Ptaszyńska, Marta (EN)

Ptaszyńska Marta, *29 July 1943 Włochy (near Warsaw), Polish composer and percussionist. In 1962–67, she studied percussion instruments at the State Higher School of Music in Poznań with J. Zgodziński and music theory at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw, and in 1964–68 composition with T. Paciorkiewicz, obtaining diplomas with honours in all fields. In 1969–70, as a scholarship holder of the French government, she continued her studies in Paris with N. Boulanger and with P. Schaeffer at the Center Bourdan de l’ORTF. In 1970, she attended lectures on musical analysis by O. Messiaen at the conservatory. In 1970–72 she was an assistant in the theory, composition and percussion classes at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw; at that time, W. Lutosławski gave her private composition lessons. In 1972–74, she studied percussion with C. Duff and R. Weiner and composition with D. Erb at the Cleveland Institute of Music. An important moment in the development of her compositional career in the United States was the performance of the piece Spectri sonori by the Cleveland Orchestra in 1973. Ptaszyńska taught percussion and composition: in 1973–74 and 1976–77 at Bennington College (Vermont), in 1977–78 at the University of California at Berkeley, in 1979–81 in Santa Barbara, in 1983–84 at Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington (1983–84), in 1991–94 and 1995–97 at Northwestern University in Evanston, and in 1994–95 at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. In 1997, she received the title of professor at the Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, and in 1998, a lifetime professorship at the University of Chicago.

Ptaszyńska’s compositions have been performed at numerous international festivals. She is a laureate of many composition competitions – she received first place at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris for the work La novella d’inverno (1986), the Percussive Art Society award for Siderals (1974) and Classical Variations (1976), an award at the International Composition Competition in New York for Concerto for marimba and orchestra (1987) and in 1972 a distinction from PRiTV for the television opera Oskar z Alwy. For all her work, she received the ZKP medal in 1988 and the A. Jurzykowski Foundation Award in 1997 in New York. In 1995, she was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

As a drummer, Ptaszyńska performed with Z. Krauze’s Music Workshop and the Poznań Percussion Ensemble; in 1964–69, she played in the FN and PR orchestras in Warsaw. In France, she toured with Les Percussions de Strasbourg (1970–71). She also gave recitals, presenting works by 20th-century avant-garde composers. In 1981–84, she was a member of the board of the Percussive Art Society in the United States. She was also a juror in many competitions. In the United States, she also conducted activities aimed at promoting Polish culture – she contributed to organising Polish music festivals at Lincoln Centre in New York (1991, 1993) and the conference “Poland – music, poetry, nation” at the University of Chicago (2001).

Ptaszyńska’s rich oeuvre, especially in the initial period, is dominated by compositions in which percussion is exposed, used mainly due to the enormous possibilities of using the timbre of sound. Colour plays an important role in Ptaszyńska’s compositions, regardless of the composition of the instrumental cast. This is related to the composer’s ability to experience synesthesia, i.e. perceiving musical phenomena in visual categories and vice versa. This particular sensitivity to musical colour not only translates into the richness of sound colours in Ptaszyńska’s works but also influences the selection of harmonic structures and textures. Ptaszyńska’s music often creates colourful, suggestive soundscapes, which are often directly inspired by painting, especially by surrealists and symbolists, as well as abstract, geometric compositions by P. Mondrian (Linear Constructions in Space). Specific paintings are sometimes referred to in the titles of works (e.g. Flowers of the Moon is also the title of a painting by O. Redon) or parts of them, e.g. in the Concerto for marimba and orchestra (part I – Echo of Fear by I. Tanguy, part II – Eye of Silence M. Ernst, part III – Thorn Trees by G. Sutherland). The world of a surreal vision is also suggested by the specific treatment of a quote, e.g. a fragment of The Four Seasons by A. Vivaldi in La novella d’inverno.

The technical aspects and expression of Ptaszyńska’s works are always subordinated to an overarching vision or idea. References to other forms of art, appearing in the titles and structure of the works, include, in addition to painting, sculpture (Mobile, Space model), or a suggestive, colourful poetic vision (in vocal-instrumental works, e.g. Sonnets to Orpheus, Distant Voices, Liquid Light), as well as forms of nature, e.g. exotic birds (Touracou), or abstract concepts, such as the mathematical formula of the logarithmic spiral in the structure of the song Spider Walk. The surreal vision of some compositions is associated with a dreamlike aura (Concerto for marimba and orchestra, Dream Lands, Magical Spaces, Un grand sommeile noir, La novella d’inverno), manifested in muted dynamics, irregular rhythm fluctuations, slow motion and jagged contours of motifs and phrases while maintaining a clear formal structure.

