In 1892-1902 Lachman attended the government gymnasium in Płock as well as learning music on a private basis with Antoni Maruszewski and Father Eugeniusz Gruberski. In 1902 he enrolled in Zygmunt Noskowski's composition class at the Warsaw Institute of Music, from which he graduated in 1910. While a student, he set up and ran a student choir, founded the Union of Polish Music Youth and established the Lachman Choir, transformed into the Harfa Male Choir in 1906. He worked with that choir as the principal conductor and director for most of the time until 1958; from 1956 he was also chairman of the Harfa Choral Society. Under Lachman, the Choir won a number of awards at choral competitions, including the 1st prize in Amsterdam in 1923, 1st prize in Poznań in 1924, 3rd prize in Haarlem in 1925 and 1st prizes in Warsaw in 1927 and 1936, and went on a number of tours, notably to Bohemia in 1911, Hungary in 1927, Latvia and Estonia in 1935, France and Belgium in 1937.
Besides the Harfa Choir, Lachman worked as a conductor with other choirs, including the Duda Choir of the Warsaw Rowing Club, the tram drivers' Surma Choir, choirs Echo and Orpheon and, in 1915-18, the Polish Choir at the Polish House in Moscow. 1932 saw him take the position of the principal conductor of the Association of Choral and Instrumental Unions of the Polish Republic, and in 1935 he was appointed art director of the Mazovian Choral and Musical Union. In 1910-12 he also worked with professional choirs, in 1921-5 was the deputy director of the choir of the Warsaw Philharmonic, and in 1921-5 the conductor of the Warsaw Opera's choir.
Lachman started to compose as a gymnasium student - and continued throughout his life, writing or developing some 300 pieces, mostly for choir a cappella or with the accompaniment of the piano, organ or orchestra. He was also involved in teaching, working at the Kazimierz Kulawiec Male Gymnasium, Merchant Assembly Gymnasium and Klementyna Hoffmanowa nee Tański State Gymnasium from 1918 to 1939 and at the Reytan Lycee in Warsaw from 1945 to 1951.
His achievements were recognized with the Music Award of the City of Warsaw in 1938 and 1956, the Gold Cross of Merit and the Chevalier's, Officer's and Commodore's Crosses of the Order Polonia Restituta.
Major compositions:
- 'Iris' polka for piano (1901)
- Piano sonata in E flat major (1907)
- Pastuszek / The Shepherd, cantata for tenor, male choir and piano (1909)
- Nowa wiosna / New Spring, cantata for male choir and piano (1910)
- Świętokrzyskie w muzyce / The Music of the Świętokrzyski Region for piano (1910)
- Illo tempore, suite of national songs for male choir and piano (1911)
- Ecce sacerdos for male choir, mixed choir and organ (1911)
- Sztandary Polskie na Kremlu / Polish Standards at the Kremlin [version I], cantata for male choir (1916-17)
- Sztandary Polskie na Kremlu / Polish Standards at the Kremlin [version II], cantata for mixed choir (1916-17)
- Missa Gaude Mater [version I] for male choir and organ (1917)
- Missa Gaude Mater [version II] for male choir and orchestra (1917)
- Z minionych dni / From the Past Days, cantata for male and mixed choirs (1918)
- Missa in honorem Resurrectionis DNJC for male choir and organ (1920)
- Śpiew wolności / The Song of Freedom [version I], cantata for male choir and piano (1925)
- Śpiew wolności / The Song of Freedom [version II], cantata for male choir and orchestra (1925)
- Hymn do Melpomeny / Hymn to Melpomene [version I], cantata for male choir and piano (1926)
- Hymn do Melpomeny / Hymn to Melpomene [version II], cantata for male choir and symphony orchestra (1926)
- Hymn do Melpomeny / Hymn to Melpomene [version III], cantata for male choir and wind orchestra (1926)
- Idziem do ciebie / Going to You [version I], cantata for male (or mixed) choir and piano (1928)
- Idziem do ciebie / Going to You [version II], cantata for male (or mixed) choir and orchestra (1928)
- W górach / In the Mountains [version I], cantata for tenor, male choir and piano (1932)
- W górach / In the Mountains [version II], cantata for tenor, male choir and orchestra (1932)
- Nad wodami Babilonu / At the Waters of Babylon [version I], cantata for bass, mixed choir and organ (1939)
- Nad wodami Babilonu / At the Waters of Babylon [version II], cantata for bass, mixed choir and orchestra (1939)
- Alleluja / Alleluia for soprano, tenor, bass, male choir and female choir (1939)
- Intermezzo for a small symphony orchestra (ca. 1940)
- Overture for symphony orchestra (1941)
- Anioł Pański / Angelus, cantata for soprano, male choir and organ (1941)
- Missa popularis for soprano, tenor, male choir and organ (1941)
- W Bogu nadzieja / Hope is in God for soprano, male choir and organ (1941)
- Missa montana for soprano, tenor, male choir and organ (1942)
- Msza polska / Polish Mass for soprano, tenor, male choir and organ (1942)
- Epizod pasyjny / Passion Episode for soprano, tenor, male choir and organ (1942)
- Rapsod piwniczny / Cellar Rhapsody, cantata for soprano, bass, male choir and organ (1943)
- Boże Narodzenie / Christmas for soprano, tenor, male choir and organ (1943)
- Suita podhalanska / Podhalanska Suite [version I], cantata for male choir (1950)
- Suita podhalanska / Podhalanska Suite [version II], cantata for male choir and orchestra (1950)
- Strofy o Stalinie / Stanzas on Stalin [version I], cantata for baritone, male choir and piano (1951)
- Strofy o Stalinie / Stanzas on Stalin [version II], cantata for baritone, male choir and symphony orchestra (1951)
- Witaj Muzo / Hello, Musev cantata for male choir and orchestra (1952)
- Ku-ku / Cuckoo, cantata for soprano, male choir and piano (1953)
- Zwyciestwo / Victory [version I], cantata for bass (baritone), male choir and piano (1954)
- Zwyciestwo / Victory [version II], cantata for bass (baritone), male choir and orchestra (1954)
- Cantata żniwna - hej niesiemy plon / The Harvest Cantata for mixed choir (1954)
- Tyrteusz / Tirteus, poem for tenor, bass (as a reciting voice), male choir and piano (1957)
Author: Małgorzata Kosińska, Polish Music Information Center, October 2006.