Panek, Wacław (EN)

Panek Wacław, *22 July 1948 Opole, †30 June 2024, Polish musicologist. In 1972, he graduated in musicology from the University of Warsaw with a thesis entitled Muzyka w Polskim Radio w okresie międzywojennym [Music on Polish Radio in the Interwar Period], written under the supervision of Z. Lissa. From 1973 to 1981, he headed the music department of the fortnightly magazine “Teatr”; from 1983 to 1985, he was literary director of the Theatre in Targówek, Warsaw; in 1985–86, of the Musical Theatre in Lublin; and in 1990–91, of the Musical Theatre in Łódź. In 1986, he founded the quarterly “Forum Rozrywki”, where he served as editor-in-chief until 1990; in 1991, he founded the weekly newspaper “Wieści Podwarszawskie” as publisher and editor-in-chief. In 1993–94 he was a member of the advisory board to the Minister of Culture and Art; in 1994–95 to the Head of the Office of the Council of Ministers; in 1995–96 he wrote commentaries for the daily newspaper “Słowo”; since 1997 he has run his own publishing house in Wołomin under the name Wydawnictwo Polskie. He lectured at the Higher School of Education in Siedlce (1974/75) and in Kielce (1975–78), as well as at the F. Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw (1978–80). Since 1966, Panek has contributed to various magazines; between 1970 and 1978, he took part in sessions dedicated to the promotion of music. Since 1970, he has presented programmes on Polish Radio and Television; between 1974 and 1975, he led the first studies into the musical content of radio programmes conducted by the Centre for Public Opinion Research at Polish Radio. From 1977 to 1980, he served as secretary of the Executive Board of the Warsaw Music Society; from 1974 to 1981, he was the organisational secretary of the Moniuszko Festivals in Kudowa-Zdrój; in 1986, he was the artistic director of the first Ogólnopolski Harcerski Festiwal Małych Form [National Scout Festival of Small Forms] in Ciechanów; and in 1998 he initiated and directed the Mazowiecki Festiwal Pieśni Patriotycznej [Mazovian Patriotic Song Festival] “Tobie Polsko”. He is the recipient of the 1978 Press Award from the Związek Autorów i Kompozytorów Rozrywkowych, the Gloria Artis Medal for Cultural Merit (2008) and literary awards: in 1989 the Premio Europeo di Letteratura Giovanile awarded by the University of Padua (for the songbook Marsz, marsz Polonia), and in 1990 the award of the Polish section of the International Board on Books for Young People (for Gaude, mater Polonia).

Panek’s prolific body of writing and wide-ranging organisational activities stem from his interests and sensitivity to social needs. Already during his studies, Panek addressed the issue of promoting music, discussing forms of mass media (radio, television, festivals); he promoted music by profiling singers (Kariery i legendy, short biographies) and the most common forms of music-making (song, jazz, musical theatre); he addressed historical themes by presenting the Polish patriotic song in Gaude, mater Polonia, and various representative types of national songs in the richly illustrated Polski śpiewnik narodowy. He is the only musicologist in Poland engaged with the subject of popular music in the broadest sense (from singspiel and operettas to heavy metal and musical films); this is evidenced by his Encyklopedia muzyki rozrywkowej [Encyclopaedia of Popular Music], compiled in collaboration with A. Trzaskowski, R. Waschka, A. Schmidt, M. Kominek and several other authors. From 2000, he ran Wydawnictwo Polskie, through which he published his works. Panek writes with passion and eloquence, in a journalistic style aimed at a wide audience of music lovers; however, some of his works on contemporary musical life possess lasting documentary value (e.g. Opolska kultura muzyczna). In 2006, he obtained his doctorate at the Department of Biographical Studies of the Institute of History at the University of Opole on the basis of his thesis Jan Kiepura (1902–1966) – biografia artysty.