This is a list of notable and representative

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 ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

s. Note: This list should contain notable composers, best with an existing article on Wikipedia. If a notable Polish composer is missing and without an article, please add the name

here Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Television * Here TV (formerly "here!"), a TV ...

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

Wincenty z Kielczy Wincenty of Kielcza (c. 1200 – after 1262) was a Polish canon, poet, and composer, working in Kraków and writing in Latin. He was a member of the Dominican Order. Most likely born in the village of Kielcza, he is best known for his hymn "Gaude ...

(before 1200-c. 1261) *

Mikołaj z Radomia Mikołaj Radomski, also called Mikołaj z Radomia and Nicholas of Radom, was an early 15th-century Polish composer. He was connected with the court of Władysław Jagiełło and wrote polyphonic music renowned for its expression of religious contemp ...

(15th century) * Piotr z Grudziądza (c. 1400-c. 1480)

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

Sebastian z Felsztyna Sebastian z Felsztyna (also Sebastian de Felstin, Roxolanus z Felsztyna, Sebastian Herburt) (14801490? – after 1543) was a Polish composer and music theorist, regarded as the greatest Polish composer of the early 16th century. Life He was proba ...

(c. 1480/1490-after 1543) *

Nicolaus Cracoviensis Nicolaus Cracoviensis (or Mikołaj z Krakowa) was a 16th-century Polish composer. Not much is known about his life. His name appears in the Kraków University archives as organist at the Kraków court. The biggest part of his compositions is con ...

(1st half of the 16th century) *

Wacław z Szamotuł Wacław is a Polish masculine given name. It is a borrowing of cz, Václav, Latinized as Wenceslaus. For etymology and cognates in other languages, see Wenceslaus. It may refer to: * Wacław Leszczyński *Wacław of Szamotuły *Wacław Hański ...

(c. 1526-1560) *

Mikołaj Gomółka Mikołaj Gomółka (c. 1535 – after 30 April 1591, most probably 5 March 1609) was a Polish Renaissance composer, and member of the royal court of Sigismund II Augustus, where he was a singer, flutist and trumpeter. Gomółka was born in Sando ...

(1535-1591) *

Marcin Leopolita Marcin Leopolita (also Marcin z Lwowa; 1537) was one of the most eminent Polish composers of the 16th century. He attended the Jagiellonian University (Collegium Maius) and may have studied under the Polish composer Sebastian z Felsztyna and Jan ...

(c. 1540-c.1589) *

Cyprian Bazylik Cyprian Bazylik (c. 1535 in Sieradz Sieradz ( la, Siradia, yi, שעראַדז, שערעדז, שעריץ, german: 1941-45 Schieratz) is a city on the Warta river in central Poland with 40,891 inhabitants (2021). It is the seat of the Sieradz C ...

(c.1535-c. 1600) *

Jan z Lublina Jan z Lublina, or Joannis de Lublin, was a Polish composer and organist who lived in the first half of the 16th century. Not much is known about his life - he was a member of the Order of Canons Regular of the Lateran, circa 1540 he was possibly t ...

(late 15th century-1540) * Jakub Polak (1540-1605) *

Sebastian Klonowic Sebastian Fabian Klonowic (1545 Sulmierzyce – 29 August 1602 Lublin) was a Polish poet, composer and mayor of Lublin. Biography He studied at the University of Kraków. He was also known by his Latin name, Acernus, and wrote in both Polish an ...

(c. 1545-1602) *

Krzysztof Klabon Krzysztof Klabon (c. 1550 – c. 1616) was a Polish Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He was one of the most renowned instrumentalists of his time in Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central ...

(c. 1550-after 1616) *

Wojciech Długoraj Wojciech Długoraj (c. 1557 - after 1619), also called Wiecesław Długoraj, Adalbert Długoraj and Gostinensis, was a Polish Renaissance composer and lutenist. Biography His birthplace is unknown, with Polish Gostyń and Ukrainian Gostynets a ...

(1557-1619) *

Diomedes Cato Diomedes Cato (1560 to 1565 – d.1627 in Gdansk) was an Italian-born composer and lute player, who lived and worked entirely in Poland and Lithuania. He is known mainly for his instrumental music. He mixed the style of the late Renaissance with ...

