Turski, Zbigniew (EN)

Turski Zbigniew, *16 October 1908 Warsaw (not 21 July 1908 Konstancin), †7 January 1979 Otwock, Polish composer and conductor. He studied composition with P. Rytel (diploma 1937) and conducting with W. Bierdiajew at the State Conservatory of Music in Warsaw. He was music director of the Polish Radio in Warsaw in 1936–39. During the German occupation, he lived in Warsaw. He was artistic director and conductor of the Baltic Philharmonic in Gdańsk from 1945 to 1946; he lectured at the PWST in Warsaw in 1948–49, he was president of the Polish Composers’ Union in 1959–60, and music director of the Contemporary Theatre in Warsaw in 1957–73, with which he collaborated until the end of his life as the author of music for theatre performances. In 1948, he received a gold medal at the Olympic Art and Literature Competition on the occasion of the Summer Olympic Games in London for the “Olympic” Symphony; he got the MKiS award and the award of the 2^nd Polish Music Festival in 1955, the ZKP award “for the entire outstanding compositional activity” in 1957, the Prime Minister’s award for works for children and youth in 1960, the state award, 2^nd degree for compositional work in 1968, especially in the field of theatre, radio and film music. Most of Turski’s pre-war compositions were burned during the Warsaw Uprising.

Turski’s compositional path in the post-war period was mainly determined by external circumstances. The breakthrough moment was the conference of composers and musicologists in Łagów Lubuski (5–8 August 1949), where one of the best Polish works of the first post-war years, and certainly the best in the composer’s oeuvre – the “Olympic” Symphony – was described as a work “definitely inconsistent in its content with the spirit of our era” (W. Sokorski, “Ruch Muzyczny” 1949 No. 14), “a glaring example of formalism” (A. Klon, ibid.), and the third movement of the Symphony as “emotionally repulsive” (W. Rudziński, ibid.). Symphony stems from the post-Romantic tradition, but its unconventional and rich musical content, complicated network of motivic references, interesting colour scheme (Larghetto), atonal melody and harmony completely devoid of functional connections indicate both the “influence of impressionism or the Rimsky-Korsakov school” (Z. Turski, ibid.), as well as inspirations from the expressionist-dodecaphonic school. Violin Concerto No. 1 stems from similar traditions, revealing Szymanowski’s influence. The expression of regression is, on the other hand, the Little Overture from 1955, in which the Rzeszów folk melodies lost their original colour in the clichéd instruments, and Symphony No. 3, referring to the style of Soviet symphony. The composer did not, however, abandon his search for new means, approaching sonorism (Tytania i osioł) in its developed form (using clusters and sound mobiles as well as pointillist structures) in the 1960s. The composer compensated for the trauma caused by the criticism of Symphony No. 2 with his rich output in the field of film, theatre, radio and popular music.

Literature: B. Frydrychowicz Sinfonia da camera Z. Turskiego, Allegro de Voiron M. Spisaka, “Ruch Muzyczny” 1961 No. 21; K. Baculewski Polska twórczość kompozytorska 1945–84, Kraków 1987; J. Cegiełła Zbigniew Turski, interview with Turski in: Szkice do autoportretu polskiej muzyki współczesnej, Kraków 1976; T. Marek Composer’s Workshop. Zbigniew Turski, “Polish Music” 1967 No. 3; J. Jarzynówna-Sobczak, B. Kanold Rozmowy o tańcu, Gdańsk 2003.