A Polish Renaissance (20th Century Composers)

Polish music has flowered in the twentieth century. Yet the four Poles whose story is told here -- Andrzej Panufnik (1914-91), Witold Lutoslawski (1913-94), Ktzystof Penderecki (b.1933), and Henryk Górecki (b.1933) -- are noted for their development of radically differing creative approaches, in spite of a common national background.

Against the varied canvas of musical styles practised in the latter half of the twentieth century -- including, on the one hand, serialism and its intellectual spin-offs, and on the other, the use of chance procedures, the 'new simplicity', and minimalism -- the author dramatizes the position of these four composers, showing how each transcends the musical movements with which they are habitually linked. Their compositional techniques are illuminated by a consideration of their lives and careers, which have so powerfully contributed to the phenomenon of rebirth in modern Polish music.

Bernard Jacobson was Artistic Director of the Residentie Orkest (Hague Philharmonic) from 1992 to 1994, and is widely published as an author and translator.