The Life and Works of Andrzej Panufnik by Beata Bolesławska is the first monograph on the life and work of Andrzej Panufnik (1914-1991) to chronologically describes both his private life and his activity as a composer.
Beata Bolesławska-Lewandowska is a renowned author of books about Polish contemporary music who wrote her PhD at the University of Cardiff. In 2001, Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne published her monography Panufnik, about the life and works of Andrzej Panufnik, in 2013 her book Henryk Mikołaj Górecki. Portret z pamięci / Henryk Mikołaj Górecki: A Portrait from Memory, a collection of interviews about Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, and in 2014 Panufnik. Architekt emocji / Panufnik: The Architect of Emotion, a collection of interviews about Panufnik. She’s also written texts for websites such as Panufnik.polmic.pl, trzejkompozytorzy.pl and ninateka.pl/kolekcje/Panufnik.
This book is the first monograph on the life and work of Andrzej Panufnik (1914-1991) which chronologically describes both his private life and his activity as a composer. His story is presented in the background of historical and political events in 20th-century Poland and Europe. The communist authorities chose him as a showpiece of Polish music abroad. In 1954 Andrzej Panufnik decided to break his ties with the regime. He traveled to Western Europe as a composer from behind the iron curtain, thinking he would never come back to Poland. For many years he spent in England, he didn’t believe communism would ever be overturned, and that in 1990 – not long before his death – he would visit his homeland again.
Author: Janusz R. Kowalczyk, transl. N. Mętrak-Ruda, December 2015.