Composer in Focus: Grażyna Bacewicz (1909-1969)

Apr 22

Written By Forgotten Female* Composers e.V. .

Grażyna Bacewicz was a multi-talented individual - not only a composer, she was also a writer, an acclaimed violinist and concertmaster, as well as teacher. Despite being highly celebrated during her lifetime in her native Poland and across Europe, her music was largely forgotten after her death, and is only recently being rediscovered.

The richness and vastness of creativity achieved in such a short life never ceases to amaze me. There is no aspect in music that has not been enriched by her decisive, swift, courageous and experienced pen. Like the maestros of the past, Bacewicz was equally at home when creating a monumental cycle of symphonies, miniatures for instruments, chamber music, or music for the stage. The craft of music-making held no secrets for her. An inexhaustible source of inventiveness, technical virtuosity, and a wide breadth of approach suffice for placing the works of her life among those that are most admired. But that is not all. She has been given something more important, more precious found only among the few, a gift of being different and unique.
Ruch Muzyczny No. 7 (1969), p. 6.

These words are by fellow composer Tadeusz Baird after Grażyna Bacewicz’s passing in 1969, at the age of 60 - words that resonated not only with her friends and colleagues, but also with her admiring public.

Her work as a composer was remarkable and varied, leaving an opus of over 200 works, including 4 symphonies, 7 violin concertos, 1 viola concerto, 2 cello concertos, 1 piano concerto and 1 concerto for 2 pianos, alongside a substantial corpus of chamber music, including 5 violin sonatas, 7 string quartets, 2 piano quintets and songs, and solo instrument works.

Growing up in a musical family, she was encouraged to study music from a very early age. Her father was her first teacher: her preferred instrument was violin, though she also studied piano. She would play chamber music at home with her two older brothers, and her first composition was Preludes for piano, which she wrote at the age of 13.

A strong and curious soul, Grażyna Bacewicz was described by her friends and acquaintances as having exceptional inner strength as well as a wide range of interests, driven by a need to continuously expand her horizons. In her twenties, while studying violin and piano at the Conservatory of Warsaw, she also studied philosophy for a year and a half at the University of Warsaw.

From 1932 to 1933 Grażyna Bacewicz attended composition lessons at the École Normale de Musique in Paris. The class was taught by none other than the legendary teacher Nadia Boulanger, who shaped a whole generation of composers of the 20th century, such as Aaron Copland, Philipp Glass, Astor Piazzolla and Quincy Jones.

Nadia Boulanger encouraged her students to explore their individuality and allegedly said: “ I would rather you make mistakes and remain natural and free than start trying to pretend to be something you are not.” Later on, Grażyna Bacewicz became an influential teacher herself. In 1967, she was appointed professor of composition at the Academy of Music in Warsaw.

As well as working as a composer, Grażyna Bacewicz was an acclaimed concert violinist. She worked assiduously, both composing a substantial number of new works and performing and touring as a soloist and with orchestras. Her work as a performer allowed her to premier a number of her works herself, often alongside her brother Kiejstut at the piano, as well as with orchestras. For example, she premiered her own Violin Concerto No.1 (I. - II. - III.) with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, with whom she was concertmaster for 2 years.

Her own testimony about how she worked:

I think to compose one has to work very intensely. One has to pause between composing different works, but interruptions shouldn’t be made when you are in the middle of running a piece. I’m capable of working on one composition for many hours daily. Usually I take a break in the middle of the day, but even during the break my brain keeps on working. I like to get very, very tired. It’s sometimes then that I suddenly get my best ideas.
(Stefan Kisielewski, “An interview with Grażyna Bacewicz,” in Z muzycznej międzyepoki [Between Musical Eras]. (Cracow: Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne, 1965), p. 207).

