Between 1930 and 1937 he studied violin under the supervision of Józef Cetner and composition under Aleksander Brachocki at what is now the Academy of Music in Katowice. Between 1936 and 1937 he also took private composition classes from Kazimierz Sikorski in Warsaw. Aside from his creative work, he earned a living by playing and teaching violin. In 1934-36 Spisak worked as an assistant in Zygmunt Szeller’s violin class in the Lower Music School in Katowice (editor’s translation), which the latter ran at the time. In 1937 he played in the chamber ensemble of the Polish Radio in Katowice.
In 1937 Spisak received a stipend from the Silesian Music Society (editor’s translation), and was given a chance to study composition under Nadia Boulanger in Paris. That same year, he joined the Society of Young Polish Musicians in Paris (editor’s translation), of which he was the vice chair after 1939. During the Nazi occupation he stayed in Voiron, only to return to Paris in 1945.
Despite being considered an emigré composer, he never cut ties with Poland. In 1947, he became a member of the Polish Composers’ Union. His compositions were regularly performed during the Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music, the Poznań Music Spring – International Festival of Contemporary Music, and other contemporary music festivals. They were also featured in the programmes of many philharmonic halls in Poland.
Michał Spisak was a laureate of many prestigious composition awards: twice (in 1945 and 1946) he received the Lili Boulanger Award and also twice (in 1953 for his Serenade for Orchestra from 1939 and in 1957 for Concerto Giocoso Per Orchestra Da Camera), the Grand Prix in the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. In 1955 he won the Grand Prix of the International Competition for the Official Olympic Anthem in Monaco for his Hymne Olympique (1955), in 1962 – a distinction (regular prizes weren’t awarded) for Improvisazione for piano and violin (1962) at the International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Poznań, and finally in 1964 – the yearly prize of the Polish Composers’ Union.
Important works:
- Orchestral Suite (1934)
- Prelude for piano (1934-36)
- Three Kurpian Songs for a singer and string quartet (1935)
- Miałam Ja Gołąbka (editor’s translation – I Had a Dove) for mixed choir (1936)
- Two Caprices for violin and piano (1937)
- Concertino for wind instruments, the harp and the celesta (1937)
- Two Psalms for mixed choir and orchestra (1938)
- Quartet for Oboe, 2 Clarinets and Bassoon (1938)
- Serenade for orchestra (1939)
- Concertino for clarinet and orchestra (1940-41)
- Concertino for string orchestra (1942)
- Concerto for two pianos (1942)
- Toccata for orchestra (1942-43)
- Aubade for small orchestra (1943)
- Humoresque for piano (1943)
- Piano (or Harpsichord) Suite (1943)
- Allegro de Voiron [version I] for orchestra (1943)
- Concerto for bassoon and orchestra (1944)
- String Orchestra Suite (1945)
- Piano and Violin Sonata (1946)
- Concerto for piano and orchestra (1946-47)
- Sonatina for oboe, clarinet and bassoon (1946)
- Anthem for mixed choir and orchestra (1947)
- Symphonie Concertante no. 1 for orchestra (1947)
- Quintet for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn (1948)
- Divertimento for 2 pianos and orchestra (1948-50)
- Etudes for string orchestra (1948)
- Etudes for violin ensembles (book I – 1948-50)
- Duetto Concertante for viola and bassoon (1949)
- Three Miniatures for small orchestra (1949)
- Divertissement en Quatre Movements for orchestra (1950)
- Violin and Orchestral Sonata (1950)
- Concertino for trombone and small orchestra (1951)
- Melos, ballet (1951)
- Musique Legere no. 2, siote for 2 violins, cello, double bass and piano (1951)
- Etudes for violin ensembles (book II – 1951)
- String Quartet no. 1 (1953)
- Three Preludes for soprano and flute (1953)
- Christmas Mass for a cappella mixed choir (1953)
- Andante and Allegro for violin and string orchestra (1955)
- Hymne Olympique for mixed choir and orchestra (1955)
- Symphonie Concertante no. 2 for orchestra (1956)
- Concerto Giocoso Per Orchestra Da Camera (1957)
- Allegro de Voiron [version II] for orchestra (1957)
- Suite [version I] for 2 violins (1958)
- Suite [version II] for 2 violas (1959)
- Improvisazione for violin and piano (1962)
- Pędrek Wyrzutek, cantata for boy soprano, bass, reciter, boy choir and mixed choir (1962)
Article originally written by Małgorzata Kosińska, Mar 2006, sources: Polish Music Information Centre, Polish Composers’ Union, Translated by WF, Oct 2017
