Tuchowski Andrzej, *3 March 1954 Szczecin, Polish musicologist and composer. In 1978, he graduated in music theory and in 1983 in composition under the supervision of R. Bukowski at the K. Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław. In 1981–82, he lived in England on a British Council scholarship, as part of which he attended a course in theatre and electronic music at Dartington Hall (with T. Souster and M. Finnisy) and completed postgraduate studies in musicology under the supervision of P. Evans at the University of Southampton. In 1988, he obtained a doctoral degree, and in 1997, he obtained his habilitation at the University of Warsaw. In 2018, he got the title of professor. Since 1977, he was employed at the Higher School of Pedagogy (since 2001 University of Zielona Góra) in Zielona Góra, since 1988 as an assistant professor, since 1998 as a professor; in 1999–2001, he was the Vice-Dean for Science and International Cooperation there, and from 2001 to 2008 – Dean of the Faculty of Arts. Since 1989, he also worked as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Composition, Music Theory, Conducting and Music Therapy at the Academy of Music in Wrocław. In 1983–94, he composed music for theatre plays, mainly by Tadeusz Różewicz in productions by Jan Różewicz; from 1984 to 1986, he was the music director at the L. Kruczkowski Theatre in Zielona Góra. Tuchowski won the 1st prize at the International Composition Competition in Castelfidardo, Italy, in 2000 for Te lucis ante terminum; he also received distinctions at the 27th Polish Composers’ Union Competition for Young Composers in 1984 for Sygnały for chamber ensemble and at the Andrzej Krzanowski National Composition Competition in Czechowice-Dziedzice in 1991 for Sonata for accordion.
In his theoretical works, Tuchowski focuses on issues related to the analysis of a musical work, semiotics, aesthetics and psychology of music, undertaken in relation to the work of 19th– and 20th-century composers. He considers the analysed musical phenomena in a broad cultural context in connection with ideological and political conditions and facts from the biographies of composers. Tuchowski has developed his own analytical concepts used to study the structural integration of a musical work, i.e. various phenomena of “unity in multiplicity” (in Chopin’s works), and stylistic changes in the compositional work, which he describes using models constructed based on the principle of the so-called “total movement” (in Lutosławski’s works). These concepts originate from neo-Schenkerian analytical methods and R. Reti’s “microanalysis.” Tuchowski adopts the theories of C.S. Peirce and S. Langer as the basis for his semiotic and musical research. In his aesthetic reflection, an important place is occupied by the issue of the synthesis of modernity with tradition in the work of Polish composers born in the 1950s, of which he is one. In his psychoanalytic interpretation of musical works (mainly Britten), he refers to the concept of H. Keller.
In his compositions, Tuchowski turns to Szymanowski and the Polish school of composition, represented by Lutosławski, Penderecki, Górecki and Krzanowski. He synthesises modern techniques with traditional elements, including combining aleatoric sections with fragments notated in bars, modal and major-minor structures with clusters saturated with chromaticism, and various types of textures. His works are characterised by thematic thinking, a wealth of sonoristic means and varied expressions. In terms of rhythmic and harmonic solutions, he sometimes draws patterns from jazz music. Tuchowski’s penchant for extra-musical inspirations is expressed in his references to the genre of the symphonic poem (in his early period of creativity) and the use of musical symbols that convey the content contained in the verbal text. The association with Britten’s aesthetic attitude, called by Tuchowski “pragmatic humanism”, is evoked by the universal in their message compositions Stabat Mater and Te lucis ante terminum, the religious message of which is given a deeply human dimension by the composer. Since the 1990s, Tuchowski has composed mainly pieces for the accordion.
Literature: A. Granat-Janki Twórczość kompozytorów wrocławskich w latach 1945–2000, Wrocław 2003.
