Mycielski, Zygmunt

Polish music critic and composer; b. Przeworsk, Aug. 17, 1907; d. Warsaw, Aug. 5, 1987. He studied with Rizzi in Krakόw and with Dukas and Boulanger at the Paris École Normale de Musique, where he was a member of the Soc. of Young Polish Musicians (1928–36). After World War II, he became active as a journalist; ed. the principal Polish music magazine, Ruch Muzyczny (1945–48; 1960–68); publ. 2 collections of essays: Uzieczki z pieciolinii (Flight of the Staff Lines; Warsaw, 1956) and Notatki o muzyce i muzykach (Notes on Music and Musicians; Krakόw, 1961). His music, couched in a modern idiom, contains elements of Polish folk inflections, but dodecaphonic usages are also encountered.

Works

dramatic: ballet:Zabawa w Lipinach (Merrymaking at Lipiny; 1953). orch.:Lamento di Tristano for Small Orch., in memory of Szymanowski (1937); 5 Symphonic Essays (1945); 6 syms.: No. 1 (1947), Polish Sym. (1951), No. 2 (1960), No. 3, Sinfonia breve (1967; Warsaw, Sept. 23, 1972), No. 4 (1972–73; Pozńan, April 2, 1976), and No. 5 (1977); Silesian Overture (1948); Piano Concerto (1954); Variations for Strings (1980). chamber: Piano Trio (1934); 5 Preludes for Piano Quintet (1967). vocal:Portrait of a Muse for Narrator, Chorus, and 15 Instruments (1947); Nowy lirnik mazowiecki (New Mazovian Bard), 9 songs and finale for Soprano, Baritone, Chorus, and Orch. (1955); Psalms for Baritone, Chorus, and Orch. (1982); Liturgia sacra for Chorus and Orch. (1983–84); Fragments for Chorus and Small Orch. (1987); songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire