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Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1969) was a composer with an individual, expressive style. She was also an excellent violinist, a very fine pianist, and a talented author. She studied composition at the Conservatory in Warsaw with Kazimierz Sikorski, violin with Jozef Jarzebski and piano with Jozef Turczynski. Graduating in 1932, she travelled to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger, later returning there to work with Carl Flesch. Her compositional output covered many genres, from ballets to songs and choral works, but also ranging from symphonies, concerti, and chamber works to pieces for solo piano. In 1936 she became principal violinist in the Polish Radio Orchestra. She then toured Europe as a soloist in the two years leading up to World War II, later resuming her career as a concert violinist and pianist after the war. For many years, Grazyna Bacewicz held the post of Vice-President of the Union of Polish Composers. She also served as a judge in many prestigious international music competitions. Strong and sensitive, and exceptionally family oriented, Grazyna Bacewicz was also blessed with unusual charm, phenomenal energy and huge creative potential. Grazyna Bacewicz became world famous and won numerous prizes for her compositions, which were regularly performed by the best musicians, and picked up for publication. She received enthusiastic reviews from music critics, among them Stefan Kisielewski, who noted the 'passionate ferocity' of her playing and described her concerto for string orchestra as 'a rare piece of healthy and tasty music'. This biographical story, based on letters and other family documents, has been brought to us first hand by the composer's grand-daughter, the writer Joanna Sendlak.

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9781800505049

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Joanna Sendłak is the author of a number of novels, most recently The Dreamer of 76th Street (Nowy Świat, 2016), With Fire: Grażyna Bacewicz in Love on the Eve of War (Skarpa Warszawska, 2018) and Symphony of Stars (Skarpa Warszawska, 2019). Two volumes of her short stories were published by Fundacja Światło Literatury in 2019: Atotsi and Labirynt. Halina Maria Boniszewska was born in the UK to Polish parents. She studied at the universities of London, Oxford and Warwick, as well as the Intermediate Department at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She translated (from Polish into English) Komeda: A Private Life in Jazz by Magdalena Grzebałkowska (Equinox, 2020), and Desperado: An Autobiography by Tomasz Stańko as told to Rafał Księżyk (Equinox, 2022).

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