Dobrzański, Tadeusz (EN)

Dobrzański Tadeusz, *6 September 1916 Sambor, †18 June 1996 Krakow, Polish conductor and composer. Between 1924 and 1933, he studied at J. Zielonczanka-Donichtowa’s music school in Sambor (piano, music theory); in 1938, he graduated with a degree in law from the Jan Kochanowski University in Lviv. Between 1933 and 1948, he worked as a conductor of instrumental and choral ensembles. Between 1951 and 1954, he studied composition privately with A. Malawski. Between 1970 and 1971, he conducted the choir of the State Higher School of Music in Kraków. From 1948, he worked continuously with the Polish Radio Choir and Orchestra in Kraków (now PRiTV) as conductor and choir director (1962–82; he continued to work with them until 1989), and from 1962 also as orchestra conductor. With the Polish Radio Choir, he made a number of archival recordings and prepared most of the oratorio and cantata compositions performed with leading Polish symphony orchestras. As choir director and conductor of the Polish Radio Choir, he took part in the ensemble’s performances in East Germany (1951), Switzerland (1967), France (1971) and Italy (1972). For his creative work, Dobrzański received state honours, including the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1964) and the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1973).

Dobrzański’s compositional output comprises around 2,000 scores. His work is dominated by popular music, geared towards meeting the needs of the amateur movement and the mass media.