(c. 1570-c. 1603)

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

Mikołaj Zieleński Mikołaj Zieleński (Zelenscius, fl. 1611) was a Polish composer, organist and '' Kapellmeister'' to the primate Baranowski, Archbishop of Gniezno. Neither the date of his birth nor of his death are known; documents from Płock Cathedral state h ...

(1st half of the 17th century) *

Adam Jarzębski Adam Jarzębski (c. 1590 in Warka – c. 1648 in Warsaw) was an early Baroque Polish composer, violinist, poet, and writer. The first documented mention of Jarzębski was in 1612, when he became a member of the chapel of John Sigismund, Elector of ...

(c. 1590-1649) *

Franciszek Lilius Franciszek (Franciscus) Lilius (c. 1600 – 1657) was a Polish composer, a descendant of the Italian Giglis family. He significantly contributed to the musical culture of Warsaw in the 17th century. In 1630, he moved to Kraków Kraków (), o ...

(c. 1600-1657) *

Marcin Mielczewski Marcin Mielczewski (c. 1600 – September 1651) was, together with his tutor Franciszek Lilius and Bartłomiej Pękiel, among the most notable Polish composers in the 17th century. By 1632 he was a composer and musician in the royal chapel in Wars ...

(1600-1651) *

Bartłomiej Pękiel Bartłomiej Pękiel (; fl. from 1633; d. ca. 1670) was a Polish composer of baroque music. Biography The writer and composer Johann Mattheson claimed that the composer was German and his name is sometimes recorded as "Peckel". Pękiel served the ...

(1633-ca.1670) *

Jacek Różycki Jacek Hyancithus Różycki (also Rozycki, Rożycki, Rositsky, Ruziski; first name also Hyacinthus, ?Sebastian; c.1635 – 1703/1704 (precise date unknown)) was a Polish composer of Baroque music. Różycki was born in Łęczyca. He began his musi ...

(1625/35-1703/04) *

Stanisław Sylwester Szarzyński Stanisław Sylwester Szarzyński (floruit, fl. 1692–1713) was a Polish composer. Szarzyński was a Cistercian monk; virtually nothing else is known of his life. He may have been involved with the choir of the Collegiate Church at Lowicz, whe ...

(prob. 2nd half of the 17th century) * Andrzej Siewiński (died by 1726) *

Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki (ca. 1665 to 1667 – 30 April 1734) was a Polish Baroque composer. Considered one of the greatest composers of Polish Baroque music, during his lifetime he was called the "Polish Handel". Life Born in Rozbark near Byt ...

(1665/67-1734)

18th and 19th centuries

Michał Kazimierz Ogiński Michał Kazimierz Ogiński ( – ) was a Polish nobleman, politician, musician, composer and military officer. Biography He began his political career at the age of 18, when he became the Field Writer of Lithuania, a mid-level position in the a ...

(1728-1800) *Jakub Gołąbek (c.1739-1789) * Bazyli Bohdanowicz (1740-1817) *

Maciej Radziwiłł Prince Maciej Radziwiłł ( lt, Motiejus Radvila) (10 November 1749 – 2 September 1800) was a Polish-Lithuanian noble ( szlachcic), composer and librettist. Biography Around 1780, Maciej (Matthias) lived at Nieśwież, the house of Karol R ...

(1749-1800) *

Wojciech Żywny , native_name_lang = , alias = , origin = Polish , birth_date = , birth_place = Mšeno, Bohemia , death_date = , death_place = Warsaw , genre = , occupation ...

(1756-1842) *Antoni Habel (1760-1831) *

Michał Kleofas Ogiński Michał Kleofas Ogiński (25 September 176515 October 1833) was a Polish diplomat and politician, Grand Treasurer of Lithuania, and a senator of Tsar Alexander I. He was also a composer of early Romantic music. Early life Ogiński was born in ...

(1765-1833) *

Ludwig-Wilhelm Tepper de Ferguson Ludwig-Wilhelm Tepper de Ferguson (Lewis-William Ferguson-Tepper, Tepper von Ferguson, Louis-Guillaume Tepper de Ferguson; 18 December 1768, Warsaw – 12 September 1838, Paris) was a Polish–Russian musician and composer, a music teacher mainly ...

