Ewa Maria Demarczyk (16 January 1941 – 14 August 2020) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

singer, generally associated with the

sung poetry Sung poetry is a broad and imprecise music genre widespread in European countries, such as Poland and the Baltic States, to describe songs consisting of a poem (most often a ballad) and music written specially for that text. The compositions usu ...

genre and the

Piwnica pod Baranami The Piwnica pod Baranami ( en, The Basement, or the Cellar under the Rams) is a Polish literary cabaret located in Kraków, Poland. For over thirty years, in the People's Republic of Poland, Piwnica pod Baranami served as the most renowned politica ...

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

. Demarczyk was recognized as one of the most talented and charismatic singers in the history of

Polish music The Music of Poland covers diverse aspects of music and musical traditions which have originated, and are practiced in Poland. Artists from Poland include world-famous classical composers like Frédéric Chopin, Karol Szymanowski, Witold Lutosł ...

. She was praised for her unique interpretations, expression, and unusual stage personality. In the 1960s, she drew comparisons with

Édith Piaf Édith Piaf (, , ; born Édith Giovanna Gassion, ; December 19, 1915– October 10, 1963) was a French singer, lyricist and actress. Noted as France's national chanteuse, she was one of the country's most widely known international stars. Pia ...

. In Poland, she was often referred to as "the Dark Angel".

Biography

She started her career in 1961, when she joined

Jagiellonian University Medical College Jagiellonian University Medical College is the oldest medical school in Poland. The Jagiellonian University's Faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy are acclaimed as one of the largest medical academies in Poland. The school was established by King C ...

's student cabaret Cyrulik. After a year she left Cyrulik for

, where she met

Zygmunt Konieczny Zygmunt Konieczny (born 3 January 1937) is a Polish composer of theatre and film music. Zygmunt Konieczny spent his childhood in the village of Szczyrzyc. He debuted in the 1950s in the cabaret Piwnica pod Baranami in Kraków. Since then Koniec ...

, with whom she would work for the next four years. Her first big success was a performance at the 1963

National Festival of Polish Song in Opole The National Festival of Polish Song in Opole ( pl, Krajowy Festiwal Piosenki Polskiej w Opolu, KFPP) is an annual music festival in Opole, Poland. Together with the Sopot Festival it is one of the two most important music festivals in Poland. The ...

, where she received an award for the songs "Karuzela z madonnami", "Taki pejzaż" and "Czarne anioły". Later the same year, she sang at the

Sopot International Song Festival The Sopot International Song Festival or Sopot Festival (later called ''Sopot Music Festival Grand Prix'', ''Sopot Top of the Top Festival'' from 2012–13 and ''Polsat Sopot Festival'' in 2014) is an annual international song contest held in So ...

and was named the best artist of 1963 by Polish journalists. In 1964 she took second place in Sopot for "Grande Valse Brillante". She went on to perform at

Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

in Paris, at

Bruno Coquatrix Bruno Coquatrix (5 August 1910, Ronchin, Nord – 1 April 1979) was a French music producer, the owner and manager of the Olympia Hall in Paris from 1954 until his death in 1979. Career Coquatrix was first known as a song and music writer. He ...

's invitation, as well as at a ceremony celebrating the 20th anniversary of

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. In 1966, Demarczyk graduated from the

Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts Ludwik () is a Polish given name. Notable people with the name include: * Ludwik Czyżewski, Polish WWII general * Ludwik Fleck (1896–1961), Polish medical doctor and biologist * Ludwik Gintel (1899–1973), Polish-Israeli Olympic soccer player ...

(however, she never had any film roles). The same year she teamed up with another composer, Andrzej Zarycki. 1967 saw the release of her first album, ''Ewa Demarczyk śpiewa piosenki Zygmunta Koniecznego'', which proved to be a major success and was later certified platinum for selling over 100,000 copies. At the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, she travelled extensively around the world to countries such as

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. She performed in numerous

concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that may ...

s, including

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and the

Chicago Theatre The Chicago Theatre, originally known as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre, is a landmark theater located on North State Street in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1921, the Chicago Theatre was the flagship for the Balaban an ...

. Demarczyk left the Piwnica pod Baranami in 1972. Two years later her next album was issued, including some new Polish songs and four Russian-language versions of her previous hits. The album was released in Russia by the state-owned label

Melodiya Melodiya ( rus, links=no, Мелодия, t=Melody) is a Russian (formerly Soviet) record label. It was the state-owned major record company of the Soviet Union. History Melodiya was established in 1964 as the "All-Union Gramophone Record Firm ...

and sold several million copies. Later in the 1970s she was awarded an honorary award at Opole Festival and the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...

. Her 1982 live album, simply titled ''Live'', turned out to be a big success, achieving gold certification in Poland. In the mid-1980s Demarczyk founded her own theatre in Kraków. In spite of formal difficulties, it was soon shut down, although it generated interest. In the 1990s her albums were re-released on CD and Demarczyk received a number of awards recognising her input to Polish culture. She continued to perform live until the late 1990s. She gave her last concert on 8 November 1999 at the Grand Theatre in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

and afterwards she completely withdrew from public life. In 2001 a foundation, Teatr Ewy Demarczyk, was created. She died on 14 August 2020, aged 79.

Style

Demarczyk's repertoire consisted of demanding, not easily accessible interpretations of poems. Since her songs are often based on works by "classical" poets – both Polish such as

Julian Tuwim Julian Tuwim (13 September 1894 – 27 December 1953), known also under the pseudonym "Oldlen" as a lyricist, was a Polish poet, born in Łódź, then part of the Russian Partition. He was educated in Łódź and in Warsaw where he studied la ...

and

Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, (; nom de guerre: Jan Bugaj; 22 January 1921 – 4 August 1944) was a Polish poet and Home Army soldier, one of the most well known of the Generation of Columbuses, the young generation of Polish poets, of whom several ...

and international like

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

Mandelstam Mandelstam or Mandelshtam (russian: Мандельштам) is a Jewish surname which may refer to: * Leonid Mandelstam (1879–1944), Russian theoretical physicist ** Mandel'shtam (crater), lunar crater named for Leonid Mandelstam * Nadezhda Mand ...

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...

, as well as

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

writers such as

Miron Białoszewski Miron Białoszewski (; born 30 June 1922, Warsaw; died 17 June 1983, Warsaw) was a Polish poet, novelist, playwright and actor. Biography Białoszewski studied linguistics at the clandestine courses of the University of Warsaw during the Germ ...

– the genre that Demarczyk is associated with is called

. In her performances, she united both dramatic theatrical expression and vocal art (she was a graduate of both a

drama school A drama school, stage school or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university; or a free-standing institution (such as the Drama section at the Juilliard School); which specializes in the pr ...

and conservatory, where she studied the piano). The songs she performed were essentially short, intense musical dramas.

Awards and honours

* 1962: 2nd Prize at the National Students' Song Festival for the song ''Karuzela z madonnami'' * 1963: 1st Prize at the

for the song ''Czarne anioły'' ("Black Angels") * 1963: Special Award at the

for the song ''Czarne anioły'' * 1964: 2nd Prize at the

for the song ''Grande Valse Brillante'' * 1967: Prize at the World Theatre Festival in

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...

* 1969: 1st Prize at the Mondial du Theatre Festival in Nancy,

* 1971: Gold Cross of Merit * 1977: Officer of the

National Order of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

, (France) * 1978: Prize of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (''Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych'', MSZ) is the Polish government department tasked with maintaining Poland's international relations and coordinating its participation in international and regional supra-natio ...

for "outstanding contributions to the promotion of Polish culture abroad" * 1978:

City of Kraków Award The City of Kraków Award is an award bestowed annually by the President of Kraków, Poland, for contributions relating to the city, and the popularization of its culture at home and abroad. It is given to prominent artists in the field of theatre, ...

* 1979: Special Journalists' Award at the XVII

* 1979:

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

's Cross of the

* 1990: Special Award at the XXVII

for "outstanding achievements in the art of song interpretation" * 1993: Special Award of the

Polish Television Telewizja Polska S.A. (; "Polish Television"; TVP), also known in English as the public Polish Television is a Polish state media corporation. It is the largest Polish television network, although viewership has been declining in the 2010s. Sinc ...

* 1997: Prize of the

Kraków Voivodeship Kraków Voivodeship may also refer to: *Kraków Voivodeship (14th century – 1795) * Kraków Voivodeship (1816–1837) *Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939) *Kraków Voivodeship (1945–1975) *Kraków Voivodeship (1975–1998) The Kraków Voivodeshi ...

for "great artistic achievements as well as contributions to shaping the musical image of Poland" * 2000:

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

's Cross of the

* 2005: Gold

Medal for Merit to Culture - Gloria Artis A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

* 2010: Gold Fryderyk Award for Lifetime Achievements * 2011: Special Award of the

TVP1 TVP1 (TVP Jeden, ''Program I Telewizji Polskiej'', ''"Jedynka"'') is the main public television channel of TVP (Telewizja Polska S.A.), Poland's national television broadcaster. It was the first Polish channel to be broadcast and remains one ...

Channel for "a distinguished figure in the Polish culture" * 2012: The Annual Award of the

Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego) is a governmental administration office concerned with various aspects of Polish culture. It was formed on 31 October 200 ...

for Lifetime Achievements * 2017:

's Cross with Star of the

Discography

Albums: * 1967: ''Ewa Demarczyk śpiewa piosenki Zygmunta Koniecznego'' * 1974: ''Ewa Demarczyk'' * 1982: ''Live'' Singles: * 1963: ''Karuzela z madonnami'' / ''Czarne anioły'' / ''Taki pejzaż'' * 1964: ''Grande Valse Brillante'' * 1968: ''Grande Valse Brillante'' / ''Tomaszów'' * 1974: ''Groszki i róże'' / ''Sur le pont d’Avignon'' / ''Jaki śmieszny'' / ''Cyganka'' / ''Zmory wiosenne''

List of songs

The list presents the songs sung by Ewa Demarczyk arranged in alphabetical order:

References

External links

WebsiteThe Polish Edith Piaf: A Love Letter to Ewa Demarczyk
at Culture.pl
Discography on poezja-spiewana.plProfile of Ewa Demarczyk
a
Culture.pl
*

Bibliography

* Angelika Kuźniak, Ewelina Karpacz-Oboładze: ''Czarny Anioł. Opowieść o Ewie Demarczyk'' : Znak, Społeczny Instytut Wydawniczy Sp.z o.o. : 2015 : {{DEFAULTSORT:Demarczyk, Ewa 1941 births 2020 deaths Musicians from Kraków Polish women singers Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1944–1989) Sung poetry of Poland Cabaret singers 20th-century Polish women