composers (S)

composer, musicologist, playwright, graphic artist and teacher; b. 6th June 1929 in Lviv; d. 1st July 2019 in Salzburg. In 1946-49 he studied violin and music theory in Opole. In 1949-53 he studied composition with Artur Malawski at the State Higher School of Music in Krakow. In the same years he studied musicology under the supervision of Zdzisław Jachimecki at the Jagiellonian University, graduating with an extensive thesis on Witold Lutosławski. He completed his musical education in 1959 with Luigi Nono.

After graduating, he was involved not only in composition, but also musicology. In 1952-57 he worked in the music department of the Polish Radio in Krakow, in 1953 – in the PWM Edition, in 1957 – as deputy editor-in-chief of the “Ruch Muzyczny” magazine, in 1955-57 – as a lecturer at the Institute of Musicology of the Jagiellonian University. From 1957 he devoted himself mainly to composing. From 1963 to 1998 he taught composition at the Academy of Music in Krakow (in 1989 he received the title of professor). In 1965 he started collaborating with the Polish Radio Experimental Studio in Warsaw, where he created his electronic compositions. In 1967-73 he was the editor-in-chief of the “Forum Musicum” journal (16 published issues). In 1970 he received a PhD in philosophy at the University of Warsaw. In 1986-2002 he taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst 'Mozarteum' in Salzburg. He also taught courses in contemporary composition, including in Toruń, Warsaw, Krakow, Salzburg, Karlsruhe, Middelburg, York, Utrecht and Schwarz. He educated nearly 160 students of various nationalities.

In the years 1956-92 he wrote several books (including New music. Problems of contemporary composing technique, Classics of Dodecaphony, Introduction to composition, Lexicon of 20th-Century Composers, 20th-Century Composers), essays, articles on contemporary music, studies and works in the field of philosophy. He was also the author of three outlines of music history. In the 1960s and 1970s he created graphics, to various degrees related to music, which were exhibited in art galleries in Europe and the United States. From 1955, apart from composition and musicology, Schaeffer was also involved in playwriting. He wrote over 40 plays (and directed several of them), which were translated into 16 languages. In 1990 he founded his own publishing house in Salzburg – Collsch Edition.

He won numerous awards at composition competitions. His Monosonata for six string quartets (1959) and Quattro movimenti for piano and orchestra (1957) were awarded at the Grzegorz Fitelberg Competition in 1959, his Music ips for orchestra of low-pitched instruments (1962) and Four pieces for string trio (1962) a the Artur Malawski Competition in 1962, and his Little Symphony (Scultura) (1960) and Collage and Form for eight jazz musicians and orchestra (1963) at the Grzegorz Fitelberg Competition in 1964. He also received an award for his dramatic work at the Polish Contemporary Arts Festival in Wrocław in 1987.

From 1964 he was a member of the “Krakow Group” Artistic Association. From 2000 he was an honorary member of the Polish Society for Contemporary Music and from 2003 of the Polish Composers' Union. In 1999 the Jagiellonian University organised an International Scientific Symposium dedicated to Schaeffer’s compositional, dramatic and graphic work, accompanied by a monographic concert and staging of his theatre plays.

Bogusław Schaeffer received many awards and distinctions, including the Award of the Minister of Culture and Art (1971, 1972, 1980, 2001), Golden Cross of Merit (1973), Award of the Polish Composers' Union (1977), Award of the City of Krakow (1977), Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1986), Award of the Alfred Jurzykowski Foundation in New York (1999), the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture Gloria Artis (2006), Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2013), "Merited to Warsaw" distinction of the city of Warsaw (2013). He was posthumously awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2019).

The artist was buried at the Municipal Cemetery in Salzburg.

updated: 2020 (ac)

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