Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego

HIRE LIBRARY CATALOG WEBSHOP PBM

Composers

Zbigniew Bargielski

*1937

He studied law at the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin from 1954 to 1957. In 1958, he began studies in composition at the Warsaw State Music College, initially under the tutelage of Piotr Perkowski; after a year, with Tadeusz Szeligowski. After the latter’s death, he continued his training with Bolesław Szabelski at the State Music College in Katowice, receiving his diploma in 1964. From 1966 to 1967, Bargielski undertook postgraduate studies with Nadia Boulanger in Paris; and in 1972, at the Hochschule fur Musik in Graz. In 1986, he was a Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst scholar in Darmstadt. In 1967, the composer emigrated to Austria, where he lived until 2002 in Graz and Vienna. In 2002, Zbigniew Bargielski began work at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz; from 2005 to 2014, he also taught composition at the Academy of Music in Krakow.

Bargielski’s compositional output includes nearly 200 compositions written in various genres and forms. Most of his works have been performed in Europe as well as in Japan, the United States, Australia, and South America.

Among the elements distinguishing the composer’s individual style is his proprietary center system based on selection and systematization of music organization parameters, especially pitch. Another essential characteristic of his oeuvre is an original concept of musical form described by Bargielski as a ‘block form’ with traits of an additive, segmented variational form organized according to a strict order of segment sequences (A, A1, B, A2, B1, C, A3, B2, C1, D…).

Zbigniew Bargielski is a laureate of composition competitions, among others: 1965 – 1st Prize for Parades for symphonic orchestra – Polish Composers’ Union Youth Circle Competition; 1976 – 2nd Prize for String Quartet no. 1 ‘Alpine’ – Artur Malawski Composers’ Competition in Krakow; 1981 – String Quartet no. 1 ‘Alpine’ selected by the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris; 1995 – Trigonalia for guitar, accordion, percussion and chamber orchestra – work recommended by the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris. For many years, he has been active in the Polish Composers’ Union. He has also been a juror (not infrequently serving as chairman) of many composition competitions.

A separate area of Zbigniew Bargielski’s activity has been journalism, in which he was particularly intensively involved from 1965 to 1978 (Kurier Polski, Literatura, ITD., Kultura, Ruch Muzyczny). For distinguished achievements in the area of musical culture, Bargielski has been honored numerous times with renowned awards and decorations, among others: the Medal for Meritorious Service to Polish Culture (1990), the Anton-Benya-Preis (Vienna 2000), the Polish Composers’ Union award (2001), the Gold Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture (2011) and the Mayor of Bydgoszcz’s.