The compositional output of Paweł Klecki, Jan Krenz and Stanisław Skrowaczewski in a historical perspective

Abstract The author analyses an unobvious relation between conducting and compositional activities of Paweł Klecki, Jan Krenz and Stanisław Skrowaczewski. Their compositional output, symphonic music in particular, displays not only impeccable technique—especially in terms of orchestration, but also a peculiar desire to achieve full expression, to articulate their own ideas regarding sound and aesthetics that were lying outside the scope of their wide conducting repertoire. The fates of the three artists, close to each other generationally, reflect numerous complexities of the 20th-century history: wars, persecutions, refugee wanderings, art enslaved by totalitarianisms, etc., which partly got mirrored in the music they composed. The text also poses questions related to historical significance, stylistics and place of this music among other works written by leading Polish composers of both the first and second half of the 20th century.