Tadeusz Baird

[Alan Howe]

Friends might like to know more about Tadeusz Baird. Below is the Grove online entry.
Please also see the Polish Music thread in the downloads section...
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,1310.45.html

Baird, Tadeusz
(b Grodzisk Mazowiecki, 26 July 1928; d Warsaw, 2 Sept 1981). Polish composer. He first studied composition in Warsaw during World War II with Woytowicz and Kazimierz Sikorski. He was taken prisoner by the Germans in 1944 after the Warsaw Uprising, and after liberation underwent treatment for spinal tuberculosis in Cologne before returning to Poland to train with Rytel and Perkowski at the Warsaw Academy of Music (1947–51). During this period he also studied piano with Tadeusz Wituski and musicology at Warsaw University.

In 1949, in response to the imposition of socialist realism as the only acceptable basis for composition, Baird formed Group 49 with Serocki and Krenz, their aim being the composition of anti-elitist music without abandoning contemporary techniques. Baird's works of these years were generally traditional in form (e.g. Sinfonietta, Concerto for Orchestra, First Symphony and the sonatinas for piano) and sometimes archaic in style (e.g. the Colas Breugnon suite based on 16th-century French dances), an approach he continued in later, post-socialist-realist works such as Cztery sonety miłosne ('Four Love Sonnets', 1956) and Pieśni truwerów ('Trouvère Songs', 1963). The slightly more permissive attitude of the authorities in the post-Stalinist era enabled Baird to collaborate with Serocki in the foundation of the Warsaw Festival of Contemporary Music (the 'Warsaw Autumn') in 1956 and, after becoming familiar with some of Alban Berg's works, to experiment with serialism, first evident in Cassazione per orchestra (1956).

Baird adopted an exceptionally free, essentially lyrical approach to serialism, introducing material unrelated to the original row, emphasizing specific intervals within the row (which becomes a freely exploitable fund of source material) and permitting tonal references to emerge. His encounter with Berg's work also resulted in greater intensity of expression, evident in the String Quartet (1957) and Cztery eseje ('Four Essays', 1958), in which the orchestra is frequently treated in a chamber style. Sonata-schemes were abandoned in favour of freely-evolving structures, and by the late 1960s Baird regularly introduced static colouristic textures within his orchestral works. Such passages perhaps indicate the influence of Lutosławski's aleatory technique, but Baird always maintained strict control over their progress in that the pulse is not relaxed and they are usually composed of short, rapid figurations, the general effect of which is consistent from one performance to another.

Baird is often regarded as a late Romantic lyricist and successor not only to Berg, but Mahler and Szymanowski. Melody was of prime importance in his work, and especially in his later music there was an increasing reliance upon the voice or some underlying programmatic concept in an attempt to transmit concrete, unambivalent matter to his listeners. At the same time there was a perceptible darkening in tone, first apparent in 1966 with the opera Jutro ('Tomorrow'), based on a short story by Conrad, and culminating in his final work, Głosy z oddali ('Voices from afar'), a song cycle for baritone and orchestra to words by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz dealing with death and personal extinction, its musical symbolism incorporating both the Dies irae and references to the sound world of 'Der Abschied' from Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde. Baird admitted that the more direct style of his later works arose from an attempt to portray bitterness in the face of reality, most notably in the orchestral pieces Psychodrama (1972), in his opinion the most brutal of all his works, and Elegeia (1973), which reveals a continuing affinity with the music of Berg.

Throughout his career Baird played an active part in Polish musical life. He continued to be involved in the organization of the Warsaw Autumn until 1969, and from 1974 taught at the Academy of Music in Warsaw, becoming director of the composition department in 1977. His numerous honours included several awards from the Polish government, the Cologne Music Prize (1963), the Koussevitzky Prize (1968), the Alfred Jurzykowski Foundation of New York Prize (1971), the Arthur Honegger Prize (1974), and three first prizes at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers (1959, 1963, 1966).

