He was born on 5th of May 1974 in Opole. In 1998 he graduated with distinction from a composition class of Marian Borkowski at the Academy of Music in Warsaw (now: The Fryderyk Chopin University of Music). He also studied the viola under Błażej Sroczyński at the same academy as well as ethnology and classical philology at the University of Warsaw.
Since 2008 he has been a lecturer at his alma mater's Department of Composition, Conducting and Theory of Music. In 2016 he was elected vice-chancellor of the university. He also taught composition as a visiting professor at Keimyung University in Daegu, South Korea (2009, 2014–2015), gave lectures and taught classes in composition and contemporary music performance during the Jeunesses Modernes in Weikersheim and Munich (Germany, 2003) and at the San Diego State University in San Diego (USA, 2006). In 2007 he obtained a doctoral degree, followed by a post-doctoral degree in 2014.
Aleksander Kościów was a prize winner of composition competitions and also a holder of the Fulbright Foundation scholarship (2005). His pieces have been performed during contemporary music festivals, concerts and events in Poland (e.g. International Festival of Music Tradition and Avant-garde KODY, Musica Polonica Nova, Warsaw Music Meetings, and more) and abroad (France, Japan, South Korea, Lithuania, Germany, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, USA, Great Britain and Italy).
He has collaborated with Joe Alter, an American contemporary ballet choreographer as well as with numerous ensembles such as Kronos Quartet, Royal String Quartet, NeoQuartet, Camerata Quartet, London Sinfonietta, Vocal Ensemble of the International School of Traditional Music, Hebrides Ensemble, ProModern vocal sextet, Kwadrofonik and Cellonet.
Here’s how polish musicologist Iwona Lindstedt summarized Kościow’s works:
Space that extends from the music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Bachowski’s baroque, through Mahler’s and Brahms’s symphonies, selections of Szostakowicz, Bartók and Strawiński, Webern’s aphoristic nature, minimalist capture of Górecki, Pärt and Taverner, to the folk culture of the Mongolians and Aborigines, Tibetan sacral music and the versatile works of the pop music sphere, became the source of inspiration for Kościów – references of all kinds and of all levels, which appear in his works in a way distant from literality, remarkably specific. Esthetic and technical priorities aren’t regulated by Kościów in a systemic manner, although his music uses peculiar repetitive elements that make up the ensemble of characteristics of a recognizable, individual style.
A CD dedicated exclusively to his works was released by the Polish Composers’ Union / Polish Music Information Centre in co-operation with the Polish Radio in 2013 as part of the series Polish Music Today – Portraits of Contemporary Polish Composers.
In the years 1996-98 Aleksander Kościów held the position of secretary of the Polish Composers’ Union’s Youth Circle. He is now a member of Polish Composers’ Union, 'Contemporary Music Laboratory' Society and the Phonographic Academy.
He is also a writer and a publicist. He has published four novels: Świat nura / The World of the Loon (2006), Przeproś / Say Sorry. A Player’s Manual (2008) which was nominated for 'Paszporty Polityki' award, Lecą wieloryby / Whales Flying (2010), Lithaniae: dzieło jako krajobraz. Autorefleksja twórcy / Lithaniae: Work of Art as a Landscape. Author's Autoreflection (2013). He has also been writing articles about music for sociocultural quarterly magazine 'Strony' since 2009.
