Edward Olearczyk (born 4 March 1915, d. 1994) was a Polish composer. He was born in

Rawa Ruska Rava-Ruska (, translit. ''Rava-Rus'ka''; ; , Rave) is a city in Lviv Raion, Lviv Oblast of western Ukraine. It is a border town between Ukraine and Poland. The border checkpoint is situated west of the city, along the international autoroute W ...

into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family, and studied with

Zbigniew Drzewiecki Zbigniew Drzewiecki (; 8 April 189011 April 1971) was a Polish pianist who was for most of his life a teacher of pianists. He was especially associated with the interpretation of Frédéric Chopin's works. His pupils include several famous pianist ...

at the conservatory 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 official ...

. From 1939 to 1945 he worked in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

, and after returning to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, worked in Warsaw as a stage director in the Polish Army. Olearczyk was known primarily as a composer of popular songs. In 1948 he won the Ministry of Culture and Arts competition for popular songs. In 1952 he initiated the radio shows, "We sing songs: learning songs on the radio." His songs enjoyed great popularity, some even outside the country, especially in the USSR. In 1952, he received the Gold Cross of Merit Award and in 1957 an award from the city of Warsaw. In 1957 he moved to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and died there in 1994. He married his wife Tamara prior to their immigration to Israel in 1957, along with their son

Alon Oleartchik Alon or ALON may refer to: * Alon (name), an Israeli given name and surname * Alon, Mateh Binyamin, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank * Alon Inc, an American airplane builder, known for the Alon A-4 * Alon USA, an American energy company * Alu ...

(then Alexi Olearczyk), who is currently a famous musician in Israel. His grandson is Israeli actor and member of American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

Big Thief Big Thief is an American indie rock band with folk roots based in Brooklyn, New York. Its members are Adrianne Lenker (guitar, vocals), Buck Meek (guitar, backing vocals), Max Oleartchik (bass), and James Krivchenia (drums). The band's deb ...

, Max Oleartchik.

Works

Selected works include: *''Melodie miłości'' (1952–53) - musical comedy, Miroslaw Łebkowski libretto *''Chłopska kołysanka'' (sł. Wacław Stępień - 1941) *''Złączone dłonie''- 1947 (sł. Robert Stiller - wyd. 1951) *''Piosenka o pepeszy'' (sł. Tadeusz Urgacz - 1949) *''Miliony rąk'' (sł. Krzysztof Gruszczyński - 1947 (wyd. 1949) *''Pieśń na cześć'' towarzysza Bieruta (sł. Jerzy Jurandot - 1949) *''Żołnierze z ZMP'' (sł. Robert Stiller - 1950) *''Pokój! Mir! Frieden! Paix!'' (sł. Mirosław Łebkowski - 1950) *''Nasza Partia'' (sł. Henryk Gaworski - 1950) *''Sztafeta pokoju'' (sł. Wojciech Lipniacki - 1951) *''Miasto pokoju'' (sł. Henryk Gaworski - 1951) *''Na strażnicy'' (sł. Mirosław Łebkowski - 1951) *''Stawaj bracie'' (sł. Roman Sadowski - 1952) *''Przed świtem'' (sł. Tadeusz Urgacz - 1952) *''Skowronek ''(sł. Jacek Bocheński - 1952) *''Kołysanka warszawska'' (sł. Robert Stiller - 1952) *''Młoda piosenka'' (sł. Jerzy Jurandot - 1952) *''Saperzy, saperzy'' (sł.Mirosław Łebkowski - 1952) *''Piosenka o wiosennym siewie'' (sł. M. Łebkowski - 1952) *''Pociąg zlotowy'' (sł. M. Łebkowski - 1952) *''MDM'' (sł. Helena Kołaczkowska - 1953) *''Przysięgamy ci Ojczyzno'' (sł. Stanisław Ryszard Dobrowolski - 1953) *''Na start'' (sł. Bogumił Smyła - 1953) *''Spotkanie Murmańsk'' - Wisła (sł. Stanisław Czachorowski - 1953) *''Piosenka o samolocie Iliuszyn'' (sł. Robert Stiller - 1953) *''Żegnał chłopiec dziewczynę'' (sł. Stanisław Werner - 1953) *''Walc'' (sł. Jerzy Medyński - 1954) *''Melodia Starego Miasta'' (sł. M. Łebkowski - 1954) *''Piosenka o tobie i o mnie'' (sł. Władysław Krzemiński - 1954) *''Wieczorem nad Wisłą'' (sł. M. Łebkowski i T. Urgacz) - 1955) *''Powracali trzej chłopcy'' (sł. M. Łebkowski - 1955) *''Błękitny staw'' (sł. H.Kołaczkowska - 1955) *''Pewnie miła zapomniałaś'' (sł. M. Łebkowski - 1955) *''Pochwała młodości'' (sł. S. R. Dobrowolski - 1956) *''Walc maturzystów'' (sł.M.Łebkowski i T. Urgacz - 1956) *''Dwa wiosła'' (sł. Wanda Chotomska - 1956) *''Sama nie wiem, skąd to'' (sł. H. Kołaczkowska - 1957) *''Nie wszystko się zmieniło'' (sł. M. Łebkowski - 1957) *''Już dawno domyśliłam się'' (sł. Jan Gałkowski i Mirosław Łebkowski - 1958) *''To mój świat prześniony'' (sł. M. Łebkowski)

References

1915 births 1994 deaths People from Rava-Ruska Musicians from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Polish composers 20th-century composers 20th-century Polish Jews Burials at Yarkon Cemetery {{Poland-composer-stub