(1768-1838) *

Józef Ksawery Elsner Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

(1769-1854) *

Franciszek Lessel Franciszek Lessel (1780 – 26 December 1838) was a Polish composer. Life Lessel was born in Puławy, Poland. His father, Wincenty Ferdynand Lessel, was a pianist and composer of Czech origin who served as his first teacher. In 1799 Francisz ...

(1780-1838) *

Franciszek Ścigalski Vincent Francis de Sales Ścigalski Blazej (29 January 1782 in Grodzisk Wielkopolski – August 27 or September 27 in 1846 in Gniezno) was a Polish composer , violinist and conductor.Elżbieta Dziębowska (red.): Encyklopedia muzyczna PWM. PWM, 1979 ...

(1782-1846) *

Karol Kurpiński Karol Kazimierz Kurpiński (March 6, 1785September 18, 1857) was a Polish composer, conductor and pedagogue. He was a representative of late classicism and a member of the Warsaw Society of Friends of Learning (Polish: ''Towarzystwo Warszaws ...

(1785-1857) *

Maria Szymanowska Maria Szymanowska (Polish pronunciation: ; born Marianna Agata Wołowska; Warsaw, 14 December 1789 – 25 July 1831, St. Petersburg, Russia) was a Polish composer and one of the first professional virtuoso pianists of the 19th century. She tour ...

(1789-1831) *

Karol Lipiński Karol Józef Lipiński (30 October 1790 – 16 December 1861) was a Polish music composer and virtuoso violinist active during the partitions of Poland. The Karol Lipiński University of Music in Wrocław, Poland is named after him. Life ...

(1790-1861) * Franciszek Mirecki (1791–1862) * Feliks Horecki (1796–1870) *

Eduard Sobolewski Johann Friedrich Eduard Sobolewski (born Königsberg (Królewiec), October 1, 1804 or 1808Nicholas Slonimsky, ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians''. 6th edition, 1978, p. 1623. - died St. Louis, May 17, 1872) was a Polish-American violini ...

(1804-1872) *

Jan Nepomucen Bobrowicz Jan Nepomucen (de) Bobrowicz (12 May 1805 – 2 November 1881) was a Polish virtuoso guitarist, composer, music editor, and publisher. Franz Liszt called him "the Chopin of guitar". Life Bobrowicz was born in Kraków. He studied the guitar in ...

(1805-1881) * Wojciech Albert Sowiński (1805-1880) *

Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński (15 February 1807 – 9 October 1867) was a Polish pianist and composer. He was the son of Ignacy Dobrzyński, the brother of Edward Dobrzyński, and the father of Bronisław Dobrzyński. Life Dobrzyński was born o ...

(1807-1867) * Mateusz Rudkowski (1809-1887) *

Julian Fontana Julian (or Jules) Fontana (31 July 181023 December 1869) was a Polish pianist, composer, lawyer, author, translator, and entrepreneur, best remembered as a close friend and musical executor of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. Life Born in Wars ...

(1810-1869) *

Fryderyk Chopin The Fryderyk is the annual award in Polish music. Its name refers to the original Polish spelling variant of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin's first name. Its status in the Polish public can be compared to the American Grammy and the UK's BRI ...

(1810-1849) *

Józef Władysław Krogulski Józef Władysław Krogulski (4 October 1815, in Tarnów, Poland – 9 January 1842, in Warsaw, Poland), was a Polish pianist, conductor, teacher, and composer. He first studied with his father, (1789–1859), and later studied with Józef Elsner ...

(1815-1842) *

Stanisław Moniuszko Stanisław Moniuszko (; May 5, 1819 – June 4, 1872) was a Polish composer, conductor and teacher. He wrote many popular art songs and operas, and his music is filled with patriotic folk themes of the peoples of the former Polish–Lithuania ...

(1819-1872) *

Michał Bergson Michał Bergson (Bergsohn), or Michel Bergson (20 May 18209 March 1898) was a Polish composer and pianist, promoter of Frédéric Chopin. Biography Born in Warsaw, Bergson was the son of Gabriel Bereksohn, grandson of Berek and Temerl Bergso ...

