Krzysztof Meyer


Krzysztof Meyer is a Polish composer, pianist and music scholar, formerly Dean of the Department of Music Theory at the State College of Music, and president of the Union of Polish Composers. Meyer served as professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne from 1987 to 2008, prior to his retirement.

Biography

Meyer was born in Kraków, Poland. As a boy he played piano and organ, and began his composition study early – in 1954, with Stanisław Wiechowicz. Then, at the State College of Music in Kraków he continued studying with Wiechowicz, and after his death in 1963, did his diploma with Krzysztof Penderecki. He also studied music theory. In Paris, he took courses with Nadia Boulanger, and in Warsaw he became a private pupil of Witold Lutosławski.
His Symphony No. 1 was his first work to be performed, in Kraków in 1964. In 1965, while still a student, he made his debut at the "Warsaw Autumn", as the youngest composer in the festival's history. He was fascinated with avant-garde not only as a composer: from 1965 to 1967, as a member of "MW2 Ensemble", he performed experimental pieces, typical for the sixties, in Poland and in some West European countries. Later he continued to be active as a pianist, performing mostly his own works, or playing chamber music.
From 1966 to 1987 Meyer taught theory at the State College of Music, holding the chairmanship of the Department of Music Theory from 1972 to 1975. From 1987 to 2008 he was professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. He has written biographies of Dmitri Shostakovich and Witold Lutosławski.
From 1985 and 1989 he was the president of the Union of Polish Composers. For fourteen years he took part in the work of the Repertory Committee of the "Warsaw Autumn" International Festival of Contemporary Music. Fellow of Collegium Invisibile.

Music

In his early compositions, Meyer experimented with unconventional sonorities, typical of the Polish avant-garde music in the 1960s. He used twelve-tone technique, albeit freely, as well as aleatoric technique and collage. All these means appear in his first opera Cyberiada, to a science-fiction libretto after Stanisław Lem's The Cyberiad.
In later works, Meyer gradually limited the multitude of sonic ideas. He increasingly focussed on the drama and expression as understood in a traditional way although avoiding romantic effects. The style of Meyer's later works reflects his interest in tradition; even his use of titles such as "string quartet", "sonata", "concerto", "symphony" are indicators of the traditional trend in his aesthetic. "There are contemporary textures and timbres, but they are usually incidental to a language in which tonal pulls and familiar signposts govern the overall flow and structure"
Chamber music occupies a privileged place in his output. "What is attractive to him in such pieces is the fact that they are perfect to create ‘sonic puzzles՚, referring to the ʻhidden arithmetic exercise of the soul, which does not know that it is countingʼ, as Leibnitz described the essence of music. Examples of these are the variation of the tempi in String Quartet No. 11 or the changes of rhythm in String Quartet No. 10. Some pieces for large ensembles can be listened to as a musical commentary to a political event or existential reflection. These topics are hinted at by the subtitles and quotations or the use of the text. The catastrophic message of the oratorio The Creation of the World is told through the text but its expression is achieved through the music."

Selected awards

Stage works

For two instruments

Violin and piano:
Cello and piano:
Other combinations:

For piano solo