Karlowicz Young Poland And The Musical Fin De Si Cle

Mieczlslaw Karlowicz (1876-1909) is one of the important figures in the history of Polish music. This study examines the life and music of the figure, describing his upbringing and providing a detailed appraisal of the music he created, in particular, his six symphonic poems.

1956 was a year of transition in Poland, and an important year for Polish music. This year saw the beginning of a political thaw – sometimes called the Polish October – in communist Poland. It was also the year of the establishment of the 'Warsaw Autumn' International Festival of Contemporary Music. This was a time of great artistic ferment in Polish music, which also deeply influenced symphonic thinking. The year 1956 is thus an appropriate starting point for Beata Bolesławska’s study of the contemporary Polish symphonic tradition. Bolesławska investigates the influential Polish avant-garde, illuminating the ways in which new musical means and ideas influenced symphonic music and the genre of the symphony in the music of such important composers as Witold Lutosławski (1913–1994), Henryk Mikołaj Górecki (1933–2010) and Krzysztof Penderecki (b. 1933). Referring to the main elements of the European tradition, as well as examining briefly the symphonic activity in Poland before 1956, the book concentrates on the symphonic writing in the context of avant-garde trends, represented by the so-called 'Polish school of composers', as well as on its later redefinitions proposed by Polish composers up to the present day.

The Polish composer Karol Szymanowski is one of the most fascinating musical figures of the early twentieth century. His works included four symphonies, two violin concertos, the operas Hagith and King Roger, the ballet-pantomime Harnasie, the oratorio Stabat Mater, as well as numerous piano, violin, vocal and choral compositions. The profile and popularity of Szymanowski's music outside Poland has never been higher and continues to grow. The Szymanowski Companion constitutes the most significant and comprehensive reference source to the composer in English. Edited by two of the leading scholars in the field, Paul Cadrin and Stephen Downes, the collection consists of over 50 contributions from an international array of contributors, including recognized Polish experts. The Companion thus provides a systematic, authoritative and up-to-date compilation of information concerning the composer's life, thought and works.

Downes presents a detailed examination of the significance of decadence in Central and Eastern European modernist music.

The Edexcel A2 Revision Guide, 3rd Edition, is designed to prepare you fully for Section B of your final A2 Music exam - For exams from 2015-2017. Written in a clear and concise manner by an experienced examiner and teacher, this guide includes: - An introduction to the exam that explains what you'll be expected to know. - A succinct revision section that presents all the key facts for each set work, broken down into individual segments on the elements of music. - Sample essay questions, mark schemes and answers. - Helpful hints on how to improve your own written answers in the exam. - A comprehensive glossary. This guide will help you to understand how the exam works, how questions are worded and what your examiners are looking for, giving you the edge you need to achieve a better grade. Author Alistair Wightman read Music at Oxford and then York University, has worked in primary, secondary and further education, and is a freelance teacher and writer, as well as principal examiner in history and analysis in A-level music.

This Edexcel AS Music Revision Guide is the perfect preparation for students taking AS Music exams – Designed for the 2016 exams. Written in a clear and concise manner by an experienced examiner and teacher, it includes: - A summary of the musical terminology you’ll be expected to know for the exam - A succinct revision section that presents all the key facts for each set work, broken down into individual segments on the elements of music - Sample essay questions, mark schemes and answers - Helpful hints on how to improve your own written answers in the exam - A comprehensive glossary This guide will help you to understand how the exam works, how questions are worded and what your examiners are looking for, giving you the edge you need to achieve a better grade.

The music of the Polish composer Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937) has enjoyed a resurgence of interest in recent years. Despite wide recognition in his own lifetime, Szymanowski?s works were somewhat overlooked in the decades following his death. Outside Poland, changing fashions militated against acceptance of his achievement, and subsequent generations of Polish composers regarded his music as too reactionary to provide a basis on which to found a national musical identity. In this full-scale study of Karol Szymanowski?s life and music, Alistair Wightman explores the composer?s position as a constant outsider in his own country, yet a ?good European? in the ways in which he responded positively to a diverse range of musical talents, in particular as Stravinsky, Strauss, Berg, Hindemith, Prokofiev and Ravel. The book throws light on Szymanowski?s relationship to the Polish musical establishment, the reception of his works at home and abroad, his work as an educationalist, and the essentially European dimension of his art, drawing on letters, polemical writings, verse, theatrical sketches and the memoirs of family, friends and contemporaries. All of Szymanowski?s significant works are discussed, illustrated with nearly 140 music examples. Evaluation is made of the close links existing between the composer?s musical and literary works from the earliest stages of his career, as well as the various ideological strands that went together to form the unique, humanistic synthesis, characteristic of his mature work.