Polish Music Since Szymanowski (review)

Adrian Thomas' newly published Polish Music Since Szymanowski offers a detailed and objective view of Polish music since the death of Karol Szymanowski in 1937 to the present day, including its interface with political and cultural turmoil. Thomas states that he does not attempt to be "comprehensive" (p. xvii). First and foremost it is a survey of post-Szymanowski Polish music. A comprehensive study would really be impossible and, for that matter, unnecessary or possibly even detrimental to the objectives of this publication. Many Polish composers are unknown outside of Poland while recordings of their works are all too often difficult to find or nonexistent. Hence, instead of making long work lists, Thomas focuses on his objective of presenting a clear picture of the influences that seem to have shaped Polish music of the past sixty years in the contexts of musicology and theory as viewed through a socio-political lens and his own vast experience with Polish music. I personally would have welcomed the work lists, but their absence does not diminish the value of the publication.

As only a few Polish composers have international reputations with Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849), Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860–1941), and Karol Szymanowski (1882–1937) being the most well-known names of the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries and Henryk Mikol-aj Górecki (b. 1933), Witold Lutosl-awski (1913–1994), Krzysztof Penderecki (b. 1933) being the three most well-known names in the second half of the twentieth century, it is inevitable that a survey of Polish music includes their names. The rest of the composers included in the book are those whose works make up Thomas' "personal 'canon' " (p. xvii) of compositions that have caught his ear over the last forty years or so, especially at the "Warsaw Autumn" Festival of Contemporary Music in Poland that Thomas began frequenting in the 1970s. He is currently director of the Central European Music Research Center (CEMRC) established in 2000 at Cardiff University (see www.cardiff.ac.uk/music/cemrc.html), a great addition to the already established Polish Music Center founded in 1985 by Wanda and Stefan Wilk at the University of Southern California (see http://www.usc.edu/dept/polish_music [both Web sites accessed 23 November 2005]).

Thomas writes critically from the objective viewpoint of a musicologist and music theorist who is thoroughly and purposefully interested in his subject. Let the reader be aware that this book assumes fluency in a good bit of technical music terminology. However, with the addition of a glossary, the general reader may find it more manageable and less intimidating. It would be an excellent text for a university survey course particularly if it were taught by Thomas.

As in his monograph on Górecki (Górecki [New York: Oxford University Press, 1997]), Thomas' love of Polish music is infectious and inspires the reader to run to the nearest computer, music store, or concert hall to hear what he or she has been missing. Alas, the disappointing reality is that only the big names in Polish music have recordings in the bins of major record stores and the inclusion of Polish music other than Chopin on concert programs is difficult to come by. Purchasing a copy of Górecki's Third Symphony is not a problem, nor a recording by Chopin, Lutosl-awski, Paderewski, Penderecki, or Szymanowski. However, it seems that Hanna Kulenty, Elz^·bieta Sikora, and other fine Polish composers who have not had the benefit of exposure through widely disseminated recordings will sadly remain enigmas for most listening audiences in the world (by contrast, Górecki's Third Symphony sold a million copies). A great supplement to this publication would be a recording of any of the ninety-one printed music examples it offers. It would reduce the necessity for the author to attempt to explain what the music sounds like to the reader. The foregoing...