Kazimierz Serocki
Encyclopedia
Kazimierz Serocki was a Polish
composer
and one of the founders of the Warsaw Autumn
contemporary music festival.
and piano with Stanisław Szpinalski at the State Higher School of Music in Łódź and graduated in 1946. He continued in Paris
, studying composition with Nadia Boulanger
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.
Serocki was one of the founders, along with Tadeusz Baird
, of the Warsaw Autumn
international contemporary music festival. 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 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
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.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and one of the founders of the Warsaw Autumn
Warsaw Autumn
Warsaw Autumn is the largest international Polish festival of contemporary music. Indeed, for many years, it was the only festival of its type in Central and Eastern Europe. It was founded in 1956 by two composers, Tadeusz Baird and Kazimierz Serocki, and officially established by the Head Board...
contemporary music festival.
Life
He studied composition with Kazimierz SikorskiKazimierz Sikorski
Kazimierz Sikorski was a Polish composer.-Biography:Sikorski studied in Warsaw, first music at the Warsaw Conservatory and then philosophy at the University of Warsaw. He then studied in Lwów, which was Polish at the time, and Paris. In 1926, he became a teacher of composition at the Conservatory...
and piano with Stanisław Szpinalski at the State Higher School of Music in Łódź and graduated in 1946. He continued in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, studying composition with Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...
and piano with Lazare Lévy
Lazare Lévy
Lazare Lévy was an influential French pianist, organist, composer and pedgogue. As a virtuoso pianist he toured throughout Europe, in North Africa, Israel, the Soviet Union and Japan...
, 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.
Serocki was one of the founders, along with Tadeusz Baird
Tadeusz Baird
Tadeusz Baird was a Polish composer.He was born in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, to Scottish immigrant parents. He studied composition, piano and musicology in Warsaw with, among others, Kazimierz Sikorski. In 1956, with Serocki, he founded the Warsaw Autumn international contemporary music festival...
, of the Warsaw Autumn
Warsaw Autumn
Warsaw Autumn is the largest international Polish festival of contemporary music. Indeed, for many years, it was the only festival of its type in Central and Eastern Europe. It was founded in 1956 by two composers, Tadeusz Baird and Kazimierz Serocki, and officially established by the Head Board...
international contemporary music festival. 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 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
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
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.
Chamber Music
- Suite for 4 trombones - 1953
- Sonatina for trombone and piano - 1954
- Dance for clarinet and piano - 1954
- 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
- 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 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 RóżewiczTadeusz RózewiczTadeusz Różewicz is a Polish poet and writer.Różewicz belongs to the first generation born and educated after Poland regained its independence in 1918. His youthful poems were published in 1938...
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. PrzybośJulian PrzybosJulian Przyboś was a Polish poet, essayist and translator, one of the most important poets of Kraków Avantgarde....
) - 1957
4-Part unaccompanied mixed choir
- Songs of Midsummer Night, suite, folk text - 1954
- Suite, from the Opole Region in Silesia, folk text - 1954