(1820-1898) * Ignacy Krzyżanowski (1826-1905) *

Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska (1829/1834 – 29 September 1861) was a Polish composer and pianist. She composed mainly for the piano and is internationally known for her composition ''A Maiden's Prayer''. Life and death Bądarzewska was born in ...

(1829-1861) *

Theodor Leschetizky Theodor Leschetizky (sometimes spelled Leschetitzky, pl, Teodor Leszetycki; 22 June 1830 – 14 November 1915 was an Austrian-Polish pianist, professor, and composer born in Landshut in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, then a crown land of ...

(1830-1915) *

Henryk Wieniawski Henryk Wieniawski (; 10 July 183531 March 1880) was a Polish virtuoso violinist, composer and pedagogue who is regarded amongst the greatest violinists in history. His younger brother Józef Wieniawski and nephew Adam Tadeusz Wieniawski were al ...

(1835-1880) *

Józef Wieniawski Józef Wieniawski (23 May 1837 – 11 November 1912) was a Polish pianist, composer, conductor and teacher. He was born in Lublin, the younger brother of the famous violinist Henryk Wieniawski. After Franz Liszt, he was the first pianist to public ...

(1837-1912) * Władysław Żeleński (1837-1921) * Zygmunt Noskowski (1846-1909) * Maurycy Moszkowski (1854-1925) * Juliusz Zarębski (1854-1885) * Stefan Krzyszkowski (1842-1896)

20th century and contemporary

Aleksander Michałowski Aleksander Michałowski (17 October 1938) was a Polish pianist, pedagogue and composer who, in addition to his own immense technique, had a profound influence upon the teaching of pianoforte technique, especially in relation to the works of Chopi ...

(1851-1938) * Moritz Moszkowski (1854-1925) *

Natalia Janotha Natalia Janotha (8 June 18569 June 1932) was a Polish pianist and composer. Biography Natalia Janotha was born in Warsaw, Poland, the daughter of Juliusz Janotha, who was a composer and teacher at the Music Institute in Warsaw. She started piano ...

(1856-1932) *

Timothee Adamowski Tymoteusz "Timothee" Adamowski (March 24, 1858April 18, 1943) was a Polish-born American conductor, composer, and violinist. Born in Warsaw, he studied in that city's conservatory, later moving on to further studies in Paris. He served as the fi ...

(1858-1943) *

Konstanty Gorski Konstanty Antoni Gorski () (Lida, 13 June 1859 – 31 May 1924, Poznań) was a Polish composer, violinist, organist and music teacher.Józef Władysław Reiss Najpiękniejsza ze wszystkich jest muzyka polska - 1984 Page 155 "Konstanty Gorsk ...

(1859-1924) * Roman Statkowski (1859-1925) * Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1864-1941) *

Otton Mieczysław Żukowski Otton Mieczysław Żukowski (Bełz on the Sołokija, 8 March 1867 – 31 March 1942) was a Polish composer. He also worked as a publisher of music for male and mixed choirs.Józef Władysław Reiss ''Najpiękniejsza ze wszystkich jest muzyka polsk ...

(1867-1942) * Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938) *

Emil Młynarski Emil Szymon Młynarski (; 18 July 18705 April 1935) was a Polish conductor, violinist, composer, and pedagogue. Life Młynarski was born in Kibarty (Kybartai), Russian Empire, now in Lithuania. He studied violin with Leopold Auer and composit ...

(1870-1935) * Zygmunt Denis Antoni Jordan de Stojowski (1870-1946) *

Witold Maliszewski Witold Maliszewski (russian: Витольд Осипович Малишевский, uk, Вітольд Йосифович Малішевський; 20 July 1873 – 18 July 1939) was a Polish composer, founder of Odessa Conservatory, and a profes ...

(1873-1939) *

Mieczysław Karłowicz Mieczysław Karłowicz (, 11 December 18768 February 1909) was a Polish composer and conductor. Life Mieczysław Karłowicz was born in Vishneva, in the Vilna Governorate of the Russian Empire (now in Belarus) into a noble family belonging to C ...

(1876-1909) *

Feliks Nowowiejski Feliks Nowowiejski (7 February 1877 – 18 January 1946) was a Polish composer, conductor, concert organist, and music teacher. Nowowiejski was born in Wartenburg (today Barczewo) in Warmia in the Prussian Partition of Poland (then admini ...

