout its history across its two periods of activity, from 1971 to 1976 ...

, John McLaughlin and

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians an ...

and subsequently toured with

Jack Bruce John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and ‍bassist ‍of British rock band Cream. After the group disband ...

's band. In 1972 he also performed a song he wrote in

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the ...

's film '' Wesele (The Wedding)''. In 1974 he recorded ''Mourner's Rhapsody'' with

Jan Hammer Jan Hammer () (born 17 April 1948) is a Czech-American musician, composer, and record producer. He first gained his most visible audience while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra during the early 1970s, as well as his film scores f ...

and

Rick Laird Richard Quentin Laird (February 5, 1941 – July 4, 2021) was an Irish musician, photographer, teacher, and author best known as the bassist and a founding member of the jazz fusion band Mahavishnu Orchestra, with which he performed from 1971 to ...

from

. In the seventies, Niemen turned to jazz-rock fusion and

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electro ...

, recording the album ''Katharsis''.

Later years and death

Niemen went on to compose film soundtracks and theater music, and in the 1990s he showed interest in art, painting and computer graphics. He died of cancer on January 17, 2004, in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

. His remains were cremated and placed in a columbarium niche on Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw on January 30, 2004.

Awards and recognitions

Niemen won the

Sopot International Song Festival The Sopot International Song Festival or Sopot Festival (later called ''Sopot Music Festival Grand Prix'', ''Sopot Top of the Top Festival'' from 2012–13 and ''Polsat Sopot Festival'' in 2014) is an annual international song contest held in S ...

in 1979.

Remembrance

A number of documentaries on the life of Niemen were filmed including Marek Piwowski's 1968 film ''Sukces'', Krzysztof Rogulski's 1976 film ''Niemen'', Eugeniusz Szpakowski's 2007 film ''Czesław Niemen'', and Krzysztof Magowski's 2014 film ''Sen o Warszawie'' (A Dream About Warsaw). Since March 12, 2004, Czesław Niemen's song ''Sen o Warszawie'' has been performed before each match of

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning record 15 Ekstraklasa champions titles, ...

at the

Stadion Wojska Polskiego The Stadion Wojska Polskiego (, en, Polish Army Stadium), officially named Stadion Miejski Legii Warszawa im. Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego ( eng, The Marshall Józef Piłsudski's Municipal Stadium of Legia Warsaw) in Warsaw, Poland, is an all- ...

and is considered the club fans' anthem. In 2009,

National Bank of Poland The Narodowy Bank Polski (; the National Bank of Poland), often abbreviated to NBP, is the central bank of Poland, founded in 1945. It controls the issuing of Poland's currency, the Polish złoty. The bank is headquartered in Warsaw, and has bra ...

presented three coins dedicated to Niemen: issued on June 19 two silver 10- zloty coins, one of which of square shape, and issued on June 17, 2-zloty coin of Nordic Gold alloy. On February 20, 2011, a museum devoted to Niemen and his musical legacy was opened in the artist's birthplace in Stare Wasiliszki, present-day Belarus.

Niemen's support bands

Niemen cooperated with the following bands; some of them were support musicians, while others were independent bands: "Akwarele" ("Watercolours") (1967–1969),"Akwarele"
– History, by (retrieved December 15, 2017) "I Niemen" ("And Niemen") (1969–1970), also under the name "Niemen Enigmatic"), "Grupa Niemen" (made of the members of Silesian Blues Band),

Niebiesko-Czarni Niebiesko-Czarni (Blue-Blacks) were one of the most popular Polish big-beat and rock groups of the 1960s and early 1970s. The band was founded by Franciszek Walicki. Czesław Niemen played in the band for several years. Throughout their 14 years ...

, "Aerolit", and female vocal band

Alibabki Alibabki was a Polish all-female vocal band active during 1963-1988 (with a hiatus during the 1980s). All the performers resided in Warsaw. Their major musicals styles were pop music, "big beat", and ska. They performed both as an individual ba ...

. "Aerolit" accompanied Czesław Niemen in 1974–1978. Initially it was formed from young musicians of the rock band Krzak: Jacek Gazda, Jan Błędowski, Maciej Radziejewski, Piotr Dziemski. The word means " aerolite" in Polish.

Discography

Studio albums

English-language albums

Russian-language albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

References

External links

Czesław Niemen at ProgArchives.com
– photographs, reviews, music, discography
ForumCzesław Niemen
at culture.pl
Did James Brown Inspire the Beat Generation in Poland?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Niemen, Czeslaw 1939 births 2004 deaths People from Shchuchyn District People from Nowogródek Voivodeship (1919–1939) Sopot International Song Festival winners Polish keyboardists Sung poetry of Poland Polish people of Belarusian descent Soviet emigrants to Poland Polish pop singers Polish rock singers English-language singers from Poland 20th-century Polish male singers Deaths from cancer in Poland Recipient of the Meritorious Activist of Culture badge