Photo source: pwm.com Composer and teacher. Born on 21st January 1937 in Łomża. Resides in Vienna.
Zbigniew Bargielski’s work is - to a considerable degree - an independent phenomenon in contemporary Polish music, outside of any overarching trends. Bargielski skillfully makes use of the diverse achievements of modern composition, but he does not break away in any radical way from tradition, maintaining a certain distance with regard to modernism and post-modernism. A characteristic feature of Bargielski’s music is derived from the use of the concept of a central system that usually organises the pitch of the sounds, also sometimes used by the composer to organise the rhythm or colour of sounds. The procedure allows for the selection of dominant sounds, says the composer, which in turn function as centres for the various segments of the form. These dominant elements come to the forth through frequent repetition while other, more neutral sounds, make up the structural background. His work has been performed around the world across Europe, the United States, Australia and South America.
Zbigniew Bargielski studied Law at Maria Skłodowska-Curie University in Lublin (1954-57). In 1958 he began composition studies in the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw under the guidance of Tadeusz Szeligowski. After Szeligowski’s his death, Bargielski continued studying with Bolesław Szabelski in the State Higher School of Music in Katowice, graduating in 1964. Between 1966-67 he commenced his supplementary studies with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, and in 1972 – at the Hochschule für Musik in Graz. In 1986, he received a grant from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst.
His Violin Concerto of 1975 was championed by prominent violinist Wanda Wiłkomirska. Its crisp and deep emotional expression is the result of the union of the lyrical solo section with the dramatic orchestra section. Trigonalia for guitar, accordion, percussion and chamber orchestra was written in 1994 for the composer's daughter Konstancja Furch- Bargielska, as well as accordionist Zbigniew Koźlik and percussionist Stanisław Skoczyński. brzmieniowości decided to work, glittering with colors kaleidoscope - in the words of a concerto composer himself. The work was commissioned by Polish Radio and later received the 1995 recommendation of the UNESCO International Association of Composers in Paris. The Requiem (1991-1992) is a kind of reflection of the composer on human existence, its cyclical nature - from development, climax and death. However, the divisions between the three parts of the song - birth, longing and fulfillment - have been omitted because, as Bargielski explains, each can be freely interpreted. The initial and the final chord are almost identical, bringing hope that the end may also be the beginning. The Requiem's themes are filled with melancholy, but also joy. These works, performed by the National Orchestra of Polish Radio and Polish Radio Orchestra conducted by Wojciech Michniewski, were published as an album in 2006 by Polish Radio.
He received First Prize in the Competition of the Young of the Polish Composers’ Union for his Parades for orchestra (1970). His Alpine string quartet no.1 (1976) received Second Prize in the Artur Malawski Composers’ Competition in Kraków in 1976 and it received Special Mention in 1981 at the UNESCO International Composers' Rostrum in Paris. A Dream is just a Dream for tenor and piano to the words of Kazimierz Wierzyński (1982) won him Third Prize in the Karol Szymanowski Competition in 1982. He has been decorated with the Medal of Merit to the Polish Culture (1990) and the Officer’s Cross of the Polonia Restituta Order (1995). In 2000 he received the Anton-Benya-Preis in Vienna, and in 2001 – the Award of the Polish Composers’ Union.
Apart from composing, Zbigniew Bargielski also works in music publishing and teaching. Since 2002 he has lectured at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, and since 2003 – at the Academy of Music in Kraków.
In 1998 critic Andrzej Chłopecki wrote,
It is clear that Bargielski’s work continues to evolve. However, this is rather a spiral evolution, expanding its aesthetic dimension, becoming enriched with nuances – it does not evolve in leaps. It is worth noting that during the last two decades, Bargielski who is now sixty one, has not gone through any crisis resulting in a change of his aesthetics (as with Penderecki), nor any veiled one, though equally legible (as in the case of Lutosławski). If there is any threshold to be found in Bargielski’s work, then it is probably marked by the Violin Concert of 1976. The intensely lyrical quality of this piece, though not infected by the germ of either the new simplicity nor the New Romanticism (the latter having made a frontal attack on Polish – and not only Polish - music in that almost symbolic year), constitutes a subtle trace of Bargielski’s sensitivity to the wind of the Zeitgeist. Zbigniew Bargielski’s music emerged from this musical turmoil unscathed.
