News
Musical Images of Old Warsaw – Stefan Feliks Gąsieniec’s “12 Piano Miniatures”
2026-06-03
“12 Piano Miniatures” is a collection of works by Stefan Feliks Gąsieniec, whose aesthetic and expressiveness draw on the musical styles of bygone eras. This cycle draws inspiration from the history of Warsaw at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and each miniature serves as a musical portrayal of the capital’s places, characters, and atmosphere.
These 12 piano miniatures are characterized by varying degrees of difficulty and a wealth of interpretive challenges, making them ideal for developing piano skills among both more advanced students in primary music schools and students in secondary music schools. These pieces develop key piano skills, including playing independent voices, shaping the melodic line, varied articulation, working on tone color, and harmonic awareness.
The compositions included in this collection also serve an important educational purpose. They introduce young performers to the history of Warsaw while familiarizing them with the world of various musical styles and eras. Many of these miniatures clearly draw inspiration from the works of Frédéric Chopin and also contain references to Classicism, Neoclassicism, and the Impressionist style of Claude Debussy.
The collection includes miniatures with illustrative or programmatic titles: “Wokulski’s Waltz”, “À la Chopin”, “A Little Friendly Waltz”, “Pearls”, “Ulrich’s Gardens”, “Tchaikovsky Meets Chopin”, “Fryderyk”, “Fra Angelico”, “Chopin in Tokyo”, “Café Lourse”, “Brandmajster” and “À la Debussy”.
Among the pieces included in the collection, the following deserve special attention: “Tchaikovsky Meets Chopin” – a distinctive piece that is a musical fantasy based on the meeting of two great composers: Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Fryderyk Chopin; “Brandmajster” – a miniature dedicated to the composer’s great-great-grandfather, August Nowicki, who was associated with the Warsaw fire department. It is a piece stylized as a brass band march, distinguished by its energy and rhythmic exuberance; “Perle” – a composition inspired by the aesthetics of Classicism and Neoclassicism. It requires precise, “pearl-like” articulation and a clear rendering of the melodic lines.
The latest publication is available at the UNA, at online bookstores – including pwm.sklep.pl – and at renowned music bookstores throughout the country.
Most popular:
We are proud to announce that Joanna Woźny is joining the ranks of composers represented by PWM Edition. This highly regarded composer has been living and working in Graz, Austria, for many years. She composes music that is in high regard among ensembles and orchestras specialising in contemporary music.
The short documentary “Bacewicz x Bomsori”, directed by Jakub Piątek, is reaching an ever-wider international audience. The film, which explores South Korean violinist Bomsori Kim’s encounter with the music of Grażyna Bacewicz, will be screened at upcoming film festivals in Warsaw, Reykjavik and Barcelona.
Contact. Sonoromanza is an opera by Alek Nowak and Paweł Sołtys’s literary debut in the world of classical music. A contemporary tale of longing, the desire for conversation and the need for closeness, performed by Joanna Freszel, Karol Kozłowski and the AUKSO Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy, conducted by Marek Mos. The debut album, ANAKLASIS, is now available to buy and on streaming services.
October will bring a series of world premieres of the latest compositions by artists represented byPWM Edition. New works by Zygmunt Krauze, Alek Nowak, Joanna Woźny, Ewa Fabiańska-Jelińska, Agata Zubel, Paweł Malinowski, Andrzej Kwieciński and Aleksander Lasoń will be performed in Poland, as well as in Japan, Germany and Austria.
On September 14, the prestigious Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari will host the Italian premiere of Zygmunt Krauze's two-act opera, which tells the poignant story of Bona Sforza d’Aragona. Staging this work in Bari carries deep symbolic meaning – it is the very city where the title heroine spent her final years and was laid to rest.
This autumn, with the September premieres of the latest Polish music, we are stepping forward neither boldly nor timidly – in keeping with Gdańsk’s motto. It is in this city that the first world premieres will take place. In September, we will be listening to new works by Polish composers in Gdańsk, Warsaw and Valencia. For the first time, we will hear works by Tadeusz Wielecki, Lidia Zielińska, Krzysztof Knittel and Agata Zubel.
Karol Augustyniak and Artur Szczepkowski have been selected as winners of the composer.pl programme – an artistic residency in Iceland for young Polish composers. The invited participants’ creative residency in the ‘Land of Ice and Fire’ will last two weeks, from 8 to 25 September.
Today, 2 December, marks the start of the 18th edition of one of Europe's most prestigious conducting competitions: the Donatella Flick – London Symphony Orchestra Conducting Competition. Grażyna Bacewicz's Concerto for String Orchestra is among the repertoire as an obligatory piece.
This timeless encounter with the music of ‘Poland’s last Romantic’ Tadeusz Baird and with the interpretative feats of NOSPR Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra features three symphonies and four outstanding conductors in both rediscovered historical and new recordings, released together on a 2CD album from ANAKLASIS.
Iconic songs by Zygmunt Konieczny that audiences of Ewa Demarczyk loved decades ago in a new arrangement by Cezary Duchnowski. The latest ANAKLASIS album with Agata Zubel, Andrzej Bauer, Bartek Wąsik and the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alexander Humala is now available for purchase.
