Kazimierz-Serocki-plaque-in-Torun-Poland

Kazimierz Serocki (3 March 1922 – 9 January 1981) was a Polish

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

and one of the founders of the

Warsaw Autumn 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 ...

contemporary music festival.

Life

Serocki was born in

Toruń )'' , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg , image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg , nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town , pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...

. He studied composition with Kazimierz Sikorski and piano with Stanisław Szpinalski at the State Higher School of Music in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of ca ...

and graduated in 1946. He continued in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, studying composition with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

and piano with Lazare Lévy, before graduating in 1947-1948. Between 1946 and 1951 he performed many times as a concert pianist in Poland and abroad, but for the rest of his career, he was focused exclusively on composition. Serocki's output is concentrated in two main spheres: orchestral music and vocal-instrumental pieces to Polish texts selected with fine discrimination. His main compositional idea was to explore sound color in music. His last work – Pianophonie (1979) – used the possibilities provided by electronic processing of live piano sound. Serocki was one of the founders, along with

Tadeusz Baird Tadeusz Baird (26 July 19282 September 1981) was a Polish composer. Biography Baird was born in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, in Poland. His father Edward was Scottish, while his mother Maria (née Popov) was Russian. In 1944 at the age of 16 he was dep ...

, of the

international contemporary music festival (1956). Together with Tadeusz Baird and Jan Krenz he formed the composers' group ''Group 49''. He was vice-president of the central administration of the

Polish Composers' Union Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

from 1954 to 1955. He received a number of Polish and foreign awards, including several State Prizes, among them one in 1952 for his music to the film Young Chopin. He also received a prize at the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

competition in 1959, for the ''Sinfonietta'' and the award of the Minister of Culture and Fine Arts in 1963 for the whole of his work. He died, aged 58, 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 ...

Works

Chamber music

*Suite for 4 trombones - 1953 *Sonatina for trombone and piano - 1954 *Dance for clarinet and piano - 1954 *Improvisationen für Blockflöten-Quartett - 1959 *Continuum - sextet for percussion instruments - 1966 *Swinging Music for clarinet, trombone, cello or double bass, and piano - 1970 *Fantasmagoria for piano and percussion - 1971 *Arrangements for 1-4 recorders - 1975-1976

Orchestral works and concertos

*Three Melodies from Kurpie for 6 sopranos, 6 tenors, and chamber orchestra - 1949 *Romantic Concerto for piano and orchestra - 1950 *Symphony No. 1 - 1952 *Symphony No. 2, "Symphony of Song" for soprano, baritone, choir, and orchestra - 1953 *Concerto for trombone and orchestra - 1953 *Sinfonietta for 2 string orchestras - 1956 *''Heart of the Night'', song cycle for baritone and orchestra - 1956 *''Eyes of the Air'', song cycle for soprano and orchestra - 1957 *Musica concertante - 1958 *Episodes for strings and 3 groups of percussion - 1959 *Segmenti - 1961 *Symphonic Frescoes - 1964 *''Niobe'', music to extracts from a poem by

Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński (23 January 1905 – 6 December 1953), alias ''Karakuliambro'', was a Polish poet. He is well known for the "paradramatic" absurd humorous sketches of the ''Green Goose Theatre''. Biography Born to a lower-mid ...

for 2 reciters (man and woman), mixed choir, and orchestra - 1966 *Forte e piano, music for two pianos and orchestra - 1967 *Poems, to words by

Tadeusz Różewicz Tadeusz Różewicz (9 October 1921 – 24 April 2014) was a Polish poet, playwright, writer, and translator. Różewicz was in the first generation of Polish writers born after Poland regained its independence in 1918, following the century of f ...

for soprano and chamber orchestra - 1969 *Dramatic Story for orchestra - 1971 *Fantasia elegiaca for organ and orchestra - 1972 *Impromptu fantasque for recorders, mandolins, guitars, percussion and piano - 1973 *Sonatina for trombone and orchestra - 1974 (arrangement of the 1954 Sonatina) *Concerto alla cadenza per flauto a becco e orchestra - 1974 *Ad libitum five pieces for symphony orchestra - 1973-1977 *Pianophonie for piano, electronic transformation of sound and orchestra - 1976-1978

Solo instruments

*Suite of Preludes for piano - 1952 *Brownies (''Krasnoludki''), 7 miniatures for children for piano - 1953 *Sonata for piano - 1955 *A piacere, suggestions for piano - 1963

Voice and piano

*Heart of the Night (''Serce nocy''), song cycle for baritone and piano (text: K.I. Gałczyński) - 1956 *Eyes of the Air (''Oczy powietrza''), song cycle for soprano and piano (text: J. Przyboś) - 1957

4-part unaccompanied mixed choir

*Songs of Midsummer Night, suite, folk text - 1954 *Suite, from the Opole Region in Silesia, folk text - 1954

References

External links

PMC

Music in Movement Website

Kazimierz Serocki Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Serocki, Kazimierz 1922 births 1981 deaths 20th-century classical composers 20th-century male musicians People from Toruń Polish classical composers Polish male classical composers Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland)