Andrzej Kurylewicz
Quick Facts
Born: 24 November 1932, Lwów, Poland — now Lviv, Ukraine
Died: 13 April 2007, Konstancin, Poland
Life and Musical Career
Andrzej Kurylewicz was a Polish composer, pianist, trumpeter, trombonist and conductor. He was one of the pioneers of Polish jazz and an important composer of classical, film, television and theatre music. His work frequently brought together jazz improvisation, contemporary classical techniques and strong melodic expression.
Kurylewicz began piano lessons at the age of six in Lwów. After the Second World War, he continued his education in Gliwice and Kraków. From 1950 to 1954, he studied piano with Henryk Sztompka and composition with Stanisław Wiechowicz at the State Higher School of Music in Kraków. He was expelled from the institution for performing jazz, which was discouraged and restricted by Poland’s communist authorities at the time.
Despite this setback, Kurylewicz became a central figure in the development of Polish jazz. In the 1950s, he founded an ensemble that developed into the Polish Radio Organ Sextet in Kraków. From 1964 to 1966, he directed the Polish Radio and Television Orchestra in Warsaw. Later, between 1969 and 1978, he led the Contemporary Music Formation, an ensemble exploring connections between modern jazz and the European avant-garde.
Kurylewicz also achieved widespread recognition as a composer for film and television. His music for the television series Polskie Drogi received an award at the Festival of Polish Television Art in 1978, while his score for Lekcja martwego języka received an award at the Polish Film Festival in 1979. From around 1980, he increasingly concentrated on classical composition, including orchestral, chamber, sacred and vocal music.
Three of his most important compositions are:
Concerto on Themes by Jarzębski, Op. 1 (1965/66) – an early work for trombone and jazz orchestra that demonstrates Kurylewicz’s distinctive combination of historical inspiration and jazz language.
Music for Polskie Drogi (1976–1978) – one of his best-known scores, particularly recognised for its memorable main theme.
String Quartet No. 1 (1980) – an important chamber composition performed at the Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music in 1981.
Sources:
Polish Music Information Centre — Andrzej Kurylewicz: Biography and Compositions.
Culture.pl, Adam Mickiewicz Institute — Andrzej Kurylewicz: Biography and Major Works.
Polish Radio — recordings and information on Kurylewicz’s music for Polskie Drogi.
