Bolesław Szabelski (3 December 1896 in Radoryż – 27 August 1979 in Katowice) was a Polish composer of modern classical music. While his style shifted and varied over the course of his life, he is best known for his atonal work composed during the 1950s and 1960s.
Szabelski studied at the Polish Musical Society School with Łysakowski in 1915."Szabelski, Bolesław". The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music, 1996 He attended the Warsaw Conservatory under Karol Szymanowski. Between 1929 and 1939, he taught organ and composition at the Conservatoire of Katowice.Thomas, Adrian. "Gorecki (Oxford Studies of Composers)", Clarendon Press, 24 April 1997.
Szabelski began working in the neoclassical and romanticism modes typical of the early 20th century. He adopted the serialist techniqueSteinberg, Michael. "The Symphony: A Listener's Guide". New York: Oxford University Press, 1998 p. 172 in the 1950s and was one of a number of Polish New Wave composers to embrace atonality.Fallas, John. Review: "Polish Music since Szymanowski" by Adrian Thomas. The Musical Times, Volume 147, No. 1894, Spring, 2006. 113-115 His early work had been characterised by monumental forms and fanfare motifsRappoport-Gelfand, 150 and Szabelski adapted to the new aesthetic while retaining his old signatures. As a result, he developed a style described as "strikingly innovative".
He composed five symphonies (1926, 1934, 1951, 1956 and 1968), as well as concertos, chamber and choral works. Szabelski was highly influential on the "New Polish School" composers of the early 1950s and had a formative influence on his student Henryk Mikołaj Górecki.
Works Selected works Year of completionCompositionInstrumentation 1926Symphony IOrchestra 1934Symphony IIOrchestra 1938ToccataOrchestra 1946SinfoniettaOrchestra, Percussion 1951Symphony IIIOrchestra 1956Symphony IVOrchestra 1962Aforyzmy "9"Nine instruments 1964KoncertOrchestra 1968Symphony VChoir, organ, and Orchestra 1976Mikołaj KopernikSolo Soprano, Choir, and Orchestra 1976Kantata Reduta Choir and Orchestra
Honours and awards 1959 - Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta 1961, 1967 - Award of the Association of Polish Composers 1972 - 1000 Anniversary Medal of the Polish State 1976 - Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta Order of the Banner of Work Class I and many state awards and prizes
References
Sources Rappoport-Gelfand, Lidia. Musical life in Poland: the postwar years, 1945-1977. &B Arts International, 1991.
External links
Brief overview