# Krzysztof Meyer



## Morimur

> Krzysztof Meyer (born 11 August 1943) is a Polish composer, pianist and music scholar, formerly Dean of the Department of Music Theory (1972-1975) at the State College of Music (now Academy of Music in Kraków), and president of the Union of Polish Composers (1985-1989). Meyer served as professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne from 1987 to 2008, prior to retirement.
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> In his early compositions (String Quartets Nos. 1-4, Symphonies Nos. 1-3), 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.
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> 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".
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> 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 ('Polish՚ Symphony No. 6, referring to the atmosphere of martial law in Poland from 1981 to 1983) or the use of the text (Symphony No. 8, with the lyrics of the anti-antisemitic poems by Adam Zagajewski). The catastrophic message of the oratorio The Creation of the World is told through the text but its expression is achieved through the music. -Wikipedia


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## Guest

Thanks Lope. I've got a single work of his on a NEOS disc, and have seen him pop up on Naxos more than once.... I've been hesitant, but your recommendations are some of the highest.


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