Major compositions:
• Neosonatina for violin and piano (1956)
• Seven Studies for piano (1957)
• Parades for symphony orchestra (1965)
• Danton or Several Scenes from the History of the Great French Revolution, pseudo-historical opera (1968-69)
• In the circle for soprano, viola, baritone, solo bass and chamber ensemble to the words by Alicja Patey-Grabowska (1969)
• Four Love Songs for mezzo-soprano (alto) and piano to the words by Alicja Patey-Grabowska (1969-72)
• Parades 1970 for orchestra (1970)
• Rose Garden for baritone or alto and bass clarinet to the words by T. S. Eliot (1971)
• Alice in Wonderland, chamber opera for young people (1971-72)
• Ein Zimmer for clarinet, trombone, cello, piano and reciting voice or tape (1972)
• Concerto for percussion and orchestra (1975)
• Concerto for violin and orchestra (1975)
• Impromptu for solo percussion (1975)
• Polish Rhapsody for wind instruments and percussion (1976)
• String Quartet no.1 'Alpine' (1976)
• A Valley of Bare Bones [version 1] for instrumental ensemble and percussion (1977)
• A Valley of Bare Bones [version 2] for improvised piano, instrumental ensemble and percussion (1977-93)
• Ablaze Will They Be with Unquenchable Fire for string orchestra (1978)
• A Butterfly Cage for wind quintet (1978)
• In a Manor, opera according to Stanisław Witkiewicz (1979-80)
• Es ist noch Nacht, noch ein Laut for mezzo-soprano, percussion and orchestra (1980)
• Traumvogel for accordion and percussion (1980)
• String Quartet no. 2 'Spring' (1980)
• An Evening from the Past for guitar, harpsichord and celesta (1980)
• Nocturne in Blue for violin and string orchestra (1981)
• Icarus for bass clarinet or alto saxophone and marimbaphone or vibraphone (1981)
• Talking to a Shadow for 2 accordions (1982)
• Gemalte Wolken for solo accordion (1982)
• A Dream is Just a Dream [version 1] for tenor and piano to the words by Kazimierz Wierzyński (1982)
• A Dream is Just a Dream [version 2] for baritone and piano to the words by Kazimierz Wierzyński (1982)
• Epitaph [version 1] for 2 violins (1982)
• Four Trees with a Horn for wind quintet (1982)
• Four on a Journey for saxophone quartet (1982)
• Five on a Journey, saxophone quartet with marimba (1982-86)
• Epitaph [version 2] for violin and cello (1982-99)
• Rondo alla polacca for small orchestra (1983)
• Sonnenlieder for mezzo-soprano, baritone, bass, choir and chamber ensemble (1983)
• A Night of Farewells for accordion and string quartet (1983)
• Labyrinth for piano (1983)
• Three Polish Suites for solo accordion (1984)
• Black Mirror for guitar and accordion (1984)
• Other Voices for oboe and clarinet (1984)
• Nocturne [version 1] for violin and guitar (1984)
• Nocturne [version 2] for violin and piano (1984)
• Nocturne [version 3] for flute and guitar (1984)
• Labyrinth for cello and accordion (1984-87)
• String Quartet with clarinet 'On the Other Side of the Mirror' (1985)
• Flooded Flame for violin, cello and accordion (1985)
• Garden of Desires for soprano, bass clarinet (and alto saxophone), percussion and accordion (1985)
• Arc-en-ciel for mandolin and Celtic harp (1985)
• Folk Music for two violins (1985)
• Polish Dance for violin (1985)
• String Quartet no. 3 'Still Life with a Shriek' (1985-86)
• Journey into the Unspeakable for orchestra (1986)
• Suite of Songs and Dances for accordion (1986)
• A Report from the Vienna Woods for vocal ensemble, piano (or accordion or harpsichord) and 3 flutes (1986)
• Grazer variationen for accordion orchestra (1987)
• Sonata for violin and piano (Forgetfulness Sonata) (1987)
• Night Birds for clarinet quintet (1987)
• Panopticum for two pianos (1987)
• Illusions and Desires for organ and percussion (1988)
• Kaleidoscope for accordion (1988)
• In No-Man’s Land, oratorio (1988-89)
• A Ring of Shadows for saxophone quartet (1989)
• The Lumberjack Dance for clarinet, tuba and piano (1989)
• Cha-ord for orchestra (1990)
• Egad for accordion and vibraphone (1991)
• Soundmill for accordion orchestra and percussion (1991)
• Quatuor à l’heure dite for string quartet (1991)
• Concerto for trumpet and orchestra (1992)
• Requiem for orchestra (1992)
• Mutationen for tape (1992)
• Beethoven’s Stroll to Duke Lichnowski for piano (1992)
• Trigonalia for guitar, accordion, percussion and chamber orchestra (1994)
• String Quartet no. 4 'Le temps ardent' (1994)
• Concertino for piano and chamber orchestra (1995)
• A Dance on the Edge of Light for chamber ensemble (1995)
• Night-Day, 5 songs for soprano and piano (1995)
• Source of Hope for alto saxophone and marimba (1995)
• Lost-Found for solo violin (1996)
• Orpheus for baritone, violin and bells (1996)
• In Search of the Lost Sound for solo flute (1996)
• Landscape of Memories (Witold Lutosławski in memoriam) for violin, cello and piano (1996)
• Hierophany for 5 percussionists (1996)
• A la espagnola for solo guitar (1996)
• Tango for chamber ensemble (1997)
• Slapstick for chamber orchestra (1997)
• Shrine for Anonymous Victim, electronic music (1999)
• Music for Children for piano (1999-2001)
• Light Cross, electronic music (2000)
• Tangoroso for piano for 4 hands (2000)
• Flea Market [version 1], a cycle of piano miniatures for 2 and 4 hands (2000)
• Flea Market [version 2] for instrumental ensemble (2000)
• Towards Organic Geometry, electronic music (2001)
• String Quartet no. 5 'Le temps qui n'est plus' (2001)
• Le cristal flamboyant (A Crystal in Flames) for harpsichord and tape (2002)
• Jeux à trois for 3 accordions (2003)
• Letter to Milena for soprano, violin and piano (2005)
• L’espace attrapè for orchestra (2005)
• String Quartet no.6 (2006)
Author: Małgorzata Kosińska, Polish Music Information Centre, Polish Composers’ Union, March 2002, updated: December 2008.