(1877-1946) *

Grzegorz Fitelberg Grzegorz Fitelberg (18 October 1879 – 10 June 1953) was a Polish conductor, violinist and composer. He was a member of the Young Poland group, together with artists such as Karol Szymanowski, Ludomir Różycki and Mieczysław Karłowicz. Life ...

(1879-1953) *

Karol Szymanowski Karol Maciej Szymanowski (; 6 October 188229 March 1937) was a Polish composer and pianist. He was a member of the modernist Young Poland movement that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century. Szymanowski's early works show the inf ...

(1882-1937) *

Ludomir Różycki Ludomir Różycki (; 18 September 1883 Warsaw – 1 January 1953 Katowice) was a Polish composer and conductor. He was, with Mieczysław Karłowicz, Karol Szymanowski and Grzegorz Fitelberg, a member of the group of composers known as ''Y ...

(1883-1953) * Apolinary Szeluto (1884-1966) *

Anna Maria Klechniowska Anna Maria Klechniowska (b. 15 April 1888; d. 28 Aug 1973) was a Polish music educator and composer. She was born in Borowka, Ukraine, and studied at the Warsaw and Lemberg (Lviv) Conservatories, and then in Leipzig and Paris. She graduated from ...

(1888-1973) * Wiktor Labunski (1895-1974) * Jerzy Petersburski (1895-1979) * Józef Koffler (1896-1944) *

Bolesław Szabelski Bolesław Szabelski (3 December 1896 in Radoryż – 27 August 1979 in Katowice) was a Polish composer of modern classical music. While his style shifted and varied over the course of his life, he is best known for his atonal work composed duri ...

(1896-1979) *

Tadeusz Szeligowski Tadeusz Szeligowski (13 September 1896 - 10 January 1963) was a Polish composer, educator, lawyer and music organizer. His works include the operas ''The Rise of the Scholars'', ''Krakatuk'' and ''Theodor Gentlemen'', the ballets ''The Peacock an ...

(1896-1963) *

Zygmunt Białostocki Zygmunt Białostocki (15 August 1897 – c. 1942)http://www.altango.art.pl/postacie/zygmunt-bialostocki/ Wojciech Dabrowski biography at altango was a Polish Jewish musician and composer. He composed many popular Polish pre-war songs, and worked ...

(1897-1942) *

Alexandre Tansman Alexander Tansman ( pl, Aleksander Tansman, link=no, French: Alexandre Tansman; 12 June 1897 – 15 November 1986) was a Polish composer, pianist and conductor who became a naturalized French citizen in 1938. One of the earliest representatives of ...

(1897-1986) * Bolesław Woytowicz (1899-1980) * Alexander Lipsky (1900-1985) *

Kazimierz Wiłkomirski Kazimierz Wiłkomirski; (September 1, 1900, Moscow - March 7, 1995, Warsaw) was a Polish cellist, composer and conductor. Son of Alfred Wiłkomirski, brother of Maria Wiłkomirska, Wanda Wiłkomirska and violinist Michael Wilkomirski. Graduate of ...

(1900-1995) * Bronisław Kaper (1902-1983) *

Henryk Wars Henryk Wars (born Henryk Warszawski, after 1947 Henry Vars; 29 December 1902 – 1 September 1977) was a Polish composer. He composed scores for 50 films during the interwar period in Poland and 60 more in the United States. He composed dozen ...

(1902-1977) *

Roman Palester Roman Palester (28 December 1907 – 25 August 1989) was a Polish composer of classical music. Palester composed his most significant work during the 1960s and was the first Polish musician to be awarded the Alfred Jurzykowski Prize in 1964. ...

(1907-1989) *

Zbigniew Turski Zbigniew Turski (21 July 1908 – 6 January 1979) was a Polish composer. He was born in Konstancin and died in Warsaw. In 1948 he won a gold medal in the art competitions of the Olympic Games for his ''Symfonia Olimpijska'' ("Olympic Symp ...

(1908-1979) *

Grażyna Bacewicz Grażyna Bacewicz Biernacka (; 5 February 1909 – 17 January 1969) was a Polish composer and violinist. She is the second Polish female composer to have achieved national and international recognition, the first being Maria Szymanowska in the ...