Works:
Symbolika oper Benjamina Brittena, Zielona Góra 1990 (doctoral thesis)
Benjamin Britten. Twórca, dzieło, epoka, Kraków 1994
Integracja strukturalna w świetle przemian stylu Chopina, Kraków 1996 (postdoctoral dissertation)
Płodotwornoje wlijanije, “Sowietskaja Musyka” 1987 no. 1
Between Modernity and Tradition. The Tritone as a „diabolus in musica” in Britten’s Works, “Melos. En Musiktidskrift” no. 19/20, 1997
Rasistowskie podstawy narodowosocjalistycznej myśli o muzyce, “Muzyka” 1998 no. 1
In Search of the Characteristic Features of Benjamin Britten’s Vocal Style. The „Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac” Op. 51, in: Pieśń artystyczna narodów Europy/European Solo Song, «Muzyka i Liryka» book 8, ed. M. Tomaszewski, Kraków 1999
Chopin’s Integrative Technique and its Repercussions in 20th-Century Polish Music, “Polish Music Journal” II, 1999
W kręgu ballady romantycznej. „Świtezianka” Mickiewicza jako źródło inspiracji w twórczości Chopina i Moniuszki, in: Pieśń europejska między Romantyzmem a Modernizmem/The European Song between Romanticism and Modernism, «Muzyka i Liryka» book 9, ed. M. Tomaszewski, Kraków 2000
Semiotyczny kontekst motywu dzwonu w muzyce XX wieku w świetle teorii znaku C.S. Peirce’a i S. Langner, in: Muzyka w kontekście kultury, commemorative book of Mieczysław Tomaszewski, ed. M. Janicka-Słysz, T. Małecka and K. Szwajgier, Kraków 2001
The Integrative Role of Motion Patterns in Lutoslawski’s Mature Symphonic Works. A Comparison of „Livre pour orchestre” and the Symphony No 4, in: Lutosławski Studies, ed. Z. Skowron, Oxford 2001
„Pieśni miłosne Hafiza” op. 24 w kontekście przemian stylu Karola Szymanowskiego, in: Pieśń polska, rekonesans. Odrębności i pokrewieństwa, inspiracje i echa, «Muzyka i Liryka» book 10, ed. M. Tomaszewski, Kraków 2002
Karol Szymanowski’s „Songs of the Infatuated Muezzin”. Structure and Expression, in: The Songs of Karol Szymanowski and his Contemporaries, ed. Z. Helman, T. Chylińska, A. Wightman, Los Angeles 2002
Dzieło operowe w perspektywie psychoanalitycznej. Hans Keller a psychoanalityczna interpretacja oper Benjamina Brittena, in: Teorie opery, ed. M. Jabłoński, «Poznańskie Studia Operowe» vol. 4, Poznań 2004
Chopin’s Work in the Light of Post-Schenkerian Methods, in: Analytical Perspectives on the Music of Chopin, ed. A. Szklener, Warsaw 2004
„The Readerly” and „the Writerly”. The Ethical Context of the Art of Krzysztof Penderecki, in: Krzysztof Penderecki. Music in the Intertextual Era, ed. E. Siemdaj and M. Tomaszewski, Kraków 2005
Narodowy a uniwersalny wymiar muzyki w świetle refleksji estetycznej Ralpha Vaughana Williamsa i Karola Szymanowskiego, in: Karol Szymanowski w perspektywie kultury muzycznej przeszłości I wpółczesności, ed. Z. Skowron, Kraków 2007
Nacjonalizm, szowinizm, rasizm a europejska refleksja o muzyce I twórczość kompozytorska okresu międzywojennego, Wrocław 2015
Nationalism, Chauvinism and Racism as reflected in European Musical Thought and in Compositions from the Interwar Period, Berlin- New York 2019, extended ed.
numerous articles in “Ruch Muzyczny”
Compositions:
Odyseja, symphonic poem, 1983
String Quartet, 1983
Ballada for chamber ensemble, 1983
Sygnały for chamber ensemble, 1984
Stabat Mater for vocal quartet, strings and percussion, 1985
Znaki zodiaku for symphonic orchestra, 1987
Sonata for accordion, 1988
Jazz-Scherzo for violin, 1992
Elegia for string orchestra, 1993
Ballada I for accordion, 1998
Jazz-Toccata for accordion, 1999
Te lucis ante terminum for accordion, 2000
Perpetuum mobile for accordion, 2000
Akwarele for female choir, words by T. Miciński, 2001
Ballada II for accordion, 2001
Suita Americana for accordion, 2002
Sonata for accordion, 2003
Jazz Suita „Americana” for accordion, 2005
theatre music
