Krzysztof Meyer (born 11 August 1943) is a Polish composer, pianist, and music scholar, formerly dean of the Department of Music Theory (1972–1975) at the State College of Music (now Academy of Music in Kraków), and president of the Union of Polish Composers (1985–1989). Meyer was professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne from 1987 to 2008, before his retirement.[1]
Meyer was born in Kraków, Poland. As a boy he played piano and organ, and he began his composition study early – in 1954, with Stanisław Wiechowicz. Then, at the State College of Music in Kraków, he continued studying with Wiechowicz, and after the latter's death in 1963, did his diploma with Krzysztof Penderecki (1965). He also studied music theory (diploma in 1966). In Paris, he took courses with Nadia Boulanger (1964, 1966 and 1968) and, in Warsaw, he became a private pupil of Witold Lutosławski.[1]
His Symphony No. 1 was his first work to be performed, in Kraków in 1964. In 1965, while still a student, he made his debut at the "Warsaw Autumn", as the youngest composer in the festival's history (String Quartet No. 1). He was fascinated with the avant-garde, not only as a composer: from 1965 to 1967, as a member of MW2 Ensemble, he performed experimental pieces, typical for the 1960s, in Poland and in some West European countries. Later, he continued to be active as a pianist, performing mostly his own works, or playing chamber music.[1]
From 1966 to 1987, Meyer taught theory at the State College of Music (now Academy of Music in Kraków), holding the chairmanship of the Department of Music Theory from 1972 to 1975. From 1987 to 2008, he was professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne.[2]
From 1985 and 1989, he was the president of the Union of Polish Composers. For 14 years (1974–1988), he took part in the work of the Repertory Committee of the "Warsaw Autumn" International Festival of Contemporary Music. He is a Fellow of Collegium Invisibile.[3]
In his early compositions (String Quartets Nos. 1–4, Symphonies Nos. 1–3), Meyer experimented with unconventional sonorities, typical of the Polish avant-garde music in the 1960s. He used twelve-tone technique, albeit freely, as well as aleatoric technique and collage. All of these appear in his first opera, Cyberiada, to a science-fiction libretto after Stanisław Lem's The Cyberiad.[1]
In later works, Meyer gradually limited the multitude of sonic ideas. He increasingly focussed on the drama and expression as understood in a traditional way although avoiding romantic effects. The style of Meyer's later works reflects his interest in tradition; even his use of titles such as "string quartet", "sonata", "concerto", "symphony" are indicators of the traditional trend in his aesthetic. "There are contemporary textures and timbres, but they are usually incidental to a language in which tonal pulls and familiar signposts govern the overall flow and structure."[4]
Chamber music occupies a privileged place in his output. "What is attractive to him in such pieces is the fact that they are perfect to create 'sonic puzzles', referring to the 'hidden arithmetic exercise of the soul, which does not know that it is counting', as Leibnitz described the essence of music. Examples of these are the variation of the tempi in String Quartet No. 11 or the changes of rhythm in String Quartet No. 10. Some pieces for large ensembles can be listened to as a musical commentary to a political event or existential reflection. These topics are hinted at by the subtitles and quotations ('Polish' Symphony No. 6, referring to the atmosphere of martial law in Poland from 1981 to 1983) or the use of the text (Symphony No. 8, with the lyrics of the anti-antisemitic poems by Adam Zagajewski). The catastrophic message of the oratorio The Creation of the World is told through the text but its expression is achieved through the music."[5]
No. 1, Op. 12 (1965) (R. Lasocki, WOSPRiT, K. Stryja, Olympia OCD 323)
No. 2, Op. 87 (1996) (M. Rezler, NOSPR, G. Chmura, DUX 0594)
2 Cello concertos
No. 1, Op. 28 (1972)(withdrawn)
No. 2, Op. 85 (1995)(B. Pergamenschikov, NOSPR, A. Wit, DUX 0594)
Concerto da camera for oboe, percussion and strings, Op. 29 (1972)
Concerto for trumpet and orchestra, Op. 35 (1973)
Concerto for piano, Op. 46 (1989) (Pavel Gililov, WOSPRiT, Antoni Wit, Koch Schwann 3-1573-2)
Canti Amadei per violoncello ed orchestra, Op. 63 (1984) (I. Monighetti, Capella Cracoviensis, S. Gałoński, ISPV 179 CD)
Concerto da camera for harp, cello and string orchestra, Op. 64 (1984) (B. Trendowicz, K. Jaroszewska, Chamber Orchestra Amadeus, A. Duczmal; PR CD 085-2)
Caro Luigi per 4 violoncelli ed orchestra d'archi, Op. 73 (1989)
Concerto for alto saxophone and string orchestra, Op. 79 (1992) (John-Edward Kelly NEOS )
Concerto for clarinet and orchestra, Op. 96 (2001) (E. Brunner, NOSPR, G. Chmura, DUX 0594)
Double concerto for violin, violoncello and orchestra, Op. 105 (2006) (M. Rezler, Julius Berger, Ł. Borowicz, NOSPR; DUX 0695)
Concerto for (acoustic) guitar, timpani and string orchestra, Op. 115 (2011)
Krzysztof Meyer, Schostakowitsch – Sein Leben, sein Werk, seine Zeit, Bergisch Gladbach 1995; also: Paris 1994, Amsterdam 1996, Madrid 1997, St Petersburg 1998, Warsaw 1999, Moscow 2006, Mainz 2008. [Orig. in Polish 1973.]
Krzysztof Meyer, Dmitri Schostakowitch. Erfahrungen, Leipzig 1983
Krzysztof Meyer, Prokofjew und Schostakowitsch, in: Bericht über das internationale Symposion "Sergej Prokofjew – Aspekte seines Werkes und der Biographie", Regensburg 1993, pp. 111–133
Krzysztof Meyer, Analyse musikalischer Form in psychologischer Hinsicht, in: Musikpädagogik als Aufgabe, Kassel 2003
and numerous articles published in Poland and abroad.
^"Raport Roczny 2007/2008" [Annual Report 2007/2008] (PDF) (in Polish). Collegium Invisibile]. 2007. p. 6. Archived from the original(PDF) on 23 March 2012.
^Adrian Thomas (2005). 'Polish Music Since Szymanowski. Cambridge University Press. p. 212.