Selected compositions
- Motet I: 'My Heart Overflows with a Goodly Theme' (Ps. 45) for mixed choir and percussion instruments (1991)
- Sonata for classical guitar solo (1991)
- Motet II: 'O Lord, Rebuke Me Not in Thy Anger' (Ps. 38) for baritone and instrumental ensemble (1992)
- Tritetron for female voice solo (1993)
- String Septet for 2 guitars, 2 harps, 2 harpsichords and piano (1994)
- Three Songs to Ritual Texts in Old Celtic Language for mixed choir a cappella (1994)
- Partita for chamber orchestra (1994)
- Musica Pulla for 3 bassoons and oboe (1994)
- Miserere for mixed choir a cappella (1994)
- Musica Fusca for 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 3 cellos, double bass and percussion (1994)
- Strophes for flute and violin (1995)
- Musica Viridis for percussion ensemble (1995)
- Sous-Entendu for viola solo (1995)
- String Quartet No. 1 (1995)
- Nanda Devi for 4 trumpets and percussion (1996)
- Forsaken Gardens Are Full Of Weird Nooks for instrumental ensemble (1996)
- Musica Caesia for instrumental ensemble (1996)
- Fantasia for viola solo (1996)
- String Quartet No. 2 (1996)
- Krystus zmartwych wstał je (Christ from Death Is Risen) for mixed a cappella choir (1996)
- Agnus Dei for mixed choir a cappella (1996)
- Partita for viola solo (1996)
- Sonatina for viola and piano (1996-97)
- Pezzo Sinfonico for symphony orchestra (1996-97)
- Quinque carmina de aëre et aqua for 3 flutes and clarinet (1997)
- St. John’s Eve for string orchestra (1997)
- Dies Irae for tape (1997)
- String Quartet No. 3 (1997)
- Kyrie for mixed a cappella choir (1997)
- Five Cosmogonic Tales for piano solo (1997)
- Pressionata for violin solo (1997)
- Tempestate Apparendorum for 4 cellists (1998)
- Requiem Mundo for soprano, baritone, mixed choir and symphony orchestra (1998)
- Ultra Exterum for solo piano (1998)
- Déjà-vus Agonaux for violin and piano (1998)
- Auqisagin Ermisalmu for solo piano (1998)
- Liber Absens – String Quartet No. 4 (1999)
- String Quartet No. 5 (1999)
- Holometabol for instrumental ensemble (1999)
- Elements for string orchestra (1999) (1999)
- Three Postludes for piano solo (2000)
- Four Songs for soprano and piano (2000)
- Liber sub cortice scriptus for clarinet and string quartet (2001)
- Lithiammokykliskia for solo violin (2001)
- Thule for cello quartet (2001)
- Kaleidergon for instrumental ensemble (2001)
- Liber Figurarum Aquae for 2 pianos (2002)
- String Quartet No. 6 (2002)
- Hyalia for violin and piano (2002)
- Nenia for clarinet and piano (2002)
- Ilargia for accordion solo (2002)
- Unde for mixed choir, percussion and string orchestra (2003)
- Gloria for mixed choir a cappella (2003)
- Canor Keneias for cello and electronic media (2003)
- Liber Septem Serpentum Saligiæ – String Quartet No. 7 (2004)
- Ore Osse Oculo for clarinet, marimba, piano, violin and cello (2004)
- Omphalos for piano solo (2004)
- Shihaikai for soprano and piano (2004)
- 23:59:59 for 2 cellos and piano (2005)
- Voces for chamber orchestra (2005)
- Dilexit for mixed choir, 2 oboes, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, percussion and string instruments (2006)
- Song on Light of Water for choir and orchestra (2007)
- String Quartet No. 8 (2008)
- String Quartet No. 9 (2009)
- Lenten Lamentations for female choir and 8 cellos (2010)
- Duae molentes in mola for a cappella choir (2011)
- Nebulae for 2 a cappella choirs (2011)
- Music for the play Hecuba, dir. by Karolina Labakhua’s, based on Euripides (2011)
- Dusk Music for clarinet, percussion, cimbalom, hurdy-gurdy, violin and double bass (2012)
- String Quartet No. 10 (2012-13)
- Iffy Shapes for saxophone, accordion and cello (2013)
- Święty Jacek /St. Jacob, 02.09.44 for wind instruments and percussion (2014)
- Tnyganekuinlu for vocal sextet (2014)
- Thereisa Street for accordion ensemble (2014)
- Steam Punk Gear for Hammond organ and percussion (2014)
- Wielki Kanon do tekstu Statutu Związku Kompozytorów Polskich / Grand Canon to the words of the Polish Composers' Union's statute (2015)
- Oberek for Terry Riley for string quartet (2015)
- Krajobrazy młodoplskie / Young Poland's Landscapes for soprano, cello and piano (2015)
- O, Call Not Me for vocal sextet (2015)
- Many Cities for soprano and ensemble (2016)
- Hílathi for string quartet (possibly with mixed or female choir) (2016)
- Huascarán for violin and percussion (2016)
Source: press materials, an essay by Iwona Lindstedt Aleksander Kościów. Muzyka Polska Dzisiaj – Portrety Współczesnych Kompozytorów Polskich/ Aleksander Kościów. Polish Music Today - The Portrait of Contemporary Polish Composers. Update: June 2016, AG.
Translated by A.G. January 2015