Różycki studied the piano in the class of Aleksander Michałowski, theory under Gustaw Rogulski and Michał Biernacki, and composition under Zygmunt Noskowski at the Warsaw Music Institute. Having graduated with a gold medal in 1904, he continued studying composition under Engelbert Humperdinck at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin in 1904-7.
His composing debut was the symphonic scherzo Stańczyk op. 1, performed at the Warsaw Philharmonic in February 1904, with Emil Młynarski as the conductor. In 1905 he and Karol Szymanowski, Grzegorz Fitelberg and Apolinary Szeluto set up the Spółka Nakładowa Młodych Kompozytorów Polskich / Company of Young Polish Composers - a group whose purpose was to promote the new Polish music abroad. It did so until 1912. In 1907, having refused the appointment as professor at the Oslo Conservatory, Różycki moved to Lvov to work as the city's opera conductor and to run the piano class at the Galician Music Society Conservatory. His symphonic poem Krol Kofetua / King Cofetua op. 24 won the first prize at the composition contest marking the 10th anniversary of the Warsaw Philharmonic in 1912. From 1912 to 1918 he stayed in Berlin, making artistic trips chiefly to Switzerland, Italy and France, and in 1918 returned to Warsaw and was for a while a conductor at the Teatr Wielki.
In the inter-war period Różycki did journalistic, organisational and pedagogical work. He was instrumental in establishing the Polish Composers' Association in 1926 and became its first chairman. In 1930-32 he lectured at the Warsaw Conservatory. During World War II he took part in underground concerts as a pianist and accompanist. After the Warsaw Rising of 1944, during which many of his manuscripts burned down, he took refuge in Osieczany near Cracow. After the war he settled in Katowice, taking a teaching job at the National Higher School of Music. In 1945-6 he was acting Dean of the School's Department of Theory, Composition and Conducting. The last years of his life were spent reconstructing the scores which had perished during the war.
Różycki received a number of awards and decorations, including the Officer's Cross of the Order Polonia Restituta in 1925, the Gold Medal of the French Government for the ballet Apollo i dziewczyna / Apollo and the Girl and the National Music Award for the opera Eros and Psyche in 1937, the Golden Cross of Merit in 1946, the Order of the Standard of Labour of First Class in 1950, the Commodore's Cross with the Polonia Restituta Star in 1951, and the State Award of the First Degree for life achievement in 1952. He was a member of the Polish Composers' Union from 1945.
Major compositions
- Stańczyk op. 1, symphonic scherzo for orchestra (1903-04)
- Preludes op. 2 for piano (1904)
- Two preludes and two nocturnes op. 3 for piano (1904)
- Gra fal / The Play of the Waves op. 4 for piano (1904)
- Two melodies op. 5 for violin or cello and piano (1904-09)
- 4 Impromptus op. 6 for piano (1904)
- Eights songs to words by Tadeusz Micinski op. 9 for voice and piano (1904)
- Ballade op. 18 for piano and orchestra (1904)
- Fantasia op. 11 for piano (1905)
- 3 Morceaux op. 15 for piano (1905)
- Contes d'une horloge op. 26 for piano (1905)
- Air, Mirage, Un Réve op. 28 for piano (1905)
- Bolesław Śmialy / Boleslaus the Bold op. 8, symphonic poem for orchestra (1906)
- Sonata for cello and piano op. 10 (1906)
- Four songs from the cycle Orfan op. 12 for voice and piano (1906)
- Six songs op. 14 for voice and piano (1906)
- Six songs to words by Tadeusz Miciński op. 16 for voice and piano (1906)
- Bolesław Śmialy / Boleslaus the Bold op. 20, opera (1906-08)
- Three songs op. 19 for voice and piano (1908)
- Meduza / Medusa op. 27, opera fantastique (1908-11)
- Anhelli op. 22, symphonic poem for orchestra (1909)
- Three songs to words by Cyprian Kamil Norwid op. 23 for voice and piano (1909)
- Balladyna op. 25, poem for piano (1909)
- Two nocturnes op. 30 for violin and piano (1909)
- Rhapsody op. 33 for piano, violin and cello (1909-13)
- Krol Kofetua / King Cofetua op. 24, symphonic poem for orchestra (1910)
- Mona Lisa Gioconda op. 29 [or 31], symphonic prelude for orchestra (1911)
- Piano quintet in C minor op. 35 (1913-16)
- Eros and Psyche op. 40, opera fantastique (1914-16)
- Laguna / Lagoon op. 36 for piano (1915)
- Tance polskie / Polish Dances op. 37 for piano (1915)
- 9 Esquisses op. 39 for piano (1915)
- 4 Intermezzi op. 42 for piano (1915-18)
- String quartet in D minor op. 49 (1915)
- Piano concerto no. 1 in G minor op. 43 (1917-18)
- Pan Twardowski op. 45, ballet (1919-20)
- Fantasiestücke op. 46 for piano (1919)
- Casanova op. 47, opera (1921-22)
- Italia op. 50 for piano (1923)
- Trzy erotyki / Three love poems op. 51 for voice and piano (1923)
- Three songs op. 48 for mixed choir a cappella (1924)
- Four pieces op. 52 for piano (1924)
- Six characteristic pieces op. 58 for piano (1924)
- Beatrix Cenci op. 53, tragic opera (1925-26)
- Diabelski młyn / The Devil's Mill, satirical opera (1928-30)
- Dancing suite in 4 parts for orchestra (1931-32)
- Lili chce śpiewać / Lili Wants to Sing, operetta (1932)
- Słowik / The Nightingale op. 55 for piano (ca. 1933)
- Pani Walewska / Madame Walewska, historical opera (1933-40)
- Apollo i dziewczyna / Apollo and the Girl, ballet (1937)
- Pieta (Na zgliszczach Warszawy) / On the Ruins of Warsaw, dramatic piece for orchestra (1940-43)
- Piano concerto no. 2 (1941-42)
- Dzwony / The Bells, poem for voice and orchestra (1942-48)
- Ballade op. 60 for voice and piano (1942)
- Violin concerto op. 70 [unfinished] (1944)
- Polonez uroczysty / Solemn polonaise for orchestra (1945-46)
- Warszawa wyzwolona / Liberated Warsaw, symphonic poem for orchestra (1950)
Author: Małgorzata Kosińska, Polish Music Information Center, October 2006