Dr. Marietta Morawska-Büngeler’s book “Dusza dźwięków. Rozmowy z polskimi kompozytorami” (The Soul of Sound. Conversations with Polish Composers), which spans over 1000 pages, contains in-depth interviews with fifteen composers who occupy important positions on the Polish music scene. It also includes documentation of their work, photographs, excerpts from scores and manuscripts. An exceptional feature of Morawska-Büngeler’s work is the "self-portrait" nature of this group of composers. The materials were gathered by the author from the 1990s to 2011, but for reasons beyond her control, the book was published in 2024.
With support from the Polish Composers' Union and the Polish Music Information Centre (POLMIC), the book has been made available on the website:
https://duszadzwiekow.polmic.pl/
Marietta Morawska presents a large group of composers of similar age: Rafał Augustyn, Krzysztof Baculewski, Marek Chołoniewski, Szabolcs Esztényi, Eugeniusz Knapik, Krzysztof Knittel, Jerzy Kornowicz, Stanisław Krupowicz, Andrzej Krzanowski, Hanna Kulenty, Aleksander Lasoń, Piotr Moss, Elżbieta Sikora, Tadeusz Wielecki, and Lidia Zielińska. Morawska’s long and close acquaintance with the composers enriches the overall portrait of the generation with many important details.
The “Dusza dźwięków” project, including the free availability of Marietta Morawska-Büngeler's book on the website of the non-commercial publishing house ZKP/POLMIC, along with the supplementary activities of the "Musica et ars moderna" Foundation in promoting Polish contemporary music, represents a broadly defined pro bono effort for Polish society.
The Polish Composers’ Union / Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC thanks Marietta Morawska-Büngeler for the free donation of her book, which she prepared at her own expense as a website, for publication on our portal. We appreciate the author's many years of work on the book and its publication, as well as her personal financial contribution to conducting research, conducting interviews with composers, editorial work, and promotional activities. We also join in expressing gratitude to all the sponsors, patrons, and benefactors of the publication, as well as to all those who had their own, larger or smaller, but always very important contribution to the creation of this important book for Polish culture. The “Dusza dźwięków” project was supported by the composer protagonists of the book, photographers who provided their photographs without fees, music publishers who donated sheet music samples, sponsors, patrons, consultants, and many institutions and individuals from Poland and abroad, making it possible for the book to be published in such a rich form.
A presentation of the "Soul of Sounds" project, featuring the author and the protagonists of her book, took place on September 27, 2024, at the Warsaw headquarters of the Polish Composers' Union, as part of the 67th International Contemporary Music Festival "Warsaw Autumn" and the "Meetings with Composers" series.
Photo report: https://polmic.pl/en/our-projects/fotorelacja-prezentacji-projektu-dusza-dzwiekow-en
