Krzysztof Meyer

Krzysztof Meyer

Krzysztof Meyer, September 2002
Born (1943-08-11) 11 August 1943
Kraków, Poland
Nationality Polish
Occupation Composer, pianist, music scholar
Years active 1964–present

Krzysztof Meyer (born 11 August 1943) is a Polish composer, pianist and music scholar, formerly Dean of the Department of Music Theory (1972–1975) at the State College of Music (now Academy of Music in Kraków), and president of the Union of Polish Composers (1985–1989). Meyer served as professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne from 1987 to 2008, prior to retirement.[1]

Biography

Meyer was born in Kraków, Poland. As a boy he played piano and organ, and began his composition study early – in 1954, with Stanisław Wiechowicz. Then, at the State College of Music in Kraków he continued studying with Wiechowicz, and after his death in 1964, did his diploma with Krzysztof Penderecki (1965). He also studied music theory (diploma in 1966). In Paris, he took courses with Nadia Boulanger (1964, 1966, and 1968), and in Warsaw he became a private pupil of Witold Lutosławski.[1]

His Symphony No. 1 was his first work to be performed, in Kraków in 1964. In 1965, while still a student, he made his debut at the "Warsaw Autumn", as the youngest composer in the festival’s history (String Quartet No. 1). He was fascinated with avant-garde not only as a composer: from 1965 to 1967, as a member of "MW2 Ensemble", he performed experimental pieces, typical for the sixties, in Poland and in some West European countries. Later he continued to be active as a pianist, performing mostly his own works, or playing chamber music.[1]

From 1966 to 1987 Meyer taught theory at the State College of Music (now Academy of Music in Kraków), holding the chairmanship of the Department of Music Theory from 1972 to 1975. From 1987 to 2008 he was professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. He has written biographies of Dmitri Shostakovich and Witold Lutosławski.[1]

From 1985 and 1989 he was the president of the Union of Polish Composers. For fourteen years (1974–1988) he took part in the work of the Repertory Committee of the "Warsaw Autumn" International Festival of Contemporary Music. Fellow of Collegium Invisibile.[2]
String Quartet No. 6 (1/3)
Music sample from work of Krzysztof Meyer
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Music

In his early compositions (String Quartets Nos. 1–4, Symphonies Nos. 1–3), Meyer experimented with unconventional sonorities, typical of the Polish avant-garde music in the 1960s. He used twelve-tone technique, albeit freely, as well as aleatoric technique and collage. All these means appear in his first opera Cyberiada, to a science-fiction libretto after Stanisław Lem's The Cyberiad.[1]

In later works, Meyer gradually limited the multitude of sonic ideas. He increasingly focussed on the drama and expression as understood in a traditional way although avoiding romantic effects. The style of Meyer's later works reflects his interest in tradition; even his use of titles such as "string quartet", "sonata", "concerto", "symphony" are indicators of the traditional trend in his aesthetic. "There are contemporary textures and timbres, but they are usually incidental to a language in which tonal pulls and familiar signposts govern the overall flow and structure"[3]

Chamber music occupies a privileged place in his output. "What is attractive to him in such pieces is the fact that they are perfect to create ‘sonic puzzles՚, referring to the ʻhidden arithmetic exercise of the soul, which does not know that it is countingʼ, as Leibnitz described the essence of music. Examples of these are the variation of the tempi in String Quartet No. 11 or the changes of rhythm in String Quartet No. 10. Some pieces for large ensembles can be listened to as a musical commentary to a political event or existential reflection. These topics are hinted at by the subtitles and quotations (‘Polish՚ Symphony No. 6, referring to the atmosphere of martial law in Poland from 1981 to 1983) or the use of the text (Symphony No. 8, with the lyrics of the anti-antisemitic poems by Adam Zagajewski). The catastrophic message of the oratorio The Creation of the World is told through the text but its expression is achieved through the music."[4]

