From Poland with Music

• First comprehensive treatment of the subject of Polish composers (in all musical genres) abroad
• Published in celebration of Poland’s centenary as a modern nation
• Emigration is central to Poland’s cultural identity – in Europe only Ireland bears comparison
• Lively, accessible collection of general essays and composer biographies which can be dipped into or read sequentially
• Specially commissioned line drawings (composer portraits and conceptual images) made by original and talented graphic designer Max Skorwider offer a fresh and attractive approach to illustrating a book on this subject
• Also available as an e-book

From Poland with Music: 100 Years of Polish Composers Abroad (1918–2018) is the first comprehensive treatment of the theme of emigration among Polish composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. The book focuses on classical composers (e.g. Paderewski, Weinberg, Panufnik), but extends to important figures from the worlds of jazz and film music (Komeda, Makowicz, Kaczmarek, Korzeniowski).

The first part of the book contains a series of essays on overarching themes related to the Polish musical diaspora, while the second part comprises an engaging collection of interviews with experts concerning the life and legacy of selected composers, with revealing insights into the artists’ personalities and entertaining anecdotes from their lives. Ignacy Jan Paderewski was not only an outstanding pianist and composer, but also the prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of free Poland in 1919. Bronisław Kaper was the first Polish composer to win an Oscar in 1954 for Lili, and Henryk Wars scored 60 projects for Columbia, Universal, Twentieth Century Fox, MGM, United Artists and Paramount.

From Poland with Music recalls all of these stories, revealing just how impactful Polish composers have been on the international music scene in the last 100 years.

Dr Marlena Wieczorek is a musicologist, cultural manager, and the president of the MEAKULTURA Foundation which is responsible for this project. She is a two-time holder of the MKiDN (Ministry of Culture and National Heritage) scholarship. Marlena devised the concept for this book.