(1909-1969) *

Roman Maciejewski Roman Maciejewski (28 February 1910 in Berlin, Germany – 30 April 1998 in Gothenburg, Sweden) was a Polish composer. His mother, Bronisława Maciejewska, was a talented violinist and music teacher who taught him to play piano. He studied in Ste ...

(1910-1998) *

Stefan Kisielewski Stefan Kisielewski (7 March 1911 in Warsaw – 27 September 1991 in Warsaw, Poland), nicknames Kisiel, Julia Hołyńska, Teodor Klon, Tomasz Staliński, was a Polish writer, publicist, composer and politician, and one of the members of Znak, one ...

(1911-1991) *

Władysław Szpilman Władysław Szpilman (; 5 December 1911 – 6 July 2000) was a Polish pianist and classical composer of Jewish descent. Szpilman is widely known as the central figure in the 2002 Roman Polanski film '' The Pianist'', which was based on Szpilman ...

(1911-2000) * Irena Pfeiffer (1912-1996) * Witold Lutosławski (1913-1994) *

Witold Rudziński Witold Rudziński (14 March 1913, in Sebezh, Russian Empire – 29 February 2004) was a Polish composer, conductor, and author. He studied composition at the Mieczysław Karlowicz Conservatory of Music in Vilnius, and later at the Gregorian Ins ...

(1913-2004) *

Daniel Sternberg Daniel Arie Sternberg (29 March 1913 – 26 August 2000) was a Polish conductor, pianist, composer, and educator. He lived and worked in Central and Eastern Europe until 1939, when he emigrated to the United States to escape World War II. Bi ...

(1913-2000) *

Jerzy Wasowski Jerzy Ryszard Wasowski (31 May 1913 – 29 September 1984) was a Polish acoustics engineer, radio announcer, composer, pianist, actor and director. He was the son of Józef Wasowski and the husband of Maria Wasowska and the father of Grzegorz Was ...

(1913-1984) *

Andrzej Panufnik Sir Andrzej Panufnik (24 September 1914 – 27 October 1991) was a Polish composer and conductor. He became established as one of the leading Polish composers, and as a conductor he was instrumental in the re-establishment of the Warsaw Philha ...

(1914-1991) * Edward Olearczyk (1915-1994) *

Mieczysław Weinberg Mieczysław Weinberg (8 December 1919 – 26 February 1996) was a Polish-born Soviet composer and pianist. Names Much confusion has been caused by different renditions of the composer's names. In official Polish documents made before he mov ...

(1919-1996) * Janina Skowronska (1920-1992) * Witold Silewicz (1921-2007) *

Kazimierz Serocki Kazimierz Serocki (3 March 1922 – 9 January 1981) was a Polish composer and one of the founders of the Warsaw Autumn contemporary music festival. Life Serocki was born in Toruń. He studied composition with Kazimierz Sikorski and piano wi ...

(1922-1981) *

Henryk Czyż Henryk Czyż (; 16 June 1923 – 16 January 2003) was a Polish musician with a high reputation for conducting and teaching. He was born in Grudziądz. He was also a composer in his own right and wrote a number of books which are highly regard ...

(1923-2003) * Krystyna Moszumańska-Nazar (1924-2009) *

Włodzimierz Kotoński Włodzimierz Kotoński (23 August 1925 – 4 September 2014) was a Polish composer. Biography Born in Warsaw, Kotoński studied there with Piotr Rytel and Tadeusz Szeligowski at the PWSM, graduating in 1951. In an initial period of activity he ...

(1925-2014) *

Witold Szalonek Witold Szalonek (born in 1927 in Czechowice-Dziedzice, died in 2001 in Berlin) was a Polish composer. In 1949-56 he studied at the State Higher School of Music in Katowice. Following his first successes at international composers' competitions, h ...

(1927-2001) * Tadeusz Baird (1928-1981) *

Bogusław Schaeffer Bogusław Julian Schaeffer (also Schäffer) (6 June 1929 – 1 July 2019) was a Polish composer, musicologist, and graphic artist, a member of the avantgarde "Cracow Group" of Polish composers alongside Krzysztof Penderecki and others. Schaeffe ...

