Krzysztof Meyer

Born in 1943 in Kraków, he studied composition at the city1s State Higher School of Music, initially with Stanis1aw Wiechowicz and, after Wiechowicz1s death, with Krzysztof Penderecki. He also studied composition and piano with Nadia Boulanger in France (1964, 1966 and 1968). In 1966­68 he appeared as a pianist with the contemporary music group mw2.
After graduation he took up teaching. From 1966 to 1987 he taught at the Music Academy in Kraków, serving as its Deputy Rector (1972­75) and Head of the Department of Music Theory (1975­87). Since 1987 he has been a professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. He has also lectured on contemporary music in many countries.
He is the author of the first Polish monograph on Shostakovich (its new, enlarged edition, published in 1999, has been translated into several languages, including Russian).
In 1985­89 he served as President of the Main Board of the Polish Composers1 Union. He is a member of Akademie der Künste in Mannheim. In 1991­92 he was composer-in-residence with the Cologne Philharmonic Orchestra and in 1996 at the Seattle Festival.
Krzysztof Meyer is a winner of numerous awards and distinctions, including the Gottfried-von-Herder-Preis (1984), the annual Award of the Polish Composers1 Union (1992), the Alfred Jurzykowski Award (New York, 1993) and the Johann-Stamitz-Preis (Mannheim, 1996).

Selected works (since 1980): String Quartets Nos. 6­11 (1981, 1985, 1985, 1989, 1994, 2001), Symphony No. 6 (1982), Flute Concerto No. 2 (1983), Violin Concerto No. 2 (1996), Cello Concertos Nos. 2 and 3 (1984, 1995), The Gamblers, a completion of Shostakovich1s opera after Gogol (1981), Piano Trio (1981), Canzona for cello and piano (1981), Hommage a Johannes Brahms for orchestra (1982), Sonata for Cello and Piano (1983), Concerto for Harp and Cello (1984), Clarinet Quintet (1986), Musica incrostata for orchestra (1988), Vielitchalnaya for a cappella choir (1988), Maple Brothers, opera for children after B. Szwarc (1989), Piano Concerto (1989), Piano Quintet (1991), Concerto for Saxophone (1992), String Trio (1993), Misterioso for violin and piano (1994), Mass for mixed choir and orchestra (1996), Farewell Music for orchestra (1997), Clarinet Trio (1998), The Creation, oratorio (1999), Capriccio interrotto for violin and piano (2000), Impromptu multicolore for two pianos (2000), Cinque colori for flute, violin, cello, percussion and piano (2001), Clarinet Concerto (2001), Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano (2002), Symphony for the Passing of Time (2002­03).

Farewell Music, written in 1997, is dedicated to the memory of Witold Lutos1awski. It is neither programmatic nor funeral music. It does not contain any quotations or allusions to the pieces by the composer of Funeral Music. It is a work written in my own idiom and a continuation of my own explorations in harmony and instrumental colours carried over the last fifteen years or so. It is a musical tribute to a man in whom I had both a Great Friend and a Great Mentor.
Farewell Music had its first performance in Warsaw on 20 February 1998. The Warsaw Philharmonic ­ National Orchestra of Poland was conducted by Philippe Entremont.
Krzysztof Meyer