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Born in 1937 in £om¿a (Poland),
he first studied law at the Maria Curie-Sk³odowska University in Lublin
(1954–57). In 1958 he began studying composition at the State Higher
School of Music in Warsaw under Tadeusz Szeligowski. After his teacher's
death he continued his studies with Boles³aw Szabelski at the State
Higher School of Music in Katowice. He perfected his compositional skills
with Nadia Boulanger in Paris (1966–67) and at the Hochschule für Musik
in Graz (1972). In 1986 he stayed in Darmstadt thanks to a grant from the
Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (daad). In 1986 he held
a grant from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst.
He is a prizewinner of many competitions. He won an honourable mention
(1981) and an award (1995) at the unesco International Composers’
Rostrum in Paris. He also received state awards for outstanding artistic
achievements. His pieces have been performed in many European countries,
the United States, Australia and South America. He is a Professor of
Composition at the Music Academy in Bydgoszcz.
He lives in Vienna.
Selected works: Danton, opera after G. Büchner (1968–69), Parades 1970
for orchestra (1970), Ein Zimmer for chamber ensemble, after
F. Kafka (1972), Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra (1975), Violin
Concerto (1976), String Quartet Alpine (1976), The Valley of White Bones
for chamber ensemble (1977), Butterfly Cage for wind quintet (1978),
Nocturne in Blue for violin and chamber orchestra (1978), In the Small
Manor, opera after S. I. Witkiewicz (1979), It’s Still Night, It’s
Still Sound for mezzo-soprano and orchestra (1980), String Quartet No. 2
Spring (1980), A Bird from Dreams for accordion and percussion (1980),
Icarus for bass clarinet or alto saxophone and marimba or vibraphone
(1981), The Valley of Forgotten Memory for improvised piano and chamber
ensemble (1981), Epitaph for two violins (1982), Sonnenlieder for
mezzo-soprano, baritone, bass, choir and chamber ensemble (1983), Sunken
Flame for violin, cello and accordion (1985), String Quartet No. 3 Still
Life with
a Shout (1985–86), Labyrinth for cello and accordion (1987), No Man’s
Land, oratorio (1989), Cha-ord for orchestra (1990), Requiem for orchestra
(1991–92), Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra (1992), Trigonalia for
guitar, accordion, percussion and chamber orchestra (1994), Concertino for
piano and chamber orchestra (1995), Lost-Found for solo violin (1996), In
Search of a Lost Sound for solo flute (1996), Tango for chamber ensemble
(1997), Slapstick for chamber orchestra (1997), String Quartet No. 4 Time
in Flames (1998), String Quartet No. 5 Time that Has Passed (2001),
A Burning Crystal for harpsichord and tape (2002), Jeux ¹ trois for three
accordions (2003), A Letter to Milena for soprano, violin and piano
(2005).
It’s Still Night, It’s Still Sound is kind of a ballad for voice and
orchestra. It was written in 1980 as a commission from the ‘Steirischer
Herbst’ Festival of Contemporary Music in Graz, and premiered at that
event a year later by Pola Lipiñska and orf-Symphonieorchester Wien under
Leif Segerstam.
Scored in a single movement, the work is based on an abstract text
consisting of single syllables and their combinations, neologisms and
so-called vocalise. Only two words can be identified: ‘Liebe’ (love)
in the middle of the piece and ‘chanter’ (to sing) towards the end.
The construction of the work is based on segments and is therefore easily
accessible to listeners.
Zbigniew Bargielski
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