Selected awards

Selected works

Stage works

Works for orchestra

No. 1 – 1964
No. 2 Epitaphium Stanisław Wiechowicz in memoriam for choir and orchestra – 1967
No. 3 Symphonie d'Orphée for choir and orchestra – 1968
No. 4 – 1973
No. 5 – 1979
No. 6 "Polish" Symphony – 1982 (Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, A. Wit, ISPV 179 CD)
No. 7 Sinfonia del tempo che passa – 2002–2003 (NOSPR, G. Chmura; DUX 0695)

Works for solo instrument(s) and orchestra

No. 1 – 1964
No. 2 – 1983
No. 1 – 1965 (R. Lasocki, WOSPRiT, K. Stryja, Olympia OCD 323)
No. 2 – 1996 (M. Rezler, NOSPR, G. Chmura, DUX 0594)

Vocal works

Chamber music

For two instruments

Violin and piano:

Cello and piano:

Sonata per violoncello e pianoforte No.1 – 1983 (- R. Korupp, K. Meyer, Ambitus 97848; – E. Mizerska, E. Abbate, TOCC 0098)
Sonata per violoncello e pianoforte No.2 – 2004 (E. Mizerska, K. Glensk, TOCC 0098 CD)

Other combinations:

For three instruments

For four instruments

No. 1 – 1963 (Wilanow String Quartet, ISPV 151 CD; – Kairos Quartett, polmic 016)
No. 2 – 1969 (Wilanow String Quartet, ISPV 184 CD)
No. 3 – 1971 (Wilanow String Quartet Veriton ECD 035 & ISPV 184 CD)
No. 4 – 1974 (Wilanow String Quartet, ISPV 162 CD)
No. 5 – 1977 (Wilanow String Quartet, ISPV 162 CD; – Wieniawski-Quartett; Naxos 8.570776)
No. 6 – 1981 (Wilanow String Quartet, ISPV 162 CD; – Wieniawski-Quartett; Naxos 8.570776)
No. 7 – 1985 (Wilanow String Quartet, ISPV 151 CD)
No. 8 – 1985 (Wilanow String Quartet, ISPV 151 CD; – Dafô Quartet, DUX 10190; – Wieniawski-Quartett; Naxos 8.570776)
No. 9 – 1990 (Wilanow String Quartet, ISPV 171 CD)
No. 10 – 1994 (Wilanow String Quartet, ISPV 184 CD)
No. 11 – 2001 (Wilanow String Quartet, ISPV 192 CD)
No. 12 – 2005 (Wilanow String Quartet, ISPV 192 CD; – Dafô Quartet, polmic 027)
No. 13 - 2010, op. 113 (Wieniawski String Quartet; Naxos 8.573001, 2012)
No. 14 - 2014

For five or more instruments

Instrumental music

For piano solo

No. 1 – 1962 (K. Meyer, Acte Préalable AP0076)
No. 2 – 1963 (B. Otto, Sächsische Tonträger LC 9930)
No. 3 – 1966
No. 4 – 1968
No. 5 – 1975
No. 6 – 2006

For other keyboards

For violin solo

For cello solo

no. 1 – 1961 (R. Korupp, CD Ambitus 97484)
no. 2 – 2007

For flute solo

Essays and professional writings

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Małgorzata Kosińska (2013). "Krzysztof Meyer". Music (in Polish and English). Adam Mickiewicz Institute Culture.pl. Retrieved 26 July 2013. Source: Polish Music Information Center, Polish Composers' Union, January 2002
  2. ↑ Collegium Invisibile (2007). "Annual report and list of fellows (tutors: prof. Krzysztof Meyer)" (PDF file, direct download 10.4 MB). ci.edu.pl.
  3. ↑ Adrian Thomas Polish Music Since Szymanowski, Cambridge University Press 2005, p. 212.
  4. ↑ K. Meyer

External links

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Literature

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