From Poland with Music: 100 Years of Polish Composers Abroad (1918–2018) is the first comprehensive treatment of the theme of emigration among Polish composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. The book focuses on classical composers (e.g. Paderewski, Weinberg, Panufnik), but extends to important figures from the worlds of jazz and film music (Komeda, Makowicz, Kaczmarek, Korzeniowski). It will be published jointly by the MEAKULTURA Foundation and the Scala Art & Heritage Publishers on October 1, 2021. This book will be available as the printed edition and the e-book.
The first part of the book contains a series of essays on overarching themes related to the Polish musical diaspora, while the second part comprises an engaging collection of interviews with experts concerning the life and legacy of selected composers, with revealing insights into the artists’ personalities and entertaining anecdotes from their lives. Ignacy Jan Paderewski was not only an outstanding pianist and composer, but also the prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of free Poland in 1919. Bronisław Kaper was the first Polish composer to win an Oscar in 1954 for Lili, and Henryk Wars scored 60 projects for Columbia, Universal, Twentieth Century Fox, MGM, United Artists and Paramount.
Specially commissioned line drawings (composer portraits and conceptual images) made by original and talented graphic designer Max Skorwider offer a fresh and attractive approach to illustrating a book on this subject.
Lady Camilla Panufnik, wife of Sir Andrzej Panufnik, made a comment on this book: My husband left Poland in 1954 for political reasons. It turns out that in the last hundred years a lot of Polish composers have been working away from their country, for either political or other reasons. In this book we are given a great deal of knowledge about Polish music and composers working abroad. It is an excellent compendium, passing on the knowledge of eminent Polish musicologists in an attractive and accessible way. An additional attraction is the modern, eye-catching graphic design.
From Poland with Music recalls all of these stories, revealing just how impactful Polish composers have been on the international music scene in the last 100 years. The Polish edition was published in 2018.
The partners are: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ZAiKS Assotiation of Authors.