(born 1929) *

Józef Świder Józef Świder (born 19 August 1930 in Czechowice-Dziedzice, died 22 May 2014 in Katowice) was a Polish composer and music teacher. He graduated from the Academy of Music in Katowice (formerly PWSM – today Akademia Muzyczna), then continued h ...

(1930-2014) *

Krzysztof Komeda Krzysztof Trzciński (27 April 1931 – 23 April 1969), known professionally as Krzysztof Komeda, was a Polish film music composer and jazz pianist. Perhaps best known for his work in film scores, Komeda wrote the scores for Roman Polanski’s f ...

(1931-1969) *

Andrzej Kurylewicz Andrzej Roman Kurylewicz (Polish pronunciation: ; 24 November 1932 – 12 April 2007), was a Polish composer, pianist, trombonist, trumpet player and conductor. His works range from serious music, including both chamber and orchestral music, to ...

(1932-2007) *

Wojciech Kilar Wojciech Kilar (; 17 July 1932 – 29 December 2013) was a Polish classical and film music composer. One of his greatest successes came with his score to Francis Ford Coppola's '' Bram Stoker's Dracula'' in 1992, which received the ASCAP Award ...

(1932-2013) *

Henryk Górecki Henryk Mikołaj Górecki ( , ; 6 December 1933 – 12 November 2010) was a Polish composer of contemporary classical music. According to critic Alex Ross, no recent classical composer has had as much commercial success as Górecki. He became a l ...

(1933-2010) * Krzysztof Penderecki (1933-2020) * Aleksander Szeligowski (1934-1993) *

André Tchaikowsky André Tchaikowsky (also Andrzej Czajkowski; born Robert Andrzej Krauthammer; November 1, 1935June 26, 1982) was a Polish composer and pianist. Life and career Robert Andrzej Krauthammer was born in Warsaw in 1935 into a Jewish family. He had s ...

(1935-1982) * Marek Stachowski (1936-2004) * Marian Sawa (1937-2005) *

Zygmunt Konieczny Zygmunt Konieczny (born 3 January 1937) is a Polish composer of Musical theatre, 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. ...

(born 1937) *

Zygmunt Krauze Zygmunt Krauze (born September 19, 1938) is a Polish composer of contemporary classical music, educator, and pianist. Biography Zygmunt Krauze is an important artist of his generation: a respected composer, valued pianist, educator, organiser of ...

(born 1938) *

Tomasz Sikorski Tomasz Sikorski (19 May 1939 – 12 November 1988) was a Polish composer and pianist. The son of the composer Kazimierz Sikorski, he studied at the Warsaw Conservatory with Zbigniew Drzewiecki. Later, thanks to a scholarship from the French go ...

(1939-1988) * Andrzej Korzyński (born 1940) * Krzysztof Meyer (born 1943) *

Joanna Bruzdowicz Joanna Bruzdowicz (17 May 1943 – 3 November 2021) was a Polish composer. Life Born in Warsaw, Bruzdowicz studied at the Warsaw Music High School, at the State Higher School of Music (composition with Kazimierz Sikorski and piano with Irena P ...

(born 1943) *

Marta Ptaszyńska Marta Ptaszyńska (born 29 July 1943) is a Polish composer, percussionist and professor of music at the University of Chicago. She has been described by the Polish Music Center of the University of Southern California as "one of the best known Poli ...

(born 1943) *

Elżbieta Sikora Elżbieta Sikora (born 20 October 1943 in Lviv, other sources write 1944 or 1945) is a Polish composer who has been resident in France since 1981. She has composed stage, orchestral, chamber, choral, vocal, and electroacoustic works as well as fil ...

(born 1943) * Paweł Łukaszewski (born 1945) *

Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil (born 16 July 1947) is a Polish composer and music educator. Life Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil was born in Wroclaw, Poland. She studied composition at the State School of Music in Wrocław with Stefan Poradowski ...

(born 1947) *

Grażyna Krzanowska Grażyna Krzanowska (born 1 March 1952) is a Polish composer. She was born in Legnica, Poland, and studied composition with Tadeusz Natanson at the State High School of Music in Wroclaw, where she graduated in 1976. After completing her studies, ...

