Bacewicz, Grażyna 1909 - 1969
Author: PWM Edition
Last updated：September 20, 2022
Author: PWM Edition
Grażyna Bacewicz
(1909 Łódź [Poland] – 1969 Warsaw [Poland])
Grażyna Bacewicz was a Polish violinist and composer. She was born in 1909 to a Polish-Lithuanian couple. While she identified herself as Polish, one of her brothers, Vytautas, adopted their father's original surname, Bacewiczius, and identified as Lithuanian. From a very young age, she received musical education from her father, Vincas, learning piano and violin. Subsequently, she studied with Helena Kijeńska-Dobkiewiczowa at the Łódź Conservatory, and at the National Conservatory in Warsaw, she studied composition with Kazimierz Sikorski, violin with Józef Jarzębski, and piano with Józef Turczyński.
In 1932, Grażyna Bacewicz graduated from the Conservatory with degrees in violin and composition. In the same year, she went to Paris to study composition with Nadia Boulanger at the École Normale de Musique. Her studies in Paris were made possible by a scholarship funded by Ignacy Jan Paderewski. In 1934, she returned to Paris to study violin with Carl Flesch.
Grażyna Bacewicz's first major artistic success was her excellent performance at the 1st Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition held in Warsaw. From 1936 to 1938, she worked as the first violinist of the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Before the outbreak of World War II, she undertook many concert tours with her brother, pianist Kiejstut Bacewicz. After the war, she limited her concert activities and focused on composition and teaching.
Grażyna Bacewicz became one of the most outstanding female composers not only in Poland but worldwide. She remained an active composer until shortly before her death in 1969, served as a juror in many competitions, and taught at various educational institutions. Throughout her life, she published numerous works, including seven violin concertos, as well as piano pieces, chamber music, orchestral works, and pieces combining vocal and instrumental elements. Her style is primarily neoclassical, but she often employed avant-garde techniques and drew inspiration from Polish folklore. Among her diverse creative output, many works won awards in composition competitions.
Author : Saitoh, Noriko
Last Updated: August 1, 2008
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Author : Saitoh, Noriko
Grażyna Bacewicz was a Polish composer who also worked as a violinist. She composed works for orchestra and for violin and piano. The techniques employed in her Piano Quintet No. 2 (1965), which incorporated avant-garde virtuosity, garnered attention not only within Poland but also internationally. Bacewicz's style, developed through studies in Poland and Paris, is characterized by its utilization of virtuosic effects for string instruments within a neoclassical framework.
Works(21)
Piano Solo (11)
sonata (4)
Various works (5)