Elements of different fields of art also enter the very matter of Ptaszyńska’s works, resulting in a kind of syncretism or multimedia. In the piece Siderals, the music is counterpointed by a play of colourful reflections inspired by the paintings of P. Klee, emitted onto screens placed on the stage; the changing colourful lighting is also included in the course of the song Spider Walk, and in Un grand sommeile noir, the music and light are complemented by the theatrical behaviour and gestures of the musicians, referring to the Japanese nō theatre. Sometimes Ptaszyńska assigns the performers a stage movement that is intended to suggestively emphasise the form or expression of the work (Space model, Drum of Orfeo), or she also uses the form of instrumental theatre (Soiree Snobe sur la Princesse) or opera (Oscar de Alva).

Many of Ptaszyńska’s works reveal the composer’s fascination with different cultures, especially oriental art and Zen philosophy. This is expressed in a different attitude to the flow of musical time, which is slowed down (2^nd part of the Concerto for marimba and orchestra, Dream Lands, Magical Spaces), the use of the pentatonic scale (Concerto for marimba and orchestra), and a reference to oriental melodies (Ajican). Ptaszyńska is also inspired by Western music – forms of European music from the Middle Ages (Jeu-parti, Conductus – a Ceremonial for Winds), but also blues (Charlie’s Dream – Concerto for saxophone and orchestra) and even African rhythms (Concerto grosso, Inverted Mountain).

A separate trend is created by works conveying patriotic and humanistic ideas, such as the cantata Polish Letters, Conductus – a Ceremonial for Winds and Fanfare for Peace, in which the song Bogurodzica or the Holocaust Memorial Cantata to the words of the poem Chant for All the People on Earth by L.W. Hedley’s are quoted in various ways – a moving memento in four languages (English, Polish, Yiddish and Hebrew), referring to the Jewish prayer for the dead (kaddish).

In terms of sound language, Ptaszyńska draws on the experience of the avant-garde of Polish music, especially W. Lutosławski, through the use of ad libitum playing, chords with a specific multi-note structure, and the use of interval cells. The richness of sounds and non-traditional ways of producing sound are somewhat similar to sonorism; however, unlike the often brutalist aesthetics of this trend, Ptaszyńska’s combinations of consonances and instrumental colours, although sometimes surprising, are characterized by impressionistic subtlety and gentleness. The composer does not renounce melody and harmony, as the sonorists did. In terms of rhythm, she sometimes uses sharper contrasts, as well as polyrhythmic or polymetric effects (Concerto grosso). He often uses traditional forms: sonata-allegro, rondo, variations, fugue or passacaglia, adapting them to the original sound language.

Ptaszyńska’s sonic imagination is also evidenced by works written with children in mind, among which, apart from didactic works, the most outstanding is the opera Pan Marimba, which was performed in Warsaw for many seasons.

Literature: B. Smoleńska-Zielińska Natchnąć awangardę nowym duchem, interview with M. Ptaszyńska, “Ruch Muzyczny” 1986 No. 25; E. Cichoń, L. Polony Muzyka to język najdoskonalszy, Rozmowy z Martą Ptaszyńską, Kraków 2001; T. Marek Composers Workshop. Marta Ptaszynska’s “Siderals”, “Polish Music” 1975 No. 2; T.A. Zieliński Opowieść zimowa Marty Ptaszyńskiej, “Ruch Muzyczny” 1986 No. 10; B. Smoleńska-Zielińska Koncert na marimbę Marty Ptaszyńskiej, “Ruch Muzyczny” 1988 No. 12, English translation “Percussive Notes” XXIX/4, 1991; D. Szwarcman The Colorful World of Marta Ptaszynska, “Polish Music” 1988 No. 2/3; J. Rostworowska Marta Ptaszynska. Polish Composer, Los Angeles 1988; K. Kolberg Den Dype Estetiske Erfaring… Et Portrett av den komponisten Marta Ptaszynska, “Ballade” 1993 No. 3 (Oslo); D. Szwarcman Holocaust Memorial Cantata, “Ruch Muzyczny” 1993 No. 25; T.A. Zieliński Poezja brzmień i nastrojów, “Studio” 1994 No. 6; Z. Granat Marty Ptaszyńskiej portret w muzyce, “Polish Daily News”/”Nowy Dziennik” from 13 February 1997 (New York); M.A. Harley Percussion, Poetry, and Colour, “Musicworks” No. 74, 1999 (Toronto); M. Komorowska Marta Ptaszyńska i jej świat muzyki, “Ruch Muzyczny” 2000 No. 17.