Works
(selective list)
Dramatic and orchestral
Stage: Jutro [Tomorrow] (music drama, 1, J.S. Sito, after J. Conrad) 1964–6; Warsaw, Wielki, 18 Sept 1966
Other dramatic works: 62 incid scores; 26 film and TV scores
Orch: Conc. grosso w dawnym stylu [In the Old Style], small orch, 1949; Pf Conc., 1949; Sinfonietta, 1949; Sym. no.1, 1950; Uwertura w dawnym stylu [Ov. in the Old Style], small orch, 1950; Colas Breugnon, suite, fl, str, 1951; Giocosa uwertura, 1952: Sym. no.2, 1952; Conc. for Orch, 1953; Cassazione, 1956; 4 eseje [4 Essays], 1958; Espressioni varianti, vn, orch, 1959; Wariacje bez tematu [Variations without a Theme], 1962; Muzyka epifaniczna, 1963; 4 dialogi, ob, chbr orch, 1964; 4 nowele [4 Novels], chbr orch, 1967; Sinfonia breve, 1968; Sym. no.3, 1969; Psychodrama, 1972; Elegeia, 1973; Ob Conc., 1973; Conc. lugubre, va, orch, 1975; Sceny, vc, hp, orch, 1977; Canzona, 1981
Choral and solo vocal
Suita liryczna (J. Tuwim), S, orch, 1953; 2 Choral Songs (trad.), 1953; Ballada o żolnierskim kubku [Ballad about a Soldier's Cup] (S. Strumph-Wojtkiewicza) (cant.), 1954; 5 Children's Songs (J. Czechowicz), female v, pf; 4 sonety miłosne [4 Love Sonnets] (W. Shakespeare), Bar, chbr orch, 1956; Egzorta (old Hebrew) reciter, chorus, orch, 1960; Erotyki (M. Hillar), S, orch, 1961
Etiuda, vocal orch, perc, pf, 1961; Pieśni truwerów [Trouvère Songs], A, 2 fl, vc, 1963; 4 pieśni (V. Parun), Mez, chbr orch, 1966; 5 pieśni (H. Poświatowska), Mez, 16 insts, 1968; Listy Goethego [Goethe Letters], Bar, chorus, orch, 1970; Głosy z oddali [Voices from Afar] (J. Iwaszkiewicz), Bar, orch, 1981
Chamber and solo instrumental
2 sonatinas, pf, 1949, 1952; Mała suita dziecięca [Little suite for children], pf, 1953; 2 kaprysy, cl, pf, 1953; 4 preludia, bn, pf, 1954; Divertimento, fl, ob, cl, bn, 1956; Str Qt, 1957; Play, str qt, 1971; Wariacje w formie ronda [Variations in Rondo Form], str qt, 1978

[markniew]

Alan, Thank you.

An example of the Baird's last creativity period , namely "Goethe Briefe" was uploaded few days ago - see the Polish Music thread.

Baird's music was valued very high here in Poalnd and also outside his country, especially of his more modern creativity period.
However, as stated in the biography above, he started in late 40s with music addressed to wider not very sophisticated audience.
And what might be the opinion of the music written in that period and with such ideology in mind? Is such - let say - music for common public good and interesting and worth hearing in our time or it should be kept in archives? That is the question! Similar issue has been discussed by the UC participants in one f threads few weeks ago.

I do not have first symphny by Baird so uplod his no. 2 dated 1952. Fortunately it is not the simplified music based on folklore (at least not directly and not easy to trace) but the piece of music of good standard however not very modernistic or experimental. In the 3rd movement I myself can hear some influences of Shostakovich - but that's only my impression.

link will be available in the Dowloads/Polish music

[Alan Howe]

Thanks for expanding our knowledge of Baird, Marek.

[Dundonnell]

I can upload Baird's Elegy for orchestra: a shortish piece composed in 1973.

[markniew]

in the Downloads I upload short Sinfonietta (1949) by Baird + two other pieces by his colleagues composers from the 1949 group - vide Bio of Baird.

Perhaps Alan will be so kind to add bios by Kazimierz Serocki and Jan Krenz.

[markniew]

TADEUSZ  BAIRD[/b]   (1928-1981)                         
Sinfonia breve   (1968)    16:25
           
is available in the Downloads/Polish Music

/off Polish Radio, 04.05.2009/ 

[markniew]

TADEUSZ  BAIRD    (1928-1981)   
Overture giocosa     (1952) 

is available in the Downloads/Polish Music


/off radio, broadcast of 14.05.2006/

[markniew]

after some break another piece by Baird is available in the Downloads/Polish Music:

TADEUSZ  BAIRD  (1928-1981)
Lyrical Suite - Cycle of Songs (1953) to texts by Julian Tuwim (1894-1953)
   
Agnieszka Kozłowska, Soprano
Polish Radio Orchestra (of Warsaw)
cond. Krzysztof Słowiński

[markniew]

following the request from one of the members links to the Baird pieces have been renewed

[fr8nks]

following the request from one of the members links to the Baird pieces have been renewed

Thank you very much for the new links and for how quickly you did so.

Frank