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Krzysztof Meyer

Krzysztof Meyer at the age of 70, 2013

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  • Student at the Music Lyceum in Kraków - In preparation for his piano diploma examination (in the background Sonata in A flat, Opus 26 by Beethoven).
  • Music in the age of the avant-garde - The start of the I. String quartet by Krzysztof Meyer.
  • Sketches for the VII. Symphony - As ever in pencil: traditional notation, traditional sound.
  • Meyer in conversation with Karlheinz Stockhausen, in the background Konstanty Regamey during the "Warsaw Autumn". - The festival for new music has been organised since 1956. During the Cold War, it represented a bridge for musicians on both sides of the "Iron Curtain".
  • Meyer in conversation with Swjatoslaw Richter - Richter was one of the outstanding pianists of his generation. However, the "Warsaw Autumn" also featured musicians who played instruments in an unconventional and surprising way.
  • Meyer receives Olivier Messiaen as part of the "Warsaw Autumn" festival - Between 1985 and 1989 Krzysztof Meyer was the chair of the Association of Polish Composers.
  • Meeting with Mauricio Kagel  - Meyer and Kagel met up regularly for years at the Academy of Music in Cologne, where both composers taught.
  • Poster for the opera "Kyberiade" - With a libretto based on stories by Stanisław Lem, world premiere in Wuppertal.
  • Queen Genia (Pamela Geddes) and Trull, the constructor (Michal Milanov) - Two of the protagonists in the opera Kyberiade in Wuppertal.
  • Krzyś with his parents - Maria and Jan Meyer in their house in Kraków (Summer 1947).
  • Antoni Wit conducts the Polish premiere of the 6th Symphony "The Polish". - In January in Krakow, the world premiere was in Hamburg in 1982.
  • The composer talking to the conductor Andrey Boreyko - Before the world premiere of "Chansons d’un rȇveur solitaire" in January in Düsseldorf.
  • Presentation of the Jerzy Kurczewski Prize to Meyer by Krzysztof Penderecki - Auditorium of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. Krzysztof Meyer was Krzysztof Penderecki's first graduate student in 1965.
  • Meyer together with Irina Shostakovich in Dilijan, Armenia - Krzysztof Meyer has many unforgettable memories of his numerous meetings with Dmitri Shostakovich, but unfortunately not a single photo.
  • Danuta and Witold Lutosławski at Krzysztof Meyer - In autumn in Bergisch Gladbach.
  • Krzysztof Meyer - Hörspiel von "COSMO Radio po polsku" - In Zusammenarbeit mit "COSMO Radio po polsku" präsentieren wir Hörspiele zu ausgewählten Themen unseres Portals.

    Krzysztof Meyer - Hörspiel von "COSMO Radio po polsku"

    In Zusammenarbeit mit "COSMO Radio po polsku" präsentieren wir Hörspiele zu ausgewählten Themen unseres Portals.
Krzysztof Meyer at the age of 70, 2013
Krzysztof Meyer at the age of 70, 2013

To be a composer you must ‘be born՚, but to pursue the profession you need to master a few skills,which Krzysztof Meyer did under the supervision of Stanisław Wiechowicz. After his teacher’s death, Meyer completed his studies in the class led by Krzysztof Penderecki and was awarded a diploma from Kraków‘s State College of Music (now the Academy of Music in Kraków). He was also supervised by Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Witold Lutosławski in Warsaw. He then taught himself: firstly theoretical subjects at his alma mater in Kraków, and later composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne (1987-2008).

He made his debut whilst still a student at the IX ‘Warsaw Autumn’ festival in 1965 with his String Quartet No.1. He was, at the time, the youngest composer in the history of the festival. Meyer’s works from the 1960s were characterized by their diversity of sound which was typical of the ‘Polish school՚ of the avante-garde at that time. The sounds were often so unconventional that it was as if they were born from dissatisfaction with already existing instruments and traditional ways of playing. His works perfectly fitted into the repertoire of festivals of new music and, as a result, this drew attention to the composer.

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 composer decided that music composed with contemporary language can also provide listeners with a deep experience and give the performers the pleasure of playing the music (and thanks to this his works have been performed by such artists as David Geringas, Heinz Holliger, Ivan Monighetti, Aurele Nicolet, Peter Pears, Boris Pergamenschikow, Dmitry Sitkovetsky). Initially, as he has explained, he created ‘stories told through sounds՚. Over the years, the ‘stories՚  became more and more dramatic and the ‘sonic narrative’ gave way to mood. These effects were enhanced, in particular, by the orchestra being like one huge instrument, in which the variety and the way of transformation in the colours and dynamics depends only on the fantasy of the composer. These pieces have often been included in concert programs addressed to regular concert-goers.