Grażyna Bacewicz in Warsaw, 1960s

During World War II, the Polish composer remained in her native country, first in Warsaw until it was destroyed, and then in Lublin. The goal of German occupation of Poland was not only territorial control, but also, above all, complete cultural erasure: many members of Poland’s intellectual and artistic elite were murdered; artworks and historical artefacts were stolen or destroyed; schools, theaters and museums were shut down; public musical life was scarce and always censored and scrutinized by the apparatus of the Nazi propaganda which essentially considered all Polish music to be inferior and worthless.

Amidst all of this, Polish music and culture survived within the underground movement, and Grażyna Bacewicz’s music became an integral part of what could be called “the soundtrack of resistance”. Throughout the war, she performed in secret concerts and composed intensely, including the String Quartet No.2 I. - II. - III. (1942), premiered in May 1943 at a secret concert in an underground café Art Salon in Warsaw; the Sonata for Solo Violin I. - II. - III. - IV. (1941), the Three Preludes for piano (1942), the Suite for two violins (1943), the Ouverture for orchestra (1943) and the Symphony No.1 I. - II. - III. (1945), finalized at the end of the war. Not much more is known about the years of the war.

After World War II, Poland was under Soviet domination and became a communist satellite state. Culture was subject to censorship: it had to align with Soviet ideals, and the influence of Western avant-garde and so-called “decadent” music was limited as much as possible. Grażyna Bacewicz managed to survive with integrity the challenging era, finding morally acceptable compromises through the use of folklore material. Only in 1956, with the Polish Thaw, were Polish composers able to break away from the shackles of Stalinian Social Realism, and embrace experimentation. Grażyna Bacewicz was among those who did so, while still caring deeply about creating works with a strong sense of form and structure. In her own words:

The diversification of today’s music and the tempo of its growth is inspiring. This is not only experimentation or an endeavor to find new forms as some are saying. In contemporary music there are some genuine and great composers. The so-called avant-gardists, no doubt, influence mainstream composers who find it attractive. At times, a more traditional composer crosses over to the avant-garde. I disagree with those who maintain that once a composer develops their own style, they should stick to it. I find such an opinion totally alien; it impedes further development and growth. Every composition completed today, will belong to the past tomorrow. A progressive composer should not repeat herself. A composer should not only deepen their creation and improve upon it, but should also expand its scope. I believe that in my music, even though I do not consider myself an innovator, a certain trend of progression is discernible.
Wanda Bacewicz, “Desire: A Ballet by Grażyna Bacewicz,” Polish Music No. 2 (1973), pp. 11-12.

In 1954, Bacewicz was involved in a serious car crash which gave her broken ribs, a broken pelvis and injuries to her head and face. Even when still in the hospital ward, fighting for her life, she would joke and refuse to discuss the accident or the seriousness of her condition, showing once again her immense strength. After a very long hospitalization, she was finally released and immediately resumed her composing. Within a year, she had written a Partita in two versions - one for orchestra and one for violin and piano - as well as written novels and short stories.

After her death, her youngest sister Wanda, a well-known poet and writer, took it upon herself to preserve Grażyna’s music and legacy.

If you are curious to hear Grażyna herself perform her own works, there are some great videos on YouTube:

Listening recommendations:

Quintet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon and Horn (1932)
- I. - II. - III. - IV.
Mow do mnie, o mily [Speak to Me, My Dear] (1936)
Violin Concerto n.1 (1937)
- I. - II. - III.
String Quartet n.2 (1942)
- I. - II. - III.
Ouverture for Orchestra (1943)
Concerto for String Orchestra (1948)
- I. - II. - III.
Cello Concerto n.1 (1951)
- I. - II. - III.
Symphony n. 3 (1952) & n.4 (1953)
Ten Concert Etudes for Piano (1956)
- 1. - 2. - 3. - 4. - 5. - 6. - 7. - 8. - 9. - 10.
Sonata n.2 for Violin (1958)
- I. - II. - III.
Piano Quintet n.2 (1965)
- I. - II. - III.
Concerto for Two Pianos (1966)
- I. - II. - III.