(born 1952) *

Jan A. P. Kaczmarek Jan Andrzej Paweł Kaczmarek (; born 29 April 1953) is a Polish composer. He has written scores for more than 70 feature films and documentaries, including '' Finding Neverland'' (2004), for which score he won an Oscar and a National Board of ...

(born 1953) *

Krzesimir Dębski Krzesimir Marcin Dębski (; born 26 October 1953 in Wałbrzych) is a Polish composer, conductor and jazz violinist. His music career as a musician has been that of a performer as well as composer of classical music, opera, television and feature ...

(born 1953) *

Paweł Szymański Paweł Szymański (born 28 March 1954 in Warsaw, Poland) is a Polish composer. When he was a student at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, Szymański studied composition under Włodzimierz Kotoński. Paweł later studied under Roman Hauben ...

(born 1954) * Zbigniew Preisner (born 1955) *

Zbigniew Karkowski Zbigniew Karkowski (born 14 March 1958 – 12 December 2013) was a Polish experimental musician and composer. Karkowski was born on 14 March 1958 in Krakow, Poland. He studied composition at the State College of Music in Gothenburg, Sweden, ae ...

(1958-2013) * Piotr Moss (born 1949) *

Michał Lorenc Michał Lorenc (born 5 October 1955 in Warsaw) is a Polish film score composer, best known for his work on films '' Little Rose'' (2010), '' Bastard'' (1997), ''Blood and Wine'' (1996) and ''300 Miles to Heaven'' (1989). He is currently considered ...

(born 1955) * Jan Pogány (born 1960) *

Hanna Kulenty Hanna Kulenty (born March 18, 1961, in Białystok) is a Polish composer of contemporary classical music. Since 1992, she has worked and lived both in Warsaw (Poland) and in Arnhem (Netherlands). Musical education After studying piano at the Karo ...

(born 1961) * Bettina Skrzypczak (born 1962) * Paweł Łukaszewski (born 1968) *

Piotr Rubik Piotr Rubik (Polish pronunciation: ; born 3 September 1968 in Warsaw) is a Polish composer of symphonic music, symphonic pop music for orchestra, film and theatre as well as conductor (music), conductor, music producer and vocalist. He gained natio ...

(born 1968) *

Paweł Mykietyn Paweł Mykietyn (Polish pronunciation: ; born 20 May 1971) is a Polish award-winning composer and clarinetist. By the year 2012, Mykietyn had written two symphonies, cello, piano and violin concertos, St. Marc Passions for soprano, narrator, c ...

(born 1971) *

Kasia Glowicka Kasia Glowicka (born Katarzyna Głowicka, October 12, 1977), also known as Katarina Glowicka, is a Polish composer and lecturer of computer music at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Her body of musical work encompasses compositions for opera ...

(born 1977) * Maciej Zieliński (born 1971) *

Marcel Chyrzyński Marcel Chyrzyński (born in 1971) is a Polish composer. He has been described as "a polystylist with an enormous sense of humour, and a lover of rhythm and jazz improvisation". Chyrzyński's works have been performed throughout Europe, as well ...

(born 1971) *

Abel Korzeniowski Abel Korzeniowski (; born 18 July 1972) is a Polish composer of film and theatre scores. Life and career Korzeniowski was born in Kraków. He had contact with music from early childhood: his mother Barbara plays the cello and both his brothers A ...

(born 1972) * Adam Sztaba (born 1975) *

Agata Zubel Agata Zubel (born 1978 in Wrocław, Poland) is a Polish composer and singer. Life Zubel is a graduate of Wrocław's Karol Szymanowski High School of Music (percussion and music theory) and the Karol Lipiński University of Music, where she st ...

(born 1978) * Klaudia Pasternak (born 1980) *

Jagoda Szmytka Jagoda Szmytka (born 15 January 1982, Legnica) is a Polish composer. She has attracted attention for her style of music, which uses elements not only of sound, but also of the sense of space and visual arts, and also for her new opera, ''Dla gło ...

(born 1982) * Maciej Bałenkowski (born 1993)

External links

Professor Adrian Thomas: Before Chopin (lecture)

Anna Harley (Maja Trochimczyk)
Schools of Polish Composers: A Quick Guide

What Makes a Composer Polish?

Composers A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Classical music, Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. E ...